The Idol Room Podcast Episode 3 - Are Zombie Movies Overrated?
The Idol Room Podcast
Hosted by Mark Tuan & Kim Yugyeom
Feat. Conan Gray & Troye Sivan
Guest Star: Hwang Hyunjin
Intro Theme: Starble Zone by Tee Lopes
All Voice Acting is produced using Elevenlabs Voice Cloning Software
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Mark
Hey everyone and "Welcome" to the third episode of The Idol Room Podcast
I'm your host Mark, and I'm joined here as always with my wonderful co-hosts; Yu-gyeom, Conan & Troye.
Yugyeom
Hey!
Conan
Hey everyone.
Troye
Howdy!
-Mark Laughs-
Mark
"Anyway", "Todays" episode of the show, "Are Zombie Movies Underrated?"
This should be an exciting episode and it's one I 'Really' wanted to talk about because I really love this genre, and I know you do as well, don't you Yu-gyeom?
Yugyeom
Love it!
Mark
Conan? Troye? How do you feel about Zombie movies?
Troye
I love it as well. Shawn of the Dead is actually one of my favourite movies believe it or not?
Mark
Oh, really?
Troye
Yeah, pretty much anything by Edgar Wright.
The guy can seriously do no wrong in my opinion.
Mark
That's Awesome.
Yugyeom
Did you see the Scott Pilgrim movie as well?
Troye
Scott Pilgrim, Hot Fuzz, The World's End... what else?
Last Night in Soho... the man is a 'legend' on my books.
Mark
That's cool. What about you Conan?
Do you watch many horror or Zombie movies in general?
Conan
Yeah, a few.
I'm not really huge on horror, but every now and then there will be a movie my friends will wanna take me to see and it's typically a horror movie.
Mark
That's awesome.
Well, anyway guys, we have a new guest on the show that I'm really excited to introduce.
Our Twitter feed really blew up when we announced who this weeks guest was going to be.
Troye, you already know who it is.
Everyone. Please give a very warm welcome to Stray Kids very own; Hwang Hyunjin!
-Clap Hands SFX-
Hyunjin
Hey! Hey everyone. How's everyone doing today!
Mark
Dude, awesome! Welcome, welcome. Come, take a seat.
Yugyeom
Welcome to the show.
Hyunjin
Thank you. ...Hey Troye! Long time no see.
Troye
Dude! It's been too long. How've you been doing?
Hyunjin
Awesome, awesome. Been real busy lately with JYP, Y'know?
Troye
Oh, tell me about it.
Conan
Hey.
Mark
Okay. Now that everyone's here, our topic for today, "Are zombie movies overrated?"
So, before we begin, why don't we go around and share our favourite zombie movies with everyone, just to get the ball rolling.
Yu-gyeom? I know you love this genre just as much as me. Are there any particular zombie horror films that you personally consider your favourite?
Yugyeom
Dawn of the dead! Hands down.
Mark
I just knew you were going to say that.
Yugyeom
It really is my favourite movie of all time, hands down.
I have "such" a good time every single time we watch this movie.
Mark
Oh dude, the amount of times we both stayed up late at night, back when we were at GOT7's dorm rooms, I remember 'every' single time, you would always want to watch Dawn of the dead.
-Yugyeom laughs-
Mark
I'd be like, "Yu-gyeom, what film do you want to watch?" And every single time you would always pick Dawn of the dead.
-Conan laughs-
Troye
Great movie, hands down.
Yugyeom
Yeah, I just 'really' love the way this movie was shot and edited.
Like, George A Romero was in a world of his own when he created this movie, and, it's like, in every single one of his films, he always likes to push boundaries and show you this dystopian look of the world without boundaries or authority.
Y'know, films like The Crazies, Day of the Dead, excreta.
But, in this movie, Dawn of the dead.
You really feel it, y'know?
You really get a glimpse of what a world turned upside down really feels like, y'know?
Mark
Yeah, almost every single zombie movie does that, where you get to see our society fall apart as the zombies take over.
But for some reason Dawn of the dead just really sticks with you, y'know?
Yugyeom
Yeah, it's actually that opening scene that really does it for me, y'know?
Like, even before the zombies show up, you see that TV network turn into utter chaos and you just really get this impending sence of how fucked things really are, even before you've seen a single zombie.
