A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

• Steve Bennet-Martin • Season 1 • Episode 169

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The Steves discuss the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!

What's making us happy?

  • Ally McBeal (Hulu)
  • Doctor Who 

Movie Discussion

  • George Romero's zombie universe
  • Why reboot Dawn of the Dead?
  • Names and numbers behind the scene
  • What are our odds in the zombie apocalypse?
  • Where would you want to spend the end of the world?
  • Would we put the zombie-other out of their misery?
  • And lots of other apocalyptical hypothetical questions to talk with your friends and family about!


Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

Support the show

Steve:

Hello, returning Happy's and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett Martin.

Stephen:

And this is Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome to a lifetime of happiness.

Steve:

The podcaster, we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy, while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the

Stephen:

way. And today we're going face to face with the zombie apocalypse by hunkering down in a mall. As we watch the 2004 remake, Dawn of the Dead,

Steve:

yes. But before we hunker down my love, what's been keeping you happy today? Doctors.

Stephen:

Doctors? Yeah. Which doctors you might ask. And I say, Dr. Who I

Steve:

have never watched Dr. Who, but I know that it's a thing that is a pop culture phenomenon that people love dearly.

Stephen:

Yeah. And I had never watched it either. And as I mentioned on the show before, I always find a show to watch that you don't. Or probably won't watch while you're in your meetings every night. Yeah, so I had been through stuff and I'd made it to the end of Avatar, the last Airbender, and it was time for a new show and I was like, you know what? Jinx being in the new season of Dr. Who has me thinking I might as well check it out. It seems to be popular. I like shows like sliders, we love Buffy, like it seems right up our alley. So I decided to check it out and it's amazing.

Steve:

Awesome. So you're in the first season or first few episodes, right? Correct. So, so far so good though. For the first impressions. Yes.

Stephen:

So far so good. First impressions, first season and it also has our girl from. Secret Diary of a Call Girl. So it appears like

Steve:

Billy Porter, Piper. Piper.

Stephen:

And so there's always a doctor mm-hmm. And a companion. And so Rose is his first companion. Gotcha. In this version because there was Dr. Who from like 1963 to 1987 or something. And you're not gonna watch all that? I am not watching that. No. There you go. What's been making you happy, darling? I

Steve:

am also watching something older. I am watching Ally McBeal for the first time with you,

Stephen:

one of my favorite shows of

Steve:

all time. Yes, and I'm on season one and almost at the Christmas episode, and I'm enjoying it so far. And so again, first impressions, very good. I can see lots relating to pop culture and like the references that it's had on the impact. And yeah, I see a little bit of Rebecca

Stephen:

Bloom and her too. Yeah. And it has aged pretty well for a show at the end of the nineties. Yeah. And it's still funny and like a lot of the stars in there

Steve:

went on to big things,

Stephen:

big, big things. I mean, you, she was a star beforehand. Courtney Thorn Smith is one of the stars on it. She went from Melrose. To this, to a CBS sitcom where she was the wife that ran for like eight seasons, then she was on two and a half men for several seasons. Like, so she never has to work

Steve:

again. No,

Stephen:

she's just gone. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. But like Jane Krakowski, the World got Jane Krakowski, thanks to this

Steve:

show. Excellent. Yes. Well, I'm enjoying seeing where it all began. And I haven't gotten to the dancing baby yet. No, but I know that that's a

Stephen:

thing. It is a thing. So tell us a little bit about some dead history. Well,

Steve:

it started with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead in 1968, which started its own series with Don of the Dead being its sequel in 1978. And I had a third one in 1985 with Day of the Dad. Now since this remake, the series has expanded with the original entries with between 2005 and 2009 and a new movie, Twilight of the Dead is in development to help Grant one of George Romero's last wishes before his death in 2017, a better end to the series than the crap he made in Survival of the Dead in 2009.

