PART IV: BOOKS - A7 P3

Anyhow, when you have such a movie; sci-fi, horror or fantasy. You must have reason, not a conclusive cause, but possibilities. The '68 film mentions a possible link to the detonation of the Venus Probe before it reached Earth due to strange radiation. This was never confirmed. The same with the sequel, "Dawn Of The Dead" (1978); Peter's comment - "When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth". Implying the zombie apocalypse has a supernatural cause.

NONE of this is here. We get no possible origins - 'just because' isn't good enough and is damn sloppy. How old was Jimmy Edmonds when he wrote this tripe?

So why the break?

At this point the cellar rats make themselves known.

Not the Coopers and our Tom; nu-Tom stops Barbara from trying to run outside.

The first in-house attack happens. One of them grabs Tom's wrist trying to pull him through the barricade. Joe shoots the dead man, but it doesn't go down.

Remember?

Tom is now in shock at what is being seen. They won't go down after being shot in the chest. Another is shot below the pelvis and the thing tries to shift weight to it right side, but collapses still going after the farmhouse.

Helen by the way is still Helen. As is Sheriff McClelland.

But we have a big discontinuity with their injured kid...

She [Helen] wrings out the cloth [from the nearby sink] and takes it to a young boy, their son, lies motionlessly atop a homemade worktable.
No name is given to their SON until later.

Then later...

(getting up, announces) I'm going to the cellar to take care of Karen.
- Helen

A moment following...

As Helen reaches the bottom of the cellar stairs, she looks up, and her face shows a shaken smile... her daughter is sitting up, propped on her elbows, on the workbench table.
HER DAUGHTER!

So which is it? A boy or a girl? And how was the kid hurt?

The next on Karen - she pulls a Roger from "Dawn Of The Dead" (1978), rising up from rest, now undead.

She starts for her, but stops... there is something strange... her face turns slowly towards her... we see the ghoulish look in her eyes... She is DEAD. She begins to rise slowly, terrifying, her features grotesque... the coat that was her blanket begins to fall away... her eyes stare through Helen... and beyond her... slowly, agonizingly, she raises herself from the table.
Yup, a Roger.

No tool, no trowel - Karen just pounces on her mom and we cut to the upstairs. Her death is unseen.

Man, I must be a glutton for punishment - more transcribing; the TV broadcast.

...assign little credibility to the theory that this onslaught is a product of mass hysteria. Authorities advice utmost caution until the menace can be brought under absolute control. Eyewitnesses account have been investigated and documented. Corpses of vanquished aggressors are presently being examined by medical pathologists, but autopsy efforts have been hampered by the mutilated conditions of these corpses. Security measures instituted in metropolitan areas include enforced curfews... and safety patrols by armed personnel. Citizens are urged to remain in their homes. Those who ignore this warning exposed themselves to intense danger from the aggressors themselves, and from armed citizenry... whose impulse may be to shoot first and ask questions later... Rural or otherwise-isolated dwellings have most frequently been the object of frenzied, concerted attacks. Isolated families are in extreme danger. Escape attempts should be made in heavily-armed groups, and by motor vehicle if possible. Appraise your situation carefully before deciding upon an escape tactic. Fire is the most effective weapon. These beings are highly flammable. Escape groups should strike out for the nearest urban community. Manned defense outpost have been established on major arteries leading into all communities. These outposts are equipped to defend refugees and to offer medical and surgical assistance. Police and vigilante groups are in the process of combing remote areas in search and destroy mission against all aggressors. These patrols are attempting to evacuate isolated families. But rescue efforts are proceeding slowly, due to the increased danger of nightfall and the sheer enormity of the task... Rescue, for those in isolated circumstances, in highly undependable. You should not wait for a rescue party unless there is no possibility of escape. If you are few against many, odds are not in your favor. The aggressors are irrational and demented. Their sole urge is the quest for human flesh. Sheriff Conan W. McClelland, of the County Department Of Public Protection, was interviewed minutes after he hand his vigilante patrol had vanquished several of the aggressors. We bring you now the results of that interview.
So much said that didn't amount to jack!