Troye
It's that slow burn.
Yugyeom
Yeah! Exactly.
Mark
Yeah, I think there's something to be said about that actually. Because, if you compare Dawn to let's say, even Zack Snyder's Dawn of the dead remake, you still get that glimpse, of how bad things really are, but...
Yugyeom
It's just not the same.
Mark
Exactly. I think it's like how you said Troye, that "Slow burn".
The fact that there are so many established shots and scenes all over Pennsylvania and America as a whole, where everyone is either trying to get out, or already has...
It just really shows you how quickly society can turn.
Troye
Yeah, the scene I loved most in that movie, was that one scene where those cops are all fighting over a packet of cigarettes and it's like...
Yugyeom
"I'm not leaving without a pack of fucking cigarettes!!"
Troye
Yeah. That one scene, where even the cops are fleeing, but the 'one' thing they care about is cigarettes, it just really does it for me.
Yugyeom
Then you have that crazy biker scene in the third act where all the bikers show up.
Mark
My favourite part of the movie hands down.
Yugyeom
Oh my god! When those bikers show up and start throwing custard pies at everyone, I was like "Whaat the fuck!?"
I could not stop laughing!
-Mark laughs loudly-
Troye
And when they pin that one woman down as well and steal all her jewellery.
Yugyeom
Yeah! Oh my god! I freaking love that scene!
That rich Nigerian lady, they just pin her down, not even caring that she's a zombie and just rob all her jewellery. I was like "Oh my god!"
That scene was hilarious.
-Mark laughs loudly-
-Conan laughs-
Mark
Conan? How about you? I know you said earlier you're not much of a horror buff but, do you have a favourite movie in the genre?
Conan
Yeah, I actually like Zombieland actually.
Troye
Ah, I love that movie.
Conan
Yeah, I actually don't have that much to say about it actually, but that one scene with Bill Murray always stuck with me.
Mark
Troye? How about you? I know you mentioned Shawn of the dead earlier.
Troye
Yeah I did
I just think British horror movies in general are really underrated actually.
Have... any of you guys ever seen 28 days later?
Conan
Oh yeah.
Mark
Definitely.
Hyunjin
I have.
Troye
Right. Films like that I really love.
A really great one is a lesser known film called "The girl with all the gifts."
'That' film was really good, seriously underrated.
Yugyeom
I actually heard of that one.
Troye
Have you seen it?
Yugyeom
Sadly no, I haven't.
Troye
Dude, definitely go see it. It's 'really' good.
Basically imagine Day of the Dead meets The Last Of Us, only the protagonist is a little girl who's half zombie.
Like, an evolution of the zombie gene.
Yugyeom
Oh, that's interesting actually.
Troye
Yeah. If you remember that one scene from Zack Snyder's Dawn of the dead, where the pregnant woman gets bit and gives birth to a zombie baby?
Imagine that, but of that baby went on to star in their own movie basically.
Yugyeom
Oh cool!
Mark
Yeah it's actually interesting you bring up British horror, because my favourite flick is also British, but not technically a film.
Have... any of you guys ever heard of Deadset?
Conan
No...
Troye
Ah, I haven't, no.
Hyunjin
Afraid not...
Yugyeom
I have. We saw it together didn't we.
Mark
Yeah, I was the one who introduced you to that film.
It's basically a 6 part episodic series based on Big Brother, where...
Zombies have taken over England and the survivors are all stuck in the Big Brother house but don't even know what's going on until they realise that they're trapped in the hose and just have to survive, basically.
Hyunjin
Oh, that's cool.
Mark
Yeah... it's not even the premise alone that really does it for me, it's...
Like you said earlier Troye, that "slow burn", where you 'really' see society crumble.
Like even more so that 28 days later where you only see the aftermath, or... 28 weeks later where you see it, but there's way too much shaky cam to really get into the action.
Here, you really do get that feeling of... it's all completely over. Society is gone. There's just nothing you can do but survive.
And... these zombies, hands down, are some of the best zombies ever committed to film.
Some of the gore in this, my God.
Yugyeom
It's really fucking gruesome.
Mark
Yeah. They thankfully don't rely too much on CG, which I really hate in horror movies, because...
The blood never looks real, no matter what. It just looks really fake and just completely takes you out of it.