Stephen:

So I loved Land of the Dead that for a while was one of my go-to horror movies like. I just, I don't think I know it. Oh, so it's got John Leg Zamo. Mm-hmm. And it's a great examination of the haves and the havenots and how they would fare during the zombie apocalypse. And like, there's this shopping mall slash condo tower. That all of the wealthy people live in and the other people live inside a wall, but on the streets and things. And the zombies have won at this point. And so they're just trying to exist and your goal is to kind of get into the tower. And John Leg was almost doing what he can to get in there and he. It's really good. I also enjoyed Diary of the Dead, which came after, and that was an excellent look at the way Americans must document everything that they do and make themselves the stars of it. He's really good at grabbing things almost before their, like, cultural things. It's like he sees it coming. And creates a zombie movie based on that. Now I have not seen Survival of the Dead, or at least I don't think so.

Steve:

There we go. And while in all of these movies, Romero was huge about having the origin and reasoning behind the zombies, unclear. His son felt otherwise. NG Cameron Romero wrote a prequel comic series called The Rise over the past few years, and

Stephen:

we are not addressing that.

Steve:

No, I don't know it. I don't either. Now why reboot Dawn of the Dead though?

Stephen:

So rebooting the first they did a Night of the Living Dead in 1990. Kind of worked Uhhuh. It was pinned by Romero, directed by special effects artist Tom Sk. It wasn't as successful as they had hoped. It had a budget of 4.2 million and a box office of 58 million. Heard 5.8 million, 5.8 million. My apologies,

Steve:

barely broke even.

Stephen:

Yeah. And but, but the good thing about that movie Yeah. Is that the lead actor is Tony Todd, the scariest voice in horror

Steve:

movies. There you go. Yes. And audiences though love zombie movies still recent successes include 28 days later and Resident Evil. And this is a few years before Walking Dead, but why remake the second one rather than create a new story?

Stephen:

So I looked, so Zach Snyder is the director of this. Mm-hmm. It's his directorial debut and I looked and all of his early movies. Our adaptations of other work, like 300 in Watchmen mm-hmm. Are from graphic novels. So it kind of makes sense that his first ever feature direction was an adaptation of something else, this being someone else's film. So maybe he went to the studio and said, let's do this. And got James Gunn to do the script. Who knows? But it's kind of funny that the director is, was known for early adaptations and now in the later part of his career. Also doing adaptations.

Steve:

Yes, correct. While this was his directorial debut. Since then, we've seen him lead the also controversial DC universe. Yes. And the screenplay, as you mentioned, is written by James Gunn, who's also behind Guardians to the Galaxy Slither and Suicide Squad. Slither

Stephen:

is a fantastic horror movie. Mm-hmm. That. Is also gross at the same time. Have you seen

Steve:

it? I think so sometime. But it didn't,

Stephen:

the, the slugs that like get inside people and mm-hmm. Like they get Oh yeah. I, it was, we'll have to watch it again. Yeah.

Steve:

And while filming this movie, he felt in a chronological order and only like at the end. They were like, why did you do that? And he was like, isn't that how every movie shot? And they're like, no, dude. That's how plays are done. That's how plays are done. You can do it out of order if it makes more sense or saves money. Saves money with logistics of it all. So yeah, I thought that that was

Stephen:

interesting. Yeah. You, you go ahead and do all the interior mall shots all at the same time. Yeah. You do the roof shots all at the same time. Same time, yeah. Yeah. No one. So a budget of 26 million. I wonder how much of that was unnecessary. Yeah.

Steve:

Oh, and a producer, Eric Newman and Mark Abraham developed the film rather than a. Like being a remake. It was a re-envisioning the original going for more action than the original survival, horror, scary kind of feel. And

Stephen:

it definitely was more action. So at Stars, Sarah Polly, who actually Ju or Sarah Polly, who actually just won an Oscar this year. Oh, good for her. In writing, I believe Ving Rams, Jake Weber from Medium Mackay Pfeiffer and Scott Reneg. Tom Sni and Ken Forry were all in the original and came back for a Kavanaugh cameo. So Tom Sni, the director of the remake, mm-hmm. Was an actor in the original dawn of the dad. Yep. Fun.

