The zombie craze has taken hold of the country. It happened a few years ago, and really reached its pinnacle when the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established their zombie apocalypse preparedness plan. So what does this mean? It may mean that a 12-year-old boy is the director of FEMA. Or, it could mean that the zombie genre of horror has firmly entrenched itself in our culture. Or at least, in consumer culture.
The “front man” to the modern iteration of zombie horror is “The Walking Dead.”
With slick production values, well-done performances and excellent storylines, it’s no wonder that the show has taken off like it has.
Releasing it during the Halloween season isn’t a mistake either.
“The Walking Dead” is more about survival than other themes that may permeate the genre. It doesn’t really come down too heavy-handed when it comes to this theme. Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ back in 1968 was a commentary on both communism and race as relating to the civil rights movement. However, “The Walking Dead” steers away from such social commentary and asks more basic questions. The one that comes up time and again would be, “if you are driven to survive, what would you do to ensure your safety? Or the safety of those you love?”
Many of the situations the characters find themselves in are truly sphincter-clenching, and it seems like anybody can die, at any time. Not so much as “Game of Thrones,” but still. There is a certain peril that everybody has looming over them. And as previous seasons have shown, a beloved character can be eaten by hordes of the undead at the drop of a hat.
You can grab the previous episodes easily on Netflix. If you have the means, this show comes highly recommended. If you can manage to watch it with all the lights off, so much the better.