Hyunjin
Yeah, I know what you mean.
Yugyeom
Land of the dead did that as well.
I hated how fake all that CG blood looked in that film.
Ugh, I 'hated' it!
Mark
Yeah. For me it's like... if you can't be bothered to put actual effort into the special effects in your film, and put actual blood in there, then it's like, why should 'I' put in the effort in to even watch your movie in the first place, y'know?
-Conan laughs-
Mark
Why should 'I' watch your film if you can't even be bothered to take the time to put actual physical effects in your movie, y'know?
Yugyeom
Yeah. Going back to Deadset though, like you said. The special effects and atmosphere in that film, or show, or whatever, was really good.
The scene that really did it for me though was near the end where that guy had that bowl full of guts, and, he was running towards the zombies with that bowl of guts and everyone was trying to stop him, trying to tell him "No! Don't do it! Don't go out there!"
And then he opens the gate and the zombies pour in, ignore the bowl and just storm the place.
But, you really get that feeling of impending doom, don't you?
Like, when you realise that 'these' are the only people left.
Like it's just these 6 survivors and an entire hoard of zombies and no one else.
No one's coming, there's no police, no military, no other survivors... nothing.
These are like, the only people left alive, and it's like, they have 'nowhere' left to go and they're now surrounded completely by zombies.
Even the sky being pitch black, it just really sinks in, doesn't it? That 'slow burn' like you said.
Mark
Yeah. I know the scene you're taking about as well. When that manager wants to leave and everyone is trying to stop him and they all just turn on one another.
Yugyeom
Yeah, I loved that scene.
Mark
Hyunjin? What about you?
Sorry we just kinda rambled off there.
Hyunjin
No, it's fine.
Umm... I'm not really that big on Zombie movies, but I really love The Walking Dead.
Troye
Oh I love the walking dead.
Hyunjin
Yeah, the only Zombie movie I've seen that I really love though was Train to Busan.
Have any of you guys ever seen that one?
Mark
Yeah.
Yugyeom
Ahh, I was 'hoping' someone would bring that movie up.
I "Love" it.
Hyunjin
Yeah, the action is 'so' good in that movie.
Some of the scenes where the zombies are just chasing them through the train station terminals were just... agh, 'so good'!
Mark
Yeah. I remember Yugyeom actually cried near the end, when the main protagonist dies.
You were really tearing up near the end.
Yugyeom
"Shut up!"
It was just a really well done scene is all.
Mark
Dude, you were so balling.
I was like "Yu-gyeom, calm down man, it's just a movie."
-Conan laughs-
Yugyeom
Whatever man. It's still a good movie.
Mark
Yeah, it's a shame about the sequels though.
If you haven't seen them, they were pretty mediocre by comparison.
Yugyeom
Yeah Seoul Station really sucked, didn't it?
Mark
Yeah, Seoul Station was a bit of a train wreck to be honest.
Peninsula wasn't much better either.
Conan
I haven't seen any of these movies to be honest.
Mark
Yeah, you're not missing much to be honest.
Peninsula was mediocre at best.
Seoul Station... yeah I wouldn't recommend.
Hyunjin
Ahh that sucks.
Mark
Yeah... I think one of the biggest problems with zombie movies as a whole is that, they're not really creepy anymore.
Like, when you mentioned earlier Yu-gyeom about that scene from Deadset where the guy is running with that bowl full of guts and is trying to bait the zombies with it and become outnumbered.
Creepy scenes like that aren't really common anymore are they?
Yugyeom
No they aren't. I think that's the problem with the genre as a whole really as so many movies now are more focused on the spectacle rather than the horror element.
Like, when you think of films like 'Army of the Dead' for example or even something like 'Scouts guide to a Zombie Apocalypse', where it's more about being entertaining to a wider audience than it is trying to be creepy or unsettling in anyway.
Conan
Yeah, that's true.
Troye
I can agree on that.
Yugyeom
Like, don't get me wrong. Scouts guide is supposed to be a comedy, but, like you said, most films are more focused on that, rather than being creepy or genuinely terrifying in anyway.
Mark
Yeah, it's sad really. Most Hollywood films in general don't really get horror the way they used to.
Troye
Do you think? ...It's a generational thing?
Like over time audiences in cinema's couldn't really handle films being genuinely terrifying, so they toned it down to be, more like you said, "entertaining"?