Steve:

Yes. And while it had a budget of 26 million, it was released on March 19th, 2004 and had a box office of 102.3 million, making it much more successful than the last reboot.

Stephen:

Yeah. And I definitely remember going to see this in the theater.

Steve:

Yes. And I want to know why. Th it went so well with the practical effects.

Stephen:

Oh, because Heather Lanin camp, our lovely Nancy from the original Nightmare on Elm Street series was a member of the production crew. And as we've said before, she and her husband have a company that all they do is practical

Steve:

effects. Yes. So let's get into the movie. How does it

Stephen:

all start? Well, what had happened was Anna played by Sarah Polly, a nurse finishes a long shift at her Milwaukee County Hospital. People had been experiencing simple bites. But they were needing stays in the ICU instead of just being re released after she returns to her peaceful suburban home. Sheena awaiting husband Lewis make love in the shower, missing warnings, beginning to trickle through the local media concerning a mysterious and rapidly spreading contagion, which turns its infected hosts into reanimated. Flesh eating ghouls.

Steve:

Yes. Now, in reality, if there was news and Twitter things going on about a rapidly spreading contagion, would you take it seriously? 100%.

Stephen:

Cuz I remember when Twitter was extremely active the day. Osama Bin Laden was killed and people in their crowdsourced information and they were able to figure out that Osama Bin Laden was dead before it was announced on the news. So yeah, I totally would trust Twitter for something like

Steve:

that. And do you think that it would be something where like this just seems like it happened to the whole world overnight, that it would just be the whole world overnight? Or do you think there'd be like murmurs of like, This thing is going down in India. Oh wait, now it's in Australia. Oh, wait. And like had it spread like covid did

Stephen:

I, I think it would absolutely be like that as long as it wasn't a, you're bitten, like one of the characters we get to later, her bite takes days for it to happen. Yeah. So if you get a small bite, And this is in the beginning, you get on a flight, you have now spread the contagion worldwide. Yeah. So that's all it would take. And, but I do think we'd start hearing like, you know, folks in a Milwaukee hospital being reported for simple bites are dying in the icu, is this a new staph infection? And then you hear. People in Paris, France have been dying on the scene and

Steve:

you know, yeah. Okay. Well I'm glad that one of us watches the news cause I'd have no idea if this was coming. I

Stephen:

don't watch the news. I read the news. I don't have time to watch.

Steve:

Now, the next morning, they're welcome by their zombified neighbor. A young girl who just learned how to backwards roller skate the night before, now decides to break into their house and take a bite out of Lewis's. Throat a huge bite. Yes. Anna locks the zombie out of the room, but despite her frantic efforts, Louis dies. Yeah.

Stephen:

His like, she got every vein in his neck. Yes.

Steve:

9 1 1 is down and Louis immediately awakens as a reanimated zombie chasing Anna into the bathroom. She keeps at the window, her neighbor pulls a gun on her while she's headed to her car, which isn't very neighborly. No. Just because it's the end of the world doesn't mean we have to lose our manners. People. No.

Stephen:

There is a thing called class. Make sure you keep it.

Steve:

Yes. He gets what's coming when he gets hit by a car and he goes flying. Yes. She she flees from her neighborhood that's turning into a little war field before a failed hijacking attempt sends her crashing into a tree. The opening credit's role showing the worldwide collapse of human civilization. Oh my. Now would you be the Anna who survives, or the Lewis who can't make it a day in the post-apocalyptic world, I

Stephen:

would hope that I would be the Anna and not just die right away.

Steve:

I would be the Lewis.

Stephen:

Oh. That's

Steve:

sad. I know. Now, if I was the Lewis and I was zombie fighter in our house and you were trying to escape, would you kill me or would you let me loosen to our neighborhood?

