ZAMP 341 - 2025 ZAMP Zombie Awards

I'm a zombie! I've been bitten! You're listening to the survival You're all going to die, Down. This is Zombies 8 My Podcast. Hello and welcome back to Zombies 8 My Podcast, our first episode of 2026. I'm your host, Ryan Murphy, and joining me as always is the busy zombie lore DuPage. How's it going, Lou? I survived the holidays, and it seems like you did too.

I did. I survived the holidays. Uh we were talking pre show about like, oh, how long has it been? It's been a month. And then we were gonna record two weeks ago, but two weeks ago feels like forever ago. So Yeah, the holidays were busy. It was gonna be New Year's Day, I think, that we were recorded, or the day after New Year's Day or something. And we discussed it. We were like, yeah, I'm still recovering. I don't think I'm gonna be able to do this.

Yeah, and I usually have the kids at my parents for the week after Christmas and that didn't happen. So like that whole week. got thrown upside down. It was uh I think my father in law was supposed to come, but it was kind of up in the air.

And we didn't know if he was coming or not. So when you said something about having to watch kids, it was like, That's cool. I gotta clean the house and I don't know if I've got company at coming. I may even have company that night. I don't know what's going on. Yeah. And uh we we don't have we didn't have much prep work. Uh we did we're not uh actually gonna be discussing a movie or T V show. We're gonna be doing our first official Zamp Zombie Awards.

Which uh is gonna go through best zombie video game, uh, best zombie movie, TV show, uh best old zombie content. And this is all content that we covered or enjoyed in twenty twenty five. And yeah, that's gonna be our main topic. Uh obviously we have a bunch of news as well uh from the last month and it has been busy. Some of our stories even got upgrades.

uh over the last couple of weeks. As we were prepping to record too. Yes, we watched a trailer right before we started because I was like, We better Google this. What kind of movie comes out in February and and just has a poster? Oh, there's a trailer and it just hit yesterday, so Who watched that. Uh, but before we get into the news, I wanted to thank everyone who donated to our Extra Life campaign, which is now concluded for 2025.

Uh stay tuned for some excellent zombie content powered by our extra life donations. We had a lot of Zamp choice. uh donations. So we're gonna be slowly chipping away at those, including uh Cooties and Bride of Reanimator in the coming months. So look forward to that. But without further delay, let's get to the news because we have a lot to cover. The virus has completely devastated over a hundred and fifty of the world's major regions and and is spreading rapidly.

This first story here is probably gonna show how long it's been since we recorded, but uh it was we were recording, I think, as the game awards. were airing. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And that where there was a trailer for Resident Evil Requiem which confirmed that Leon would return as a playable character in Resident Evil Requiem.

Uh we we didn't talk about it on the show. I think we may have referenced it as something we would talk about on the next episode. So we got that trailer and then we also got a showcase today actually, right before We started recording. So lots of Resident Evil Requiem news as we head towards its launch at the end of February. Now, Lou, you and I are both huge Resident Evil 4 fans. We love Leon. We try not to think about Resident Evil 6, although I think he was the best.

part of that game. That's the only section of that game that's fun. Yeah, yeah. It definitely got the the best reviews, I think, uh, of that huge Mess of a game. I didn't think Capcom would have it in them to to reference Resident Evil 6 in the showcase, but they did. They said this is a post-Resident Evil 6. Leon. Uh but what were your thoughts when you watched these trailers for for Leon returning as a playable character?

A, I wasn't surprised. We've had so many leaks and so many people being like, Yeah, but Leon's in it. Yeah, Leon's in it. Leon's in it. And then Capcom was like, Uh we didn't say that. Uh I don't think he's in it. I was like, oh, you're so lying. There's been too many leaks. And I mean I didn't believe it till there was a trailer, but as soon as he showed up in the in the clips, I was like, of course he's in it.

Like there's been too much leak there's been too many leaks. I mean, I'm very I'm I'm getting to be more and more excited for this game as it comes it gets closer to launch. Yeah. Me too. I I watch these trailers. Look, I am a little worried, I might be scared uh while playing this, although the fact that they have built-in third person, first person view swapping uh right from the right from launch as opposed to being part of the DLC. Uh is is good for me, I think.

I won't be as scared in third person. I'm kind of hoping I'm kind of hoping that uh you can play first person with Leon. That would be interesting and new. You can. Uh in the showcase they were showing that you can actually tailor it by character. So you can play first person Leon and third person Grace if you want and you can s swap them individually in the settings. So I thought that was a really nice touch. I I mean

I I don't know all the details. I could tell you that what I've seen, I'm excited. Um, I saw a s I saw a a still shot today of Leon with a chainsaw. running through a guy with a chainsaw and I would of course he's got a chainsaw. He's Leon. I'm excited. Yeah. Yeah. Leon appears to be like a more action focused and they've really given him a lot more of these like action moves to take down zombies with the the melee combos and stuff, so

That's gonna be a lot of fun to look forward to, that that action-based combat. Uh, but they've also showcased Grace's gameplay in her it's more of a horror focus. And like stealth. And and I do like that they sort of alternate because I think that was always my struggle, specifically with Resident Evil Seven, is it just felt like too much.

Of one thing. You spend so much time running around and hiding from stuff, then they all of a sudden drop you into combat and you've spent so much of the game not playing combat that the combat's kind of rough. And I like seven. I like eight so much more. So It the fact that we're gonna get a little bit of both, I think is a good thing. I think it's gonna kind of be best of both worlds.

Yeah,'cause you can look forward to that break, quote unquote, of like, Okay, I just finished this Grace chapter, now I get to play as Leon for a bit and and have fun there. I've played enough of these Resident Evil games. They're never longer than like 12, 14 hours, usually tops. Tops. So if I've got to play Seven hours is Grace and seven hours is Leon.

It's gonna be a nice change up. I'll play with her play as her an hour, then I'll play as our an hour as Leon, then I'll play an hour. Like there'll be i i it'll break up the monotony. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. They also detailed uh look, the showcase felt very we wanna do a Nintendo direct, so let's put as much in here as possible. They talked about partnerships with Porsche and Hamilton for uh cars and watches. that uh will be focused on in the game. I guess Leon drives a Porsche.

He's doing well working for whatever uh bureaucracy he works for. I can't remember what organization he works for. Uh and then they both got these Hamilton watches, which I'm guessing are super expensive. They sounded expensive. They looked expensive as well. But Leon and Grace both able to have custom watches.

Capcom always does this. They've always marketed with like some kind of like Something in the game is something ex super expensive or There's a version of something with it I it it Capcom is not a sh ashamed uh ashamed to in any way, shape or form cash in on something with their games if they can do it. They gotta make a buck somewhere. I thought it was just so out of place because it was like I think they I don't remember if it was seven, but I swear they did something with like

six or seven where there was something in a background and it was like, oh yeah. And it's a Corvette in the background. And I was like, of course it is. Or something like that. There was something like in a background shot. It was like, oh yeah, because we teamed up with I'm like, of course they did. Yeah, maybe maybe I'm just misremembering.

Gotta fund that development somewhere. You do. Yeah, evidently. Take that Porsche money. Uh they also talked about Grace needing zombie blood to craft survival tools. It looks like she has like single use. uh bullets and other sort of weapons that she's developing as she's trying to get through these these uh these environments. So that kinda adds to what she can do in her gameplay side.

