Foreign Zombies
Lili’s Pick: 28 Days Later
Lanie’s Pick: The Night Eats the World
As it would turn out, the fear of the dead walking the Earth is universal. The Western world is so obsessed with itself and we are often only concerned with our own comfort and preferences, so much so that we ignore any other kind of perspective, style, or voice. But when we confine ourselves tightly inside our cinematic comfort zones, we miss out on beautiful, horrifying, unforgettably iconic pieces of art that exists elsewhere. I was raised on American zombie classics: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead—and potentially other “of the Deads” that I have since forgotten. And while these movies provide a terrifyingly familiar sense of undead dread, there is a distinct lack of…culture. This week was all about zombies abroad: the British classic 28 Days Later, and the fairly new French (but somehow English spoken) film The Night Eats the World. With entirely different tones and approaches to zombie lore, both films are a welcome breath of flesh air to the zombies I’ve grown so accustomed to. The Night Eats the World is the perfect zombie movie for those who do not care for zombies, or for horror films at all. It is a rather chill and introspective journey of survival, wherein our protagonist holes up in an apartment while quiet zombies roam outside. It is entirely different from any other undead narrative I’ve seen before, and the constant calm and quiet made for a viewing experience that was somehow both soothing and unnerving. 28 Days Later, on the other hand, is a high-stakes, fast-paced, zombie drama extravaganza, that never lets your heart stop racing from the moment it begins. One can see how this film has inspired so many others, from its very first frame. It’s gritty, unpredictable, and stunningly violent, and yet with all of its theatrics, it feels believable. Cillian Murphy is often the only recipient of all of the hype associated with this film, but extreme kudos must be awarded to Naomie Harris, whose performance left me so awe-struck that the only descriptive word I can conjure up to describe her are: bad-fucking-ass.