Stephen:

See, there's two different things though. If it was like Anna and they aren't aware of zombie things, I wouldn't think to kill you, to put your outta outta your misery. My only thing would be escape. But if I have the knowledge that I have now of. 40 years of zombie things, I would put you down. Oh, well thank

Steve:

you. You're welcome. Now, some of the video clips in the opening credits were actual stock news footage, such as the scene of the truck driving into a crowd of people. That's because the world is crazy. Yes, and we are living in the apocalypse. Yeah. Happy times.

Stephen:

Woohoo. Anna meets Kenneth, a grim police sergeant traveling to Fort Pastor. It's a nearby US army base. With the route to the base, blocked by zombies, they and three others, jack of all trades, Michael Petty criminal. Andre and his pregnant Russian wife Luda break into the nearby crossroad shopping mall. Inside a scuffle with a Zombified mall. Security guard results in Luda getting a minor bite wound and Kenneth getting a cuddle in his arm. Now,

Steve:

as far as places to go to hunker down for during an apocalypse, I would say a mall seems pretty

Stephen:

resourceful. Yeah. A mall does seem like a good idea, especially as long as it still has power because you have all that food in the freezers of the food court, beds in the furniture stores, tons of clean clothes, entertainment galore. Starbucks. Yes. But I would expect it to be a highly coveted area. And you may be fighting for supremacy if people don't want to share. My thought has always been defined. An island that is only accessible by boat, that already has housing, then you could fish for food. Driftwood would wash up for fire. Zombies can't swim. And there actually is an island like this down near Englewood. You have to take a ferry to get to it. I've always thought if there's a zombie apocalypse, we're getting

Steve:

down there. You have to take care of me, babe. I don't wanna wind up like Louis. Deal. Now, we're so used to bites and scratches leading to infections from media. If this happened in real life, would you kill someone who was bitten by default or would you wait to see what happened just in case it doesn't work like

Stephen:

that? I think I would isolate them so they couldn't harm others and use a wait and see approach. If they don't die and turn, then we know that it's not a simple bite or

Steve:

scratch. Yes. And there are a couple zombies that we see throughout the movie with missing limbs. One of them, while they were trying to break into the mall they both were played by actual amputees, and the same thing was done for one of the first zombies scene in the original dawn of the dead. That's really neat. Yeah, I think, I guess it's much easier cgi, like, you know, just adding some gr gross stuff to someone's practical effects. Stumped then

Stephen:

Yeah. To, yeah. We, we can, we can go ahead and give Heather Lanham credit for those zombies. Yes.

Steve:

Fleeing more zombies. They confront three living security guards, cj, Bart, and Terry, and they give up their weapons in exchange for refuge on the second floor. Watching the news coverage, they're encouraged to seek refuge at Fort Pastor, which means that everything's gonna go great and smoothly. And the final destination's always where everything goes perfectly in these Absolutely. Mm-hmm. After the group secures the mall, they head up to the mall's roof to dispose of the bodies and paint. S o s signs. There they meet another survivor, Andy, who stranded alone in his gun store across the mall, zombie infested parking lot. Ugh. And there's a scene here where Anna Stitches, Kenneth Swoons, and the director hired a real nurse for the closeups, but she misunderstood the director's. Directions to go deeper and inadvertently punctured Vin Ram's skin and stitch the prosthesis to his arm. He didn't say anything until after the scene was done filming and the director thought the blood was a really good effect. Oh my

Stephen:

gosh. Now, if you had a good location like the security guards did on the second floor, would you let others join you or would you keep them out and why?

Steve:

I would let them in unless they had bites or scratches.

Stephen:

That's really nice of

Steve:

you. Yes. Or if they were ugly. No, I'm kidding. That was just be being random. No, I would, I would let them, cuz it's a big mall, but they also have to give up their weapons and Yeah. They have to be able to contribute.

