Zombie Apocolypse

I'm not a scary movie guy.
Even George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", with its low-grade film quality and antiquated special effects, I still find off-putting.
But since it was filmed in Butler County, where I made my home, it still has a place in the massive shelf in our family room that stores our DVD collection.
And we have a ton of them.
Recently, my wife brought home a DVD of the first season of "The Walking Dead" on AMC.
I don't like gory.  The closest I'll get to gory on a recurring basis is watching old re-runs of the ABC gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows".
But I thought I'd give "Dead" a chance.
I didn't like the first episode.
But then after Margie watched an episode or two without me, I found myself curious as to what happened next.
I couldn't imagine a show like this as sustainable.
In the words of Major Lance (for you oldies fans), I was born with a curious mind.
So I plopped down on the couch next to her earlier this week (after putting the kid to bed of course), and went back to watching.
The backstory has been slow in coming about, as to how this happened.  Nonetheless, I enjoy seeing mankind's resourcefulness in dealing with a situation like this.
And with my curious mind, I somehow manage to find plot holes or inaccuracies here and there.
Like speed.
I asked Margie how a zombie, who walks with a limp and at a very slow pace, is somehow able to run at great speed in a forest?
Especially being partially devoured by one of their own before they 'come back' as the undead.
And did nobody among our most intelligent military people think of the benefits of a flame-thrower?
It was my understanding that these beings were highly flammable.  When one catches fire, isn't that an incentive for them to consider an alternate plan?
Obviously the writers knew they were treading a line when they put this show together.  I can see how a typical meeting would go.
"We don't want to go too Romero on this," one would say.
Because George scared the hell out of us on a shoestring budget in 1968 that's become a cult classic, despite  virtually no promotion dollars and no big-name actors other than Pittsburgh celebs.
In case you missed it, they were Bill Cardille (TV reporter) of WPXI, and Dave James (face-grabbing zombie), then of KQV, later at KDKA.
The baby-boomers had "Night of the Living Dead".  Could this be the next generation's comparison?
One thing I am sure of is this:
The scary movie has endured since the 1920s.
And it will as long as people have that thrill for the horror.
In the meantime, pass the popcorn.


NEXT WEEK:  Get Your Fash On