The Strong Points...
3. It Isn't Afraid To Use The Z-Word
Considering the sizeable amount of money stacked behind it, the film is placing an tremendous amount of faith on a six-letter word. A word that everyone knows and yet no one dares say. A word that urgently needs to be reclaimed from the clutches of bargain basements and straight-to-DVD releases. For it seems that nothing kills a zombie quite like referring to it by name. At the start of the film, the cause of the outbreak is initially thought to be rabies; yet it is only when a report emerges from South Korea, supposedly the first to mention the dreaded z-word, that the possibility of something much more sinister rears its ugly head. When this report is read aloud, it is met almost immediately with a derisive snort from a government official. She speaks for the audience member who demands to know just why a very serious drama about the survival of the human race could be so suddenly sullied by those six letters. And yet, here we are. Given the film's title, you could argue that they hardly had a choice but, henceforth, the term 'zombie' is unashamedly adopted (if sparingly used). No 'mutants', no 'creatures', no 'walkers' here. The zombies themselves seem to be cut from the mould of 28 Days Later: rapid, ravenous and extremely dangerous. As well as pouncing on their prey, they throw themselves head-first into car windshields, charge into crowds and spill over rooftops in a frenzied, many-limbed mass. They swarm across cities and deserts, literally chewing up the scenery. And, above all, they're terrifying. As Gerry discovers, it takes twelve seconds for a corpse to reanimate; their convulsing back into 'life' both creepy and convincing.