Stephen:

I think that's a good reason I would let them in as well. But what

Steve:

if, but what if they were like, what if an elevator opened up and it was a whole bunch of like, Old white guys and MAGA hats like fresh off the the Trump rally or the insurrection?

Stephen:

Well, they're already zombies, so I think you just put'em down.

Steve:

Okay.

Stephen:

Just checking. Now we do see a military helicopter go by that ignores them. Now, would you be expecting help, like if you were one of the people on the roof, or would you imagine that there's bigger things going on than a small group of people stranded on a roof?

Steve:

Except expecting is a strong word. I would hope that they would be looking out for me because it is ultimately all about me at the end of the day. Now we've got most of our cast together. Yep. Wait, no, not yet. Just

Stephen:

kidding. Just kidding. Because the next day a delivery truck is circling around the mall are heroes. Not the security guards. They're no one's. Heroes. Yep. Help them get into the mall. The truck carrying the driver, Norma. Jerkish Steve, who is Ty Barrell from modern Family Working Man Tucker, elderly Glenn Trampy, Monica Bitten Frank and his teen daughter Nicole, and an anonymous larger woman there creating a round on a hu Real Barrow who is obviously not long for the world. These newcomers report that Fort pastor has been overrun by zombies and no help is coming.

Steve:

Yes. So now most of our guests together, who are you rooting for most? I mean, Anna, obviously,

Stephen:

Anna, Kenneth and Michael. Like you wanted to root for Andre, but I saw the bite on Luna's arm, so that's, You know I'm not feeling good about two of the three security guards. Yeah. I'm not a fan of Jerkish. Steve, Glenn, Tucker and Monica seem like zombie food to me. Norma seems like the only one of the new characters that has potential.

Steve:

I would have to agree. And shortly after, yes, the obese woman dies Reanimate chases and is killed by Anna, who thrusts the metal fireplace poker into her eye. The group now realize that bites are how zombies multiply their numbers. After Anna and Michael argued about what to do with the rapidly deteriorating Frank, the man is isolated in a store with guard Kenneth, allowing him every single second before expiring. Michael and Anna achieve an awkward reconciliation, which isn't interrupted by Ken's shotgun blast as he destroys Frank's reanimated body. Andre has not told anyone that Luda was bitten and that her arm is getting worse, and we know it's a matter of time before we get zombie babies. Yep. His concern is for his unborn child as he feels his purpose in life is to be a good father and do better for his child than his father did. For him. He failed. Yeah. Now, if you were this guy at the end, would you want every. Single second and let yourselves die and turn into the zombie. So

Stephen:

probably not at the end, depending on how you're turning. It doesn't seem painless or peaceful. So I would want to stick around until my mind starts to go or I'm a detriment to others. Like if we're trying to. Actively escape zombies or like we're out on the road or something and I'm slowing people down. Just go ahead and get rid of me at that point. What about

Steve:

you? I would say that not, I wouldn't want to turn just in case I would end up hurting someone, but I would wanna do it until like near the very end. I wouldn't want every single last second. But like, put me out like five minutes beforehand.

Stephen:

Now these zombies are faster. How do you feel about fast zombies instead of the traditional shuffling walkers? I like

Steve:

it. I saw we were a couple years before this. They had the 28 days later and they were where they run, where they run. So I mean, it, it makes sense for it and I definitely think there's something more scary about it. It certainly does make it, it helps with the action more so than the survival horror. Right. But at the same time, there's still something scary about a zombie running after you. There's something scary about anyone or anything running after me. Right?

Stephen:

And like I remember from the original night of the Living Dead that they were just coming and they kept coming and it was slowly, but they were coming and no matter where you ran, they would still catch up at some point. And so there's something to like TV

Steve:

movie, it follows.

Stephen:

There's something to be said for both types.

Steve:

Yes. Now the mall provides many material distractions and the survivors begin banging Anna with Michael getting romantic but not banging. Terry and Nicole, Steve and Monica, while Kenneth gets close with Andy over the sign boards across the parking lot as they shoot. Celebrity lookalikes like Rosie O'Donnell's and Jay Leno. Yeah.

