Zombieland (Part 1)

Let’s take a step into Zombieland! (No...)

A film released in 2009, directed by Ruben Fleischer, starring Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus, Emma Stone as Wichita, Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee and Abigail Breslin as Little Rock.

It is about Columbus, the shy and nerdy American student who survives in zombieland, which was previously known as Texas, tries to search for his family in Columbus, Ohio. He meets Tallahassee who is a zombie killer who has Twinkies obsession. While both men are on their way to their destination, they get to know a pair of sisters that plan to go Pacific Playland, an amusement park which rumoured to be zombie-free. While they are heading to their destinations, four of them get together to survive in the journey by killing zombies.

As what the film title suggests, you can expect the genre is horror as zombie is one of the most popular convention in horror genre film. And yes, Zombieland wouldn’t complete without zombie. 

Other than that, Zombieland is not only a horror film but it has a combination of comedy, romance, action, sci-fi and road film genre too! It is a mixed genre film, a postmodernism film. Let’s break it down!

Talking about postmodernism, as soon as Jesse Eisenberg who acted as Columbus narrated “This is now the United States of Zombieland” in the opening, it indicates United States is no longer United States. The country doesn’t have people but zombies everywhere. The country is a collapse of the modernist world.

Horror genre refers to films that makes viewers to elicit the feelings of fear, anxiety and fright. It indicates the unnatural element appears to be an external threat that threatens the civilians. From the opening, the canted angle of a footage which then leads to a long shot of a man, or specifically saying, a man who is actually a zombie runs towards the camera, eats the man who is lying on the road. The zombies eating people situation causes fear in civilians. For instance, the zombie chase after the obese man in the sports stadium.

The zombies are attracted by noises. When they hear noises, they are alive because the noises work like a notification that tells them to hunt for their “happy meal” or “manwich”, which means eat another zombie to fill their hunger. They are active in day and night. Literally they can be found anywhere. They could be in the supermarket, in the car’s backseat, on the road, peep you while you doing your business in toilet.

The existence of zombies creates the chaotic feeling in people. Columbus sets a list of survival rules in order to survive in zombieland. For example, Columbus’s rule of surviving number four “Fasten your seat belts” is an important tips. It is seen in the scene where the pink-sweater woman frightened to see the princess zombies from her neighbourhood crowding around her car to the extend that she forgets to fasten her seat belt during her drive, followed by her scream, she get threw out to the road. The civilians have to be aware of zombie all the time due to these fast acting, mad, aggressive zombies are a threat to their lives.

Moving on to comedy genre. In the opening of Zombieland where it shows the zombie has some bites on the man, the zombie burps. The film introduced itself is associated with comedy genre. Furthermore, slapstick comedy exist which means the exaggerate humor that is beyond the boundary of ordinary sense. Comedy also happens when Columbus who often practices his rules of survival, accidentally killed Bill Murray who guised as zombie without knowing he is also a survivor. Wichita even laughed at the first place for Columbus’s mistake on causing the death of Bill Murray. In terms of dark comedy, it goes to one of Columbus’s rules “Double Tap”. By using weapon or car, double tapping is a good practice just to ensure the zombie is dead and you can leave the place in peace.

Parody is one of the characteristic found in postmodernism. Zombieland pays tribute to Ghostbusters by parody. While Little Rock and Columbus go into the mansion’s theater room to watch Ghostbusters, the rest who are Wichita, Tallahassee and owner of the mansion, the Ghostbusters star Bill Murray did a reenactment. In the chandelier scene, Tallahassee wears the costume from Ghostbusters and Bill Murray takes the vacuum cleaner points to the chandelier as if it is a ghost vacuum. Bill Murray mocks his signature role and scene in Ghostbusters.

I will continue the genre analysis in the next post. Stay tune!