Body Count: The Five Best Zombie Kills
by Britt Hayes
To celebrate the rise of Zombie Jesus on this lovely Easter Sunday, I bring to you five of the best, most bad-ass kills from zombie films. Whether zombies are the victims or the perpetrators, these five memorable moments are sure to get you in the mood for Easter.
5. Shaun of the Dead
When Shaun and Ed find zombies in the garden (after “drunk” Mary impales herself hilariously) in Edgar Wright’s zombie rom-com, they have to get creative with their lack of traditional weaponry. That’s when Shaun’s old vinyl collection comes out and the records start flying. They finally check the shed for weapons and find a shovel and cricket paddle and subsequently score their first zombie kills of the film.
4. Dawn of the Dead
In George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, an obviously brain-dead zombie approaches as the survivors fuel up a helicopter. What better way to fend off an unwelcome predator than by using your vehicle as a weapon? The helicopter blades make quick work of the block-headed zombie. Sure, the effects work is obvious, but it’s still a classic.
3. City of the Living Dead
I would be remiss not to include one of the most disgusting, vile moments in zombie movie history. In Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead a priest commits suicide, opening of the gates of hell. Zombies with otherworldly (and psychic, even!) powers pour out and wreak havoc on a small town. Witness the gory glory of a girl vomiting up her own insides and smashing her boyfriend’s brains with her own hands.
2. Zombie (aka Zombi 2)
Lucio Fulci makes it onto this list twice, unsurprisingly. I had to choose between Zombie vs. Shark and this, but I think it’s fair to say that, while Zombie vs. Shark is technically impressive, this is infinitely more brutal and unnerving. In this scene from Zombi, Paola (Olga Karlatos) exits her shower only to realize a zombie is lurking around the house. After successfully barring the door, the zombie breaks through the wood and introduces Paola’s eye to a splintered piece of wood.
1. Dead Alive (aka Braindead)
Long before Peter Jackson led hobbits and dwarves on long walks through New Zealand, he made “splatstick” a phrase with some incredibly gory horror comedies like Bad Taste and Dead Alive. The latter is mostly a comedy of errors as Lionel must keep his love interest Paquita and the rest of the town from finding out about his zombified mum, which leads to Lionel keeping her in the basement along with everyone she turns. When a lecherous uncle comes to visit and throws a party, all hell breaks loose and the party-goers are turned into zombies. Faced with a house full of the undead, Lionel grabs his trusty lawnmower and gets to work in a scene that infamously used 300 liters (80 gallons) of blood pumped out at five gallons per second.
