Transcript: Zombies

Bif Bam Pow Wow
Episode “Zombies”

Tom: They are creepy, they are lifelike, they will suck the brains right out of your skull boy! No it’s not another presidential debate, oh ha-ha. It is my favorite new horror series and it is coming right up.
Het welcome to another exciting installment of the series Bif Bam Pow Wow. I am Tom your mild mannered host here to share my superhero like insights into the world of geek culture. Now today I want to let you in on one of my personal favorites. A zombie series that rises above so to speak, all the others in the genre.
It is called the walking dead, and this series came out of no where in 2003 to become an instant cult classic. The story seems like something we have seen and read a million times before. A world overrun by zombies were the survivors hunker together to fight off the living dead and each other. But that is where the similarities end.
The Walking Dead, by comic industry superstar Robert Kirkman draws its strength from its main character. A police officer named Rick Grimes, who wakes up from a coma in a hospital surrounded by zombies. It is entirely a character driven series, full of unexpected turns. Great story telling and even better it is in awesome black and white artwork. Which really makes all the violence stands out.
Another little tidbit, keep your eyes open for Kirkmans new project, the first he’s got going since the walking dead. Called the Astounding Wolfman, coming soon to a comic book store near you. Now don’t wander to off by yourself, not even for a second, stay tuned because I have a grave load of recommendation coming your way.
Alright everybody welcome to my favorite part of the show Toms picks and pans. Now first off as I mentioned earlier I really, really think you should all be reading Robert Kirkmans Walking Dead. Such a good book, don’t let the title fool you it’s not just about zombies. Now, great book, image comics prices this volume at $9.99, totally worth buying. You will be hooked immediately you will buy all the rest. Great book, don’t let it pass you by, totally serious.
Now also keep in mind Marvel Comics, a little bit more mainstream but very amusing has this little number. The Marvel zombies, very funny, well done. You get to see Peter Parker eat Mary Jane, great stuff. Not in the way you think, alright everybody clean it up or whatever. Good stuff though, very amusing, great artwork.
Now also on DVD, if you haven’t got it already or if you haven’t seen it, you’re an idiot. Dawn of the dead, George A Romero. Awesome, classic, now he also did night of the living dead, but my favorite Dawn of the Living dead, here in the shopping mall. C’mon you know what I am talking about, don’t miss this, go buy it, go own it, watch it a million times, great stuff. Also the classic Penultimate zombie movie. Shaun of the Dead, great, great stuff. Relatively recent, really well done though. All the classics right in here, great movie don’t miss it.
Now what else, oh yeah, if you have. If you’re lucky enough to have a first print walking dead #1… You can probably expect a VF mint copy of walking dead #1 first printing, could probably go for anywhere from about $70 to $100 bucks. Now there was a very low print run on that number one so they did do a second printing with a different cover. Keep your eyes peeled for it, the first printing has sort of a yellowish look to it. So don’t be fooled, alright. So $90 to $100 for that first print. Lucky you.
And last but not least something to avoid in the zombie genre. I hate to say it but George A Romero has a little series of comics that he wrote called Land of the Dead. Just not that good, it’s got his name on it so I know you really want to run out there and support him because he is so awesome. But this series really falls short, there is just kind of gore for no reason and it’s just sort of lame, and painful.
Alright you can put down your pencils and relax, no more test after this I promise. Now since I knew we would be talking about zombies and cops with the walking dead today I thought hey, what a perfect opportunity to check out this new DVD I got in the mail called Zombie Cop. And I have invited a very special guest, my boy Rory.
Now if you take Robo cop, then mix it with the Crow and water it down like a matchbox 20 song, you know what you got? You got Zombie cop. And honestly, kudos to these guys. They are a couple kids in Akron Ohio, I don’t know maybe in there 30’s, I don’t know. But you know they take a camcorder, they edit it. It’s seen it’s on the show isn’t it. And so you know even Scorsese had to make Boxcar Bertha at one point. If they learned something from this, you know. More power to them, but honestly it jut misses the mark so bad.
You know its not even cheesy campy fun. It is very, very dull, nothing is exaggerated. Everything it, the acting isn’t like Oh my god! Its more like oh my god. You know and there's no exaggeration, so there’s no fun in it. There is not a lot of energy put into it. It Is just a very, very dull, dull experience. Now some people say you are too hard on it, this movie isn’t Citizen Kane, it’s not Gone with the Wind. But you know what it is trying to be a campy bad horror film that people can laugh at and people don’t laugh at it. So I honestly can’t recommend it. I think it is a failure as a bad movie if that makes sense.
Now if you want a horror movie that you can laugh at, I would say check out the Dawn of the Dead remake from 2004 directed by Zach Snider of 300 fame. Because here is a movie that is really, really scary and really, really funny at the same time. But it is really, really funny in the way that it is not parodying a zombie movie. It is, you know knot trying to be campy bad, it’s actually funny because they wrote a funny joke. They had a funny cut; there were funny actors in it. There was that Richard Cheese song, going down with a sickness, over these guys shooting zombies that look like Jay Leno with a shotgun. Hilarious!
It is a great movie. I would also say check out the, it’s actually a song. Re: Your brains, it actually a great song about zombies taking over an office. Oh my god, hooligans taking over the pretzel hut, ah this is what I was made for Ha-ha.
Well that is all the time we have, I am exhausted and drained. My special thanks to Rory from DVD geeks who hangs out at the mall all the time and dresses up like a cop. Now remember folks if you ever find yourself surrounded by zombies. Remember they can’t run down hills, no wait that’s grizzlies. No wait maybe they can’t climb trees. No that’s bears again. Well whatever in any case just remember aim for the head.