Stephen:

And they play chess.

Steve:

Yes. Now they begin to create a sort of family. Do you think it's natural for survivors to bond like this?

Stephen:

Absolutely. It's just like making friends at work with people you wouldn't really have made friends with. In the outside world, you're together for that many hours a day. It's part of the human condition to bond with those around you, and it makes the time better. Like there's a reason that they call them

Steve:

work friend. Yes. Now meanwhile, the undead surround the refugee in ever increasing numbers. Finally, the moss power goes out and Michael CJ Barton. Kenneth entered the underground parking garage, turn on the emergency generator. They meet a friendly dog, played by blue who appears unharmed or and uninfected. Yay. They question what that's all about. When a dog suddenly bites Bart, which attracts more zombies, that force the group to flee while trying to avoid the hoard, Michael and Kenneth reached the generator compartment and CJ joins them. When Bart is overwhelmed and killed by zombies, they eventually work together to douse the zombies with gasoline and set them a blaze. Now the

Stephen:

zombie that attacks Bard is on top of a light hanging from the ceiling. He does not have legs. How did he get there? It's like the woman with no arms, no legs, lying on the beach. Okay, there you go. I mean, seriously, it's a, it's a light on the ceiling. How did the zombie with no legs get up there? I

Steve:

don't know. It is funny. Yeah. He currently crawled really big upper body, strict. He's been living for this moment.

Stephen:

He's been training to be a zombie on a light.

Steve:

See what happened was before the apocalypse, he actually knew that this was coming and had his friend bring him, put him up there to hide

Stephen:

his legs were torn off.

Steve:

Well, he was, he crawled up there successfully and then they crawled, tore off his legs. Okay, I don't know. Now Andre faced with the fact that Lud will soon die, sings totally into denial, and has his heavily pregnant and infected wife tied to the bed in the mall's children's store. Oh, as she gives birth, she dies. And then Reanimate. Norma checks on the couple, discovering the zombie Luda and the demented. Andre clutching a small bundle of blankets that's not holding anything sweet. It's a girl. No, it's not. Norma Shoots Luda causing Andre to snap completely. They have a shootout and both are killed and her arrives on the scene, opens the mu to re reveal a zombie baby. Baby. She pulls her revolver at a single shot, rings through the mall. Who, and we knew this was coming the moment that we saw that there was a pregnant woman in a zombie movie. Right. You were like, there's going to be a zombie baby. Yes. Was it worth it?

Stephen:

Yes, definitely. Watching him lose his sanity was a good story.

Steve:

See, I feel like it could have been more of a slow

Stephen:

burn. I, I think this was a slow burn though. Yeah. Like, as all of that was happening with Luda, he just kept going on as if it was gonna be a normal birth. And then when the baby came out, he held it as if it were fine and we saw the baby and we know that it wasn't, he was completely detached from reality. He was so determined. To be that father he wanted to be like. Reality didn't exist for him anymore. It's, I think that was just fascinating in and of

Steve:

itself. Yeah. Now they are about to decide not to die in the mall. Would you stay in the mall hunkering down, or would you search out help?

Stephen:

I would probably stay in the mall as longs as possible, honestly. Hoping. That the government and military would have a response soon if you can just wait long enough. But I will also be preparing for what's next, knowing that food would eventually run out and we need to seek shelter elsewhere.

Steve:

Yes, we also see Norma doesn't turn because she was in bitten in some zombie U universes. Everyone's infected, so no matter how you die, you turn the bite just makes it happen faster. And this one, you aren't infected unless you're bitten or scratched. This way, you're safer in a group because someone dying. In their sleep isn't a possible death sentence for the whole group.

