Jay of the Dead's New Horror Movies presents Dead Man Still Walking with Dr. Walking Dead. Holy cow, listeners. It's episode 50 of Dead Man Still Walking. What was once merely a... A malformed brainchild has kind of become, you know, a living, breathing thing. Thanks. primarily to Mr. Jay of the Dead, who is joining me for this auspicious occasion. Hey, Jay. Hello, sir, and congratulations on 50 episodes of your solo cast.
50 episodes. Yes. And I was going to count how many movies that included, but I didn't. But it's more than 50 because we had a number of twofers in there. So, yeah. So, pretty good. We're working our way through zombie films. It's taking a while, actually. So, we may have... We may have 100, 150 more episodes here. Plus, can you believe it? Each year, they're making more. Still. I know, still. Even still, yes. So 2024, if you all remember that year.
A number of half decent zombie movies came out. Also a lot of crap. So I am trying to keep you all protected from the crap. either by watching it for you or pretending it doesn't exist. So there you go. Bye. That's irrelevant. What's relevant is that this is a special occasion, which is why Jay is here. Now, Jay. I'm so honored. I can't believe you asked me of all people. That's crazy. Because.
Because, Jason, you have said on numerous occasions that you actually like zombies. I'm a zombie man. But you have proven yourself. to hate zombie movies wait a second so what's that about well let me just let me make my claim publicly i still assert that this is my third zombies are my third favorite horror sub-genre And I'm not talking about sub-sub-genres like pig-headed horror, but I'm talking Beastly Freak.
Creature features are first, right? Survival horror second. Right. Zombies are third. And then probably slashers are fourth. And are there not some movies? that are creature feature survival zombie movies. Absolutely. Sorry, you like to say beastly freaks. I always say creature feature. I don't know. We mean the same thing, listeners. That's right. It's because we represent two different generations here. I am old and Jay is young.
Yeah, right. We are separated by the great 5-0. Barely. So Jay's still just a... just a youngster where I am. I am in the, I am in doc shock in Greg Amortis country. Yes, it is. It is wizened and bitter. Yes. Join us, Jay. Oh, I will in about a year. Okay. We'll have you in. Plus, I guess Dave Z is in that camp, but he seems so young. I know. I know. He's fresh. All right. Well, listeners, as much as the witty banter would entertain Jay and I, that's not what you tuned in for.
So I thought let's do something fun for the 50th and let's not do a dedicated film review. Instead, because I don't think I've ever done this. I don't think you and I have ever done this. So we are going to share. our wait for it top 10 zombie movies of all time right this is our yes okay and what do you mean by top 10 just curious Okay, that's a very good question, Jay. I have on this zombie list of mine, these are my favorites.
So I'm not going with the most historically relevant or influential. I'm not going with the highest. quality I have listed these in the order that I personally enjoy them taking into consideration those other things but primarily these are my favorites these are not necessarily the best But these are my favorites. And because they're my favorites, they are the best. Brother, brother, you perfectly encapsulated exactly what my list is as well. That's what I did. Same.
Now, what's going to be interesting is to see if any film appears on both lists. Yeah. Because... Yes. No, Jay and I both love zombie movies. That's one of the reasons why you're even listening to this, to me, is because Jay sought me out. Yes. As a zombie person, zombie guy, not zombified. Thanks to Grant Adams. Shout out, Grant Adams. Thanks, Grant Adams, for bringing us together. You were the matchmaker. Mm-hmm. A la the fiddler on the roof.
But this is the zombie in the cellar. Wow, that got weird. And right during that, there was some weird call coming in across my computer, so I apologize about that, listeners. That was good timing. Yes. So, yeah, we're just going to run these through because we're not looking at a four-hour episode here, folks. We're both on kind of a lunch break. That's right. We're just going to knock these out for you. And one last thing, if I may. I'll shut up after that. I almost cheated.
But I'm like, you know what? I'm not going to do that. I respect Kyle too much. And so I just want to say it here. I was very tempted to put in The Walking Dead season two, that episode with the barn scene and Carol, because I think that's one of the most important. I just love that's incredible. But anyways.
I just wanted to give a nod to that, although it's not in my top 10 list because it's not a zombie movie. Right. And we are limiting ourselves to movies because there are some amazing TV shows, television episodes, video games, and of course, literature and comics. So we are going to focus just on the films. But when that barn scene happened, your mouth was open, right? It was hanging agape.
It floored me. That's some of the best TV out there. Ever. And it's not what happens in the comic. So I was completely bowled over. Yes. I was surprised. No, that's. There's still good zombie stuff out there, people. Hang in with us. Things are moving. All right, so we're going to go. I'm going to have Jay go first every time because even though he's the producer, it's my show.
That's right. So I want to see what Jay has for us. And then we'll kind of go through these. I do want to just tell the audience, interestingly enough, I've covered half of my list already. So there are Dead Man Still Walking reviews for half of these, and the other half are yet to come. And so it'll be interesting to see which of Jay's list has been covered yet or not. So we'll go from there. All right. So without further ado, what is your number 10 zombie film? Okay. Number 10.