Uh and then there was they talked about the zombies appearing I I I put it here, appear to keep their day jobs. So the zombies sort of have that um is it day of the dead where the the zombies are kind of Still remembering their day jobs? I can't remember. Uh I think that's Land of the Dead. Land of the Dead, yeah. Land of the Dead. There's a lot of zombie content that Land of the Dead is where they're starting to get their m memories back. Yes. Yeah.

So, I mean, like like you, the more I see of this game, the more excited I am to play. I really do think the dual characters will help ease my, I guess, fear, literally fear of playing the game.

Honestly, I was always gonna play this no matter what. Um, but the fact that we're getting uh that that Leon got added to the game made me far more excited than I was because I was worried we were getting seven again and they were gonna double down on less action, more spooky, and that's fine, but I find games like that where there's no action and it's all spooky, I get bored with them really quick.

I need something to like sneaking around and hiding from zombies and monsters is fun for a little bit, but if that's the whole game, after about four or five hours of that. I'm kind of checked out. And so the fact that we're going to get more combat and Leon and other things and they're being upfront about it makes me way more excited. Yeah. Well, it's gonna be here before we know it.

Uh lots of uh Resident Evil Requiem stuff to look forward to. If you're into expensive watches, you'll have that. If you like Fortnite, they'll have that. Uh they'll even have an amiibo, so something for everybody. Uh launching later in February, so uh on all platforms, all current generation platforms, including the Switch two. Now, keeping with the video game theme, Dead Island 3 is in development and targeting a 2028 release. This is according to Financial Doc.

Uh so we're not gonna have to wait what was it, twenty years between Dead Island one and Dead Island two? Is that do I have my numbers right? Twenty sounds like a lot. I don't think When did Dead Island one come out? Dead Island 1 came out so long ago, I saw it at a pack. It's twenty eleven. So not twenty years, but you know, fifteen. Yeah, it was but it was like fifteen years between games. Uh uh aga I've been tempted.

Uh Dead Island 2 is is Steam Deck compatible now and it's been on sale or in bundles a couple of times, like over the new year and uh Christmas. But the problem was is it was the only game in the bundle I wanted that it's like I mean it was like one of those make your own bundles so you had to pick like three games and I was like, Yeah, I would just want that game and the only way I get it for$3.99 is if I buy two other games for$399 and I don't want any of the other games.

So I'm gonna just have to I guess. It's uh I played a little bit of it. It was on Game Pass for a bit there, and it it's pretty solid. I don't know what it is about uh zombie sequels. I I sort of skipped over Dead Island 2 and Dying Light 2. I know you weren't a fan of Dying light, but I enjoyed the first one. I I think it comes down to we we t you talked about Resident Evil not overstaying its welcome. It's usually like a fifteen, twenty-hour experience and it's you know, it's a solid uh

straightforward adventure. But when you get into these open world games, I've played um I just played and finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which I was holding off on because it has this huge open world sort of aspect to it. uh huge is probably the wrong word, l large open area uh aspect. But I don't know, I just I don't have as much time to game and I like finishing games. I like to see the whole story. So it took me 80 hours to finish Rebirth and see the whole story. And

That was a huge investment. It took me a month and a half to finish that thing. Yeah. So when I look at Deadline Two and Dying Light Two, I see these open world games and I'm like, how much Wading through story. How how much like extra stuff am I gonna have to experience to get the full thing? I don't have eighty hours.

uh to to play a game these days. That's kinda how I feel. Is if you're gonna ask me to do that, it's gotta be something I know I'm one hundred percent gonna be involved in. Yeah. Like I've mentioned it on the show before. I love like persona games and stuff by Atlas. If it's an Atlas game and it's 120 hours.

You have to uh you have to know I'm gonna spend 120 hours when I finally sit down and play it, and it's gonna be awesome. And I'm gonna enjoy every hundred all 120 hours of the game. But if it's something I'm iffy on, and then they say, Oh yeah, that's gonna be 60 hours, I'm like Am I gonna wanna play it or is this gonna be a slog for me to finish? Or is it something I'm gonna like jump into enjoy for a quarter of the story and then get distracted and never go back to it?

I'm trying to avoid that, you know? So Yep. Uh it it is exciting though. I'm I'm glad that Dead Island two did well enough that they're making a third one. Um it's a solid franchise and Um we'll get another one, twenty twenty eight, not that far away, but you know, still a few years, so Look forward to that. Um, a game that was supposed to come out on the Game Boy Color has leaked, and this is uh Resident Evil's cancelled Game Boy Color game. This was a port of the original

Resident Evil to Game Boy Color. And I don't know if you watch this video, Lou, of this game, but man It's something. It is something. They did something new. I kind of want to play this just to see how it plays. Because I don't know about you, but I've played the original Resident Evil through like at least four or five times.

No, the original Resident Evil's good. I played it on GameCube. I I loved it. Uh I I'm talking about Playstation, man. I've played the original Playstation game. Trust me, uh the original Playstation game is good. Uh I can remember uh I used to and when I was a teenager I I used to work at the local mall, but I lived thirty to forty minutes from the mall. And so if I had to do a uh I had to do a morning shift where I had to open the store on a Saturday after

'Cause I worked on the weekends'cause I was in high school. Uh, I would crash at my grandmother's house and bring my PlayStation with me in my backpack and I would hook it up to her TV and she would have to sit through an evening of me playing Resident Evil shooting zombies and she'd be like What is it with you and zombies? Now they did they did end up making a Game Boy color game that released called Resident Evil

uh Gaydon and it was uh a side story I g I guess that's Yep. It was Barry and Leon I think on a on a boat. Weird. Yeah, I do see that li Leon and and Barry. This game is non canon as it as its plot is con contradicted by the main series and key parts and its events are ignored. This is according to Wikipedia. Uh

So, I mean, it is cool that something like this can be revived and and experienced because it is really interesting. I I find uh cancelled projects and sort of what like g I find game development fascinating and to see stuff I I know developers love to wait until it's complete to show it because it often backfires when they show stuff too early. But then there's a lot of stuff like this is not even like canceled, but like shut down studios.

You know, like projects that'll never see the light of the day, although we've seen like the marketing, the approved marketing materials. Like I think of a lot of games that had a lot of work done on them and then just get shuddered because somebody needs to change the balance books or something. I I I I will say I I used to go to PAX and one of the coolest things I ever saw at PAX, I used to go to a panel.

that they used to do at oh uh every show I went to where the panel was people would bring their really old stuff and a panel of appraisers would give them an estimated value of what the things were worth. Oh, cool. And And one of the guys was actually part of the uh video game historical museum society. And the guy was technically there knowing the value of what he was donat what he was gonna have appraised. And he was there actually to give it to the guy to go into the museum.

And it was a Atari copy. Of Lord of the Rings, which was finished and Atari had gone bankrupt before the game was ever made. And there's only like five cartridges ever printed. And this was one of the only cops. And they were donating it to the museum. And I remember thinking, How cool is this? I had no idea that they were these lost cartridges for games that never got f they got to the point where they printed demo cartridges. for like review code and review and and and people to to to

for sales guys to pitch to people and then it never got to actual hands for public to play. And I I remember thinking, I would I want to play that. And I don't think you can. I think it's still I don't think it's even I don't even think you can find the ROM playable anymore at all. Yeah, I d I find that stuff fascinating. I think there was you know, there's like three or four versions of Resident Evil Four before it became what we know it as, the original GameCube game.

