Zombie Week: Most Lovable Zombies
By 11:30AM on Dec 13, 2011
Zombie Week is in full swing here at Chiller in anticipation of the premiere of our first original film, Remains. Adapted from the celebrated comic book by writer Steve Niles, Remains takes a unique spin on the zombie genre, injecting a healthy dose of humor and absurdity into the realm of the undead. After all, it’s hard not to love a zombie named Flo with a giant, bee-hive hairdo, or chuckle at the absurdity of the survivors making their way across Reno, Nevada.
So we here a ChillerTV.com have been thinking about some of the most lovable, inadvertently likable zombies we’ve seen throughout our cinematic cannibal history. Beware, readers, as there are MINOR SPOILERS in the following list, but if you’re up on your zombie trivia, you’ll probably be well aware of Chiller’s Most Lovable Zombies.
We’ll be here throughout the week with some of our favorite zombies, kills and scary movies, so stay tuned to Chiller and be sure to tune in on Friday, December 16th at 10P ET for the premiere of Remains. And before you do, check out our exclusive online prequel, Remains: Road to Reno.
Bub (Day of the Dead)
If each of George Romero’s Dead films aims for the headshot of social satire (consumerist culture, class warfare, voyeurism in the YouTube age) the third of the five-film series pulls the trigger on 1980’s military culture. Set against the post-Cold War, gun-at-the-ready mentality of a society still sloughing off the lingering traumas of Vietnam, the film takes place in underground military bunker as the zombie outbreak topples society above ground. In the confines of this boiler-room thriller, Romero smartly introduces his tension between characters with competing motivations: military men looking with an enemy to kill, scientists seeking an understanding of the threat and survivors simply trying to survive.
But when one of the survivors stumbles upon Bub, a “domesticated” zombie trained and tempered by the scientists in the lab, the kill-thirsty militia take arms and fan the flames of subterranean suspicion. Continuing his juxtaposition of man and monster, Romero clearly makes Bub the more sympathetic focal point of the film, earning the audience’s hesitant affections before letting the characters loose upon each other. Needless to say, the end is tragic, but the well-meaning zombie who was able to retain some of his humanity is the clear model for a handful of our favorite zombies in later films.
Fido (Fido)
Perhaps no homage to Bub is more evident than Fido, a comedic horror satire exploring the aftermath of a zombie outbreak on the idyllic atomosphere of 1950’s Americana. Having quelled the zombie uprising, humanity has developed a way to control the remaining zombies for home and recreational use, putting them to work doing average chores and simple, every day tasks. Portrayed by the affable British comedian Billy Connolly, the zombie affectionately named “Fido” is adopted by a typical nuclear family.
The master/pet relationship is explored between Fido and the children until a malfunction with Fido’s collar results in an accidental local outbreak. Once again contained, the family must work to protect their lovable zombie from forces looking to find the “animal” and put it down. Ultimately, Romero’s patented cynicism in films like Day of the Dead is turned on its ear as the film concludes with Fido mastering his hunger for human flesh while serving as an adopted father to the children he’s come to love and protect.
Ed (Shaun of the Dead)
Shaun of the Dead is one of those films that started out life as a cult classic and quickly rose to the top of every “Best Zombie Movie” list created over the last ten years. Simultaneously hilarious and oddly moving, the Nick Frost / Simon Pegg buddy comedy not only plays effectively with the best conventions of the genre, but develops a core relationship between the two friends that genuinely captivates the audience. These aren’t the stupid, cardboard cut-out friends seen in so many generic laughers. Together, the duo’s comedic chemistry results in a fully developed friendship that weaves through the genre staples while milking each scenario for the heights of drama and comedy.
All of which is to say that it’s tremendously effective when Ed (played by the goofily oafish Nick Frost) must sacrifice himself to ensure that Shaun (the brilliant Simon Pegg) can escape to a long and fruitful life with his girlfriend. Had the film ended there, this comedy would certainly have concluded on a destructively downer note, but the final moments in which we discover Shaun and a restrained Zombie-Ed mindlessly playing videogames in the back-yard shed is half-measures hilarious and hopeful. The lazy, meandering twenty-something and the uninspired undead are apparently not so dissimilar in the first place.
Gage Creed (Pet Sematary)
Admittedly less likable than Bub, Fido or Ed is the diminutive Gage Creed, the Achilles-slicing toddler from Stephen King’s classic Pet Sematary. Whereas the last few characters were relatively loving examples of the zombie elite, there’s no denying that Gage Creed has retuned from the grave to throw one murderous tantrum. Originally run over by an errant cargo truck, the boy’s small, broken body was interred in the Indian burial ground by his father, just past the local Pet Cemetery (misspelled on the wooden sign at the edge of the woods). Shortly thereafter, the tyke returned to terrorize his family, having made his journey back from the other side as a very different boy.
But still, played by the dough-cheeked Miko Hughs, you somehow gotta love him. Scalpel in hand, his wide-eye, mop-haired frame is still ridiculously adorable, even if he will slash your throat as you go in for a hug. It’s also worth noting that Miko Hughs also played the troubled, potentially killer child some years later in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare and appears in our own adaptation of Steve Niles' Remains to kill a few zombies of his own.
Grace (Grace)
When a distraught young widow mysteriously wills her stillborn child back to life, she couldn’t possibly know that it would have all the appetites of your typical zombie. A disturbingly effective thriller, Grace focuses on an adorable undead baby girl, requiring more than just her mother’s milk to survive. While mother and daughter push each other to greater, more horrific lengths to preserve their bond, the baby itself remains relatively unchanged.
And who doesn’t love a cute, giggly baby, right? Even if it does have a taste for human blood…And has finally started teething…
