|
“ Wooley’s gone apeshit, man!”
It was setting up the inevitable “ Man vs. Man/Who Are the Real Monsters “ plot point that all zombie flicks ultimately end up incorporating into the third act. Demonstrating the increasing number of people becoming unhinged during the zombie apocalypse.
The first taste is subtle, in the beginning of the film, with people mocking and heckling the man being interviewed at the tv station. People are scared and want logic and solutions for something that has no explanation. Clinging to society as it starts to crumble under the reality of the plague of the dead spreads across the country.
It then escalates as the raid on the apartment building shows us people who are defending their home and locking up zombified friends and family, refusing to “ kill “ them. The police try to maintain peace while their ranks either degenerate into rampaging psychopaths, can’t face the horror of the world anymore and commit suicide, or ultimately abandon their post to strike out on their own in favor of self preservation.
Lastly, we have the raiding party that shows up in the end of the film. Essentially a band of people gone full on Road Warrior, and have embraced the nomadic lifestyle of constantly moving from place to place, robbing/murdering others for their resources, essentially embracing the anarchy and lawlessness the military and government left in the wake of their absence.
And in the end, all that’s left are the living dead. Wandering through the remains of civilization and feasting on the cooling bodies of those who were unable to flee fast enough to somewhere secluded, where they can slowly wait for the end. As nature wipes the slate clean and retakes the earth. At least, that’s my interpretation. Oh Romero, you so social commentary-y
|