Uh, they actually talked about it in the showcase that we had for Requiem where they were showing some of their test development stuff for a uh a scary game with Leon in it. You know how they were uh it's funny at the start of the show, Casey's like, Well we never technically said he wasn't in it, and we were telling the truth when we said we tried to make, you know, the grace.

scary stuff with Leon in it and it wasn't believable. So like it's kind of weird how they try to like dance around it, but they did show a little bit of that like test footage. And I find that stuff really fascinating to to show to look at.

older versions of games and and I know in hindsight it's like, oh well, you know, it c it could be like a cyberpunk situation where what they showed wasn't even the game. It was just like an on Rails demo and then what we get isn't what people are expecting for years after launch, but It's it's still fascinating with this stuff, you know, that that you have a product that can kind of just hang around then twenty five years later it surfaces. It's it's

It's really cool. So uh Resident Evil's canceled Game Boy Color port has leaked. And there's great video in the article, we'll link to it from Nintendo Wire. Uh this is one of the stories that got upgraded upgraded while we were um waiting to record. So this is not a test. Uh it has a release date, it's coming to theaters February twentieth, and if we had recorded this a day earlier, it would have said it got a sweet poster. But no, blue, it's real, it has a trailer.

It's a real thing now. Yeah. And I'm actually quite excited for this. We watched the trailer just before we recorded and everything about this screams it's gonna be fun.

Yeah, it seems very serious. I would say that this is uh Um, it it seems to be taking vibes from 28 Days Later, like sort of that frantic zombie horror movie where as opposed to like 'Cause it's a bunch of teenagers stuck in a high school waiting out an apocalypse and you're kinda my brain immediately went to, Oh, is this gonna be Some

Well, like what what did we watch Scout's Guide to the Apocalypse comes to mind. Dance of the Dead was another one we watched last year that is Oh, high school students stuck in a high school, waiting out the apocalypse, there's gonna be a lot a lot of like high school type jokes and and all that, but this this seems to be a very serious take, at least by the trailer standpoint.

Yeah. Um, coming as this mentions that there's somebody re uh from Clown in a Cornfield in it, which was also a shutter exclusive. And if you haven't seen that, uh, I actually really enjoyed that despite it being based on a young adult novel. Uh that movie is actually really fun. Um If this is being made in the same vein as that or with anybody involved that was involved with that, uh, I think that this is gonna ha has the potential to be at least really interesting. Um

A lot of these younger actors, while I'm not super familiar with like everything that they've done, there's enough of them that I know who they are from other things. Like I watched uh the lead female actress was in um a Marvel show that got canceled. And I saw her in that. And there's several other actors where I recognize them. I I I think this has potential. Uh

It's zombies, it's teenagers, and it looks like they're handling the teenage stuff in a more mature way than what, say, the Walking Dead does. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's the right way to put it. It's it's definitely a more mature take. Uh there's five of them stuck in this high school and they appear to be, you know, surviving and barricading themselves in and then s and then the trailer showcases that someone someone got in and like all hell breaks loose. But

Uh it it it looks to be a serious take. And I mean this is uh another zombie film. Uh I did mention I didn't mention on this episode, but we will be doing a twenty twenty six preview.

on our next episode, and gotta say, it's only been two weeks of of January twenty twenty-six. We've already had two movies in the theater for uh for zombie related content. Um Well I should have told you this uh pre show, but I got spoiled for uh um not s I wouldn't I wouldn't say spoiled and I'm not gonna say it here, but I did get spoiled for twenty eight Years later, the Bone Temple in like some post somebody made. I think it was a very marketing type post, and I'm like, oh

We're just talking about that openly, okay. Uh that's a spoiler I think, but but but then again I don't know. So Uh we can we can discuss that. I I don't I don't I don't wanna spoil it. Well I I will I was gonna say I haven't been spoiled on anything for it, but I know that reviews for Bone Temple are out now and I'm re hearing eight out of ten, ten out of ten. Somebody said that it's already movie of the year. And I was like, that's high praise. I was like, holy crap. It's only been two weeks.

You could wait a month. Movie of the year. Okay. Uh let's not get my hype too high. I've heard it's good. I might have to change my stance and try to squeeze it into the theaters. But we'll see. But we'll see. We talked about it and I think like, you know, twenty-eight years later was an exception, but I don't know. I probably won't, but if the opportunity does present itself, I might.

Yeah, it's just so quick to come to digital, even if we want to super rent it when it comes out and just pay the extra money. Like I don't know. I mean I mean twenty eight I mean twenty eight years later is already on Netflix. So I imagine that the deal with this is gonna be the same. Before the year is out, it's gonna be on Netflix anyway. We'll we'll definitely cover it this year for sure. Like it's top of our list and I would say that based on reviews

The twenty-eight years later part three is very likely to happen. So we'll look forward to that. Uh gosh, probably twenty twenty seven, no, probably twenty twenty-eight, I would say, because they got a start shooting it. I don't they haven't filmed it yet, so It's hard to say. Um, we got one more story here, video game related. This is quarantine zone, the last check. This is available now. Uh it was in early access for a while. Liu Yu put this in here. It just came out actually this week.

A few days ago. Yeah. The I I I'm always keeping an eye out on what's coming to Steam and then looking for something zombie related and some there's a lot of zombie related stuff, but there's a lot of stuff that you go, Oh yeah, this is not something that that we're gonna cover. It looks way way too cheap or it wakes looks way too indie or it looks like an asset flip of some kind. Um and this is

This is being released. This is being released by Devolver Digital. And I went, excuse me? Wait, what? Um And it just came out of early access, it's called quarantine zone. And you manage the quarantine zone for people fleeing the zombie apocalypse, and it seems like it's I uh uh the best way I can describe it is it's like part uh papers please and part uh like one of those uh like I'm building a video game store or or

Simulator games. It looks like it's part simulator game, part papers, please. And I was like, I don't really like simulator games, but if you're letting me deal with zombies and And things like that, I might be willing to give this a shot. So uh this just came out. I'm sure it will go on sale at some point, and I'm sure we'll probably be able to talk about it on the show at some point.

Yeah. I'm just looking at this and like there's a gif on the about this game page and it's like showing them checking everybody and then one of the s one of the ways to check people is with a hammer. Uh like probably checking for reactions. He hits he hits a guy in the nuts and he he keels over. It's like okay, you're not a zombie, go on through. I'm like, I don't know if that's a

A check that you should be doing, but okay. My favorite is there's a young there's a there's a there's like a teenage girl standing there and he instead of hitting her in the arm or the leg to check for muscle reflexes, he just bashes her in the head. And I'm like, oh Is that what we do before we put them in quarantine? No, uh it like it's and they just did a Dead by Daylight uh quarantine crossover, so they're gonna have a free update with Dead by Daylight survivors and I didn't know this is uh

Devolver? Yeah, I didn't know that. That's really cool. Yeah. That was what made me excited, is I I I when I first saw it, I was like, Oh, great, it's another simulator game. And then I clicked on it and I went, Oh, and it's being published by Devolver. That means it might be quality.

Yeah. It's mostly positive. So it's it's doing well review wise uh on Steam. Yeah. Yeah. So I thought that this was something that I should ch we should shout out to people that are looking for something zombie related that might be fun. And it's not that expensive. It's only seventeen bucks. Yeah. It's not bad. It's not bad. So check that out on Steam. It's out now. Look forward to a a year of amazing zombie video games, which will be

previewing next episode, but before we preview, we wanted to take a look back. So let us return to 2025 and uh with our first annual, the Zamp Zombie Awards.

