Why in horror movies do the dead always attack the living?
 

And not just movies it's a common recurring theme in old horror stories too.

So why do dead people always want to hurt the living? My theory is that maybe they hold a jealousy against the living for having something that the dead will never have again? Maybe the dead all wish that they could go back to being alive and enjoy the same things that the living do but since that is impossible they take their anger out on the living and kill them so that they will become dead too?

Maybe the living fear the dead because they understand that the dead are angry at them for being allowed to die and that they themselves will one day be dead too?

I always feel sympathetic to the undead monsters in horror movies like ghosts, zombies, vampires, and other types of ghouls. ::smile::

I feel like this is some deep stuff. A lot of horror filmmakers and story writers always say that they sympathize with their undead monsters but they don't really explain why they sympathize with them.

So I decided to do my own analysis of the undead and their grudge against the living. ::devil::::danger::

I think the dead might envy the living. In Dawn of the Dead they were talking about why the zombies were going to the shopping mall because there is still a part of their subconscious that acts as instinct. I know in the Return of the Living Dead movies zombies just wanted brains but And all the regular movies they just tear people apart and eat whatever they can. So the question is do they actually need flesh to survive as zombies? Or are they killing them anyway they can because they are envious of them?

Yeah I never understood why the zombies in Return of the Living Dead only eat brains when in every other zombie movie they eat whatever they can tear out of their victims.

I don't think the zombies actually "need" the flesh to survive because as Dr. Logan pointed out in Day of the Dead when he removed the stomach and organs of a zombie they still crave human flesh as food even when they can't gain nourishment from it. And seeing how zombies are dead beings that slowly rot over time I doubt any of their internal organs work to digest the flesh they eat

I think their desire for flesh as food comes from a primitive animalistic instinct (the need to feed) yet it seems strange that they mostly target humans which are still the same species and not other animals. The act of cannibalism against their own species I think comes from something more than just primitive hunger. They must have something against the living humans themselves.

For example like Bub from Day of the Dead. The only reason he didn't try to attack Dr. Logan I think is because Logan was somehow able to awaken the humanity inside of him with his experiments and bring out what was originally lost when he became a zombie, and he saw Logan as his protector and provider of food and toys to play with.

When Bub saw that Logan was dead he reacted in genuine pain and sadness and knew immediately who was responsible for killing him (Rhodes and his men). So he picked up a gun and hunted Rhodes down to act out another human emotion: vengeance.

Bub grew very attached to Logan because of the way he reminded him of his own humanity but in the end he was still a zombie and would always be a zombie until the day he was destroyed in the brain or rotted away completely.

And it was interesting how he didn't even bother to eat Rhodes like the other zombies after he shot him. That shows just how much contempt he had for the guy for killing Logan.

Now vampires on the other hand, I think they actually DO need human blood because without it they loose their powers. In Bram Stoker's Dracula (the book I mean) I believe that Count Dracula would actually start to age drastically when he didn't feed for awhile.

And I think ghosts mostly attack humans for entering the areas they haunt because they are territorial and possibly because they envy humans for still being alive. Of course some ghosts aren't so bad and they either remain neutral or try to warn the humans to leave the haunted area out of genuine concern for their safety.

Another interesting thing about the undead is how they try to kill the people they once loved and cared about when they were still alive.

Like in Night of the Living Dead when the Cooper's daughter became a zombie and killed and ate her own mother and father.

Maybe when a person becomes dead they feel that they would be lost without their family or friends so they decide to pull them into death too? I mean after all they have already become dead so they might feel that it isn't so bad for their loved ones to join them in death too.

Now ghosts on the other hand, it seems like sometimes you have a ghost who refuses to do that sort of thing to a loved one and they might actually follow that person around looking after them and protecting them.

Like a ghostly mother who protects her still living child.

Why in horror movies do the dead always attack the living?

Because otherwise it would be dead on dead crime.

Ha! Ha! ::big grin::

But seriously though, the dead must hate us for still being alive. ::sad::

Ok...some good points here.
But, basically - They attack the living, because they're a bunch of fucking dickheads.

But aren't the living oftentimes dickheads too?

::stick out tongue::

Like Barbara said in the NoTLD remake "They're us, we're them and they're us."

If they didn't attack us then it would just be some film about a zombie/ghost standing around. While the living just go about their business.

Maybe the act of dying makes you evil. Why do we fear ghosts? They're just people who died. Why would dying make you evil?

I don't think it necessarily makes you "evil" to die, but it could make you angry and upset.

Like for example if I was killed by another person rather it was because of murder or being killed in a war or executed for a crime or whatever. I would probably experience a lot of pain in the process of death before the life drains out of me and I am gone. If I was consciously still existing in some form I'd probably be very pissed and upset that I had to go through something like that and if I could hurt the person who killed me I would.

Or even if I was dying in the hospital. I might be angry that the doctors were unable to do anything to save me.

Edit: I think a good ghost example would be Kayako and her son Toshio from the Ju-On/The Grudge movies.

The title alone tells you that as ghosts they were angry that the man who was supposed to love them and take care of them brutally murdered them both in their own home so as spirits they continued to haunt the house and kill anybody who dared to set foot inside of the house that was once their family home. The "grudge" they felt after their deaths continued to linger.

Edit: and I think people fear the dead because they remind us of the fact that we are all doomed to die someday.

And I think that's why a lot of horror writers and filmmakers sympathize with their undead monsters. They really aren't truly "evil", they're just humans existing in another state of being.

And I wonder if maybe the reason zombies crave fresh human flesh is because the warm taste of it somehow reminds them of life?

I also thought the explanation in The Return of the Living Dead about eating brains helps to "relieve the pain of being dead" was pretty interesting.

Because apparently in that movie being a zombie hurts because you can feel yourself rotting away.

Who'd ya think I was talking about? ::big grin::

Well the undead are dicks too. After all they're the ones wanting to kill you and possibly eat you. ::big grin::

There’s a slew of expository reasons for why the undead attack the living, depending on what film you’re watching.

Sometimes it’s because of a voodoo curse, other times it’s for a more science-y reason ( like it slows their metabolism, which keeps them from decaying). It can be a type of relief from the pain of death. It can be typical virus behavior, attempting to spread itself to as many hosts as possible. Or a more supernatural explanation, like hell spilling forth to literally consume humanity.

However, there is one universal truth that ( in my experience ) is just as valid as any I’ve heard. Old rotten flesh and cold coagulated blood taste like shit, but fresh meat that’s still warm? Now, that’s the stuff ::devil::

Yeah each movie and story has it's own explanation but symbolically I think what each story implies is that the dead are envious of the living and want to make them "not live" anymore.

It's basically like the dead are thinking "Why did I have to die? I'm taking you all with me!"

That's the feeling I get in every horror movie and story about the undead anyways. ::smile::

Besides ghosts don't eat people. lol

Sure don’t.

https://2static1.fjcdn.com/thumbnail...508da6fd12.gif

Ghosts do... Other things ::EEK!::

Well that ghost is eating something alright. ::big grin::