This is yet another blog-along post where I'll be blogging along as I watch another horror film as part of the 31 Horror Films in 31 Days challenge. Warning: Since I'm blogging my thoughts whilst watching the film THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.
These are raw blog posts. I start and I write until I finish without any editing afterwards. I just post the raw thoughts from the film as they occur. I enter this film with absolutely no prior knowledge. Enjoy,
I can't believe I haven't seen this film before. I know I've neglected a classic. I've seen clips, but not the whole thing. Something about black and white films just comes across as really classy regardless of the content...
Doing this challenge I've realised that I'm not really scared by horror films. Of course there are films that I've watched and had some sort of emotional response. Some have left me feeling offended and angry or pensive but I never really feel too unsettled afterwards.
This is probably due to the fact that I've watched so many horror films that I can very easily detach from the horror on screen and tell myself it's just a film. The most recent films I watched that left me feeling shaken were Rosemary's Baby last year and, a few years before, Don't Look Now. The old ones are the best, right? I think maybe watching so many horror films in one month also leaves you a little desensitised because you get so used to it.
"Oh look, another death..."
"Oh, it was behind you..."
"No... don't go in there. That's really not a good idea.... Oh, you did it regardless. Go figure."
I like that these early zombies seem spooked by fire much like depictions of Frankenstein's monster.
Grabby hands through the boarded up window reminds me of the opening scene of 28 Weeks Later which I watched last night.
The scene with the truck explosion feels very Final Destination. I'm having horror film deja vu.
Ahh. Considering how early a zombie film this is it all seems so innocent and fresh. It's really forging the genre whereas other films come with preconceived ideas and familiar conventions because now we're so aware with the tropes associated with zombie lore.
Ha! Lights out. Yes, my exact fears for this point in time. I swear, if the storm knocks out my electricity and I'm plunged into darkness I shall be rather annoyed.
Death by trowel.
Ugh. What a tragic ending.
Though this film may seem slow to a modern audience familiar with the evolution of the on-screen zombie myth then this film still stands as a sharp political comment on contemporary racism along with a great deal of social commentary often interpolated into zombie films. It must be remembered that this film paved the way for zombie films that came after and therefore deserves a great deal of respect. For the time when it was released this film is candidly gory and sprinkled with nihilistic, violent and emotional moments. The suggestion that the zombies or, as the film calls them, "ghouls", are a result of radioactive contamination on a returned space probe resonates from cultural contemporary anxieties since, at the time, space travel was still relatively new and society was coping with the fear of what lies beyond the world we know. It's really interesting to see an exploration of zombies in this circumstance rather than aliens.
Also, if you'd like to watch the movie I seem to have found a copy of it on YouTube so you can watch it for free!
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