The Film Rules: ZOMBIE FILM RULES

Films have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas? Are the Zombie Film Rules accurate?

The results for the first 5 rules for Zombie Films.

The ten films were tested:

1. White Zombie (1932)
2. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
3. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
4. Zombie (1979)
5. Warning Sign (1985)
6. Return of the Living Dead (1985)
7. 28 Days Later (2002)
8. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
9. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
10. World War Z (2013)

RULE #1 - There will be no warning...

1a. Eerie

Yes - White Zombie; Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.
Natural but eerie - Warning Sign.
Comedic - Return of the Living Dead.

1b. News

News footage during credits - 28 Days Later (unrest); World War Z.
Missed news - Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead; World War Z (Seen but not understood).
Gossip/superstition - White Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.
Main characters are news employees - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie.
Other - Warning Sign.

1c. Sudden

First death is sudden - White Zombie; Zombie; Night of the Living Dead; Return of the Living Dead.
Second sudden outbreak is sudden: Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.
Unnoticed slow - Warning Sign; Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.
Skipped - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Sequel); 28 Days Later.

RULE #2 - There may be sex and nudity.

2a. Nudity

No nudity - World War Z.
Underwear - White Zombie; Warning Sign.
Implied Naked Zombie - Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Depending on version); Shaun of the Dead.
Naked zombie - Night of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Depending on version).
Female Nudity (Topless) - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (2004);
Female Nudity (Full Frontal) - Return of the Living Dead.
Male Nudity (Full Frontal) - 28 Days Later.

2b. Sex

No sex - White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead; Return of the Living Dead; Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.
Kiss - Zombie; 28 Days Later.
Sex previous to film - Warning Sign.
Characters shown after sex - Dawn of the Dead (1978).
Rape attempt - 28 Days Later.
Sex - Dawn of the Dead (2004)

RULE #3 - Unknown cause.

3a. Unknown origin

Unknown - Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead (Speculation).
Hell Full - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Comment).
Voodoo - White Zombie (Known); Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Comment); Zombie (Claim).
Radiation - Night of the Living Dead (Suspected).
Virus - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Suggested); Warning Sign; 28 Days Later; World War Z.
A gas - Return of the Living Dead.

3b. Vague hints

Speculation - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead.
Shown (Outright) - Warning Sign; Return of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; World War Z.
Shown (Ambiguous) - White Zombie.
Stated (Contested) - Night of the Living Dead.

3c. The originators

The movie's villains - White Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.
Characters in film - Warning Sign.
Characters in prologue - 28 Days Later.
Hear not seen - Zombie.
Don't appear - Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.

RULE #4 - The Living Dead.

4a. Dead

Presumed to be/Unclear - White Zombie.
Faux death - Warning Sign.
Not dead - 28 Days Later.
Most, questionable - Return of the Living Dead.
Yes - Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.

4b. Rising from the grave

Removed from the grave - White Zombie.
Most rise - Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.
Presumably recently dead/unburied - Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead.
Brief fake death - Warning Sign.
Not dead - 28 Days Later.
Presumably only killed by virus - World War Z.

4c. Instant decay

Instant change, no real decay - Zombie (pale); Warning Sign (Warty); Return of the Living Dead (Pale or white); 28 Days Later (bloody/red eyes); Shaun of the Dead (Pale); World War Z (Veiny).
Some, or limited decay - White Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (1978) (blue/grey presumed decay).
Ambiguous - Night of the Living Dead.
No decay/change - Dawn of the Dead (2004).

4d. Origin

Supernatural - White Zombie; Zombie.
Suggested Science or supernatural - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Science - Night of the Living Dead; Warning Sign; Return of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; World War Z.
Unknown - Shaun of the Dead.

4e. Spread

Targeting - White Zombie.
Any dead/death - Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978).
Death by illness/death - Zombie.
Airbourne - Warning Sign (virus); Return of the Living Dead (gas & ash/rain).
Killed by zombies - Return of the Living Dead.
Bite/infect - 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.

4f. Rudimentary IQ

Intelligent (but reduced from in life) - Warning Sign; Return of the Living Dead.
Some intelligence - Night of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; Shaun of the Dead.
Little or no intelligence - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (2004); World War Z.
Controlled by others - White Zombie.

4g. Rudimentary speech

None - White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Moans/screeches/animalistic noises - 28 Days Later; Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.
Limited - Return of the Living Dead.
Normal speech - Warning Sign.

4h. Lost memory

No memory loss - Warning Sign; Return of the Living Dead (Characters turned by gas, unknown for dead).
Some think they have rudimentary memories - White Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead.
No sign - Night of the Living Dead; Zombie; 28 Days Later; World War Z.

4i. Slow/Shambling

Shambling - White Zombie; Zombie.
Shambling/some light jogging - Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Return of the Living Dead; Shaun of the Dead.
Shambling/some running - Warning Sign.
Fast moving - 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004); World War Z.

