Take a Ride Through Zombieland

For some reason there seem to be two genres of horror movies that are increasing in popularity these days. The first is the vampire movie. Far too many people (and let's face it, most of them are women) just love to think about dreamy-eyed and studly handsome vampires falling in love with them. Of course, the fact that they would smell like death and their breath would smell like blood doesn't seem to enter into it. Still, the vampires are potentially more popular now than they ever have been. The second type of movie that seems to be hugely popular is the zombie movie.

Now, the vampire movies and books, I guess I can grudgingly admit why they would be popular. At least the vampires can talk and sort of act human and, if you happen to be female, the male vampires look hot and studly. For some reason, though, zombies are popular and not a single zombie has any of that going for him and her. So, the reasons for their suddenly and continued popularity is a puzzlement.

Perhaps, in this day and age, when everything is so uncertain and it seems like death can come at any time, even when you are just trying to get home to Detroit on Christmas, people want to believe something can happen after death. Maybe they want that even if that something is slobbering and drooling and trying to eat other, living, people. Then again, maybe the video game mentality has taken hold and people love the idea of blasting away at hordes of zombies.

Whatever the reason, the list of zombie movies just seems to be growing. Of course, there were zombies before George Romero introduced us to the Living Dead, but he truly made the modern zombie what it is today. Since then there have been many duplicates and even Mr. Romero has come back and done more of his "Living Dead" movies. An interesting sub-genre of the zombie movie is the zombie comedy flick.

Probably the best, up until now, has been Simon Pegg's "Shaun of the Dead." The movie somehow seemed to perfectly balance the horror and gore of the idea of a world overrun with zombies with a wicked and hilarious sense of humor. Now, comes a movie that contends for the top spot in this specialized niche in the horror genre. That movie is "Zombieland" which came out in 2009 and is now available on DVD and OnDemand.

The movie stars Woody Harrelson as a man named Tallahassee in a world where zombies have completely taken over. The initial explanation is that some kid of virus has turned many people into zombies, with their trademark infectious bites, and those who are not zombies are just food.

The movie's center is actually a young man who is known throughout as Columbus and is played by Jesse Eisenberg. He plays a young man who has all but cut himself off from humanity even before the zombies start attacking. He has come up with a set of rules in order to survive. So far, he has done well by not having any attachments, carrying a double-barreled shotgun, and being very lucky. Then he meets Harrelson's character. Not long after, the both of them meet two sisters played by Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, who were con artists before the zombie apocalypse and seem to want to continue that profession even though almost everyone in the world is undead.

The movie is, essentially, a road movie with zombies. The two sisters want to get to an amusement park near Los Angeles where they have heard there are no zombies. The other two decide to come along because, well, what else is there to do? Harrelson's character loves to kill zombies, and does so in unique fashion, and he is also in search of a Hostess Twinkie.

All of this is told in a style that can best be described as irreverent. This is not a movie where you laugh out loud every second. Most of the jokes just made me smile. However, there are enough laugh-out-loud jokes to make the film worth watching. The characters are all rather believable and have interesting stories to tell, even though we don't get to hear all of them. You need to stay tuned for a very funny cameo by Bill Murray, too, that makes the movie interesting and worthwhile. If Bill ever decides to do another zombie comedy, watch out.

The movie manages to balance the horror and the gore (and there is LOTS of gore) with comedy and zaniness. It makes the idea of traveling the country battling zombies almost seem like a fun time and one you might want to consider for your next family vacation.

I am not a particular fan of zombies. I think that all of their particular stories, like vampire stories, have already been told. There seems very little left to tell in the world of the undead. However, "Zombieland" is a very fun movie to watch. Fans of zombies will not be disappointed and fans of fun and comedy will not be disappointed either.