The Zombie Book. Nick Redfern

warfare could have been utilized as a weapon of mass destruction and the cause of extreme devastation, via the spreading of a deadly virus? In March 1947, the Board had its doubts that biological warfare could be considered a tool of destruction on par with atomic weapons; however, seven months later that view had changed radically.

      With respect to this matter, in October 1947, the Board recorded that: “On the basis of present knowledge the Committee feels that biological weapons cannot be compared in their effect with such so-called weapons of mass destruction as, for example, the atomic bomb. It is doubtless true that if a self-sustaining epidemic of a fatal disease could be established in a human population, indiscriminate destruction of life on a great scale might result. However, as has been pointed out earlier in this discussion, the Committee knows of no epidemic agent that could presently be used with confidence in its significant epidemic-producing property.

      “The spread of epidemics depends upon a number of complex inter-related factors, many of which are poorly understood or perhaps even unknown. Furthermore, it is believed that the chances of discovering an unusually virulent epidemic-producing biological agent is highly improbable and cannot be anticipated at any time in the predictable future.”

      So much for the Committee’s beliefs with respect to biological warfare and the human race.

       The Colonized

      In a world in which all things of a zombie nature are becoming ever more dominating, the biggest challenge facing filmmakers, Hollywood studios, script-writers, and authors is not so much just to come up with ideas, but to create and weave story-lines that are actually fresh, rather than yawn-inspiring. Certainly, one only has to take a mere glimpse at the large amount of both literary and on-screen productions of the undead variety to realize that tedious repetition, overwhelming sterility, and far less than inspiring scripts are, today, the definitive name of the game. We have seen it all, and we have heard it all, time and time again. Fortunately, however, that is not always the case. Take for example, Chris Ryall and Drew Moss’ graphic-novel series The Colonized.

      For Ryall and Moss, your average zombie apocalypse-style scenario is simply not nearly good enough—and although that may not be such a positive thing for the characters who are fighting for their very lives, for the readers it is very good news. While it is one thing to have to face a full-on maniacal assault from hordes of flesh-devouring recently deceased, it is an entirely different matter to insert nothing less than visiting aliens from a faraway world into the story, too. But, this is exactly what our intrepid duo of Ryall and Moss does—and in a fashion that works very well, it must be stressed. Add to the undead and the extraterrestrials a cast of survivalist fruitcakes, gun-toting, small town gangs, and a slightly sinister government agent lurking in the shadows, and you have a great story unfolding before your very eyes.

      It is most refreshing, too, to see a high degree of thinking outside the box taking place. There is a nice touch about how the aliens themselves—or their unearthly biology, at least—have an impact on the nature and effects of the zombie virus. Sly and wry humor abounds. And we even get treated to the freakishly fun sight of not just human zombies, but the animals of the undead, too. Of course, the fact that Colonized is set in small-town USA means we are talking farm animals. Or, perhaps, Barn of the Dead would be far more apt. Have you ever seen a pig, a chicken, or a horse wildly racing and raging around like the fast-running infected of 28 Days Later? To be sure, it’s not a pretty sight, to say the very least. But it is highly entertaining.

      As is always the case when fiction and zombies cross paths, things finally reach their bloody finale, and it all too quickly becomes a case of do or die—and that goes for the humans and the aliens alike. Even the dead do all they can to avoid death—for a second time, naturally. In finality, Colonized is a decidedly surreal, alternative, and fun take on a topic that brings something very welcome and important to the table of the reanimated and the cannibalistic: it is called originality.

       The Colony

      Made in 2013, The Colony is a Canadian movie that, when all is said and done, is pretty good. The film stars Lawrence Fishburne (Briggs), Bill Paxton (Mason), and Kevin Zegers (Sam). The latter took on the role of Terry, a security guard, in the 2004 remake of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Whereas in Dawn of the Dead the flesh-eating monsters are literally dead, in The Colony they are the starving survivors of a worldwide apocalypse that have descended into primitive, cannibalistic states.

      The storyline is an interesting one: The Colony is set midway through the twenty-first century, at a time when weather-modification technology has brought the human race to its knees. In the decades leading up to disaster, such technology was used to try and combat the effects of ever-increasing global warming. As the planet gets hotter, the machines try to combat things by lowering the temperature. They do so, but in catastrophic fashion. Not only does the planet cool, but it starts to snow—everywhere. And the snow does not stop. Ever. As a result, and years later, the earth is now in the grip of a modern day ice-age.

      The landscape of the whole planet resembles the North and South Pole. Cities are buried under tons of ice and snow, and civilization is no more. Those that have managed to survive the worldwide freezing do so in huge underground installations where life is bleak, food is scarce, and a deadly form of flu is on the loose. Everyday is a fight for survival and things are getting grimmer by the hour.

      The Colony begins in what is termed Colony 7, where Briggs, Mason, and Sam live—the latter with his girlfriend, Kai, played by actress Charlotte Sullivan. After the group receives a distress call from another group of survivors—also deep underground, at what is termed Colony 5—Briggs decides that someone must go and check out what’s afoot and why Colony 5 is now not just in trouble, but has subsequently gone completely silent, too. When Briggs asks for volunteers to accompany him, Sam and a teenage boy named Graydon (actor Atticus Dean Mitchell) are quick to accept the challenge. Mason, meanwhile, plots behind the scenes to try and take control over Colony 7.

      After an arduous and hazardous trek through arctic weather and a ruined, snow-covered city, the three finally make it to Colony 5 and descend into its underground depths. Not only is the colony quiet, it’s downright too quiet. And when the trio finally stumbles upon a solitary, terrified colonist, they know something bad has gone down. Exactly how bad, soon becomes apparent. Colony 5 has been invaded by a band of psychotic cannibals. Whereas those that live underground have retained their humanity, those who still live topside have descended into states of definitive savagery. To the horror of Briggs, Sam, and Graydon, the colonists have been killed. The three find this out in graphic fashion when they stumble on the flesh-eaters slicing up body upon body, all being prepared for dinner.

      Although the cannibals are not of the dead kind, they’re not just regular, but desperate people, either. Their teeth are like fangs and they scream, howl, and roar rather than talk. In many respects they come across not unlike a combination of the infected of 28 Days Later and the animalistic vampires of the 2007 movie, 30 Days of Night—which, incidentally, is also set around a snowbound background. The three men make a run for it, with the hungry hordes in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, Graydon doesn’t make it. There’s equally bad luck too: Briggs sacrifices himself to prevent the cannibals from finding out where he and Sam live, namely Colony 7. It’s to no avail, however. The people-eaters manage to follow Sam’s footprints and, in no time, break in to the colony, where a life or death battle begins—one which culminates in a fiery explosion as Mason kills himself and countless invaders. And it’s finally up to Sam to take on the leader of the cannibals—something that ends triumphantly for the dwindling band.

      The Colony ends