Stephen:

I know it's kind of interesting that way. Mm-hmm. That you like in the walking dead, you die. You turn. Yes. And in this one you have to have been scratched or bit. Yeah. So that definitely makes it safer for people. Like if they're gonna be long-term together and somebody's just old and they die, you don't have to worry about them dying in their sleep. Yeah,

Steve:

exactly. Now there's an impromptu memorial. Ken says that there are things worse than death, like sitting around waiting to die. The remaining mall dwellers thus plot to fight their way through the local marina, and from there, travel out on Steve's small yacht to an island in Lake Michigan. Where everything will be better. They reinforce two small shuttle buses from the parking garage, removing the seats, welding on a snowplow, attaching metal bars and flood lights, stringing barbed wire, boarding up the windows and cunning slits for the deployment of weapons, chainsaws, propane tanks and other supplies are also loaded on board. Meanwhile, Andy across the parking lot is starving and will not have the strength to join the escape. And give them as much needed guns in an admission. Admission ammunition. Yep. So the mall survivors strap a pack of food onto chips the dog from the basement and lower him into the parking lot in a sling because the zombies don't notice or react to chips, which is so

Stephen:

weird.

Steve:

Unfortunately, while chips makes it safely into the gun shop, a zombie sees the dog and gets in as well and bites. Andy. Nicole distraught over chips, takes the delivery truck and barges her way into the gun store where a now Zombified ambi, Andy traps her in the closet. Now, would you run across the street to save chips? If he was in danger? If it was Remy,

Stephen:

now I would run to save Remy like Nicole did. Absolutely. Would I save Nicole? No. No. And if the guns weren't over there, I would not run to save Nicole as she's an adult. And she made the decision to do that, but as they need all the ammo in the store, might as well save her while we're

Steve:

there. Yes, sounds good. And this is the game. I wouldn't want that to be left as a pending side quest, so I'd probably do it

Stephen:

now. Kenneth, Michael, CJ, Terry and Tucker gather their meager weapon supply and go into the sewers while Steve Jerkish. Steve is assigned guard duty on their exit door. That his job when they bang on it, is to let them back in. That's his only job. Yeah. One job. One job. They reach the gun store where they kill Andy, rescue Nicole and stock upon weapons in ammunition. A detonated propane tank is used to clear a path back to the sewers, but the zombies pursue them. And along the way, Tucker breaks his legs as he falls down the manhole cover. Despite CJ's desperate attempt to pull slash drag him to safety. Te Tucker is attacked by the pursuing zombies, forcing CJ to shoot him dead out of mercy.

Steve:

Now, would you shoot someone dead out of mercy or would you let them live a little bit longer, even if a more painful death, so that gives you more time to escape there? It

Stephen:

depends. So do I like them? I would probably put them outta their misery, put misery. Are they asking me to shoot them? I'd put them out of their misery. Are they telling me to run? They can fend for themselves. You know what,

Steve:

what I think I'd want you to let my, my shell of a body devourer, whoever it wants. Okay. I don't think you need to put me outta my misery as long as I won't hurt you. Okay. You can leave me out on the neighborhood. A little walk of terror. Can

Stephen:

I have you pick which neighbors? Yeah. So

Steve:

you could just send me, was it north? Yeah. Now thanks to Steve's negligence, the zombies force opened the exit door and swarm the mall. As we said, he had one job. Yep. The survivors pile onto the buses and smash out into the parking lot, where another propane bomb is used to clear a path through the waiting H. When Glen moves to take out a last hitchhiking zombie with a chainsaw, a aside, and swerve sends the weapon slashing into Monica's shoulder and into her body chest. Yep. The results. Of blood splatter across the windshield caused driver Kenneth to lose control and crash. Glenn Monica killed while Steve flees the toppled bus and is attacked by the hitchhiking zombie. Oh, now would you wanna be on the first bus or the second bus in that line?

Stephen:

The first bus, because then you can't get left behind. I want

Steve:

the, the second bus, cuz it sounds like the first bus is gonna get into more trouble.

Stephen:

Yeah. But like, If Steve, I mean, this is the next question. If Steve didn't have the boat keys, would you stop for the bus once it flipped? No. So you're on the second bus, you just said that you would now get left behind.