Go you wanna go? So yeah, I don't have a a bumper, but that seemed fitting. This was the follow up. So I don't I don't know. One of those two. Maybe next year we'll have We'll have an award show bumper. But uh this is I I came up with these categories. We will obviously fine tune them as you know, when we do this again next year, but I wanted to pull away to talk about everything we cover on the show.

From movies to TV shows to video games, but also bring in some of our favorite non-zombie uh uh content because Lou and I both watch and enjoy non-zombie stuff, you know, across the board. Um, but I figure we'll we'll talk more in depth about the zombie stuff. The non zombie stuff obviously will give a mention and we're we're no strangers to going on tangents on non zombie stuff, so you know that's totally Uh let's start with best zombie video game for twenty twenty five. And Lou, I'll let you.

Uh I I think it came out the end of twenty twenty. four, but I didn't get to play it till twenty twenty five. And that is Dead Rising uh the the remake. Yeah. I can never remember what it call was called because they've done a remaster and they've done a remake and they've done there's like four versions of that game. And whatever the newest version is is what I played. And I have to say, I w I played that for months.

Like I beat it and then went back in and started a second playthrough that I never finished because I was just having so much fun. That and my kid loved watching me like mow down zombies with a lawnmower. Yeah. You gotta you gotta get out there and Cut the lawn, I guess, or whatever. But yeah, no Dead Rising, I remember when we I picked it up when it came out and I think I streamed it so you could watch me play it so we could like talk about it on the show.

And it wasn't Steam Deck verified at the time. Shortly after we covered it, it got Steam Deck verified. And I was worried um that I was I I wasn't gonna buy it because there are stuff that's Steam Deck verified, then you get it, you play it, and it runs like garbage. And I was worried that that was gonna be this game and it totally wasn't at all. Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm glad it runs really well. Like it it's um I can't remember what they called it either. It was like Dead Rising.

Uh something remaster. It didn't it have like a DDR sounded name or something? That was its nickname, was it was uh DDR or something like that. It was Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. Is that what it was called? Yeah. Yeah. DR DR. Um Yeah, like it was it was a I was gonna say I played the original on 360 and I know I beat it on 360 at some point, but I remember after all the people are gone and you're dealing with the soldiers running around, I remembered the game being a slot.

And at that point, I I I only ever did it once. And I hated that portion of the game to the point where I was like, this is stupid. They don't, I don't want this in the in a future games. They they this the mechanics are all messed up. They fixed all of that. When you get to that portion in this Rem remake?

It's like playing a Resident Evil game and you're shooting back at people shooting at you and you can hide behind stuff and duck behind cover kind of almost. And it's like playing a real third person shooter. And I was like, okay, I don't love this. But it's definitely more playable and more reasonable than it was before. And you can all if you can sneak up on the soldiers, you can like take them out with one shot with his special abilities at that point. So Ah the game fell.

I I felt like the reason I hated the 360 game at at after you got rid of the zombies was the game just became unplayable and I feel like they rebalanced and fixed all the problems I had with the 360 game in there. Yeah. They did a lot of good work to kind of bring it up to modern standards and the fact that Dead rising is rumored to return to Uh at some point in the near future, uh, this abodes well.

For for the franchise and and uh the rumor the rumor is we're getting a Dead Rising 2 that is not continuation of the other two. It's gonna be a new Dead Rising 2 with him as the hero again. And I'm like, I'll take it. Yeah. That works for me? Me too. Uh my pick was uh a game that we covered on the show this year was uh Plants vs. Zombies Replanted. And I know it's another remaster, but Plants vs. Zombies was one of my most

favorite games whenever launched. I loved Pop Cap back in the day. Uh i the only downside to this game is it reminds you how far Popcap has kind of fallen in terms of the you know, beloved developer and and how short a run they kinda did have at the time under EA and and their massive hits before they were kinda like EA'd

That that's exactly they got bought and they got bought by EA. I remember when the purchase happened, I was kind of like, oh, this could be good or this could be bad. And then all of the things that EA was involved with. They went from quality to everything became We've got to find a way to mobile phone and and put energy cubes that people have to buy to play these things. And I feel like at that point Pop Cap went from being a name that meant quality.

to being a name that went meant people went, Oh yeah, this is gonna be a try to grab my cash kind of thing. I'm I'm leaving. Yeah. So I mean, but this remaster, like it was it was true to the original game. It played great. Yep. They're still putting out updates. Yeah. Uh there were there was an update at Christmas time that added Christmas themes. And then they added like 10 or 12 new mini-games to it on top of it. And I was like, holy crap.

I would love to see Plans vs. Zombies return in in in an official capacity. Like I know there's like a Plans vs. Zombies 3 that's like coming to mobile, but that's not what I'm talking about. I would love to see a proper plants versus zombies. two. I guess give it the this supposed Dead Rising two treatment. I think that would be great. Yeah. I I I think that there's a potential for that. Um it's funny because I've got we got this to cover on the show and

It's one of my kids' most requested games to watch me play. Is she goes, Daddy, Daddy, what are you going to do play? And I'm like, I don't know. I'm going to play this or I'm going to play that. Because I have to make sure it's something that's not going to scare her or it's going to be friendly. And

She liked Dead Rising, I mean uh Plants versus Zombie. She liked Dead Rising, but she liked Plants versus Zombie because I could give her the controller and she could collect sunshines while Daddy puts stuff on the screen. The co op stuff's really cool. I would play I would play with the mu mouse and like I would drop the stuff and she would move the cursor around with the key controller and try to grab all the all the icons, all the st the shine stu the sunshines so that I didn't have to. Yeah.

Yeah, that's cool. I mean it's a fun game and uh they the remake that they or the remaster that they did for for these platforms to bring it uh up to I I always say like a good remaster and I think the Dead Rising remaster did this too. A good remaster is when like when you're playing it, it's like this is how I remember it. That tells you that they nailed the remaster because like that is maybe how you remember it, but that's actually not what it looked like. That's not what it sounded like.

It may have been how it played, but uh they've definitely given it that modern upgrade. So Plants versus Zombies replanted. That gets my Zab Zombie Award. Uh and it was your runner up. So you you enjoyed it as you said, you enjoyed it as well. You played it with your daughter, had a great time. So There you go. Um our first best non zombie video game for twenty twenty five. And I will mention that mine was dispatch. I I really enjoyed dispatch. Great Steam Deck game.

I think the struggle most people will have with this one is that it is essentially an interactive television show. But I like T V and I like great writing and great voice. I love g I love g I love I love games like this, so this is right up my alley. I just haven't been willing I haven't been ready to cough up the dough for yet.

Oh, I know I'm I got too much other stuff to play. If you've got other stuff to play, that's fair enough, but you know, definitely give it a shot when you have a chance because like the writing, the animation, usually there's something that falls

through the cracks with these types of games, like, oh, the voice acting's not that great or the writing's not that great. With the Walking Dead telltale games, it was usually the animation. It was pretty stilted. It was pretty like kinda stiff, but dispatch they kind of nail it across the board and they don't fill it with like the classic telltale

Search around and click on stuff. Like there's no gameplay to be s to be seen. There's there's mini games and stuff, but you know, nothing no walking around pointing at things. Uh what about you? What was your runner up? Or not runner up, the I there was two, I couldn't kind of like settle on one. And um a pleasant surprise that happened to me just before Christmas. It was like around Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving day on Steam. A game had come out called The Drifter.