This was initially, it began as a short film, and I will still say I think the short film is I think the short film works better, but I don't care. I love the feature film as well. It is Cargo from 2017. Now, this is the film, for those who don't know, by directors Ben Howling and Yolanda Remke. Now, who...
The thing is, I'm just going to say, because we are, as Kyle said, we're on a lunch break. We're going to be talking about 20 films within an hour, so I'm going to keep all this short, but I'll just summarize, Kyle, why it's great. To me, Cargo Capture is one of the great... conceptual horrors of not only zombie cinema, but also real life horrors in everyday life. And that is
Who's going to care for my dependents and protect them in this dangerous world if I happen to check out early? And this resonates with me on so many levels because... I lost my dad at a young age, and then I also, while growing up, I encountered parents who had children with special needs or disabilities.
And these parents were always worried about the same thing, and that is, who's going to take care of my kid when I'm gone? And that's exactly the premise here. We've got a dad who is infected, and he's got a baby, and he's got to figure out. where am I going to leave this baby for when I turn? And that is so powerful to me. I love it. Martin Freeman brings it.
There you go. It's an amazing movie. And it does resonate, I think, with the dads among us. The dads who have had infant daughters in their arms at some point. And it's really gripping. I'd also like to mention because of something I've shouted out on another episode. woman writer. The zombie cinematic universe is largely dominated by men.
And so this one's kind of cool. Not only is it it's about fatherhood, but it's written by a woman. I just think that's kind of cool. Yes. So it's a little bit more focused on nurturing and caring and a little less on. brain bashing so very cool very cool all right my number 10 my number 10 is a is a throwback episode and i've been Deeply influenced by Ian Urza here. This is the 1981 Et tu vivras nel terrore.
Which is Lucio Filci's The Beyond. Now, this shows, Jay, this shows my maturation as an individual. Uh-huh. 15 years ago, I would have said, this isn't a zombie movie. Because I used to be really pretty particular about what was a zombie and what wasn't a zombie. But I have come to appreciate the Italian horror better. So a little shout out to Black Glove Mysteries over there with Ian and Greg. I really like the Beyond. It's really creepy. It's got a great...
kind of mood and tone. It's got gooey, drippy, oozy zombies. And not zombie related, but one of the worst spider sequences of all time. Oh my gosh, I hate that scene. Oh, I know, right? You could show that to an arachnophobe person and lose it. It's the worst. But the film is super cool. And it is a little bit of an outlier. And that's one of the reasons I like it. But any of the films on my top 10, honestly...
I could watch right after we finish recording, and I would be perfectly happy to watch them again. So that's kind of an unofficial criteria. So there you go. Full Cheese of the Beyond, my number 10. Excellent. That's a great choice, and what an incredible film. It packs a punch, brother. Yeah, it does. I back you. Okay. Well, my number nine, you're going to freak out. Okay. Okay. And that is Night of the Living Dead 1968. Okay. And sure, it is
historically significant. It's had great influence, but this is on my list for a couple of specific reasons. Number one, it has three sieges at least according to my memory yeah um that happened there's a there's a siege with the bill hinesman the cemetery zombie when she's in the car Barbara. And he's trying to bang and get in the car. And then, of course, there's the siege on the house. And then it reduces to a siege.
in the basement. Man, that's so exciting. I love sieges, especially when we're talking about an amassing gathering horde on the outside. So this, this film is one of the films that does that the best. So it's probably my second favorite example of a siege. First favorite is Cujo. But anyways, also the black and white of this film.
just makes it truly nightmarish. It feels like a nightmare when I watch this. And finally, because I'm kind of a sicko and I have to, spoilers for Night of the Living Dead, but the fact that the daughter... is digging into the mother's womb with a trowel or that spade thing or whatever it is. That is so upsetting and disturbing. It still bothers me, everybody. So yeah, Night of the Living Dead number nine. Wow. Yeah.
And I figured it would show up on your list because that's the film that made the zombie siege narrative a thing. Yeah, I'm not Macula or anything. No. Just kidding. Oh, Mac, come on. The black and white is amazing. The siege narrative is amazing. And as I've said before, it draws a lot on the birds from Hitchcock. But there is that sense of tension and foreboding.
Yeah, I think I'm with you, man. I love the siege. Big time. So great pick there. Awesome. Thank you. My number nine is a somewhat controversial pick. but the more i've uh i've delved into this film the more i enjoy it and this is a recent film 2021 This is also an international film. Kubai, or The Sadness, by Rob Jabaz. Oh, I'm impressed that you put this on there, Kyle. I really am. Well, here's the thing. The Sadness is... is over the top. I mean, I haven't seen them all yet.
But right now, the sadness is coming in as the most gory, violent, realistically gory, violent, bleak, depressing zombie film out there.
I think Dead Alive from Jackson is the most blood, but it's comedic. Right. This one is brutal. Now, when I first saw it, I was mostly just in shock and didn't know what to do with myself. But I've since... written a paper about it that's coming out eventually it hasn't been published yet but once I delved into it and analyzed it a little bit more in terms of what it's saying about
Human nature and sin and zombie-ness, the more I've enjoyed it. So it is a Taiwanese film, which is super cool. Although strangely, maybe it's not strange, but it's directed by a Canadian. So I don't know if it was written. He wrote it too. So this Canadian writes and directs it and says, there's no way Canada's making this. I'm going to go to Taiwan where there's like no rules. That's my only theory.
