8 Smartest Decisions In Zombie Movie History

7. Obeying The Rules - Zombieland

Shaun of the Dead
Sony Pictures

When people think of the rules of horror, minds usually tend to wander to the speech delivered by Jamie Kennedy's Randy in the first Scream movie. No sex, no drink or drugs, and no 'I'll be right back'.

Of course, Wes Craven's 1996 picture beautifully threw those rules on their head, reinventing the slasher subgenre and the greater horror landscape with a film which poked fun at the overplayed tropes of horror while simultaneously managing to be an utterly terrifying movie in its own right.

The point being, the rules of the genre were a-changing back in '96. Keeping on top of the rules of the day are always a good idea, though, and that was a concept that was front-and-centre to any and all success achieved by the characters at the core of Zombieland.

Ruben Fleischer's 2009 picture is a firm favourite for those with a penchant for the undead, and it's a tale that so often rewards those characters smart enough to obey the rules clearly lined out in Zombieland.

Rules such as working on your cardio (to outrun zombies), always double tap (to make sure someone is really dead), be wary of bathrooms (don't get caught with your pants down), and always use seatbelts (because zombies don't) all work wonders for those willing to listen to the rules on the table.

For those not smart enough to abide by these rules, of course, a gnarly death is usually lurking around the corner for them.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.