And I didn't even realize it was out. I remember adding it to a wish my uh my wish list because I like point and click adventure games, especially if they have old school pixely vibes. And this looked interesting. And I went, oh, cool. I'll check out this when it comes out and it's on a sale. And lo and behold, it was like 30% off on uh uh Black Friday. And I went, oh, it's only like it's like less than 10 bucks. Uh, I think I'll give it a shot now. And I was

sucked in almost immediately. If you like old school point and click adventure games like Monkey Island, where you have to kind of like think and solve puzzles and pick up items and figure out how they interact with the environment so that you can move the story forward. Um, this was amazing. Um, it's a little rough to start, but once you get through like I think there's like eight chapters, I think, or ten chapters. Once you get through like chapter three.

You are totally sold to what this is and you just kind of go, I I I just need to know more. I I need to I need to know why this is happening. Um Your character is like a homeless guy and at some point somebody's after him and then they kill him and the game literally has him redo the scenario of him just dying and the hero goes, wait. I'm alive again. I just died. Wait. I'm

I'm doing this again. What the hell is going on? And then you get to redo it as many times as you want until you get him out of the scenario without dying. And I was like, What the hell is going on? And literally that's the first thing that happens is he gets out of the he's dress he's in the water when this happens. He gets out of the water and he looks at he kind of looks at the camera and goes, What the hell is going on? And you're like

Uh I'm in. Whatever this is, I want to know more. And the game goes from there. And that was so good. It was such a cool idea and a cool, cool concept. I mean, there are plot holes. But they are with all those games. But I think that this was such an interesting idea that I was like, I really want to know more. Um

I'm hoping that the developer does something like this again. Um, they have other games in the work, but nothing like this. This was really fun. The other one that I really enjoyed that I don't think I've ever even mentioned to you is anybody who really likes Um uh what's that game? There's a sequel out now. Oh, Hades? Uh Hades. Anybody who really likes Hades, uh, forget Hades, pick up Teenage Mutant Turtles, Splinter of Fate. Forget eighties, play this turtles game.

It is Hades with more fun. Um and turtles. Yes. Uh instead of picking your weapon in the beginning of the game, like in Hades, you pick which turtle you want to play with, and they all have a different playstyle. Um, they've also put out two DLCs, which at both add A absolute butt ton of content. Uh one DLC lets you play as Uh Casey Jones and the other one lets you play as Metalhead, the robot turtle.

And both of them have such drastically different playstyles from the of the original four turtles you have to choose from in the game. that it's almost like playing a different game. And both of them add one to two new areas to the game on top of the original areas you played through in the the standalone game. And the DLCs are cheap. I think I get paid like five bucks for each of them. And they were awesome.

Uh I've played the hell out of it. Um much like Hades, there is a goal, and just before you lose, the game reboots you and sucks you back to the beginning and you have to redo the adventure again. Kind of like Hades. So you do the run again. And so it's like they they you each turtle is taking turds going through their their runs. And every time you unlock bonuses, you unlock extra crap. It's basically Hades with ninja turtles. It's awesome. Very cool.

I think this looks uh this looks really neat and I think wasn't it? Was this one that was like a mobile game first and then Yes. And it's they've polished it they've polished it way better than the mobile game. The other thing that's different from Hades that this has, you got four player co op. Oh. Oh that's really cool. Yeah, so you can play four players running through Hades levels. Doing stuff.

Very neat. All right. Yeah. Well, check those out if you're into video games. Lots of good stuff there. Let's move into movies, our best zombie movie for twenty twenty five. We both agreed on this one. We both put twenty-eight years later. I I feel like not like this is new movies that that came out in 2025. I was about to say like kind of no contest when it comes to zombie content released. Movie-wise in 2025 that we watched. I know I've seen new zombie stuff. Like I know I have.

But ever when I looked at what we were gonna pick, the only thing that stood out in my mind was twenty eight years later. And it's not even that. I enjoyed the film. I liked the film. Definitely would give it a solid eight out of ten. Nine out of ten. And I I think I said it on the show. It's another movie. I don't know if I'm gonna go back and rewatch it because of how it emotionally affected me.

Um, I'll probably watch it again later with somebody else down the road. Um, but it the fact that what did we talk about it back in April? We're talking That was n nine months ago. And the fact that the movie's still sticking with me says it did something. So that's why it's my my choice. Yeah. No, it's it's very true. Like I think especially with twenty eight years later the Bone Temple trailers.

Every time I watch a trailer it just reminds me of stuff that I saw in twenty eight years later and it it you're right, it sticks with you. That movie was it's so very rare that you get a a franchise return after such a long hiatus and actually like not only nail it but but kind of live up to not just the expectations of fans of the genre, but like just fans of movies in general. Uh it's very hard to do that, especially with horror films. Uh so

It was kind of a no contest and just looking at what we're gonna have this year, I don't think that's gonna be the same. I think this year is gonna be there's gonna be a lot of great stuff. And It's not just gonna be twenty eight years later the Bone Temple. Uh may maybe, I don't know, but like I just think that we're already seeing twenty twenty six to have a lot more Higher caliber zombie films. Zombie stuff is making a comeback.

Um, I think the fact that the Walking Dead existed for so long, it kind of dried up the well. Yeah. Um Everybody was afraid to duplicate the walking dead. Or that they were stealing ideas from the Walking Dead, or the uh Walking Dead would steal ideas from them, and people were starting to be burned out. Uh but I think the fact that The Walking Dead has re re resolved itself down to like spin-off shows that kind of do math.

I think people are willing to risk it on zombie content again. And I think I forget where I read it or I heard it. But somebody a long time ago said to me, zombie content is really and horror content is really popular when the world is crazy. And right now, no, that this is not me talking political in any way, shape, or form. Right now the world's kind of crazy. In general, like no matter where you side at, you can't look at it and go, this isn't crazy.

Um, and I see Hara making a resurgence, and when Hara makes a resurgence, so does zombie content. So I think that's one of the reasons why we're gonna see a lot more of it. Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right. I think this year is

It's definitely gonna see uh a lot of horror content, yeah, for sure. Like I think and and you mentioned the Walking Dead. The Walking Dead is something that you're not gonna hear outside of that comment in these awards because like it's just it's it's not all there is out there anymore, which is which is which is good. Um another uh for a runner up, I chose uh Night of the Zoo Pokalypse. Like I said, we didn't cover a lot of new zombie movies. I think you liked this one more than I did.

I did. I watched it with the family. Like we the five of us watched it together. It was probably the first movie That we watched as a group. I think I think previous to this we had watched both Scooby-Doo movies. Was that not? Yes. Yes, we had. We watched the the the Return to Zombie Island and Zombie Island. Yeah. I can't remember if we watched did we watch it this year? Thought maybe it was last year. Okay. Nope. It was this year.

