"They're coming to get you, Barbara..." Zombieland and beyond

There's a lot to like in Zombieland, new to home video this week. Is it in the same rarefied stratosphere as Shaun of the Dead? Not quite. But it's worthy company. There's been a real apocalypse trend in movies over the last year -- The Road, 2012, The Book of Eli -- evidently the world is about to end no matter what. But there's something about a zombie apocalypse that makes for a uniquely American mythology. A numb, brain-dead populace looks to devour those last few misfits, consuming both flesh and self-awareness. This Dawn of the Dead-meets-Superbad gore comedy has its uneven spots, but on the plus side it's one of those rare movies without an excessive running time, zipping along at a fast clip. Zombieland has great effects that really entertain and not just the gore and splatter. The unhinged opening credits are positively explosive and the same visual glee keeps popping up throughout the film.

Face facts, there'd be a gaping hole in the middle of this movie without Woody Harrelson. He makes the movie and his character's now-or-never catchphrase ought to have entered the vernacular permanently by the end of the weekend. Harrelson is having a ball and I couldn't help but feel a little regretful at not having seen this mayhem in the theatre as it undoubtedly benefits hugely from an audience reaction.

Superbad's Emma Stone adds coolness and has good chemistry with nerdy Jesse Eisenberg. On the other hand, Little Miss Sunshine's Abigal Breslin seems a little adrift and unsure of herself. That's all okay, because you never have to wait long for more Woody. Zombieland is definitely worth seeking out and as a snickering splatterfest, delivers the goods.

But for me it did more than that. It also got me even more excited for what without a doubt is going to be the mother of all super-cool zombie apocalypses ever -- the cable TV adaptation of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead.

This is without a doubt one of my favorite comic book titles and Kirkman has been at it for well over 60 issues and his characters and their landscape are phenomenal. You never know what's around the corner and frequently it's a genuine horror...and too often the zombies are less horrifying than what other survivors can be capable of. The rhythm and multi-issue story arcs of The Walking Dead make it just ideal for cable. AMC, the same network that brought us Mad Men has had the good sense to bring the property to genre god Frank Darabont to adapt, which if you're a fan of The Mist -- one of the great modern shockers -- imagining Darabont putting the spurs to these stories is cause for delight -- as he's all about the shock and awe, but never forgetting the characters.

A full-on zombie TV series for adults?! The Walking Dead is available in collected graphic novel format, so you can easily sample a few volumes and get an idea of why this has me so excited.

Cameras have yet to roll on this opus, so it's probably 2011 at the earliest before we get to feast our eyes.

So who will they cast as Rick, The Walking Dead's long-suffering main character? One thing about characters in this comic series, their permanence is about as safe as a character on The Sopranos. Bad things happen and let's just say that character prominence in The Walking Dead changes from time to time. Rumor has is Lost's Josh Holloway will soon be in need of a job...

Personally, I'm hoping the only apocalypse I have to experience is the vicarious kind. That I can handle. But the undead are clearly thriving and it's one of those genres that can't help but make us feel better about the world at large. My fellow shoppers at the local Safeway hardly ever try to take a bite out of my arm. Well, maybe on a Saturday night...