Fear the Walking Dead – Should We Be Afraid?

I, like most fans of The Walking Dead, am just itching for the next season, which premieres October, 11^th. But, what is a fan to do in the meantime? We’ve probably all watched the re-make of Dawn of the Dead more than once, or satisfied our need for undead entertainment on the El Rey Network with re-runs of From Dusk ‘til Dawn (check here and here for local listings), and fantasized about the Halloween premiere of Ash vs. The Evil Dead. But, as far as The Walking Dead goes, you can’t get much closer, or better, than the AMC spin-off series Fear the Walking Dead. Starring some recognizable faces, such as Kim Dickens (Treme and Deadwood) and Rubén Blades (Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Predator 2), this prequel offers some insight into the very beginning of the zombie apocalypse, contradictory to where The Walking Dead picks up with Rick Grimes in a hospital bed.

Although it seems to start off at a sleepy pace, judging by what I’ve seen so far, this series will be nothing but action packed. Most Walking Dead fans will remember the pace of season 5, and probably shouted at the screen a few times to “get on with it!” as I did. Fear the Walking Dead promises to go full-throttle from the get-go – plunging us into the zombie apocalypse as if it were happening in real-time.

Fear the Walking Dead starts off as most zombie movies do – it was just a normal day – until…  Robert Kirkman describes entering the realm of Fear the Walking Dead as that there is the “revelation that the outbreak would appear to happen behind the scenes at first, with news stories that don’t make sense and paranoia emerging.” Subtle. No little walker kids at a gas station, poised to eat your face. This is how we all imagine it will be. In the ways that Shaun of the Dead stumbled drunkenly into the apocalypse, or picking up the pieces several hours or months after the outbreak as in Night of the Living Dead or Warm Bodies — we don’t have a plan – and, neither do they.

Again, as a huge fan of The Walking Dead, I was a little scrunchy-faced about the idea of a spin-off series. Then, I saw the cast. Then, I saw the trailer. Now, I have no doubt that this companion will bring the walker universe full-circle in a way that no other film or T.V. franchise has ever been able to do. The sheer production value of Fear the Walking Dead has me sold. While we won’t seem to have as many practical make-up effects as The Walking Dead, (at least, not yet) the heart-pounding, hand-held, quick-edit style of the show looks akin to Quarantine, and in a few places, like Cloverfield. I say that only because it does not appear that we will see our villainous skull-sucking, flesh-eaters right away. Of course, we all know that hiding the monster makes it all the scarier.

There is still some speculation as to how Fear the Walking Dead is going to play out.  Will it surpass its predecessor?  Will it succeed as a stand-alone?  Judging by what I have seen in terms of casting and production – it will certainly hold its ground.  Hopefully, it can go beyond that and establish itself in the Zombie-verse as its own spine-tingling narrative.

Written by Maria Rosita