Steve:

No, but like if I, I would, if I had before getting on the bus, had to picked, you wanna be on the first or the second? I would've picked the second.

Stephen:

But you're okay with everyone leaving the other bus behind once you crash

Steve:

it? Well, if I'm not in the one that crashes, I would wanna escape. You're,

Stephen:

but you're on the second bus, so you're in the one that crashes.

Steve:

Well, I don't wanna be in the one that crashes. Then you're wanna be on the first bus. Fine, whatever. Yeah, the other. Now, if Steve didn't have the boat keys, would you go back to save the other bus, Mr. Number one, I

Stephen:

would stop to see if I could save the others. Like if it like ignited inflam. No, there's no hoping, but there was enough space between them and the herd at that point to take it second to check for

Steve:

survivors. Yep. Now the others scramble for the second bus meeting. Zombie Steve on route. Anna shoots him dead just like she promised earlier, and she must grab the keys off of him. While more zombies catch up, Anna flees back to the bus where Michael helps her in. And we all know that something happens there, but we don't talk about it yet. Nope. After a short struggle, they pull away and speed to the marina duck where they crash the bus and dash for the boat. Cornered in the bus by their pursuers, CJ Detonates, a final propane tank blowing up the vehicle, the zombies and himself. The remainder of the group gets on the boat, except for Michael. He was bitten and during that time when I just said, we're not talking about it. And a futile pleads with him to come, even though you know it's hopeless. And the boat sets sail with Terry Anna. Kenneth Nicole, and Chips. Anna watches unflinchingly as Michael draws his pi pistol places him Aish Chin, and a final gunshot rings out over

Stephen:

the water. Now I do think we need to make mention of CJ's character Arc in this movie, from asshole security guard at the beginning to somebody that really stuck his neck out for others and then in the end sacrificed himself to save everyone else. That's a really good asshole to hero. Excellent character story arc. Yeah.

Steve:

And for our all along hero, did you think that Michael would survive or did you catch that he was scratched during that scuffle

Stephen:

When they were trying to save, and I honestly thought more of them would get hurt. So while it hurts to see him die, I wish he had made it, but it totally makes sense seeing what happened. Like there were too many zombies there and they weren't wearing long sleeved shirts like, Come on people.

Steve:

Yeah. You're in the mall. You know better. Yeah. Now, the NCRs role interspersed with video footage taken by Terry using a camera from the boat, following a grim voyage where water, fuel, and food supplies all run low. The remaining survivors succeed in reaching an island only to be immediately attacked by a new swarm of zombies. As the survivors attempt to retreat to the boat, the camera falls to the ground and blacks out leaving their ultimate fate unknown. Now, what's your thoughts on

Stephen:

the ending? So until the post credit scene, while sad about Michael, there was hope. The post credits took care of that hope. I'm not usually one for movies where all the characters die, hence why I think the wrong turn. Prequel movies are fun, but they don't have as much effect as the original. One definite exception to my feelings on the no survivors is probably cabin in the woods, but, On the whole horror movies where none of your heroes make it are not my

Steve:

favorite thing. Well, I'm sorry to hear that. So you don't think any of them survived? I

Stephen:

don't. I all, I think they all died. There were too many zombies coming for them after they got on to the dock. They had nowhere to go. They all died. Do you think they all died?

Steve:

I think that chips lived a long and happy and healthy life as a dog living in the woods. Oh.

Stephen:

So yes, I take that back. I think Chips lived on that island running around for many, many

Steve:

years. Yes. And that's what counts. You know, I think all the humans are dead. That's fine, as long as the dogs survived. John. Yeah, I would love to hear if our listeners agree with that sentiment. You can do that by giving us an email, but at the the at Happy Life pod@gmail.com.

Stephen:

Or you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy Life

Steve:

Pod. And until next time, everybody. Stay happy. Stay happy and

Stephen:

alive.