It's often said that in order for a zombie movie to work. It has to be apparent that we humans are the real monsters. This theme is not simply restricted to zombies either. It's been used for monster movies in general. I can see using such a scenario as an allegory. To show the foibles of mankind, however, within several of these plots I have seen theories that don't add up. In response I'm left wondering if we are in fact, the monsters that the movies insinuate we are.
One of the more well known uses of this theme is in the Twilight Zone episode The Monsters are due on Maple Street. In it, a neighborhood experiences bizarre activity and starts to turn on each other as paranoia takes over. I'm going to go out on a limb that this episode doesn't need a spoiler in regards to the ending. it turns out, extra terrestrials are the cause. They see that we turn on each other and use that by toying with our technology utilizing their own. Herein lies a major problem in the theory. We as humans are not defined by technology. Ipods are awesome and I enjoy blu-rays as much as the next guy but the loss of these will not force me to revert to some savage. We experience power outages all the time, whether it be rolling black outs or weather related. In said cases we stick our heads down and plow through. It's no big deal.
Another problem with this episode is the fact that the only reason the people turned on each other is because the kid planted the idea of alien invaders in his head. Now he turned out to be right, but had he kept his big yap shut people would've been confused but it would never have turned into a witch hunt.
This theme is most frequently used in zombie movies. Romero started it with his classic "Dead" series. He used the zombie apocalypse to make social commentaries, something revolutionary at the time. Ok sure, he beat his message over the viewers head but there was enough in the pro column to let it slide. He never went so far as to say that humans were monsters. On the contrary, his big thing was to say that the zombies were us. As such anything they did, such as go to a mall or watch fireworks was bad. I say fooey on that, zombies aren't us. OK, they were once us, but the thing that makes zombies so scary is the fact that there is no humanity in there. They are simply walking shells. Your sweet old grandpa who always brought you candy will now have no problem ripping into your scalp to try to get to your delicious brain.
A more recent example of this is in Stephen King's short story, The Mist, in it a small town is covered in a mysterious mist that hides hideous Lovecraftian beasts. A small troop of humans takes refuge in a grocery store. Mass hysteria starts to set in and human sacrifice becomes an actual consideration. No one considered the idea that one does not appease an angry God by further defying his commandments. You could write this off as mob mentality or simple panic. After all there is a good reason people are not supposed to yell "Fire" in a movie theater.
Maybe I'm just not that cynical yet, maybe 28 Days Later was such a bad movie that I dismissed the idea entirely or maybe I choose to follow the philosophies of characters like Dr. Frasier Crane and Superman by focusing on the positives of humankind. Sure we can panic and we are not without our faults. There are quite a few jerks out there and others who are capable of doing abhorrent things. By and large though I do believe that people are good. Even in extreme situations. Look at what happened after 9/11. Taking politics and the aftermath of the war on terror out of the equation, we all united. Our petty differences were put aside and many went out of their way to help the families of the victims. The same thing happened after the tsunami that struck a few years ago. Once again with Katrina, we offered a helping hand to those who were affected. Our prayers went out to them, people gave money, supplies, and their time to come to the aid of others. To be fair, inside the Superdome was more in line with the aforesaid stories, with instances of violence and even some cases of rape so we aren't as squeaky clean as idealists would like.
Ultimately, the real monster in any monster movie (whether it be zombie or otherwise) has to be the monster. Why? Because they're the monster. You wouldn't be able to pull of such a theme with Dracula or a Mummy. Allegory is one thing. If pulled off it can work wonders, however, perspective is an important factor. While we are not perfect, the monsters (in order to maintain any credibility in the scare department) has to be worse.
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