This is not for the rookie. This is not the zombie movie you start with, folks. But if you are... If you are a tried-and-true horror fan and slasher fan, you're going to be okay with this one. But it is brutal, and it is... Horrible. But in a good way. I back you. And I still stand by this. It's a true story. The first time I saw this. I had to pause and I'm hardcore. I consider myself hardcore. I had to pause it for a minute and just kind of take a breather for a second.
And then hit play again. That's what happened. True story. I did want to mention it is very similar to a comic series called The Crossed. The Crossed is more brutal. Wow. And more shocking. Wow. I had to look at the first issue of that and it was like, whoa, okay. So the sadness could have gone further. So, there's that. But does it need to? No. Right. All right. Jay, number eight. All right, number eight. I think this will show up on most zombie fans' lists. How could it not?
And it is Lucio Fulci's 1979 zombie or AKA zombie two. I've always loved that. Um, I'm telling you like from the poster art from. I mean, all the obvious reasons, honestly. Because, and Kyle, I've been objective about this film, I think. I've tried to be objective, at least. Because in terms of its moviness and so forth, I don't think it's overall all that compelling. However...
It has a collection of things in it that are just absolutely mind-boggling, historic, and talk about cinematic oddity from the zombie versus shark scene where a dude actually punches a shark underwater. Ill-advised, everybody. But he goes for it and he does that. And that is just freaking hilarious. And then, of course, the infamous eyeball gouge scene. Incredible. And then I just love these zombies.
are ooey gooey but also they look like what i would have pictured rotting corpse and I mean they come up from the grave they come up from underground And they look exactly what I would think a real life zombie would look like. So I, for those reasons, this has got to be on the list. Zombie is my number eight. That's amazing. Yeah. Fulci. Fulci can bring it. And they are. These are really gross zombies.
which is the whole point. But dude, you said it, but I have to re-say it. Fulci was like, I want a zombie fighting a great white, so I'll just have somebody fight a great white. There's no special effects. It's a guy fighting a shark. Yeah. Yeah, you can't pass up on that one. So yeah, that is Zombie. Of course, it's called Zombie 2 to take advantage of pretending to be a Dawn of the Dead sequel.
I can't speak. Which is hilarious, right? Because it wasn't called Dawn of the Dead 2. That's just funny to me. I don't know. No, it's funny to me too. Okay. All right. So my number eight is. Zombie 2! Yes! Not only did we have one in common, it's at the same spot. Right. So, yeah. So there you go, folks. There is a mutual agreement that Full Cheese Zombie is officially the eighth most enjoyable zombie movie ever made. Yes. We have it all.
worked out for you that's right so yeah when we get these overlaps then we'll just move right on because we've already talked about them so okay fair what is your number seven all right well to my shame and when i first saw this film I was just like, you know, I was okay. It was decent. I appreciated it, but not nearly what I should have. But I will say it boldly and I will continue to declare it thus. This is the Citizen Kane of zombie movies.
It is The Ford Brothers' The Dead from 2010. This is a British zombie film. And yes, when I call it film rather than movie, I mean it. Written and directed by the Ford Brothers. shot on the continent of Africa. I think specifically it was in Burkina Faso in Ghana, if I read that correctly. I actually bought, I purchased the book about their, because this has a horrific... horrific production story where they just had so many problems with this.
In fact, like one of the filmmakers got malaria and almost died. And like they had all kind of like criminal encounters and stuff. And it was brutal. I mean, cause they were traveling and, but here's the thing. I want people to know this. These dudes, they decided, they're like, you know what? We are going to make an incredible zombie film. It's going to be shot on film. They went to this.
what I would consider, for me at least, an exotic location that looks the part. They cast the locals. They actually cast amputees so they're people without in this acting as zombies. And I just love that the zombies have these crystal blue eyes. And to me, Kyle, this movie gets back to the basics. It's a very simple story. It's like a...
kind of a road movie. It's almost an adventure of sorts trying to get from A to B across this zombie landscape. And I'm just going to say it like horror films are often low budget. especially zombie horror films. But this thing looks fantastic and it is the Citizen Kane of zombie movies. Wow. Well done.
Yeah, I own this film because of you. Yes, I thought you should have it, sir. Yeah, you gave it to me. I need to revisit it, and I will for the show. It's a 2010 film. We haven't gotten to it yet. So I have seen this once and it is brutal and it is starkly realistic. It's also very noteworthy, as you said, because it's an African zombie movie. And even though the origin of the zombie comes from Africa, there really aren't African zombie movies.
And so it looks almost documentary-like. Yes. It's very raw. It's very realistic. And it is primarily, like you said, this road trip movie, which... Since 2010, since 2000, increasingly zombie movies have been road trips, not siege narratives. Yes, sir. So, yeah, great pick. I do need to revisit that one. Thank you. Well done. All right. So my number seven is Night of the Living Dead. Ooh.
