Our ongoing fascination with the undead has led to the development of what the author refers to as The Undead Complex (chapter 2). Several analogies are also presented that serve to illustrate the challenges involved in finding a perfect definition of death. Watch one of the below movies (if you do not have time to watch the full movie, you may be able to find enough clips on YouTube to participate. Complete brief analysis of a movie that focuses on a creature or other similar entity that exemplifies those that reside in the shadow lands between life and death. Students might choose a movie or be required to select from/assigned one of the following three options (you do a brief analysis from one of these or any other one of interest as long as it keeps up with the undead theme):
Interview with a Vampire (1994; Director: Neil Jordan)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1998; Director: Robert Rodriquez and Sarah Kelly)
I Am Legend (2007; Director: Francis Lawrence)
Here are some questions to consider: (a) How are the main characters portrayed, i.e., what life-like qualities and other-world characteristics are the main character(s) presented as possessing?; (b) Do the main character(s) appear to experience death as an event? If so, when/how did this event take place?; (c) Are they presented as being in a death-like state at any point? If so, what behaviors or actions do they engage in while in this state?; (d) What analogies most closely fit the way or ways in which the main character or characters are portrayed overall (i.e., inorganic and unresponsive, sleepy or with altered states of consciousness, as resembling death, or as a person)? What impact did this have on how you felt about the character or characters, overall, by the end of the movie? Why?