That whole thing could be done in three or so sentences. What did he mean by "sole urge is the quest for human flesh"? Since NONE of the radio nor TV broadcasts include people getting eaten.

Another bad decision; Sheriff McClelland does not say his iconic line. We get this instead...

Tell 'em to shoot for the eyes... that'll stop these bo jobbers!
No joke. This is what he says.

McClelland's first name is indeed Conan, the sheriff of Butler County.



Sheriff McClelland's right hand man, Vince isn't here - instead we get some guy named George. Same as the original, Joe/Ben is shot dead.

Originally done by Vince, but here is shot by some random person in the posse.

By the way, Willard is still seventeen miles from where they're at.

Back to the drama...



It is Tom here which has the table leg torch. Helen and Barbara had made the molotov cocktails, Harry throws them down the from the second story window. They run to the gas pumps to fuel one of the trucks there, they HAVE the correct key. This is the only point in the story where Harry is actually enthusiastic - Joe says the plan and Tom comments there's a key in the basement marked "Pumps".

Harry rushes down to find the key which he does and brings it up. This could very well save them all. But this can only end in disaster.

Poor Johnny... he's all alone out there... We have to get out of here... maybe we'll find him in Willard... maybe he was able to crawl to the car and get away.
- Barbara

Tom is fumbling with the key, can't get it in - too many are coming. No choice, Joe shots off the lock. Still okay. But in the haste, Tom spills gas over all the rear of the pick-up which also sprays his torch - setting the car on fire. Tom gets the car started and drives away.

Joe is yell at him to get out before it blows. And it does. Tom is dead?

No.

Unable to know and getting surrounded, Joe flees back to the farmhouse and is met by Harry who won't let him back in. Joe forces himself in and starts beating on Harry. The door is relocked and everybody is deflated, the news is coming in ten minutes.

It is at this point watching as the car burns that they discover what happened to Tom. The cemetery caretaker had jumped off before the truck exploded. He made it. But was overtaken by the dead who promptly torn him to pieces and ate him. He had taken the car away from the pumps knowing that if it stayed, the resulting explosion could have taken the house too by setting it on fire from burning debris.

Waiting for the next TV broadcast, Helen is going down to check on their boy/daughter (whatever). Harry tries to convince her to get Joe's shotgun. Now this is pretty much the only part of Edmonds' story which DID improve the original film.

That should've been in the Romero film. Harry trying to get Helen to grab Ben's gun to give them the advantage. Here Helen listens to case and walk by Joe, pausing. But decides NOT to take the shotgun - there was serious hesitation. I liked that. That would've happened.

Their kid kills Helen. Back upstairs, Harry jumps on Joe for the gun. As they battle for the shotgun, Karen appears and attacks Harry, biting into his neck. Joe cocks and pulls the trigger trying to shoot the kid. But misses and hits Tinsdale in the chest, killing him.

Still in a daze, Joe grabs Barbara to drags her to the cellar. But not before picking up Karen and toss her into a wall. Undead Helen pops up at the top of the cellar stairs. Point blank range - Joe shoots her. She's pretty much blown to pieces. The final thing done before going down is shooting Harry three times as he resurrected, putting him down.

He bars the door as they descend. The ghouls have broken in and are in the house. Karen is banging on the cellar door and getting others to join in. Unsure if the wooden bar will hold. They can only hope.

Next morning, both are woken to distance gunfire - McClelland's posse clearing the dead as they advance to the house. No more noises above.

Barbara... Barb... here, honey. There's men outside... I can hear them... they must be here to rescue us.
- Joe

Barbara is still a mess, but he and she go above. Same ending. He's shot in the head. She screams and runs back to the cellar, leaving the door open. I did say she was still a mess.