So you might be surprised that Night of the Living Dead is that low on my list. I am, actually. So yeah, it's number seven, but pretty much for the same reason you... put it lower on your list. I do love it. I mean, obviously it's super important. Obviously, it changed the landscape and it kind of rewrote what the zombie was and how the zombie worked. And I do love the film. Now, maybe it's because I've seen it.
two dozen times because I've introduced it at screenings I've written about it a lot I'm a little it's okay to say it I'm a little tired Right. So because of the nature of my criteria, that's why it's down at seven. But it's obviously... hugely important. And you've seen it in every single horror film ever made, right? They have it in the background playing there as well. Well, it's because it's in the public domain. Everybody can have their way with it.
But it's great. And if you haven't seen Night of the Living Dead, you've got to do your homework and you've got to watch it. And on some level, you really have to enjoy it. Macula. Yeah. All right. So we'll just move straight on to your number six then. All right. I'm going to continue beating the drum for this baby. I just, I love this film.
Kyle, in my heart, I just feel like there's something. This is such an important film. It's from 2017. It is called The Cured. And this is one of these zombie films where it's... Sort of after the zombie pandemic where society has begun to rebuild again because a cure has been discovered. But more importantly, and I don't, I'm pretty sure this isn't a spoiler, Kyle, but you can tell me if you think it is.
But those who are cured from the zombie virus, unfortunately, can still remember all the heinous acts of violence and cannibalism that they committed while they were infected. And so, of course, the cured are very afflicted, even though they are back to being human beings again. And I just, I think this film is tremendous because I, Correct me if I'm wrong, Kyle. I don't think we've gotten that many films from this perspective. I did find one when I was double checking and building my list.
that I wanted to look at. And I don't think it's going to be on this level. It's called The Returned from 2013. I don't think it'll be this same level of goodness, but But this is right up there in my timeline. There are films that I watch that I prefer of before the zombie outbreak happens or right as it's starting and then in the midst of the zombie outbreak.
And that's my number one film. And then after the zombie outbreak, and this is the one that I put in that slot. It is called The Cured from 2017. Okay, you brought this one to my attention as well. Because I, this is embarrassing, but I had seen it and I think you told me about it. So I watched it again, not realizing I had seen it. but once I hit well and this is like you said is it spoiler no I don't think it's spoiler the zombies
do this kind of noise, which is really disturbing and upsetting. And it, it stuck with me. So once the zombies started doing this kind of heavy breathing panting thing, then I immediately remembered, oh my gosh, I'd seen this one. And when I was doing my research into zombie narratives initially, like 20 years ago. One of the things I did wonder at was the lack of any movies that explored Cure.
It's like, we're not going to even bother trying to cure him. We're just going to kill him. So, yes, The Return does it. The Cure does it very, very well. And the TV show out of England, In the Flesh, does it. And that's pretty much all I know. right now. So a little spoiler, The Cure didn't make my list, and here's the reason why. I find it very hard to watch. It's because it is about trauma.
It's about the inability to reintegrate into society and people being bigoted and violent and discriminatory. So you can read all the social metaphors there, right? And it's hard. It's hard to watch. And this is particularly poignant, and I just want to put this out there as respectfully as possible to all the listeners. But I think it's especially poignant because of what you just said. At the time of this film's release...
The lead actor identified as Ellen Page and played a female character named Abby. But as of 2020, this actor now identifies as a transgender man and goes by Elliot Page. And so even within this actor's life, there's perhaps a bit of that whole... the theme that you're talking about. And so I wonder, because I don't know what it is, Kyle, I'm speculating, but I think there's something about the performance, there's the tone, and you're right, this is a heavy film.
But I'm telling, I'm just declaring, I think this is an important zombie film. And I hope everybody. checks it out yeah it's it is important and it is it's like a grown-up zombie movie so great pick great pick uh so that we're on six yeah yes sir so my six is a little-known Australian film called Cargo, which you have already mentioned. I'm so happy. No, I love Cargo. I love it, like I already said. I love that it's about a father.
taking care of his kid no matter what, right? That complete selflessness that goes into it. I like the variation on the zombie in it as well. I think that... There's some cool little elements that they've added to the otherwise familiar Romero zombie, which makes it particularly creepy, especially when you fold in some of the aboriginal beliefs.
So it's a great one. Check it out. Great lead actor. Do you agree? Do you feel that the short film works better than the feature length film? I'll let you know. Oh, okay. Okay. Nice. Bad scholarship from The Doctor. I have not seen the short yet, but I'm going to watch it. Cool, cool. You know what's funny? And I only say this because you're going to be razzing me a bunch here really soon, shortly. So, I just want to say I am shocked, absolutely shocked.
Night of the Living Dead is higher on my list than Cargo. And Cargo is higher than Night of the Living Dead on your list. But I think it's what you said. You're probably just very over familiar with Night of the Living Dead. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. No, that's part of it. But, you know, so far so good. Yeah, I'm not shaming you, but you're going to shame me very soon, I think. Oh sweet, bring it on.