Twenty twenty five. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what you mean. But no, uh I enjoyed this movie. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could have watched it with Violet. But she has this we my kid has this weird thing where I can show her the weirdest. Almost this is probably not for her kind of thing. Like this is not for kids. But if it's happy and bright and like like like

Dead rising. I thought the first time I started playing it, I thought this kid was gonna be like running to the her room and running to my mother my wife's room and going, Mama, mama. Daddy's scaring me. And she giggled the first time I cleaved a zombie in half. Why? Because it was bright colored and silly. So I kinda hoped that that would happen when we sat down to watch. uh zoopocalypse, but she has a thing about things being dark. If things happen in the dark or they're shades of dark colors.

and things aren't vibrant and bright. She can handle it if it happens in a moment, like watching an episode of Scooby Doo. Sure. That last thirty seconds out of a twenty minute episode or two minutes out of a s a twenty minute episode, she's fine with that. But if the whole thing is dark and kind of spooky looking.

Even if it's silly and funny, she can't get into it. It scares her. So when we w when we started to watch this, we got exactly to the first scene in the dark. And I the immediate thing was, Daddy, we need to watch something else. This is scary. And I was like I was like, Okay, all right, I'm gonna have to watch this on my own. And that's what I had to do. I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if I got to watch it with her. Yeah, that's fair. I I think that

It's definitely here as a runner up because we did it as a family and it was it was a good time and Yeah. Oh yeah. I I and I I it and I I I just think it's awesome that you got the family to watch zombies. Yeah. There was varying degrees of, you know Scared. Uh Caden was fine with it. Abby was you know, hit and miss, but but Izzy who's five was like, I don't know, this is pretty scary. But but it helps watching the whole thing'cause it is a kids' movie, so you know it's gonna end. Yeah.

With with all sunshine and yeah, happy faces. Rainbows. Yeah, exactly. So you do get that. So night of the zoo pocalypse is my run around. Uh as for best is no non-zombie movie for twenty twenty five, looks like we've got a comic book theme going here, which shouldn't surprise folks. We're pretty geeky. So uh Lou, what was your pick?

I like Superman. I think the new Superman I love James Gunn tying into zombie stuff. We talked about some James Gunn stuff this year too. Yeah. Um,'cause we did cover Slither. Um, but I really l I really like the direction James Gunn is going with the DC stuff. It's a pleasant surprise. It makes me happy. Um

Say what you want about the Zack Snyder stuff. There's it's Zack Snyder. Um, I think Zack Snyder is a one trick pony. Um he's fine. I I like I enjoyed Army of the Dead, but I mean I think people are tired of his dark and dreary like in your face kind of stuff. I think I think there's a time for that and I think people are tired of it. So I mean it is what it is. Yeah. Uh but I think Superman was it was happy, it was delightful, uh there were all kinds of actors in it. I liked

There were cameos of superheroes that I wasn't expecting. There were cameos of superheroes I was expecting and they came out better than I would hoped. Um, I went in with low expectations. I went in expecting that it's going to be Jabe's gun, so I'm gonna giggle a couple of times and it's gonna be bright and happy'cause it's Superman, I think, and he's trying to make up for the dark and dreary that was Zack Snyder, but whatever. And I walked out of the movie being like, Wow.

I kinda wanna watch it again. Yeah. Yeah, it's solid. I look the the DC EU was Always Yeah, I don't know. There's just something about it that felt off right off the get-go, and it just never really recaptured like this. superhero vibe. And I and I do blame that on Marvel mostly because Marvel had set a tone that was just so very specific and captured, I think, a lot of people's mindsets, especially non

comic book readers like myself where if it's not in the in this in the vein of like the Marvel movies, it it always it feels off by comparison. And I think what James Gunn has done with Superman is kind of bring it closer to that Marvel vibe of films. I mean, not surprising because he did Guardians of the Galaxy, which is you very much feel that in Superman. So going forward, it's gonna be really interesting to see what he does with the DCU because I think it's got a a strong start.

as opposed to what happened with Man of Steel, where it was like, okay, good first outing a lot of, you know, issues that people are pointing to, like a lot of changes that are aren't core to the character, like let's see where this goes, let's give it a chance. And it just it never really got back on the rails. So

I agree with you, Superman was very good, but you know, this kind of goes to show I I don't think I saw a lot of movies in theaters last year. I saw Twenty Eight Years Later, and then I saw this one, The Fantastic Four First Stack. I don't know what it is about Fantastic Four. I liked it.

When it was over, I was like, Am I in a rush to watch this again? Nah. I'll probably w rewatch it before the next Avengers movie just to get a refresh, but that's it. Yeah. No, that's fair. I I I don't know what it is about first steps, but I like I was genuinely interested in it as like, okay This is maybe a chance for the Fantastic Four to have a great film. You have Pedro Pascal as like Mr. Fantastic. I like all the casting across the board. It's you know, it just kinda works.

Yeah, uh my wife has kind of fallen out of love with the MCU stuff. It feels of all very the same to her. Uh but she was into this one because she likes Pedro Pascal. And even then she was like, Yeah, if this hadn't been Pedro Pascal, I don't think I would have watched it and I don't think I'd have liked it as much. And I'm like, Yeah, he kinda carries the movie, I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, he does a lot of heavy lifting.

Uh but I also like the character uh the actor who plays Ben Grimm, like he's from the Bear, he's fantastic. Uh you've got uh Johnny Storm, the the metalhead from Stranger Things season four. So, you know, it's and it's and it is Marvel, but it's set in like a side universe. I I know it's all multiverse stuff and they're all coming together anyways, but

I just there was just had a lot going for it that firing on all cylinders, it was good. Did you see this week's Avengers trailer? I did. I s I've been watching them. Not only have I been watching them as they release, uh sort of officially, but like the clips have been because they've leaked a lot. So they've just kind of kept popping up in my like

feed uh these screenshots of like really blurry X-Men and stuff like that. But I did I did see the most recent one where Uh the Wakondans are meeting Ben Grimm in the desert, which I thought was uh uh funny. Because all the other trailers were super serious, right? Yeah. The thing that annoyed me was the first one. I was like, Yeah, we all do Steve Rogers and I don't care. Yeah. Then the second one was what was the second one? Uh gosh, was it the X Men?

No, X Men was number three. There there was another one and I can't remember who it was Thor. That's why it's forgettable. The th the Thor the Thor one. I was like, all right. Cool, we got Thor. And I was like, I hope they're not gonna do this every week. And they have. And it wasn't until X Men that I went, Okay, I mean Yeah. All right.

I yeah, uh you you you've got me. And then this week when I saw it was Black Panther, I was like, okay, cool, Black Panther. Oh, and then we get Fantastic Four with them? Okay. I I like like I think I think they're gonna keep getting better and better as we see them. Um, but if they're gonna do this for fifty-two weeks, I I I think people are gonna be sick of it by by the end. I heard they were only doing four, so I think that was our last one for now.

