Hollywood’s fascination with Zombies increases to grow, especially with the impending release of World War Z, the film adaptation of Max Brooks’ popular novel. We love zombies and so do our filmmakers (well, most of them anyways) so we decided to poll our pool of talent to explore their tastes in terms of the living dead.  

"I remember when I was watching Shaun of the Dead for the first-time, I was so impressed with the unique combination of humor, horror, and of course, zombies!  The film was incredibly entertaining and such an original salute on the zombie genre."

—Matthew Bonifacio, Fortune House

"Because my mother would disown me if I said anything else, Night of the Living Dead." 

—Daniel Patrick Carbone, Hide Your Smiling Faces

"B movie classic, The Curse of the Screaming Dead.  Haven't heard of it? Let me fill you in. Late 70s hipsters go on an RV trip in to the woods. They stumble upon a civil war graveyard and disturb the fallen soldiers by removing confederate trinkets.  You can imagine what happens next. I won't spoil it.  Be prepared for exploding bullets, overly hysterical girlfriends and feasting zombie scenes that go on far longer than they should.  I love the sound of organs being eaten in the morning!"

—Dave Carroll, Bending Steel

"Okay this is a bad one for me ‘cause I'm terrified of horror movies—zombies, slashers, torture or just anything that bleeds. I have to close my eyes.  I literally close my eyes when the previews come. The images stay in my mind and make me craaaazy.

However, interestingly enough, I do have a favorite Zombie movie that is not a feature film. It's Michael Jackson’s Thriller, one of the first music videos to have a full narrative and air in its entirety on national television. Not only did it scare the shit outta me: it made me want to dance, perm my hair and get that leather jacket. There is no competition! I'm doing the zombie dance right now."

—Sol Guy, Inside Out: The People's Art Project

"Re-Animator. It’s disgustingly hilarious and oh so entertaining. Probably my favorite cult film as well." 

—Rob Margolies, She Wants Me

"Hands down and zombies aside, 28 Days Later is one of my favorite films of the last 10 years. From that first moment when Cillian Murphy breaks the silence and innocently bellows "hello?!" and the zombies' heads snap to attention, it's a master piece of physical, geographically precise tension. Some of the zombie/human encounters are just as intense as the battlefield scenes in Saving Private Ryan or the bomb removal forays in Hurt Locker that had me crawling onto my neighbor's lap. Only, instead of the "hell of war," it's that "hell is other people," which has always struck me as the zombie genre motto.

The first time I watched it, I was alone in my apartment. Admittedly, I had to pause it every few minutes and pace around to contain myself. As a filmmaker who's always belly-aching about how much more valuable and "present" one is in the theatrical venue, I shudder to think what watching that film for the first time at the Ziegfield would have done to my nerves. Try walking in New Hampshire woods at night in December, nothing but a streak of moonlight... then, a shadow. Cue the memory of a throng of decaying bodies chasing after you. You'll walk faster and keep looking behind you."

—Mitch McCabe, Youth Knows No Pain