4j. Swarms

When ordered - White Zombie
Mob with leader - Warning Sign.
Gathering in groups - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; Return of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004); Night of the Living Dead; Shaun of the Dead.
Major swarms - World War Z.

4k. Stealth zombies

Quiet, no sneaking - White Zombie.
Usually too noisy, but some - Dawn of the Dead (1978); 28 Days Later; Shaun of the Dead.
No stealth - Night of the Living Dead.
No stealth, but an accidentally stealthy attack - Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.
No stealth, go dormant - World War Z.
Yes - Warning Sign; Dawn of the Dead (2004).

4l. Feeding

Not shown eating - White Zombie.
Only eat brains - Return of the Living Dead.
Attack/kill do not feed - Warning Sign.
Attack/bite, no sign of eating - 28 Days Later; Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.
Consume human flesh - Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (2004) (claim by TV).

4m. Destroy the brains

Head shot/burning - World War Z (Recommended, body shots some effect).
Remove the head/destroy the brain - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Mentioned); Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Mentioned); Shaun of the Dead (Mentioned).
Head injuries - Zombie.
Harder to kill than humans, but normal ways - Warning Sign; 28 Days Later.
Does not stop them - Return of the Living Dead.

Living parts move by themselves - Return of the Living Dead; World War Z.

4n. Exploding heads

Yes - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Living civilian).
Head shots - Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Crushed - Zombie (Older corpse); World War Z.
No exploding heads - White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead; Warning Sign; Return of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; Shaun of the Dead.

4o. The Z Word

Regularly called zombies - White Zombie (Voodoo resurrected); Zombie; World War Z.
Rarely called zombies - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Used once in reference to voodoo); Return of the Living Dead (used when discussing "Night of the Living Dead"); Shaun of the Dead (mostly as a joke);
Not called zombies - Night of the Living Dead; Warning Sign; 28 Days Later (not dead); Dawn of the Dead (2004).

Other names:

Ghouls - Night of the Living Dead.
The Living Dead - White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead (title); Zombie.
Twitcher - Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Infected - 28 Days Later.

Descriptions:

Assassins - Night of the Living Dead.
Corpses - White Zombie.
Creatures - Night of the Living Dead.
Dead bodies - White Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (1978).
Dead cadavers - Return of the Living Dead.
Dead corpses - Dawn of the Dead (1978).
Men - White Zombie.
Misshapen Monsters - Night of the Living Dead.
Murderers - Night of the Living Dead.
Ordinary people - Night of the Living Dead.
(Those) things - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Return of the Living Dead.

RULE #5 -The Living

5a. Individuals

Initially - Night of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Pair - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Two pairs); Zombie; Shaun of the Dead.
Groups - Return of the Living Dead.
Family - World War Z.
No - Return of the Living Dead.

5b. Group of survivors

Slowly build - Night of the Living Dead; 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Set out to gather - Shaun of the Dead.
Briefly - Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.
Fake out - World War Z.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Two pairs); Return of the Living Dead.

5c. Characters

The hero

Hero - Ben (Night of the Living Dead); Peter West (Zombie); Cal Morse (Warning Sign); Jim (28 Days Later); Shaun (Shaun of the Dead); Gerry Lane (World War Z)
Heroine - Ana (Dawn of the Dead (2004)).
Barely - Neil Parker (White Zombie); Stephen (Dawn of the Dead (1978)).

Willing (save heroine) - Neil Parker (White Zombie); Shaun (Shaun of the Dead);
Unwilling - Ben (Night of the Living Dead); Ana (Dawn of the Dead (2004)); Gerry Lane (World War Z) (Forced)

The heroine

Heroine - Madeline Short Parker (White Zombie); Francine (Dawn of the Dead (1978)); Anne Bowles (Zombie); Joannie Morse (Warning Sign); Selena (28 Days Later); Liz (Shaun of the Dead).
Hero - Michael (Dawn of the Dead (2004)).
Temporary - Karin Lane (World War Z).
Weak - Barbra (Night of the Living Dead).
None - Return of the Living Dead.

Married - Madeline Short Parker (White Zombie); Joannie Morse (Warning Sign); Karin Lane (World War Z).
Ex GF - Liz (Shaun of the Dead).
Growing relationship - Anne Bowles (Zombie); Selena (28 Days Later); Michael (Dawn of the Dead (2004).
No relationship - Barbra (Night of the Living Dead)

The bossy guy

Love rival - Mr Beaumont (White Zombie).
Argumentative - Harry Cooper (Night of the Living Dead); Burt (Return of the Living Dead); Andre (Dawn of the Dead (2004)); David (Shaun of the Dead).
Moderate - Dr Menard (Zombie); Frank (28 Days Later); Speke (World War Z).
Authority - Major Connolly (Warning Sign)

Bossy guy's female companion

Wife - Mrs Menard (Zombie); Helen Cooper (Night of the Living Dead); Luda (Dawn of the Dead (2004)); Di (Shaun of the Dead).
Daughter - Hannah (28 Days Later).
None - White Zombie; Dawn of the Dead (1978); Warning Sign; Return of the Living Dead; World War Z.