What's your number five? Dare you share it? Yes, yes. Okay, here it goes. I'm going to buckle up. It is apparently... Every other zombie fan's number one all-time favorite zombie movie, Dawn of the Dead 1978. What? It is my number five. What? Wait, it's on your list at all? Of course. Yeah. Okay, please. Yeah. So tell me more. Yeah, it is. It is both my number five. And I don't say this to a lot of times on these podcasts. I say things to provoke people.
That's true. I'm not saying this to provoke anyone. I just want to say it is my number five, but I also think that it is simultaneously perhaps the most overrated zombie movie of all time. But the way this thing begins, if it I mean, if it just kept up what it does in the first act, it is a 10. That first act is so strong. And I am just like.
on the edge of my seat. I love it. But man, and I've said it before, Kyle, I'm sorry. It puts me to sleep in the middle. I'm so sorry. I feel terrible. But literally, folks, every single time I watch this movie, no matter what, I fall asleep. I love the bluish or grayish zombies. I do love this film, and it's not because of obligatory love or anything. I think it's a killer, cool zombie movie, but it's my number five. Well...
I'm speechless because I honestly didn't think it would make your list at all. Because you have, on occasion, belabored your sleepiness. Yes. And the film's somewhat general boringness. So I'm impressed. Yeah, I'm super glad that it made your list. Thank you. It is a great film. And yes, you are correct in putting it higher than night. You know, some people are going to say Night of the Living Dead is holy, but...
He was still figuring out his craft. And Dawn of the Dead is much, much more effective. But I do agree with you that the beginning and the end is the money. Oh, yeah. The middle. becomes a little bit more of a social drama and and it gets a little uh almost indulgent but yeah i mean the the rest of what's going on is it's just yeah yes
All right. As I've been looking at my list and listening to you and kind of considering your list, I'm realizing that I have a tremendous number of international foreign... zombie movies on my list. And so, yeah, honestly, I only have two zombie movies from the United States on my entire list.
I think that speaks to your widespread having seen so much of the genre, you know? Yeah, I do too, because I think I've covered a lot of the U.S. films a lot but I also think that the US is more likely to play it safe uh because of marketing forces and that could be you know somebody's dissertation so i'm not going to go into that but there is this sense of you know do what works and i think the u.s has seen a little bit better success with zombie television
than zombie movies for whatever reason. Mm-hmm. So I have taken you to Italy twice. to australia and now we're going to go over to south korea which and this is a lot of people's favorite it is Busan Heng. It is Train to Busan by Zhong Seng Ho. This...
Honestly, given the day, this could be higher on my list. Sure. It's such a great... film because of the story and the construction and and the narrative uh it's super well made and then i don't know i'm sure we've talked about this at some point jay I'm a sucker for a train narrative. I love train films because... Obviously, they have a built-in impetus because you're moving. But also, it's fascinating to me to make a movie in such small, confined spaces. Yeah.
And you get this kind of natural movement because in all these train movies, people are trying to get from one end of the train to the other. And going through the train cars. And the way this film does it with each train car is like a different short film. Yes. It's almost like an anthology of itself. Excellent description. Love that. And it's another movie about a dad trying to protect his daughter.
And so I do love that. And my favorite isn't the lead, though. It's the other guy, Sang-wa, played by Ma Dong-soo. The big, strong, tough guy? The big, strong, tough guy. I love that dude. But the way the zombies... turn the way they move and some people are getting sick of the bone cracking contortionist zombies but I think in this film they are super super super scary yes so I love not only that this is a zombie movie I love its depiction of the kind of apocalypse
and the really rapid decay of society. So if you haven't seen Train to Busan, do yourself a favor. I think... Looking at my list, I would say if people haven't seen any of the movies on my list, this is the one to start with. I think that this is one that most people are going to really respond to because it's a great flick. I don't think I've ever met anybody who's seen this film that didn't really enjoy it and love it. And Kyle, I have so much confliction.
No, whatever the word is. I have so much inside that I'm like, you know. Because this is my number 11. I could not bump anything out of my 10 to get this in my 10, and I felt terrible about it. So I'm glad you included it. Yeah, but man, it hurts not having it on my list. It's number 11 for me, but boy, great pick. That's all right. All right. So what's your four? All right, brother. This is.
This is where you come in mad because of my number five was Dawn of the Dead 1978. My number four is Dawn of the Dead. 2004 I know I know. Boo, hiss, J of the dead. But here's the thing. Okay. Zack Snyder. You may not like what he did with the DC universe. That's fine. I appreciate that. But I do love what he did here. You got to give me one thing on this. This has a terrifyingly creepy intro, though the curtain raiser for this film is incredible. And I just think.
This has what I wanted or was hoping would continue to have in 1978 Dawn of the Dead. I mean, I just feel like there's a lot more. For the modern viewer, the MTV generation viewer, like me, for example, I'm Gen X, but I grew up in the MTV generation where there's a little bit faster editing and a little bit, I mean, this one keeps me awake.
