'Age of Zombies' Adds Zombie George Washington

Halfbrick Studios' Age of Zombies [$0.99] is a preeetttyyy old game by iOS standards, launching way back in October of 2010, but it's actually even older than that as it was originally a PlayStation Mini title released earlier that year in February. Mobile games don't tend to have a long lifespan, so it was kind of incredible that Halfbrick up and decided to update Age of Zombies earlier this month with actual new content in the form of a rideable zombie T-Rex and MFi controller support. Not bad for a 4+ year old game. Well, Halfbrick apparently wasn't done, because there's yet another Age of Zombies update that popped up today, which adds even more new content than the last update did.

Today's update includes a brand new chapter in the game's campaign that sees you channeling the power of Abraham Lincoln and going after a zombie George Washington. Yes, the evil Professor Brains has manipulated time once again and zombified our nation's first president. Given the inclusion of both Lincoln and Washington this update is appropriately dubbed: PRESIDENT EVIL. I never tire of Halfbrick's pu

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Zombies, Livestream, Shazaam on Google Glass

With Google Glass still being in its Explorer phase, there hasn't been a whole lot of diversity as far as its app (or "Glassware") selection is concerned. But to kick off I/O, Google has just announced a whole slew of new apps you can slap onto your face computer. 

The most notable (and mildly disconcerting) addition is Livestream, which will let you broadcast exactly what you're seeing, as you're seeing it. 

While you could already broadcast the world around you via Hangouts, anyone, whether or not they're a Google user, can tune into your face feed at their leisure. 

 

There are also several fitness apps thrown into the mix, with Zombies, Run! leading the way in fun factor.

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Quacking Dead, Zombies at Canal Park

It was Day of the Quacking Dead at Canal Park on Tuesday, an Akron Rubber­Ducks promotion that attempted to turn fans and employees into zombies for the team’s scheduled game against the Erie SeaWolves.

Inda Blatch Geib, a local costume and set designer who works internationally with theaters, filmmakers and magazines, staffed a booth near the Main Street entrance, offering to apply a little gore to any would-be walkers.

“We’re hoping to get 200 people turned tonight,” she said.

Organizers couldn’t reach that goal, however. The scary-looking weather forecast prompted the Rubber­Ducks to postpone Tuesday’s game. It will be made up July 19.

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Zombies Head to Wellsville

WELLSVILLE- An overcast, dreary morning provided a fittingly eerie backdrop for the inaugural Zombie Run 5K Saturday in Wellsville. Rainy weather did not discourage runners and walkers of the "undead" and living variety from turning out in numbers to support a good cause.

The run was organized by the aptly-named non-profit group Wellsville Back From the Dead (BFTD), with all proceeds and donations from the event going to the Wounded Warrior Project. The newly-formed group hopes to bring interest and people back to the village with unique events like the Zombie Run. They appeared to have accomplished that goal Saturday, attracting about 115 runners and walkers from all over the tri-state area and as far away as Florida.

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Transition from Zombies to Demons

If Robert Kirkman's zombies haven't given people enough nightmares, his demons sure will.
The writer and creator of The Walking Dead comic book — and executive producer of the hit AMC TV show — switches horror tropes in his new Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment series Outcast, with a first issue out Wednesday. The comic, illustrated by Paul Azaceta, is the story of Kyle Barnes, a guy who's been plagued with demonic possession his entire life and is finally ready to do something about it.

And like Kirkman's zombie epic, Outcast is coming to the small screen, too — it's currently being developed as a series by Showtime, with news forthcoming on whether a pilot is being greenlit.

For Kirkman, The Walking Dead has always been more of a survival drama, with zombies as a backdrop. Exploring exorcism, though, has a lot more potential for true horror, and he's even scaring himself a little bit.

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Cape Coral Novelist Writes on Zombies

Shana Festa used to be scared of zombies. Not just scared: Terrified.

That might surprise readers of Festa’s zombie-fiction website, The Bookie Monster, or her gory new zombie novel, “Time of Death: Induction.”

But it’s true, she says.

Festa couldn’t sleep at night after watching the 2004 remake of the zombie movie “Dawn of the Dead.” The movie unsettled her deeply, and she imagined the undead were everywhere, just waiting to tear her flesh with their rotten teeth.

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'Dead Rising' Zombie Game Goes to Movie

The looks like the zombie genre really is showing no signs of ever dying, especially with The Walking Dead still bringing in nation-state-population-sized viewing figures each week, Legendary Pictures has decided to jump on the bandwagon with a big screen adaptation of the zombie smashing video-game, Dead Rising.

According to ComicBookMovie.com, Tim Carter is down to write the script while Transformers' Lorenzo di Bonaventura is executive producing. Carter and Thomas Harlan, whose production company also delivered Mortal Kombat: Legacy, will also produce. Here's what the duo said in a statement:

We are excited to be working with Legendary and Lorenzo, who have both created immersive properties for fans around the world. As avid players of the game, we're extremely thrilled to take the popular franchise that millions have embraced and give them the opportunity to experience it on a new platform.

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Zomibie Apocalypse Speaks to All of Us

Hey Will,

What is with all the zombie stories out there on TV, movies, etc.? Is this like when everything had to have ninjas in it a few years back? Aren't ninjas still cooler than zombies? What's the deal?
George Lewis, Palm Springs

This is a great question, George.

No doubt zombies are all the rage, and have been for the past decade or so, not just in movies, television, video games and literature, but also in the fields of personal fitness, public safety and philanthropy. Groups organize costumed zombie walks to benefit charitable causes. Both public and private organizations use "zombie apocalypse preparation" exercises to teach skills for coping with somewhat more common disasters as hurricanes and earthquakes. A friend of mine has an app on his phone that simulates, through headphones, being chased by ravenous zombies to motivate him on his daily runs.

