I Am Legend - Zombie Movie or Not?
I Am Legend, the movie adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic zombie survival novel opened in theaters last week to resounding success - but many readers of the book were left asking themselves, “What happened to the vampires?”
It would seem that the long, rotting arm of the zombie is reaching far beyond its genre. I Am Legend featured creatures that looked more like zombies than vampires - and acted that way, too.
Long gone seem the slow, shambling zombies of George Romero’s day - now every Zombie we see seems to feel the need to top the one before it, and so zombies just keep getting faster and faster, more and more agile. It’s no wonder that I Am Legend chose to meet zombies and vampires halfway in the middle - zombie movies are trending toward the kind of creatures we see in I Am Legend anyway.
We Zombiephiles feel that it’s time this trend stopped! Zombies are zombies, and vampires are vampires. Zombies belong in zombie movies, and vampires belong…well, we won’t share how we feel about most vampire movies.
The point is, the Zombie, and the central lore of zombieness, should be considered as set in stone, irrevocable, immutable and unchangeable. It’s movies like 28 Days Later that had to come along and “up the ante” on zombie movies - like that even needed doing.
Join us in our stand against fast, agile zombies! We demand the return of slow, shambling, brain-craving re-animated corpses, not virus-infected, flesh-eating cannibals! Zombiephiles of the world, unite!
December 26th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
actually, i say virus infected and flesh eating is ok. But
running i agree with i mean come on! How do rotting corpses run THAT fast? some are more athletic than other people!
December 26th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I do agree they should have left them as vampires, because in the book some of the most interesting parts where when he was trying to find out if the legends against vampries really did work on what he was going up againts. LIke the crossing water, the cross, etc. There was some interesting theory behind a lot of that which made the story that much better for me.
as far as movies go, the movie wasnt terrible.. but it will probably annoy the hell out of you if you liked the book.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Zombies only want one thing, and that is to eat humans.
Its what drives them and if they can run they will and fast, they wont be stopped because they are out of breath or whatever, they want to eat and thats it. However i do agree that zombies should be shambling and let some other creature run the shit out of you.
lol
December 27th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I am Legend is [b]not[/b] a zombie film it’s vampires, the back of the book even says so and I quote “An SF novel about [b]vampires[/b]… Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth… but he is not alone. Ever oyher man, woman and child on the planet has become a [b]vampire[/b] and they are hungry for Neville’s blood”
I couldn’t care less what holywood’s tried to trick people into thinking it’s a god forsaken vampire film and book and will be until Richard Matheson re-writes the book.
January 4th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I don’t think the creatures in I Am Legend are either zombie or vampire. I just see them as grossly disfigured victims of a virus. The dog, Sam, was a victim of the virus, but wouldn’t be considered a zombie or a vampire.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I think that the going trend of the faster, strong, rageful zombies is just society’s form of evolution. Thanks to the growing number of zombie fans, who in turn write “What I Would Do During a Zombie Attack”, the writers have to come up with ways to keep them on their toes. In the end, its the same underlying theme: Zombies/Vampiers/Monsters seemingly wipe out the human race as you know it, and you (the protagonist) must find a way to survive/adapt against the hordes while certain death is just one bite/scratch/cut/contact away.
BTW: I too have compiled the “The Zombie Outbreak Protocol” The step-by-step guide to not only surviving a zombie outbreak, but ensuring the survival of humankind. It breaks down the steps from the 1st hour, to the 3rd hour, to the 6th hour, and so on. I’d like to see what other zombie experts think? http://zombie-protocol.blogspot.com/ or better yet, digg it: http://digg.com/odd_stuff/The_Zombie_Outbreak_Protocol_Save_Yourself_and_Humanity
March 18th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Tell you the truth, when you think about it, the creatures weren’t even zombies. If you had LISTENED to the goddarn movie, you would have known better than to even dare call them zombies. They are just infected people, not re-animated corpses. They ARE NOT ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!! They are just infected freaks. The virus may have caused them to run faster, become stronger, and have the taste of flesh. And, even without watching 28 Days Later, I know that they only INFECT people and turn them into sphychos. Not zombies. My friends, zombies are things that RISE FROM THE GRAVE. I Am Legend is about infected people that a man is trying to cure.
March 18th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Wow, Spud…you’re so right…and we’re all so wrong…WE’RE NOT WORTHY!
March 20th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Yes, I am right. Indeed.