Is it? I think so. It seems like a weird one to end on. I agree with you. But I don't know. Uh so there you go. Congrats to Fun Fantastic Four and Superman. Best non zombie movie for twenty twenty five. Um, let's get into T V best zombie TV show for twenty twenty five. And I guess we'll stick with Marvel because Lou, you picked Marvel zombies. Yep. Marvel Zombies was the highlight. It was way better than I was expecting. Um

I kind of went in with low, low, low expectations and came out being like, hot damn, I want to watch this again. Yeah. It's quick. It's like a two hour run, super quick. Yep. It's like a two hour movie that when you're done, you're like Oh, I wish I wish Marvel did more like this. Yeah. Well hopefully we'll get a season two because it was my runner up. I I really liked it and

The only reason it didn't hit number one is uh I actually liked The Last of Us Part Two, so The Last of Us Season Two I thought was a really Wasn't even a runner up for me. I know you didn't even put a runner up. It's like no way am I giving this to Walking Dead. Or The Last of Us season two. Look, I know the I know the I I said this from the get-go before we even watched season two. I was like, this season is gonna be

Polarizing because it is adapting a story that was already you know much debated. And this isn't the last of us part one. Uh this is the last of us. uh uh part two adapting a story that is just look, like we remember the discussions in twenty twenty when people were talking about that game and the leaks and everything that came with it. But As someone who enjoyed the game and

uh I don't know how to put this, but like the story they were telling, this is a solid adaptation of that story. It's a specific type of story. It it is going it is meant to upset you. And uh I can't remember. I had a conversation with somebody I think it was my parents or my dad or somebody who would not normally be into this type of content, but they were like

So is oh, you know what was my boss, because we were talking about HBO and and Crave, which is the service you have to watch HBO content in Canada. And he was like, So is that guy really dead? And I'm like, Yeah, like They killed them off. And it happens in the game too. And I know it it upset a lot of people, you know? So it was it was an interesting conversation. It's it's broken through. I appreciate the story they're trying to sell that that they're trying to tell and it's fine. Um I have

A hard time when I watch something, if I don't find any character relatable or likable, I have to like somebody. And I felt like the entire time we watched uh uh Last of Us Two, the only character I liked was Joel, and then they killed him off. And then I was left with a room full of other characters I didn't like. And I was like, oh, okay. Cool. I I used to like Ellie, but she does so many things that are kind of like

abrasive that she kind of made me dislike her. And then the other girl that killed Joel, I already don't like her because she killed Joel. Yeah and then I was hoping they would do something to make me relate to her or like and I was like, no, I still just don't like her. Uh she she I don't care what her reasoning is. She killed Joel and she's kind of dislikable too. So who am I supposed to be rooting for here? Because I don't like any of them. Yeah. Therein lies the story they're telling, right?

That that's the pa if th if that's the k if that's the case, if that's trying to story tell, they're not telling a story I'm interested in seeing. And I understand that the world is not I understand that the world is not black and white and that there isn't that that that there's a always a shade of gray. But if the whole reason you're telling me a story is it's a whole bunch of shades of gray and everybody sucks

Well then I deal with that every day. I don't need to read what read a story about that. And I and I think that's definitely been fair criticism that's been put forward toward towards the show and and the game as well. So can can can can I can I throw back to something that I didn't know until later? Oh yeah, go ahead. Uh So the girl who's in the Last of Us part two that plays Ellie's girlfriend. Dina. Yeah. Tina is in Superman. Yeah, she's hot girl.

Yeah. And I watched her play uh what's uh what's it Dora the Explorer in the live action Dora movie with my kid this year and I was like oh my god, this kid this d this girl has range. Oh, I didn't realize she was During the case. The one that came out during the pandemic that has Michael Penna in it. Oh, okay. Watch it with your kids. I'm not joking. The other one is crap. And it's not a continuation, but the one with Michael, uh Michael Penna as her dad is amazing.

I was literally in tears laughing at some of the stuff because they totally put gags in that are not for the kids. They're for the adults. But that they'll make you kinda go, oh, okay, they're talking to me, they're not talking to her. And uh the second one that they did didn't do that at all. And I was like, oh did a sequel? Really it th they did a sequel and she's not Dora and they made it five years later.

So that's why. And it was written by a different writer and a different director. And they decided to kinda go for the made for TV uh Nickelodeon root and it's not good at all. It is literally just kids' jokes and it tries too much to be like the door of the explorer cartoon. Whereas the other movie doesn't. It's like Indiana Jones with Dora. Um Benecio del Toro is is swiped.

I is he? Yeah, that's what it says here. Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. It's yeah, door the explorer and uh yeah. Was it swiper, no swiping? That's the thing, right? Yes. Yes. Alright, well uh best old zombie content cu Oh wait, no I skipped one. Uh best non zombie TV show. Uh this is because Lou didn't put

Do are you a big T V watcher? Like do you watch a lot of TV? I am, but everything I liked this year was stuff I watched last year. There was nothing new that jumped out at me that I went, Oh, this was amazing. I didn't everything was like season two, season three. Season twenty four. I don't feel like there was anything worth mentioning. Now that's fair. That's fair. I I put uh Pleurabus here. Now this is a late entry'cause I had finished it

After I would recorded other shows where we did like top lists, but like before we talked about it. And I love Vince Gilligan's stuff. And um I like sci fi, but I Plurbus was almost like my most disappointing television show because I watched the first episode and was like I watched it with Ashley and I'm like, I don't know.

Like there's something off about this. It doesn't it doesn't feel like the payoff's gonna be there. They're giving us too much but n but too much of some stuff, like answers, but like not enough of the other stuff. Like what are they holding back to kind of keep us watching?

But it's a show that builds episode to episode till the very end where you're like they're revealing all this stuff and the journey of these characters and and the and the the situations they're in, so like I won't spoil it, but like the general premise is that a virus infects all of humanity, leaving Select few uninfected. And it's the journey of those characters not only dealing with the ramifications of this new world.

but also dealing with the the the virus itself and trying to determine like what what can you do to address it. And it's kind of like a it feels a little hopeless at times, but it's like It's it's an interesting take, you know. It's not quite zombies, but it's it's definitely like in line with like it's more of an alien uh show, you know, but there's no aliens in it.

It's all humans, but it feels very alien. So I don't know. It y you have to give it time. It's very slow burn if you're not into that kind of stuff. This is gonna bug you. It it definitely it definitely seems like the kind of thing I would like to watch, but I would have to watch it alone.

Yeah, like Ashley was like, I don't understand what this is about and I do not like it. And I'm like, Fair enough. That first episode was like there's a reason it launched with two episodes'cause I felt like the second episode like really f follows up on what they lay down. So I liked I liked Pluribus, so you guys can check that out. Um this is our uh second last category here, best old zombie content.

covered in twenty twenty five. We go back to the well a lot on this show to to to f watch old favorites, find new favorites. Yeah, lots of lots of stuff out there. So Lou, uh what was your pick for this one? Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Yeah, it's good. I like that one.

It's a fun one that I dip back into like when I'm doing housework and I'm folding laundry or something and I need something to hold my attention while I'm folding laundry or something, I'll throw this on. I have a handful of horror movies I'll throw on when I'm doing something to keep me entertained. And this is one of the ones that I I've dipped back into this well three or four times. And then when we dip back into it for the show, I was like, I love this movie.

Yeah. It's one of those ones that to me felt like we covered it, but we only did the trailers in on the show. And I never watched it. And I was like, we have to correct this. Uh it was my runner up for for favorite old zombie content we covered because I I did enjoy it and it it's not I guess it was I guess it's ten years old. It was two thousand and fifteen, right? Around there? Can't remember now. I think it's older than that.

Yeah.'Cause we covered it on the show, the trailers, but it was early days. Uh it was twenty fifteen. So October thirty? Okay. Yeah. And so we covered it was ten years old. Yeah, yeah, which is kinda funny. We we had a couple of anniversary accidental watches, uh Uh last year. Um my pick was Shawn of the Dead. G I mean it's a classic. It almost feels like unfair, but it is one of my favorite zombies.

