MovieChat Forums > Braindead (1993) Discussion > Am I the only one... (Spoilers)

Am I the only one... (Spoilers)

posted 12 years ago by germandisciple
21 replies | jump to latest

Am I the only one that was extremely perturbed by the fact that lots of general zombie "rules" were broken in this film? For example, a bite can instantly make someone turn, but they're completely fine if they are getting sprayed with gallons of blood in their eyes and mouth? Also, chopping off the heads does nothing, and the heads just spring to life too? Those are just a couple examples.

Maybe I am too picky, but it'd be the same if someone came along and made a movie about vampires that suddenly no longer cared about sunlight or stakes in the heart.

Other than those issues, I thought it was rather humorous and gory as all get out. I somewhat enjoyed it, so don't go getting your panties in a twist if you disagree.

[–] Littlebitsofgaming 12 years ago

No, cos zombies are not "real" and there are no "rules" to follow.

All a zombie needs to be to qualify as a zombie is re-animated dead (previously) living tissue.

And so, God came forth and proclaimed widescreen is the best.
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[–] germandisciple 12 years ago

Well, we must see things differently then. It was no different for me when Twilight decided to make vampires sparkle in the sunlight, rather than have a painfully agonizing end to their existence. Not that Twilight didn't suck for other reasons anyway. At least this movie was funny and worth watching aside from what I mentioned, I guess. Cheers.

[–] kpddukpoki 11 years ago

but that's his point. Vamps don't exist so if one day someone was to break the sunlight rule (like Twilight did, and to another extent, Underworld did too) in their book or tv show or movie or fanfic, then they certainly could. If you don't like that vamps now break the third wall and you don't like zombies not being undead, well that's just you being stubbornly biased in your opinion and not accepting of other's re-imagining of the monster.

They don't exist in real life so really they can be whatever anyone conjures up. These so called "rules" you are stating are more ridiculous because someone originally made up these rules to begin with in their own imagining.

[–] ZaubererDerZweite 9 years ago

In the original Dracula by Bram Stoker vampires were not killed by sunlight. You suck as a purist.

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Trist on

[–] ralph_2ndedition 12 years ago

I guess if the creepy beings in 'Braindead' were supposed to be zombies, then yeah the breaking of the "rules" would bother me to...
But the thing is; They're not zombies, they're infected with some sort of virus originally carried by some rabid'esque monkey or other.

And if the minor rule-breaking is annoying, what do you make of the creeping and crawling and farting(!) bowles chasing the protagonist through the house? :-)

[–] germandisciple 12 years ago

See, I was going to assume they weren't zombies either, but then you check the message board and 349349 people are calling it a zombie flick, so I thought maybe I was wrong. The bowels were pretty hilarious, I can't lie. :D

[–] kpddukpoki 11 years ago

"and 349349 people are calling it a zombie flick"

my question is how can you NOT call it a zombie flick. Would you rather classify it as a werewolf flick then? I'm sure we call it a zombie flick because they act like zombies in the movie.

[–] kpddukpoki 11 years ago

"But the thing is; They're not zombies, they're infected with some sort of virus originally carried by some rabid'esque monkey or other."

Oh not this again! Infected vs Zombie debate is stupid because at the end of the day, the infected act like zombies. So they are zombie-infected. Also RE's T-Virus would like to have a word with you.

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

It's not true anyway. Unlike 28 Days Later, the creatures in this movie are definitely zombies. If they were just infected humans, mortal wounds would kill them. Since that doesn't happen, they're magically reanimated corpses.

The new home of Welcome to Planet Bob: http://kingofbob.blogspot.ca/

[–] germandisciple 12 years ago

...and my point still stands about the gallons of blood in the face and eyes. Technically, regardless of whether they're your typical zombie or not, if a bite infects a person, that would too.

[–] ralph_2ndedition 12 years ago

Does any movie in this genre (other than *) actually stick to that pretty basic logic? (blood in face = infection)
I'm seriously asking, 'cus in my mind I can sort of see zombies (or something akin to that) being blown to bits in many films - and people being splattered in blood without getting the munchies afterwards....but I could of course be completely wrong.

