Zombie infection inconsistencies?

Excedion

Ive been watching a lot of horror (mostly zombie) movies lately and many of them make the claim of the "Don't get any blood on you or you'll get infected". For example in the walking dead many of the characters beat a few zombies around the head with whatever blunt or sharp weapon they can find usually covering themselves in blood splatter. Yet they never seem to get infected even though its clearly covering their face. Even some films like 28 days later where they made the point of a single drop of blood landing in the mans eye turning him yet the soldiers who got covered in blood spatter and zombie bits when a Z became emotionally attached to a claymore didnt seem to have any problems with infection. Why do film makers only seem to use the blood infection as a optional plot tool and not as a definitive rule?

ScumLord

Yup, I've been saying this for a while. Zombie films are just about killing zombies in a certain location to a formula, every zombie storey is exactly the same no matter how absurd that one storey is in varying locations. There's no thought put into the storey, no real suspense, just dumb gore.

I've spent a year trying to write a zombie storey and haven't even gotten near a storey it's all been rules and time lines.

Zomg Okay

TWD is a little bit more than a gore fest, in all fairness.

Anyway. I've always interpreted it as getting covered in the stuff as fine as long as it doesn't get in through a cut or similar.

BigDuffman

I've always viewed it as something akin to HIV / hep in terms of transmission.

Excedion

ScumLord wrote: »

Yup, I've been saying this for a while. Zombie films are just about killing zombies in a certain location to a formula, every zombie storey is exactly the same no matter how absurd that one storey is in varying locations. There's no thought put into the storey, no real suspense, just dumb gore.

I've spent a year trying to write a zombie storey and haven't even gotten near a storey it's all been rules and time lines.

Sadly I'm inclined to agree with your point about the formula. Very few films do it right but not all are just dumb gore that I do disagree with. I find that the best zombie stories are in literature and audio like "We're Alive".

BigDuffman wrote: »

I've always viewed it as something akin to HIV / hep in terms of transmission.

Zomg Okay wrote: »

TWD is a little bit more than a gore fest, in all fairness.

Anyway. I've always interpreted it as getting covered in the stuff as fine as long as it doesn't get in through a cut or similar.

Yeah but the thing that annoys me is that its nearly always a viral infection or something similar. A lot like Aids as you say and im nearly sure if any contaminated blood gets near any of your orifices youve got a damn good chance of getting infected. I think in an effort to give more background about the virus they've just pointed out more flaws in their plots

BigDuffman

True, but it's not as easy as people think to catch AIDS. For example if someone that has HIV bleeds all over your arm you will not catch HIV unless you have an open wound. I've always looked at it like super HIV where if it comes in contact with eyes, mouth or wound etc it will infect. Or like a super potent rabies through bites.

Or combine both with a HIV + Rabies hybrid and voila. Ragelike virus.

ScumLord

In all cases though the zombies saliva is infected so it's beyond just being in the blood like HIV.

I don't think it could simply be a virus either I prefer to call it a disease as that leaves the door open for a lot of things. The thing about the zombie disease is that it takes over the body completely, it's not a virus inside a host, it's a host completely taken over by another organism all of it would have to be infected or the bits that weren't would rot away.

ChaseThisLight

ScumLord wrote: »

In all cases though the zombies saliva is infected so it's beyond just being in the blood like HIV.

This is what I thought it was, not necessarily in the blood, but transmitted by saliva, hence why a bite does you in.

I don't think it could simply be a virus either I prefer to call it a disease as that leaves the door open for a lot of things. The thing about the zombie disease is that it takes over the body completely, it's not a virus inside a host, it's a host completely taken over by another organism all of it would have to be infected or the bits that weren't would rot away.

I read this book, Patient Zero...wasn't too into it at first, but the way they went about the creation of the virus (I'm calling it a virus, because it was man made and used for terrorism in the book) was pretty detailed, and how many stages it took to get it perfected by the scientist behind it and how it worked to reanimate, was pretty good. You don't get that kind of information in the movies. You don't know where and how and why it happens.

