Dan is on vacation this week, so we're re-running one of our favorites of his. - ed

I’m writing this early Friday night and I don’t know what movie to watch yet, but it’s gotta have zombies though, old school. Friday night is time to kick back and watch a few people die. Fridays are good.

The laws of horror stupidity apply really well to a zombie movie. You see, if you’re smart you can stay alive for a long time, but no matter what you do, you’re most likely going to be eaten anyway. Zombies can’t run because their bodies are all rotted and shit, but that’s okay. They’re able to take their time because they have eternity to catch you. Zombie movies usually have that sense of inevitable doom. You will run out of places to go and they’ll probably get you. It’s going to spread, everyone may be turned and the world as we know it might end. But every minute, there’s an idiot born who will die before you.

Stupidity isn’t always completely necessary in a horror movie, but it helps explain a lot of situations and it definitely helps the body count. I don’t only love the idiots that die in the movie, it’s the idiots who die before the movie even starts. They’re usually necessary. Those legions of undead have to come from somewhere. The legions of undead are full of idiots who didn’t have the sense to get away. Shit should never have turned out like this… those stupid fucking people…. Jesus, just walk away, just walk. That’s why it’s so satisfying when they get ripped apart or shot in the head. If they’re dumb then it just feels better.

Take that Hare Krishna guy in the original Dawn Of The Dead. They don’t show his history but you know how he bought it. He walked up to someone and said “Love Will Overcome All” or “A Small Donation Will Set You Free.” The point is that he probably walked up to someone. Rama Mageesh promised him eternity but now he gets to crave human flesh until his own flesh rots away. Everyone knows this guy.

And of the four main characters in Dawn Of The Dead, who bought it? The stupid ones. The flyboy, Steven, jumped at every opportunity to act like an idiot, and I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did. Fucking dolt. That other guy, the cop, well he lost it at a crucial moment and he paid for it. It’s truly unfortunate when cops die in horror movies. Truly. Send more cops.

Here’s another good example, Burial Ground. Now there’s a piece of work. Holy shit this crew is stupid. They should have arrived at that tropical island (you know, the one from which they’d never escape) on a short yellow bus. They’re not half as smart as the zombies that kill them and they prove their worthlessness again and again.
These zombies got it together, man. They’re well dressed and they haven’t wasted their time while they were in the ground. They were working on their knife throwing and wall climbing skills. These are the type of zombies the Nazis always wanted. Anyway, every living human in this movie is an idiot and they all end up getting what they deserve. The best one of all concerns this kid who wants to make it with his Mom.

Weirdest looking kid I’ve ever seen in my life. Look at that kid. That’s supposed to be a kid? I’ll believe in zombies first. This kid gets all upset because of the walking dead or something, and goes to his Mom for comfort. Get this, he tells her how he needs to touch her, and how she used to hold him to her breasts when he was little. Then he goes for her tits. Mom smacks him down and he cries. The whole scene is pretty damn weird, and more unsettling than the blood and death around them.

Later the kid gets killed, becomes a zombie and finds his Mom. The lady figures that maybe it’s a good idea to let the kid have a go at her after all - now that he’s a fucking zombie - and she ends up getting a tittie bitten off. She must have been out of her mind because nobody is that stupid. Besides the obvious result of being dead, she’s got a gaping hole where her right tit used to be. When she starts to rot, that hole is going to be one of the first places the maggots settle into. That’s just going to be unattractive. Stupid corpse.

Stupidity is rampant everywhere, but especially in the underafternetherworld, so what’s the scene you think of? What’s your favorite display of horror stupidity? Who didn’t listen when you told them not to go in there?

Dan is a certified Surviving in a Cemetery expert and is available for lectures.

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