The Queen Is Dead

I remember back in '88 our school went on a field trip to The Science Museum where they were featuring a Hollywood Monster prop exibit. Of the two that stood out for me were the animatronic wolf head from An American Werewolf In London and the almighty queen alien from Aliens.



She was in the center of the museum posed fighting with the powerloader. Her tail was suspended around the whole exibit. I swear to God it was 100 feet long. My 14 year old jaw dropped to the floor. It was other worldly. The only other time I felt like that was witnessing the Pieta in St. Peter's Cathedral at the Vatican.

It's a shame kids today can't witness the awe that practical film magic can bring. I doubt the exibit would have been the same with a hard drive that designed the Na'Vi placed in the center for all to marvel at.

KISS MY ASS!

OK, I think I need to clarify something about my last post. I wasn’t wholeheartedly endorsing using CGI for The Walking Dead, I merely stated that amongst the sea of latex and practical zombie appliances and effects, I wasn’t going to fret over the CGI blood used.

Yeah, I’m a little biased since I’ve been dying for this to be turned into a show since 2004. It’s a show heavy on story and atmosphere. The fact that they used practical effects at all in this day and age was a bonus. For all intents and purposes, CGI will not be going away, like Katy Perry and Jack Black, it will be forced into our culture to the point where we have to cave a bit. Screw you! I liked Nacho Libre.

I also loved Lord of The Rings even though it had CGI infused throughout. I still won’t recant on my previous statement. I believe you have to pick your battles. Let’s all worry less about CGI blood in the Walking Dead and focus more on upcoming abominations like the prequel of THE THING.

So, to sum up, kiss my ass!

THE DEAD WALK! But not without the help of CGI.

Prepare yourselves. I am about to say something that may shock and disturb you. Get your vomit bags ready…



…I am not going to poop bricks over the CGI blood in the Walking Dead. I know, start unsubscribing now. It’s true though. In the greater scheme of things, the use of CGI in the show didn’t matter. It was minimal. Granted, squibs would have been a bonus, but what you get in the hour and a half premiere was pure practical effect heavy rotting gore with digital enhancement. Locations and mattes were digital, but hey, it was a TV show. Their budget was more limited. They have an excuse to cut corners. I will take a bit of CGI blood here and there if it means keeping the network from shelving the show due to inflated production costs.



The Walking Dead is everything a zombie TV show premiere should be. I was worried that they would tear through the first six issues of the Robert Kirkman comic, but they really did a hell of a job stretching out the story which in turn stretched out the dread. It gave you the, “what would you do in this situation” feeling that many current films of a similar genre lack. The emotions were layered. There was sympathy for the undead. I think it’s pretty safe for me to say that all my zombie film needs were met.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of gore that was allowed for an AMC show. I figured this series would have been perfect for HBO or Showtime, but AMC has proven to be a worthy competitor. The amount of prosthetics and guts and brains were completely satisfying.

…and the flies… dear God, the flies.



I know where I’ll be every Sunday night. Thank you AMC.