Black Summer vs Shaun of the Dead
Regardless of the fact both Black Summer, a 2019 Netflix tv series, and Shaun of the Dead, a British cult classic, are both based around a zombie apocalypse, it’s simply impossible to compare them. One isn’t better than the other, they’re successful in their own individual ways; whether that be the tension rising in Black Summer, or the comedic comments shared by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in SOTD. However, the portrayal of the undead have their similarities.
Black Summer is suspenseful, unnerving, and genuinely scary. In a classic zombie apocalypse tv series, the civilians always seem to be fully equipped with weapons, ammunition… almost as though they’d been preparing for this their entire lives. Black Summer however disregards all of this. The people are desperate, in a state of hysteria, unprepared and simply have no idea what they’re doing, how you’d expect everyone to react after being thrust into an apocalypse situation. I mean, how would you react? The twist with Black Summer is that everyone is infected, it just takes dying in order to turn. This series taps into the stories of multiple groups trying to get to safety, encountering the undead on their journey. One moment in the second episode that was particularly special is the focus on a woman who had just been hit by a car, leading to her inevitable demise and turning into a zombie, channelling in on her adaptation as the infection takes over her. Her eyes glaze over to a white/grey tinge, protruding black veins covering their foreheads and eye bag area, vomiting blood and bleeding from the canthi. Most unnervingly, the zombies are incredibly fast. As well as this, they’re smart and adaptable. Like a predator preying on its next meal, they adapt to their surroundings and what they see in order for them to have a meal. An example of this is where a zombie watched their prey climb a fence, so they copied. Unlike the usual undead stereotype of slow with zero brain function, these undead folk are even more jarring as they’re inescapable.
When focusing on Shaun of the Dead, significant similarities in the appearance of the deceased are identified to those of Black Summer, however as the show is a parody of an apocalypse movie, there are also the classic stereotypes. Unlike Black Summer where the zombies still look human, the zombies in this cult classic are pale with an almost green tinge (stereotype), white eyes and blood covering their faces (both from throwing up and eating others). As for the mannerisms of the zombies, however, they are the polar opposite of Black Summer. They’re stupid, slow and clueless of everything other than their only thought; hunger. The deceased only know one instinct; violence, as they are the predators where the civilians are the prey. Shaun of the Dead also holds a very British stereotype, going to the pub and doing nothing else. The films safety point where all the people end up is the pub, which is a nod to the British cast and setting. The zombies move slow, little to no muscle control and their arms appear to be as though they’re in rigor mortis. These zombies aren’t scary, as they’re very stereotypical, however that’s not me saying if I ever saw one in the street I wouldn’t run in the opposite direction.
The appearance isn’t the only thing that’s identifiable for zombies, it’s the noises they make as well. As for Black Summer, the undead are extremely loud, continuously scream and gurgle as though they have something lodged in their throat (most likely some sort of body part of their prey, or perhaps blood), whereas the zombies in SOTD make the definitive zombie noise and they’re fairly quiet in comparison to the menacing and vicious zombies in Black Summer.
No matter what setting, zombies are terrifying, I think we can all agree on that. But based on the style of both these descriptions of zombies, I think it’s fair to say we’d stand a better chance against the slow and stupid zombies in Shaun of the Dead.