Or... do you think it's more a case of Hollywood chasing after spectacle rather than being strictly on a lower budget and focusing more on genuine chills and creepy horror elements?
Mark
I think it's kinda both to be honest.
Because let's face it, back in the day they couldn't really even show really gory scenes in the cinema, even if it was age appropriate.
So they would always water down the movies for the cinema instead and then show the extended "full" cut of the movie on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Troye
Yeah, gotchu...
Mark
Like, They couldn't even show Dawn of the Dead in most cinemas back in the day because the violence was too much for audiences to handle.
Yugyeom
Yeah, they ended up making 10 different versions of that one movie, didn't they.
Mark
Yeah. I think studios just got sick of it over time and tried to market their movies to a more general audience.
Troye
Yeah that makes a lot of sence actually.
If it's 'that' much work when you have to splice and edit your film countless times just to get it in cinemas, then yeah, I would too to be honest.
Hyunjin
Yeah.
Mark
Well, I think it's also, like you said, the money making element as well.
Where they wanna get that mass market appeal so they do make films that do have a bigger budget and are big spectacles.
Like Army of the Dead like you mentioned earlier Yu-gyeom, or Land of the Dead, Zombieland, films of that nature.
Yugyeom
Train to Busan.
Mark
Exactly, yeah.
Conan
Things might be changing though, because studios nowadays do seem to be more comfortable showing more adult stuff in cinemas, which they never used to before.
Hyunjin
Yeah, they show Day of the Dead in cinemas a lot now actually.
Conan
Yeah, not even that though.
Disney is more comfortable with swearing and even gore in some of their movies.
Troye
Like with Deadpool and Wolverine?
Conan
Exactly yeah. I think it's a generational thing like you said, Troye.
But... I also think audiences in general are more comfortable with mature rated material on TV and cinema now than they were in the past.
Mark
I hope so.
Yeah, hopefully we'll start to get more legit creepy horror zombie movies again soon.
I'm really ready for one.
Yugyeom
Yeah, me too.
Troye
Cinema has been really good this year though hasn't it?
I mean we got Deadpool 3 as mentioned earlier.
Joker and Harley is just around the corner.
Conan
Dude, I am 'So' ready for that.
Troye
Yeah, me too.
We also have Wicked on the way soon.
Gladiator 2, the new Sonic movie...
What else?
Yugyeom
Venom 3.
Hyunjin
A film about Trump is coming soon as well, right?
Troye
I am 'legit' interested in how the public is going to react to that movie.
Trump is such a hot button issue in the US right now that I honestly am legit interested in seeing not only how that movie is handled but, how the audience takes it as well.
Conan
What, do you think people are gonna review bomb it?
Troye
Oh for sure. But people hate watching the film in general.
I am genuinely interested in seeing people's reactions and the backlash that will come from that movie.
Yugyeom
You never know, it might be good.
Some scenes in that trailer made it look like it has a lot of funny moments in it actually.
Troye
Dude. Let's watch it together.
Yugyeom
Yeah? I'm down.
Mark
Yeah, a lot of movies you guys just mentioned I wanna save for later topics actually, because we have Jungkook in next week to talk about Batman, and...
Originally he was meant to come in on a later episode but, I wanted to push it forward just because of the new Joker and Harley Quinn movie.
Like I wanted it to still be fresh in our minds when we talk about Batman related films.
Yugyeom
Dude, I can't wait. I'm gonna have so much to talk about that movie.
Conan
I'm so hoping they go all out with it. That trailer, Oh My God!
-Hyunjin laughs-
Mark
Yeah, so guys. That's gonna do it for another episode.
I wanna give a huge thanks and shout out for Hyunjin, thank you 'so much' for coming onto the show.
Hyunjin
It's my pleasure.
Mark
Yeah, so guys? That's gonna do it for today's episode.
Thank you all so much for tuning in, and hopefully next week we'll have Jungkook in from BTS to talk about the new Joker movie and Batman as a whole.
Anyway, thank you guys and take care.
Yugyeom
Yeah, thanks guys.
Conan
Thank you guys, God Bless.
Troye
Yeah, thanks guys.
Hyunjin
Bye everyone.
Mark
Yeah, bye guys.
-play ending theme-
