The Walking Dead Delivers

It's kind of tough for the horror genre to scare anymore. The best effect it can achieve these days is plain old grostesque. Even gore is getting to be old hat. Regardless of the limitations of a dated premise, AMC's The Walking Dead does a fine job of entertaining. The hour-long zombie drama is violent and messy and interesting to watch. That is quite a feat to pull off.

The show is shot in a 16 mm format, which I will call a brilliant creative decision. With everyone going digital, someone has the guts to buck trends and revisit a technique that still works. That's just smart, especially if you want the world to notice what you're doing. The zombies aren't much different than those seen in Thriller. The main difference is AMC's zombies don't dance way better than the average person.

Internet articles say ratings for The Walking Dead are unprecedented for AMC, so that bodes well for the short term. It remains to be seen though if the show's writers can keep the story arcs fresh and interesting. With a committment to only six initial episodes, it looks like AMC executives wonder the same thing. Mork and Mindy and Heroes serve as good lessons about stellar first seasons. Hopefully, The Walking Dead can demonstrate more staying power like Mad Men has. (What a phenomenon John Hamm et al have turn out to be.)

I have noticed that the writers have created a lot of characters to play with. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the supporting folks with lesser impact begin to get way more interesting. Someone may have an interesting secret. Someone may commit an incredible gaffe. If The Walking Dead is to survive for a while, that may have to happen. The sky is the limit. For now, I am a fan of the show despite its gore and violence. I sat through several seasons of ER (where the writers did horrible things to their characters), so I believe I can handle whatever AMC throws at me for six Sunday nights.