Okay, I'm a believer. The world will end in 2012, and as proof, I offer up Warm Bodies, a zombie love story between a hunky undead guy and a human girl. How the Mayans could predict that a Hollywood studio would figure out a way to cast the shadow of Twilight over the zombie genre and thus end all life as we know it, I have no idea.
To be fair, I have not read the source material, which started out as a self-published novel by first-time author Isaac Marion. Atria Books (a division of Simon and Schuster) acquired the publishing rights in 2010, and then Summit Entertainment (the studio behind the Twilight saga) signed on to back the film version. Though several websites claim the novel isn't in the YA genre, the plot screams otherwise. The film is following the story to a T(wilight).
Starting sometime after the zombie apocalypse, the film follows R (Nicholas Hoult, from About a Boy and X-Men: First Class), a 20-ish zombie staggering about the ruined cities on the search for fresh brains. But his search isn't just to satisfy his hunger. When zombies ingest the contents of someone's cranium, they can experience their victim's memories and remember what it was like to be alive.
Well, R stumbles across a suicide victim and, not one to pass up a tasty brain snack, digs in. Upon ingesting the young man's brains, he is exposed to memories so powerful that he falls in love with the dead man's girlfriend, Julie (Teresa Palmer, from I Am Number Four).
Upon finding his new found love, R saves Julie from his fellow zombies and takes her back to his lair. He also begins to develop human traits, including a limited vocabulary. When Julie leaves for the safety of the last human outpost, R follows to try and prove he loves her for more than her brains.
Okay, anyone else feel like vomiting now?
It's hard to forgive the rather blatant "homage" to Romeo and Juliet . (R and Julie, get it? Zombutes and Humagues, right? I wonder what The Bard thinks of this.) But aside from that, you might wonder how I figure a movie containing brain-eating zombies will become a PG-13 teen romance. Well, it's because I'm sure no other filmgoing demographic group will pay money (or waste the time) to see this film.
Speaking as a horror fan, I figure my fellow genre lovers will stay far away from this one. While other horror films have explored human/zombie interaction (Fido being the perfect example), none have attempted a direct romance. Yes, the creepy neighbor in Fido was doing uncomfortable things to his zombie companion, but the plot of Warm Bodies seems to suggest a budding consensual relationship and that will repel horror fans like garlic chases off vampires. After all, whether they shamble or run, we want to see our zombies ripping into people, not pining for them.
The other potential target audience for the film is teenage boys. But most of them would rather stay home and practice head shots on Left for Dead 2 than watch a zombie shamble to the last human sanctuary with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
So, that leaves teenage girls as the main target, and if you have any further doubts, listen to director Jonathan Levine gush over how HOT Hoult looks as a zombie. Quoted in the exclusive sneak peek afforded USA Today.Com: "By any standards, Nicholas is pretty fantastic," Levine says. "He's definitely the Brad Pitt of the zombie world. We wanted to stay true to the zombie tradition and yet make a believable romantic interest."
Aside from "zombie tradition" and "romantic interest" mixing worse than oil and water, I wonder if Levine realizes he's trying to make necrophilia seem attractive to moviegoers. As I said, I haven't read the book, so I don't know how far Marion took this romance or whether the movie will push things further, but trying to make a reanimated, brain-eating corpse look like a hunky leading man ranks pretty high on the creepy scale.
The question is, will it work? Will teenage girls fall for a supernatural love interest that shambles about, can barely speak, doesn't sparkle and is basically a rotting carcass? I'd say no, but hey, I also didn't think Twilight would become a phenomenon and open the doorway for a zombie leading man. It's sure looking like the end of the world to me.
If you still care at this point, Warm Bodies is scheduled to open on August 10, 2012.
Hmm this is different I would say the "idea" of it is vaguely interesting. I'm not at all oppose I guess to a zombie romance depending how you go about it. But I would be oppose to it as it being illogically possible for people to really think that's a great idea hooking up with a dead guy. Unless she becomes a zombie too? Man maybe that would be worse than Twilight. You're alive and well, next you are going to became a decomposing piece of flesh to be with this guy who is going to eventually rot away and you both will finally be no more. Hah maybe that is worse.
Well I would have to say despite some flaws, I did enjoy Zombie Honeymoon a lot. I think that movie really did portray the angst and tragedy of that situation and realizing there is nothing you can do to save your loved one into becoming a zombie. I found that a lot more believable, although of course completely fucked, but it didn't turn into necrophilia territory. Although Return Of The Living Dead 3, treads that line carefully as it can (although it does blur), but that material definitely wasn't for kids and that situation in fact it ended rather badly as well. Plus I don't know how on earth they plan to make this PG-13 fair? I don't know about this one. I like how they think because they made a zombie "better-looking and less dead" he is somehow more appealing. Well hate to break it to you he is still very much dead. No matter how hot he looks as a zombie and chewing on somebody's brain he is dead. No amount of love is going to bring him back and turn him into a human again. (Ok if that what happens oh my god that is going to be fucking terrible.) They might as well call it Beauty And The Beast with zombies and a dash of Romeo and Juliet.
*Update* I recently went browsing around and well I found that Simon Pegg even likes it which is interesting considering his contribution to the zombie genre.
http://twitter.com/#!/simonpegg/status/24922175140007937
Hmm still not sure.
"I hurt" - Karen Cooper "Night Of The Living Dead"