And, and I think it's fun and entertaining and man, I love this movie and I think it's creepy too. So do you not love, do you not, you don't like Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead? First off, as you get older, my friend... Staying awake has become a higher criteria for you than it used to be. Just pointing that out there. Maybe you need a CPAP machine. Yeah, maybe I do. Post-production notes. This is a funny little post-production note here for you.
And that little exchange that you just heard right here, that finally convinced me to look into a sleep apnea study. And it turns out that yes, Dr. Walking Dead, he is a doctor after all, Dr. Bishop. was right. I did need a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. So I just wanted to publicly thank Dr. Bishop for his inspired prescribing right there. Okay, back to the show. No, I like the Snyder Dawn of the Dead. I do, because you're right. The first 10 minutes is gold. Yes. And when this film came out,
It was like the first zombie movie that actually showed everything go to crap. So you actually see this kind of collapse of society. Now, because up until then, we were getting a little bit of a cliche, which was. you go to bed, you wake up, and it's the apocalypse. But in a lot of those cliches, you wake up and the apocalypse is over. Now, this film does the same thing, but not until we've seen a good chunk of it. And the way Snyder films that with his kind of moving camera.
And that kind of very raw, realistic driving through the neighborhood. I think it's really, really brilliant. And in fact, I'm working on a paper about zombie outbreaks.
in which this is one of the primary texts I'm considering. So I do love that. Yeah, go ahead. Forgive me. I just want to insert something. I hope that in that paper, at least maybe for preview, you will... revisit if you haven't already what we become because that is one of my favorite pre-outbreak at the beginning outbreak zombie films but Cool. That sounded dismissive. No, I'm like,
Well, I realize it's like, what am I telling him for? He knows. He knows like all this stuff. I have to pull it up to make sure I remember which one it is. What we become. Yeah, I got it. Okay. I have not reviewed it yet. but it's on the list and i have i have seen it before i think it's a good poster too i don't know how it is you would feel but yeah for that for that paper you're talking about though because that that hits right at the beginning of the outbreak
Awesome. Back to Dawn of the Dead. I will say, okay, well, I'll give you a pro and con or con and pro. Okay. This is, it's a remake of Dawn of the Dead. So we have raised dead. These are actual dead critters. But they are the ferocious, feral, fast-moving zombies. Yes. And I don't – this is super hair-splitty. I like my fast zombies to be infected, and I like my dead zombies to be slow. Hmm. I've never considered such a question, but I can see why you would feel that way.
I prefer fast all the time, but I can see why you would want a raised dead zombie. to be slower because, well, and I'm not going to get into the physics of something that is not real, but, but, you know, a reanimated corpse would probably be a little sluggish. I have come around a little bit on Dawn of the Dead.
from Snyder because initially I thought, look, the problem is these guys aren't, they're not scary because they're zombies. They're scary because they're like wild animals. They're kind of like, you know, lions and tigers and stuff. But I've come around. I love Ving Rhames in this. I also love that this was like the first film that really went there with Zombie Baby. Yes. That's just...
Oh, so good. But yeah, when you look at the cast, I mean, Sarah Pauly has gone on to do amazing things and win an Oscar. And Maka Pfeiffer, he was not much when this came out. I think he was just doing ER. But now he's become kind of a force to be reckoned with. So I like it. I really love the ending. Kind of the credit sequence. I think it does build off of what we get from Romero. And now I haven't seen it in a while. Romero gives us a happy...
shopping montage and then a sad shopping montage. I think this film only gives us the happy shopping montage. But whatever. It's still cool. All the stuff with them all still works. So, no, I'm not going to make fun of you. Okay. This one did not make my list. But I do think it is a worthy contender. And technically, Internet Movie Database viewers have the Romero higher, but only by 0.6. 0.6. That's not bad.
But most people I've talked to prefer the Snyder for the reasons that you've said. Interesting. Okay. Well done. Thank you. All right. So that was your four? Yes. I'm old. All right. So as we continue our worldwide tour. My number four is going to take us to Japan that has had a number of interesting zombie movies. And this is a controversial pick, and I'll openly admit it, but it's one of my favorite.
zombie movies. It is One Cut of the Dead by Shinichiro Uda. And it is Kamara Otamerona. Okay, why is it controversial? It's a mockumentary. It's a comedy. And it really is like, if my list were to play one of these is not like the others, it's this one. It really is an outlier. And I recognize that. And so I kind of go back and forth on this one. Should I cut it because it doesn't really fulfill the criteria of the other films?
I could get another horror film on there, one of the excellent choices that you've mentioned that haven't appeared on my list. But then it just comes down to, if I'm going to watch a zombie movie, I really like watching this one. And this is the one I would most enjoy watching with people who've never seen it before. So I am going to give just a little bit of love to the zombity. There are a lot of zombie comedies out there, and a lot of them are terrible.
I think this one is super good. I think it's super clever. I do like found footage and I like what this does to the found footage. convention. And so I think it's clever in terms of both found footage and zombie. So I can't recommend it enough. It's on AMC+.
so there you go well I was gonna you know actually you know I guess support your pick as well because The thing is, I don't know what your three, two and one picks are, but if it is, I mean, I think of the two of us, you're going to be the one that's going to be willing to represent a zombie comedy. And because there are so many, Kyle, I'm glad that it's represented today among these lists. All right. That was very diplomatic. Well, thank you. So, I give you props for that, brother. Thanks.
