Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse and Unorthodox Zombie Occurrences
Scott Hallam
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The zombie sub-genre of horror has seen every possible evolution that could be imagined. That is, until Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is unleashed into theaters on October 30. Now we’ve got a whole new twist on the zombie universe. To celebrate, we’ve conjured up some of our favorite unconventional zombies throughout the years.
Fido – Fido
Oh, what a concept. So let’s say the zombie apocalypse finally breaks out as we all know it will sooner or later. But instead of letting cities crumble like Atlanta in “The Walking Dead,” why can’t we get in front of this thing and use it to our advantage? And that’s exactly the concept we see in Fido.
There’s really nothing outwardly unique about Fido as a zombie. He’s a flesh-eating undead walker, but thanks to the smarts of humanity, he’s been corralled by a collar that controls his less desirable traits and makes him downright handy to the family that owns him, as is the case with many of the zombies that survived the “Zombie Wars” that occurred before the film started. The only problem is if that damn collar happens to break down or slip off.
And, of course, that damn controlling collar does happen to go haywire, and off Fido goes onto a flesh-devouring killing spree. But what else would you expect a zombie to do? When we start domesticating the undead and having them do our laundry and wash our cars, there can only be bad things coming in the future. But we must say, Fido is a landmark monster. Never before have we seen the undead put to such fantastic good use.
Pet Sematary – Winston Churchill
Although Stephen King never calls the things that come back after being buried in the Micmac Burial Ground zombies, they are indeed some form of that. Easily one of the most underrated and least spoken of Stephen King books and movies, Pet Sematary is an absolute nightmare, and it all started with Winston Churchill.
Not the world leader Winston Churchill, of course, but a scary grey cat that carried his name. Of course the Creed family called him “Church” for short, and this ferocious feline was nothing if not another worldly, undead terror. Church was the first thing that Louis Creed buried in the unholy ground shown to him by Jud Crandall, but it wasn’t the last. As all fans of the film know, Louis kinda went overboard burying dead family members up there, and that’s even after Jud told him about how Timmy Baterman came back all jammed up.
Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse will undoubtedly bring us more new and memorable zombies to talk about. In fact, the film has its own herd of zombie cats to deal with. If you think Church was bad, imagine a group of them, with nothing but bad news on the mind. Check out the clip below to see the zombie cats on the prowl in Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse.
Return of the Living Dead – Split Dog
Return of the Living Dead is an iconic zombie film. No, it’s not the serious, thought-provoking masterpiece that George A. Romero gave us with Night of the Living Dead, but Return of the Living Dead is so strong for so many reasons. It’s hilarious, it’s over-the-top, and it’s the film that originally kicked off the idea that zombies eat brains. Up to that point, zombies were pure flesh-eaters, not distinguishing between brains and the rest of the body; but when Tarman arose and uttered his unforgettable line, “More brains,” the horror community was hooked!
But within the insanity that is Return of the Living Dead, we see some great alternative zombie action. In addition to all the madness that breaks out, we see some really unique zombies. One of the main highlights is the little person zombie that appears just after the undead call for more paramedics, but the most outrageous has to be the zombie half-dog.
Viewers will undoubtedly remember the scene at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse that featured many some of the supply company products coming to life, the most memorable of which was an undead half-dog that had been bisected for medical research reasons. Once reanimated, the dog moved and yipped and made for a most memorable prop. One of the most unique and unorthodox zombies ever created.
Day of the Dead – Bub
A more humanistic zombie you’ll never find! Bub, played by Howard Sherman in the original Day of the Dead, is a memorable zombie for the ages. He is unique as no zombie has been before or since. He uses the phone (kind of), salutes, and even remembers how to fire a gun when the shit hits the fan at the end of Day of the Dead.
Yes, the split dog in Return of the Living Dead was awesome, but Bub is on another level. He’s the first hero zombie we’ve ever seen, and I can’t think of another one since. Bub should have worn a cape with a big letter “B” on his chest because he was indeed one of the good guys once he was able to shake off a little of that undead haze.
Day of the Dead was a landmark for zombie films because of how it raised the bar on so many levels. The special effects were absolutely stunning and perhaps unmatched to this day as far as practical work goes. And one unforgettable zombie named Bub helped to entrench the film in our hearts.
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is in theaters October 30th. To create your own badges, watch exclusive video, and get tickets, head to ScoutsAndZombiesMovie.com.