*) I really enjoyed the "realism" in '28 Days Later', where a single drop of blood in a persons eye is enough to make them rabid man-eaters.

"Racoon, Rog?"

[–] germandisciple 12 years ago

Ralph, that's bizarre, as it's EXACTLY what I thought of and brought up when discussing this with a friend. I also thoroughly enjoyed that "realism". In response to your question, I don't really recall any specific scenes where you can tell it'd be unavoidable for the person to get blood in their various orifices. I am sure there are some, but none I can specifically remember.

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

So you can't even remember a scene that follows this rule you made up? How can it be considered a rule then?

The new home of Welcome to Planet Bob: http://kingofbob.blogspot.ca/

[–] kpddukpoki 11 years ago

you guys are forgetting zombie-ism can spread magically too (voodoo, etc) so it does not have to be by blood all the time.

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

Not true. We never once saw anyone worry about getting zombie blood on them in TWD. So your position that there's a universal rule stating that infectious bites should equal infectious blood is already incorrect.

The new home of Welcome to Planet Bob: http://kingofbob.blogspot.ca/

[–] godzillaprime 12 years ago

Considering Twilight this thread is awkward.

[–] iwannabadragon 11 years ago

^ Win

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I'll come over there and slap you with an Altoids can...You'll be in pain, but minty fresh!

[–] kpddukpoki 11 years ago

exactly and OP's brain would probably explode after watching Warm Bodies... zombies who fall in love! lol

[–] Filthy_Giuseppe 11 years ago

Without a shadow of a doubt.

In Sicily, Woman Are More Dangerous Than Shotguns

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

Every writer makes up their own rules. There are no set rules for zombies.

For example, a bite can instantly make someone turn, but they're completely fine if they are getting sprayed with gallons of blood in their eyes and mouth?

Where is that rule ever established as a rule for zombies? Keeping in mind that 28 Days Later does not feature zombies. They're living people who have been infected with a virus.

Also, chopping off the heads does nothing, and the heads just spring to life too?

Go watch Return of the Living Dead 1 and 2. In both movies zombies require total dismemberment AND being burned to be killed.

And this was never a universal rule either.

Maybe I am too picky, but it'd be the same if someone came along and made a movie about vampires that suddenly no longer cared about sunlight or stakes in the heart.

There are all kinds of myths regarding vampires. Some are perfectly able to walk in the sun and some can't be killed via a pointy stick to the chest. So this point falls flat.

The new home of Welcome to Planet Bob: http://kingofbob.blogspot.ca/

[–] I Am The Cheese 8 years ago

Putting aside the point that the rules of zombie movies vary from one to another, for example the rules of Romero's movies don't apply to The Evil Dead which don't apply to 28 Days Later which don't apply to REC, the "rules" get broken plenty of times, for example...

A zombie not dying when its head is removed
* Day of the Dead has a scene where a zombie's head is bisected with a shovel, and we see the top half of its head is still sentient as it lies on the ground several feet from the rest of its body
* Land of the Dead sees a zombie's head being removed from the rest of its body by machine gun fire, yet the head is still sentient - until Big Daddy puts it out of its misery with his foot
* The Walking Dead (both comic and TV show) show severed zombie heads are still sentient when removed from their body as they sit in tanks in The Governor's office

Body parts springing to life after infection
* Evil Dead II has Ash's hand running around the cabin even though Ash lopped it off with a chainsaw, as well as Linda's corpse reanimating and rejoining even though she had been decapitated

Getting covered in blood yet not turning
* The Evil Dead trilogy sees Ash sprayed with blood in the eyes and mouth at least once per movie
* Shaun of the Dead sees Shaun and Ed sprayed with blood in the eyes and mouth quite early, yet they don't turn

The only rule that Braindead plays fast and loose with is being bitten turning you into a zombie - Nurse McTavish certainly isn't bitten but she turns into a zombie, and plenty of the zombies that are turned at the party aren't - most obviously the one that ends up with her head stuck on a lightbulb who we see getting killed by Void in an earlier scene and she certainly didn't get bitten.

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