All right. Well, this one might be controversial. I don't know if Dr. Walking Dead is going to try to tell me that these monsters aren't zombies, but... For me, my number three happens to be my all-time scariest horror movie, period. Pet Sematary, 1989. directed by Mary Lambert. And I don't know, Kyle, I'm sure he's going to tell me whether these are zombies or not. But let me just say...
To me, I feel like they are technically zombies. I'm sure you're going to straighten me out, but it seems that way to me because the people die, they are buried, and then they are reanimated and resurrected. And they are not the same. They are like screwed up and they come back and they are violent. And it does seem like they've lost some of their autonomy and their agency. But what say you, sir? I'm curious. All right. Prepare to be disappointed. Okay, great.
I don't know. I've struggled with this film. I didn't think you were going to say you don't know. I thought you were going to say, no, Jay, you're an idiot. I've struggled with this film because of what you just said. Now, initially, I would have said, no way, this isn't a zombie movie at all. It's a resurrected film. It's a folk horror film. These things aren't zombies in the way we understand zombies. But now the term zombie has become so fluid.
And who am I to say who's right and who's wrong? I'm not the gatekeeper of what a zombie is. And you make the point, right? We're raising the dead and they are monsters. in their abilities. So these are not Frankenstein-like characters. They are not true resurrected characters because with resurrection you come back normal. Right. And you do get a lot of those in some of the recent cinema. But these are...
They're monstrous in certain ways, and they're really tragic in certain ways. And I knew this was going to be high on your list, because we've talked about this, and I know your love of Pet Sematary. Yeah. For what it's worth, Internet Movie Database calls this folk horror tragedy fantasy horror thriller. It doesn't say zombie, but... They don't know. Who are they? Yeah, well, so my two things, two things I would add for your consideration is...
For whatever reason, because they are raised through a, I guess a, what would you call it? Like a, man, my words are gone through this ceremonial process, so to speak. for whatever reason they remind me back to like the voodoo zombie days um a little bit and also what we have here in this film which is recurring by the way recurring theme is
this is my loved one. I love this person, but they're actually trying to harm me and hurt me. And it's that heartbreak I want to love and accept and welcome and protect. I need this person. I can't lose this person. but they're actually trying to eat my face, you know? So, and the other thing is, I mean, I could go on about the movie. I won't, but I'm just saying this has tons of different levels of horror, but I do see the zombie in there.
Alright, well here's a different answer to your question. Okay. It is on... my to-do list for the show. And it has been. I didn't change it just now because of what you said. No, I was always going to cover this on Dead Man Still Walking because I think it is zombie enough. And when I revisit it, I may be able to come down more firmly at the old, is it a zombie game? And not just to placate you, but to be really serious about it, take it seriously. So I think it's a valid entry.
I think it's a very gripping story and it's pretty upsetting as a dad. Yes. So there's that too. So good on you. No, no mockery. All right. No fight. Yeah. We're compadres. All right. Good. All right. So my number three, I think there's a chance it's in your top two. I think there's a chance, but I could be off. My number three was controversial at the time. It's now universally accepted and embraced.
And it is the film that launched what I like to call the zombie renaissance. I am, of course, talking about Danny Boyles, 28 Days Later, from 2002. Nice pick. Which will soon be revisited in the very exciting 28 years later. Yes. a teaser trailer for which just dropped from our timeline which is very scary and does not have any spoilers
from what I can tell. No, and it looks like they may have monkeyed a little bit with the initial mythology, which I'm fine with, because we're talking 28 years later. That's right. And it is almost been 28 years now, in fact, so that's crazy. But yeah, I love this one because it does introduce the viral zombie. It introduces a different kind. Well, this is pre-Zach Snyder, so this does kind of introduce the fast zombie.
And it's very apocalyptic and very bleak and very, very Danny Boyle. So I'm a big fan of this 28 Days Later. Excellent pick. I back you, brother. Proud of you for having that on your list, too. Thanks. So excited. So is it your number two? Well, my number two is a George Romero film. In fact, my namesake, Day of the Dead, 1985. And for my money...
For me, it is the very best of the Romero zombie films. And I think this is this is an example to me. I would put this up there as the best government versus scientists type of. situation there's something have you ever been stuck in like a fever dream or a nightmare where it's like you kind of know you're in a bad dream and it's because you're sick and you're trying to wake up and You just can't get out of it. That is how I feel when I watch this film.
It is so unsettling. This movie gets under my skin. It just feels like a bad place to be, but in a fun horror movie way. It's not awful, but I just feel like... I feel like things are very grim and I am doomed when I watch this movie. I love, I love this film. It's a 10 to me day of the dead, 1985. I do love Day of the Dead. It took me a little while to warm to it.