Fallschirmjager

i guess like anyone else i am waiting for the ultimate zombie movie. i guess i understand the issue for zombie movies makers. there has never really been a huge mega zombie hit. big ones yes, but not LOTR big. so what you have then is movie houses will will restrict the budget because they have to earn a profit. if you know (and they do) at best you are going to earn 5 million (for example), well then you have your budget at 2 million for filming, production, marketing, actors etc. therefore no angelina jolie and here boobs, no bruce willis and his 6 pack. also they limit the amount the director can spend on the story so when it overruns, you still have a gap to earn money and a large proportion of films go over budget. also a biggie is that the zombie movie, by its nature is over 18 or R in the US. you have just cut your viewership by millions worldwide and particularly in the US which is the make or break location for sales. add all that and you have limited profit, limited rollout, limited marketing and bingo, small movies. now you can argue that is a circular relationship and it is, the problem is no hollywood exec is going to give up the strippers and drugs on the hope that a zombie movie will sell big when he or she knows yet another tom hanks or george clooney POS will clean up and the 5 million (the zombie budget) for either of those actors is a good proportion of what they want per movie. blame hollywood all you like, but people vote with their wallet. oceans 900 with big actors and crap story sells millions, zombie dont...thats the choice.

so why did i say all that. what has that got to do with the OP. well a lot as it happens. you now have maximum 90 minutes to tell a story. you need a hero or heros and you need to get to the action. otherwise you wont earn a profit and therefore no more zombie movies as the movie houses steer clear of them for a few years as they are seen as loss making.

the issue of infection is only really interesting to people here who are interested in the genre. most movie watchers who go watch a popcorn movie, wont know what you know, they want a captivating story. its a bit like a star wars or star trek fan, ever meet those people? exactly my point, they have people working out where ewoks crap and speaking klingon and what exactly is the planet rura penthe like. you are like that in the zombie genre. you are the klingon speaker...

the issue of infection is a tricky one for movies. they have to have gore and you cant have it that if everyones bdu's are freshly pressed and they avoid contact and use a barrett 50 cal at 1 KM. they need close contact for the story. they have to have transmission but something obvious is well, obvious. you need something small that affects a character you love or hate and it has to be something hidden, something someone didnt notice. a soldier covered head to toe in zombie bits is too obvious and is just background actors, no hero is a grunt in the background (a grunt the story is about is different). Also most people will use 'movie sense' when they see it, aka ' obviously that person will wash and sterlise clothes etc etc. your mind fills in blanks in stories like that. what you want to see (or at least the movies producers want you to see) is a small droplet that gets inside the walls of something impregnable (the castle, the building, the person etc) and destroys from the inside out. hence they eye splash. most people in the west are familiar with a virus, (they are dangerous), most people know you get it from a spray of somekind (nose, bite, eye splash) and to be fair on the latter there is medical evidence to back that up, its one of the reasons surgeons now have plastic face guards for example. so the eye splash is a great way for a 90 minute movie to transmit a story about how the hero solves it (a bite is too obvious, unless they hide it). how do we move fast from initial discovery to a cut off outpost that gets a secret infection from the inside. the limit on the time of a movie is a killer for zombie movies....especially for you and me who want something more.

imho, this is why the walking dead is so critical to us zombie lovers. they have the time to tell a long story that is not always about gore. its about people. but look at some of the reviews even here, some want more gore and action and head blasting. its tricky to suit all, in fact near impossible i would say. but what the walking dead has shown with the viewership is that there is a lot of people who watch it. i think that has surprised a lot of Hollywood types. they thought that zombie is a cult following at best and you earn a million here or there on it. personally zombie movies, for me, are great. but i also have accepted that it is unlikely we will have blockbusters with it. there is no avatar with zombies or at least hollywood feels there isnt. its one of the reasons i am worried about 'WWZ'. if brad pitts fuks that up, say goodbye to big zombie movies for at least 10 years. there is a lot riding on it at the movie houses and for us. we also better home the walking dead doesnt fail, because that will also confirm their thoughts.

the only other option is to hope one of the big directors like cameron latches on and sees a link to green politics (like avatar) and then we have a shot at a big movie.

just my opinion however.