By Michael Avila
Special to DNAinfo
LOWER EAST SIDE — There were dead men walking in Manhattan Sunday.
The Flatiron and East Village neighborhoods were overrun by the undead Sunday during a Zombie Walk to promote the new movie "Survival of the Dead."
Hordes of volunteer zombies — actually 'normal' fans in makeup — plodded their way from Madison Square Park to East village Cinemas on East 11th Street for the film's premiere. They provided an unusual visual for green market shoppers at Union Square and outdoor diners at cafes along University Place.
Zombie walks are a relatively new phenomenon. They started popping up around the country in recent years, mirroring the growing popularity of zombies. Films, comics and novels have elevated the "Deadheads" to just below vampires on the pop culture monster hierarchy.
Most of the roughly 400 people who participated in Sunday’s zombie walk did so because of a shared "love of zombies,” according to Rob Grasso, who came from Philadelphia to take part in the event.
“It’s just what dead is, dude. If you can face death in the face,” he added, “which is what zombies are all about, then you understand there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Veronica Coates had a more functional reason for coming over from New Jersey on a sunny Sunday to cover herself in artificial blood and fake wounds. “I just love Halloween and anything scary, and it’s another day out of the year I can dress up.”
The leisurely zombie walk took about an hour, which makes a whole lot of sense considering zombies don’t run. All moviegoers know they walk very, very slowly. Once they arrived at the theater, they walked the ‘Dead Carpet’ past a phalanx of photographers and were greeted by the film’s director, George Romero.
“Survival of the Dead” is the sixth film from the 70-year-old horror maestro to chronicle a world of zombies. Romero’s previous works include the landmark 1968 horror film “Night of the Living Dead.” Much like that ground-breaking film and its follow-ups, “Survival of the Dead” balances horror-movie frights with social commentary.
“It’s the same theme that I’ve been beating on forever. It’s about war,” said the New York City native, while pointing out that the movie’s wicked sense of humor is as important as the over-the-top gore.
“I grew up on EC comic books. It was all bad jokes and puns. Giggle while you barf. To me, it’s almost essential [to a zombie movie]. This one is really… there are some real Loony Tunes moments in this one.”
“Survival of the Dead” opens in theaters on May 28.
