McGee's Movie Moments: Zombies, zombies everywhere

You find yourself alone, on an eerily deserted city street, when you hear a noise behind you. You turn to look and to your horror you see a mob of zombies headed straight for you!

This is what it would be like if you found yourself in any number of current zombie flicks — the newest trend that's overtaking film screens everywhere. From terrifying zombies in the umpteenth Resident Evil flick to Nazi zombies in Dead Snow to ironic hipster zombies in Zombieland, one thing is certain: zombies are here to stay.

To some, this is perhaps a welcome change from the previous supernatural trend, by which I of course mean vampires, because as much as zombies can't communicate and are disgusting, brain-eating monsters, at least they don't sparkle, right? But for some, Hollywood's latest infatuation is getting to be a little overwhelming. You can't even turn to television for a reprieve anymore, not since the wildly popular show The Walking Dead has gained such notoriety.

I personally love zombie movies but maybe for reasons that others may not have thought of. My alltime favourite zombie flick has to be the original Night of the Living Dead. Released in 1968 at what was perhaps the height of the Cold War paranoia, Night of the Living Dead zombies were so much more than zombies. They looked exactly like you. They spoke exactly like you. Until they started trying to eat your brains, they were virtually indistinguishable from you. And any one of your closest friends or family members could be turned into one at any time. In this particular instance, of course, the zombies weren't really meant to stand for brain-eating mutants; they were a highly sophisticated allegory for communists.

Today's zombie flicks are no longer allegorical references to a war with the Soviets but they do still stand for something deeper than just brain-eating. Movies like Resident Evil, 28 Days Later and even The Walking Dead all feature zombies that were created by a virus that ravaged the earth. There is never a cure, and if you're so much as bitten or even scratched by one of them, you're finished. This idea speaks to deep-seated fears about the annihilation of mankind by something completely out of our hands.

Then again, take a look at the newest zombie movie Warm Bodies, in which zombies find a way to become human again. It's movies like this where the human spirit and desire to live and prosper against all odds are evident.

I bet you never thought zombie movies could be so deep, did you?

I guess what I'm saying is that zombie movies are so much more than just zombie movies. They are profound in a way and speak to our fears and hopes for the future. So the next time you see a flick with brain-eating creeps on screen, try to enjoy it for more than just what's on the surface.