Side with hero - Helen Cooper (Night of the Living Dead); Di (Shaun of the Dead).
Dies - Mrs Menard (Zombie);

The secondary hero -

Male - Dr Brunner (White Zombie), Tom (Night of the Living Dead); Roger (Dawn of the Dead (1978)); Brian Hull (Zombie); Dr Dan Fairchild (Warning Sign); Ed (Shaun of the Dead).
Female - Segen (World War Z).
Weak - Terry (Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Brief - Mark (28 Days Later).
None - Return of the Living Dead.

The weepy girl

Yes - Barbra, Judy (Night of the Living Dead); Tina, Casey, Suicide (Return of the Living Dead); Hannah (28 Days Later); Nicole (Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Fragile/Soft spoken - Barbara (Shaun of the Dead);
A little - Susan Barrette (Zombie); Joannie Morse (Warning Sign).
None - White Zombie; World War Z.

Child

Yes - Karen Cooper (Night of the Living Dead); Rachel & Constance Lane (World War Z).
Older - Hannah (28 Days Later); Nicole (Dawn of the Dead (2004)).
Unborn - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Warning Sign; Dawn of the Dead (2004).
None - White Zombie; Zombie; Return of the Living Dead; Shaun of the Dead.

The crazy guy

Yes - Ernie (Return of the Living Dead); Dr Menard & Matthias (Zombie); The Ex-CIA Agent (World War Z).
Possibly - Pierre the old witch doctor (White Zombie), Harry Cooper (White Zombie); Dr Dan Fairchild (Warning Sign);
No - Dawn of the Dead (1978); 28 Days Later; Shaun of the Dead.

Unbeliever

Yes - Dr Brunner (White Zombie); Dr Menard & Brian (Zombie); Phillip (Shaun of the Dead).
Sarcastic - Terry (Dawn of the Dead (2004)).
Possibly - UN Delegates (World War Z).
Extras - Dawn of the Dead (1978) (TV); Return of the Living Dead.
None - Night of the Living Dead; Warning Sign; 28 Days Later.

The gang leader

Bad guy - "Murder" Legendre (White Zombie); Major Henry West (28 Days Later).
Weak - Tom Schmidt (Warning Sign); CJ (Dawn of the Dead (2004)),
Good group - Yvonne (Shaun of the Dead).
None - Night of the Living Dead; Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.

5d. Man is the real monster

Creates zombies - "Murder" Legendre (White Zombie)
Creep - Mr Beaumont (White Zombie)
Fighting - Ben & Harry (Night of the Living Dead)
Barely - Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead; World War Z.
Many become rapists/murders - Dawn of the Dead (1978); Warning Sign; 28 Days Later.
No - Zombie; Return of the Living Dead.

Deliberate voodoo - White Zombie; Zombie.
Not zombies "rage virus" - Warning Sign; 28 Days Later.

Deliberate deaths caused by the living.

White Zombie - 100% (Human creates/controls zombies, makes them kill.)
28 Days Later - 60% directly, 90%+ in you include those humans set up to be killed by infected.
Return of the Living Dead - 54.5% main characters (including military strike) but about 4,000 people were killed in the military strike.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) - 50%+.
Warning Sign - 16.7% (even that one was already infected but not fully turned.)
Dawn of the Dead (2004) - 16.7%.
Night of the Living Dead - 14.3%
Zombie - 0% (Although as a voodoo curse maybe 100%).
Shaun of the Dead - 0%.

5e. Steep learning curve

Everyone learns quickly - (Dawn of the Dead (1978)); Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun of the Dead.
Hero learns quickly - Zombie; Warning Sign; 28 Days Later.
Already has special skills - World War Z.
No - White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead; Return of the Living Dead.

5f. Final Girl and Final Guy

Final Guy and Girl - Neil Parker & Madeline Short Parker (White Zombie); Francine & Peter (Dawn of the Dead (1978)); Peter & Ann (Zombie).
Final Guy, Girl and a few others - 28 Days Later; Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Final Guy, Girl and a lot of people - Cal & Joannie (Warning Sign); Shaun & Liz (Shaun of the Dead); Gerry Lane & Segen (World War Z).
Final Guy - Ben (Night of the Living Dead).
All dead - Return of the Living Dead.

Survive - Francine & Peter (Dawn of the Dead (1978)); Warning Sign; Neil Parker & Madeline Short Parker (White Zombie); Dawn of the Dead (2004); Shaun & Liz (Shaun of the Dead); 2 guys, 2 girls; Almost everyone (World War Z).
Dies - Ben (Night of the Living Dead); Return of the Living Dead.

Continued in part 2.

~ DUG.

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The Film Rules

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11 Oct 2016

ZOMBIE FILM RULES - Analysis (Part 1)

RULE #1 - There will be no warning...

RULE #2 - There may be sex and nudity.

RULE #3 - Unknown cause.

RULE #4 - The Living Dead.

RULE #5 -The Living

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