Tag: pride and prejudice and zombies

It’s not a review, because I’m bad at those. But I can do recommendations.

The main worry that I had with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was that it seemed to be tailor-made for Snakes on a Plane Syndrome: which would be a situation where the concept was a lot more interesting than the end result.  Fortunately, that didn’t occur here.  Having read and actually liked the original Jane Austen novel back in college – perils of being an English major – I would say that Seth Grahame-Smith’s updated material was inserted into the original text quite well.

By all accounts – which seem to jibe with my remembrance – most of the book remains unchanged from the original; it is Grahame-Smith’s argument that the original was almost designed to be updated with zombie attacks, and it’s hard to argue with him.  Austen’s characters translate almost startlingly easily into a world where the dead walk, people are routinely waylaid and eaten, and ninjas are an essential part of any society lady’s retinue.  The violence, which is in the finest traditions of the zombie genre, are not actually jarring.  In fact, the combat scenes are, if anything, less vicious than the drawing room witticisms and snubs that they generally replace.  What makes it all function is that Grahame-Smith actually has a basic respect for the original work, and took some pains to demonstrate that respect; and he succeeded in actually writing something above the level of ‘gimmick’, no doubt to his surprise.

I have an affection for this book, in other words: and I suspect that Jane Austen, once she had the conceit explained to her (and recovered from the somewhat crude ongoing joke), probably would have, too.  If you like either zombies or Jane Austen, I think that you’ll like this one.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies came in the mail today – the last of the birthday money purchases, and the most anticipated – and so far it’s living up to the majestic promise implied by the title. This was, in point of fact, a worry: some things are better imagined than seen.

But so far, everything’s fine. Just fine.

(I originally wrote this when I heard about the P&P&Z book, and tried shopping it out to Big Hollywood.  Alas, no luck: but since I just pre-ordered the book with some birthday gift certificate money, I might as well put this article up here.  I was pleased with the way it came out, after all.)

The buzz today is over the greatest development in movie synergy since Hollywood decided to puree 134 films to make Independence Day.  I refer, of course, to news that studios are fighting to option out Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is coming out April of this year.  What makes this exciting is that if successful, this movie could begin a trend:

Other talent agencies are pitching their own slate of monster-lit titles. They include a version of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, where Catherine, the deceased heroine, returns as a Japanese-style ghost not only to haunt but also to terrorise Heathcliff.

In a reworking of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Mr Rochester has something more terrible than an insane spouse in his attic, and a version of George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss is powered by human sacrifice.

The worry here is that the above might reflect the limits of said talent agencies’ creativity.  In light of that, I offer five concepts for those looking to interweave the genres of mainstream literature and horror.  I assure you that people would watch these films… and that literature critics would climb over each other’s dead bodies in order to attack them. Continue reading Pride & Prejudice & Zombies… Is Just The Beginning!