@Seek_Kolinahr Agreed. As is my personal stance on the matter, first of all, a zombie cannot be defined as a zombie if, as a human, it hasn’t died for at least five minutes before becoming a zombie. The 28 guys are infected yes, but personally I don’t classify them as zombies. It has to be a reanimated corpse.
However I don’t discount a zombie to be able to run and be hyper. Not all zombies are rotten corpses. Many, if not most, are freshly turned, and the Romero approach does work to make a hyper zombie. Zombies don’t feel pain, don’t need to breathe or anything, so if their body is able, they’ll use it to the max in order to feed. So if they can run, they will. (in theory, and not as a rule, gotta respect the distinct line between shamblers and sprinters) Technically, a zombie with a broken leg can still run, if the way the injury is made still allows him to stand up and perform the action.
Although personally, I like the classic shambling zombie much more than the sprinter. And why do they always let out Viking war screams? O_o I realize it’s for fear and effect, and I guess it works, but eh…
Although if you want a kick ass zombie movie that goes back to the roots, check out The Dead. It’s an African low budget movie, but I swear you have NOT seen such awesome looking classic shambling zombies in a while. Kind of turns me off that their eyes are all white, but otherwise…they were awesomely made, and there’s a level of fear and atmosphere in this movie that is all but gone from the modern zombie flick. I suggest it to zombie fans everywhere. Plus, amputees were paid to make some of the limbless zombies. Quite fucking disturbing.
@ucme The way it’s explained in Romero zombies and quite a few others is that zombies run on pure, raw instinct and that is absolutely it. The zombie wants to eat the flesh of the living, this is what is registered in its brain, due to the virus/curse/whatever cause. I’m not entirely sure that zombies even register other zombies directly. They are barely aware of their own existence. They’re like programmed machines, as best as I can put it. Everything is an obstacle or a boundary to it, besides the living human. Sometimes they may eat other animals, has happened in a lot of movies, but if biology has anything to do with it, this is a last resort, suggesting that the meat on humans is directly registered by them as what they need. (also suggesting that any mammal is prone to becoming a zombie if bitten, never seen no zombie alligator)
Technically, zombies don’t need to eat, eating does not make them regenerate nor does it stop the rotting process in any way. Hell, say a zombie who has his guts blown apart and is now devoid of a stomach, he’ll still eat. Everything will just fall on the ground as he swallows it, but he’ll eat. A zombie is dead, so the brain of a zombie will never register another zombie as food, since its instinct demands the flesh of the living.
Zombies do have phases though. Hunting, eating and repose. During repose, some of their human side might slightly resurface, and they may interact with other things and objects sometimes. Usually by sniffing or tasting, or taking things or yanking on car doors and shit. The repose phase might indicate that eating does somehow satisfy them and that they are more aware than what I’m suggesting. I’m always up for learning more on zombies. Also, Bub
Of course, there are plenty of exceptions. In Resident Evil, you see a zombie munching out on a corpse. In Night of the Living Dead, a zombie eats a small rodent.
I realize all that isn’t much of a valid answer, but it is what is offered by zombie dudes like Romero or Brooks. As a general rule, that’s what zombies do; eat people. After that, people are free to try and think of reasons why, while working with the elements that define a flesh eating zombie.