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Zombie Invasion will Shut Off Portland Streets

Expect to encounter traffic delays, street closures and, most likely, blood-covered zombies in downtown Portland on Monday when filming continues on a new romantic comedy set amid a zombie outbreak.
Filming on Maine native Kyle Rankin’s “Night of the Living Deb” began last week, but most of the footage was shot in private homes and businesses. The shooting now moves outside into public view.

The city announced on its website that India Street will be open to local traffic only between Middle and Federal streets while Newbury Street will be open to local traffic only between Hampshire and Hancock streets. The closures will be in effect between 8:30 a.m. and noon and from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

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Happy Valley Zombies?

A group of Boy Scouts huddled behind a Humvee on a quiet residential street.

They had just returned from a camping trip to find that their suburban community had been overtaken — by the walking dead.

As they quietly crossed the street into one of the Scouts' houses, a horde of zombies wandering the streets heard the noise and rushed toward them.

The nighttime scene for the upcoming Paramount Pictures movie "Scouts vs. Zombies" recently came to life in the Happy Valley neighborhood of Newhall, part of the city of Santa Clarita.

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Zombie Film Among Students

ZOMBIES are coming to Mandurah and Rockingham.

STUDENTS from Mandurah and Rockingham high schools will have their ownHollywood experience over the next couple of months, when they work with someof the industry’s best and brightest to make their own zombie movies.

The college has enlisted to take part in the MurdochUniversity creative arts project, which encourages students to aspire touniversity study. 

Students will get to work with a team of industry professionals including: actor Myles Pollard (McLeod’s Daughters, Drift)who will direct the movie and production designer Jeremy Shaw (Lord of the Rings).

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25 Flicks from the Living Dead

When there’s no more room in production hell, the dead shall walk in the silver screen! Ah yes, don’t we all love a good zombie flick? The most human monster of all, and therefore the most terrifying, the zombie genre is something that is here to stay as recent decades have come to prove. Which is good, considering they give people like me a macabre reason to keep on loving the horror genre. The glorious thing about these films is that very few become blockbuster successes or instant classics, yet they still garner the most dedicated and loving following from many cult film lovers, including Yours Truly!

However, there are hundreds of titles to choose from, so the notion of what one should or shouldn’t bother watching is an incredibly blurred line. Fear not though, for your humble reviewer has taken the liberty of watching over a hundred of these decaying grave-walkers to bring you the 25 zombie movies that one should see before an untimely demise. And although one cannot include AMC’s “The Walking Dead” into a film list category, there are a few that can be a meaty supplement to your devilish desires:

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Being Trapped with Zombies

If the hit AMC show “The Walking Dead” has taught us anything, being trapped in a room full of zombies can get pretty stressful at times.

It’s hard enough having a brain eating monster breathing down your neck, but what if you could only escape by solving a bunch of puzzles?

This “Saw” meets “28 Days Later” scenario is the theme behind “Trapped in a Room With a Zombie,” an interactive theater performance that recently set up shop in Charlestown.

The production, which is now in 10 cities across America, places a team of people in locked room with a chained up zombie, according to Boston Magazine. Participants must solve a series of riddles and puzzles in order to find the key to their escape, before the undead breaks loose.

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LukeWarm Bodies Fall on Zombies

I have become tired of zombies. So, it is fitting that the last zombie film I would willingly see was the one that tapped into the final vein of originality.

Warm Bodies focuses on the journey of a zombie (Nicholas Hoult) to reclaim his humanity and find love. The film is a stew made up of elements from Aliens, George Romero's Dead films, Twilight and seasoned with the charm of a Wes Anderson film. On first glance, this list seems a recipe for cinematic disaster; but, the end result is a soup with such a unique flavor that leaves the taste buds in conflict.

Before elaborating on the aspects of the film that work, I would like to focus on the ones that do not blend well. One manifestation with  it is in the design. The young adults in the film are supposed to be seasoned inhabitants of an America that is overrun with reanimated, flesh-eating corpses: yet, these actors look like they were clipped from the pages of a Hollister catalog. This is problematic when there is a subplot involving a shortage of cosmetic products. Now, I understand that this decision was made with marketing in mind; but, the lack of detail dilutes the illusion. This idea of a lived-in world is what makes films such as Looper great: the design has to be synchronized with the story.

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Practicality for Zombie Apocalypse

Getting ready for the zombie apocalypse might just save your life—in the event of a hurricane, terrorist attack or other disaster. 

Zombies have become a popular theme in emergency planning. The Centers for Disease Control launched a "Zombie Preparedness Campaign" in 2011, and last fall, more than 65,000 people signed up for a massive open online course through University of California at Irvine for an academic crossover with AMC's "The Walking Dead," tackling subjects including the spread of infectious disease and managing stress in disaster situations. 

There are also preparedness apps such as Apocalypse Survival Guide—zombies are just one world-ending possibility—which this week plans to launch a feature to allow friends to create emergency plans together. 

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Film Reflects on Zombie Evolution

If you're a fan of the zombie film genre, then Doc of the Dead could be the documentary for you.

The film delves into the evolution of the zombie in film and literature, and looks at how the genre has influenced popular culture around the world.

Director Alexandre O Phillippe says he's been making films about pop culture for 12 years, so has to keep his finger on the pulse of what's hot – and zombie films are very hot right now.

"About five years ago or so I was really noticing – as everybody couldn't help but notice – that zombies were becoming really huge and going into the mainstream," he said on Firstline this morning.

It's been around 80 years since the first zombie flicks, which Phillippe says were based on Haitian voodoo myths and quite different to what viewers expect nowadays.

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