And it holds it up there. It's up there is one of my favorites, but it's one of those ones I think I've seen it so many times that I was like, oh yeah. I like this. I want to watch Hot Fuzz instead. Whenever I think of Hot Fuzz, I just think of the scene At the end where he's like, Ow, this really hurts. Yeah. It's Timothy Dalton, isn't it? The the bad guy in the Yeah. Yes. Oh man. Again, again, I I love I love this movie. I love this movie, but whatever I I've seen it I've seen it so many

times that when I see it, all I go is I want to watch a different Edgar Reich movie. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. It's a movie we've all seen a lot as zombie fans. Um, best uh old non-zombie content experience in 2025. I put Jaws. It was the 50th anniversary of Jaws.

And I watched it and it holds up. Uh I love that I love that movie and I cannot wait to introduce my kid to it. Um But I I I don't need no it sh th big scary things that can actually eat her will give her nightmares and I have to be careful. Yeah, that's the struggle, eh? It's not like Jurassic Park where it's like it's dinosaurs, they're extinct.

You know, this can't happen. She she's convinced she's convinced that dinosaurs are real. Well, they were real. They're on an island uh they're on an island somewhere, Daddy. We just haven't found them yet. It's true. Yeah, actually the plot of the latest Jurassic Park film is that you know how they So in the Jurassic World films, like the dinosaurs return and they get like

unleashed across the world, but then due to like the climate of everywhere in the world, they all die off except for around the equator. So technically the plot to the newest one is Your daughter's uh fears slash thought premonition that yes, dinosaurs do exist, but only on tropical islands. So A and and her thought process behind it is, well, they have to, Daddy.

Why else does Spidey and his amazing friends go uh end up with dinosaur powers and running around with dinosaurs? They wouldn't do that if dinosaurs aren't real. I didn't think of that. And honestly now I am. So And I'm like, sure, kid, you're five. You'll figure this out someday. Gotta love it. I showed I I showed her the I showed her the trailer of Jurassic Park to which I got yelled at by my wife. And the kid was like

Dinosaurs are scary. I don't I I and I went, you don't want to watch this with Daddy? And she went, No, I don't want nightmares. It's a little early for Jurassic Park, but you'll get there. You'll get there. What was your uh favorite old non zombie content? Um, I'm real besides zombie stuff and horror in general, one of the things I've really gotten into in probably the last decade is I've really gotten into what's called the to Italian giallo movies.

And they're like murder mystery horror movies with like weird twists and really gory. Um, that's why they fall under horror and not mystery. Um and I've been into Lucio Fulci and um Dario Argento, and there's another name that kept getting brought up to me. And I'd seen one or two of his older movies before, and they really weren't Jallo movies, they were just old horror movies, and they were good.

But there's a d is a director named Mario Bava and he did a bunch of Jalo movies in the si the seventies and eighties. And his stuff was like, holy crap. I uh I gotta find more of his stuff. And so that's kind of been a recent a recent binge of mine is I've been looking for Mario Bava Jallo movies. So this year's been this year's been like the year of the of the the Bava Jallo movie. Okay. Wow, that's uh

That's a that's a deep uh I don't I don't want to say deep cut, but I guess it would be like this this is this is out there for sure. So there you go. This is not main this is not mainstream movies. No, definitely not.

Uh well we have one more category here. This is our final category, the Zamp Choice Award. This is really you just award it to whatever you want related to Zamp and I uh I specifically gave it to prepping for 28 years later by watching 28 Days Later, which has been on our list for a very long time, finally arrived on digital uh late 2024, and we

We got to it as soon as we could in twenty twenty five. And uh yeah, that movie holds up and it's it's a great watch. Um Yep. It's different, you know, like It it really helps you prepare for twenty eight years later, which really feels like a direct Follow up to 28 Days Later? It's so much better than weeks. It's so much better than weeks.

It's okay. It's a good movie. I wouldn't say it's a bad movie, but it's very much a product of its time. Oh, yes. It's used the night vision stuff because that's what everybody was doing at the time. It did this something else and it was it was it was something else that was borrowed from another bunch of movies that were out at the time. It's fine, but I don't know. It it's good. It just feels like it borrows too much from other stuff. It doesn't try too hard to be original.

Yeah, I I think twenty eight weeks later suffers from like this. Americanization of the franchise where it really it literally has America coming to Britain to be like, Okay, we're we're helping out now. I mean in to the plot's credit, Britain was decimated by the rage virus and and they would have needed outside help from allies. So like not saying the plot doesn't make sense, but

Uh it wasn't the only issue. You're right. It's a product of its time. It was very it lost its like rough edges that the first one had. But once the opening scene is over Uh with what's his name running from all the zombies in the beginning of the movie, which is like the best part of that movie. Um, it's okay after that. That part's amazing. And then after that you're kinda like, Okay, this is cool, it's a zombie movie. Yeah. Yeah, the intro part like the first five minutes.

Yeah. Lou uh I mean that's fair. I think I think twenty eight years later the Bone Temple is going to pull from weeks later a little bit with the talk of like possibly finding a cure because there was some hints. to that. I think so too. Yeah. Uh what was your pick for choice award? Us covering the crow. Yeah. We don't cover much that is Only slightly zombie related.

Um, we usually cover stuff that's usually zombie related or very closely zombie related. And while The Crow is not necessarily a zombie movie, it is about a guy coming back from the dead. And I am a huge, huge, huge fan of Tony Todd. So uh the fact that we could find something that we could m com I'm gonna butcher this word, it's not a word I say very often, but we could memorialize sort of his loss.

uh with a movie and we chose the crow because he's in it. Um I think That was probably one of the highlights of my w of of my year is that we got to talk about something with an actor I like that was not necessarily zombie related, but close enough that we could talk about it for the show. And I hadn't seen it in a few years, so it was awesome to rewatch.

Yeah. It had been a long time for me uh seeing this one too. I hadn't seen in a while, so When we when we got the chance to watch it, I was like, okay, like this is one of those ones where we're gonna step outside the zombie, you know, tried and true zone and kinda like Yeah, i like as I think as we put it like there's literally a scene where

the main character like pulls himself out of a grave, which I think gives it enough zombie points to make it on the show. Yeah. So I think that was our argument, is it makes it because of that scene alone, we call it a zombie movie. Exactly. Well, uh, those are our Zamb Zombie Awards. I hope you enjoyed that. Let us know if you had any favorites uh that you want to shout out.

um in the Discord and we'll talk about them here on the show. Uh but coming up on Zamp, plenty of Zamp content to look forward to in 2026 with our next episode having a look ahead at zombie content for 2026. Uh then we kick off our extra life movies for well you guessed it 2026 with Cooties and then Bride of the Reanimator. I also hear there's a new Resident Evil game releasing in February, so we might have to do something with that as well.

So plenty to look forward to. I want to thank our patrons at patreon.com slash zombies ate my podcast. Your support goes directly back into the show. We really appreciate all the support there. You can visit us on the web at zombies eight mypodcast dot com You can send us an email and we may read it on the show info at zombiesmypodcast.com. You can join our Discord at tiny dot cc slash zam discord. It's the best place to connect with Lou and I as well as fellow listeners.

This has been Zombies A My Podcast and as always we close out the show with some fine zombie knowledge from the busy zombie lord himself. Take it away, Lou. I heard it the other day. If you go by c canon Leon is sixty years old and still kicking zombie ass. I hope I can kick zombie ass at sixty years old. Wait. Way to go, Leon. He's sixty? Yeah, so he's n he's born in nineteen seventy seven. So he's Fifty. Fifty. But still, for fifty, he's still kicking some ass.