I don't know why, but as I revisited it, I started to like it a lot more. Plus, I think this is where Savini really goes for broke. The zombies are very gross, and the lab zombies are shocking. And it's super, super important to people because of Bub. This is where we start getting zombies that might be thinking or at the very least remembering so i do like that as well and i would i would hazard to guess that among the horror avengers They're likely more of
of us that prefer day of the dead to dawn of the dead because i've heard a lot of people talk very very highly of day i know doc shock and i prefer dawn but it's a great film i think greg is with me on this one i think he is too yeah and i'm gonna I have slated to review this soon. It'll probably come out this year. But Gilman wanted to talk about it with me. Nice. So Gilman and I will be looking at Day of the Dead. So well done. That's great. No arguments. Thank you. No arguments yet.
That's all right. Okay, so my number two, I love number two so much. And I already said I was going to have one comedy on here. That's because I don't think this is a comedy comedy. But I am talking about Shaun of the Dead. shot of the dead 2004 yeah a love letter to romero
Edgar Wright at his best with Simon Pegg writing, who also has a deep love and appreciation of zombie movies. It's hard for me to nail it down because obviously it's hilarious. Obviously there's a lot of comedy and irreverence to it. But the horror is really horror. It's not horror light. It's not silly horror. It's horrifying. Yes. And it does have a fun kind of romantic comedy angle. But even that is often very severe and very serious.
And so I really, really love it. I also love it because this is a weird trivia point. This is the film that introduced me to Bill Nighy. who is one of my favorite actors of all time. I just love that dude. And this is the movie that got me started there. And this is one of the ones that really got me thinking about how the zombie movie reflects. 21st century society as opposed to 20th century society because it has some amazing montages and a great kind of
stilted road trip. And it said so much, right? So we're in a home, we're in a mall, we're in a bunker, we're in a pub. Yes. Right? It's such a great development of what Romero started. Number two, Shaun of the Dead. Check it out. Brother, I'm with you. That is a brilliant movie. And among my list of, I'm typically not a comedy horror guy, but if I were to make a list of comedy horror films,
And this would be in my top 20 zombie movies. Just putting it out there. Okay. Number one, right? Here we go. All right. I know. Wait. It's Anna versus the Apocalypse. No, but I know you love that one. And it's a Christmas one, too. Yeah, exactly. Anyways. So yeah, my number one, this is... And in fact, it was difficult for me because there's not much room on a top 10 list.
to not also include its sequel but since this one is represented I had to leave it at that because I mean I already had to not include Train to Busan but of course it is 28 days later, 2002. Yeah, there it is. Oh man, this is to me. Kyle, while Pet Sematary is my scariest horror film overall these are my scariest zombies yeah and I love this film for many reasons I won't go on and on I will just say freaks me out there are so the tragic
things that happen in this film. There's a father-daughter, and that bothers me so much. That sequence upsets me. And it has a horror film within a horror film. which is something that happens later on. with the ladies in this film. Man, this is incredible to me. This is a 10. I love this movie. It's actually in my all time top 10 favorite horror movies. I think it's like my number three of all time. That is amazing. That warms my heart. I do love this movie. And of the ones on my list,
Except maybe the sadness, this might be the scariest one. Yes. And so, yeah, I mean, I already... talked about it. I think this is just a banger film, as the kids say. So this is interesting. Before I reveal my obvious number one, we had five films in common. So half of each of our lists were shared films. So I think that's pretty great. So that means we are giving the viewers
15 recommendations, which is really great. And honestly, the five films you had that I didn't, I like all of them. Thank you. So we didn't end up clashing the way people were hoping. And that makes me feel like I'm on the right track. If I had five in common with you, I'm like, oh, okay. Well, maybe I'm not a total idiot. We did all right there. Thank you. All right. Well, my number one is Dawn of the Dead. And it's no surprise. I've talked about it a lot. And because I just think.
got everything right and it really solidified everything that was going on but I'm going to say something controversial because that's what I'm trying to do today and you're talking about the 1978 I'm talking about 78 okay just make a check it is possible that it will not remain
my number one as I get older it may be that something shifts but right now it's on there and it's on there a little bit for nostalgia not gonna lie but I just think that that is the movie that really gets it gets it right and lays it down There's some newer zombie movies coming out that are doing interesting things and pushing things in different directions. And there's also a conversation to be had about some of the TV because Walking Dead had its day and it was really important.
But this, The Last of Us, is really making an impression on the world. So we're going to see where that goes. Now, on our next episode, I'm going to cover Apocalypse Z, which is a recent Spanish film. which is really interesting. And then I'm going to look at the one that's getting a lot of critical attention in 2024, which is called Die Alone. So the next two episodes, I'm going to give you some new ones, and they're very different from Dawn of the Dead. So, you know, can you?
Now, if we do this again, we may have an entirely different list. Just throwing that out there. Nice. So there you go, folks. You have it from the authorities. That is that Jay and I have laid down our top 10 zombie films. by all means chime in with your own perspective, rebuttals, recommendations. You can do so on our website. You can email me directly. You can engage with us on the social medias where we're out there. We're contactable. Love to hear what other people think.
Thank you so much for dedicating your lunch break to me today. And this was fabulous. Thanks so much. My pleasure. Thank you for the invite. I was honored to be here. with the new transistor was trying to drive away in a vehicle that is now on fire.