Horror Film Countdown Day 28 – Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid

Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents on day 28!

As you know, we have been covering the films I both love and hate because they’re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I’m a mom.

Today’s film, another zombie flick, is important to the cannon for zombie lovers for the same reason it’s on my list. It answers to the long-asked question; What happens when a pregnant woman is bit at full term?

Disclaimer: Trigger warnings are a given when you talk about horror, but I’m going to say it anyway.  Many subjects covered by horror films are disturbing to parents in ways we can’t possibly understand and each is unique to the parent and his/her experiences. Tread carefully and know your limits. If this begins to be too much, there’s no shame in closing the window. Also, this post contains some spoilers throughout. 

4. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

A remake success story, the classic is reborn and becomes a new classic. In this character-driven story about the zombie apocalypse, there is plenty of fuel for the anxiety fire, especially for parents.

We follow our main character, Ana, through a series of terrifying situations including one in particular which comes to mind literally almost every morning when my kids shuffle down the hallway to crawl into bed with us.

Our first encounter with the undead in this film is a sweet neighborhood girl named Vivian. As Ana and her husband wake up in the morning, they’re surprised to see this young girl in their hallway. Concerned she’s hurt or in shock (because she is unresponsive and covered in blood), the husband goes to her to see if he can help.  The child lunges for him and clamps down hard on his throat, blood and flesh everywhere. Ana is able to get the child off her husband and she tries to call 911, but as she does so, her husband dies then quickly reanimates into a horrifying monster of undead rage. He chases her into the bathroom and she is able to get out through a window.

Once outside, she sees the world is utter chaos. Fires and smoke everywhere, sirens and evidence of disaster all over. After watching her neighbor get hit by an ambulance, she is able to make it out of her neighborhood by car, but that doesn’t last long, as she crashes the car and passes out in an embankment.

THIS is the point where the opening credits begin.  All of that was literally the prologue!!! The best is yet to come, but let’s stop for a second and think about this from a mom’s point of view.

There’s a meme floating around the internet about how horror film lovers often mistake their half asleep children for monsters in the middle of the night. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. This actually happens and for me, it’s the image of Vivian every single time. I know there are hundreds of monster children in the thousands of horror films out there,  but the majority of the time, she is the one I think of.

Beyond that, again as a mom, let’s consider Ana’s get away from her home which is now infested with zombies. How did a lumbering child zombie make it into their house in the first place? Did they leave doors or windows open? Probably… which is why I never, ever, EVER do that.  I don’t care how stuffy it is or how hot or cold it is and how a nice breeze would be fun, there will be no open doors or windows over night in my house. Period.

Okay, next- this is why you need to keep an extra pair of car keys somewhere actually near the car itself. If you keep your car keys on a hook by the front door and a zombie (or other monster/bad guy/creature) comes after you from that direction and you are able to make it out of the house either through a back door or window, you don’t want to then be stranded on foot without any supplies, especially if it’s when you first wake up and haven’t even had your coffee yet.

The lesson here is keep your keys handy for an easy get away and always carry extra clothes and shoes in your car in case you’ve had to fight the undead in your Pj’s. 

Moving on… Ana wakes up with a shotgun in her face and a man demands she speak to let him know she’s not a zombie. She says “please” and he backs off.

If she’d had kids with her, they would probably be dead, lost, suffering a trauma that rendered them helpless, or just plain eaten by now. Together, they travel down the empty roadway and meet up with a couple who say they are on their way to a local indoor mall. Sounds like a great idea, so they join. The wife, Luda, is pregnant and looks to be nearly full term. She clearly concerns them, but appears strong and is able to keep up, so they don’t seem to mind having her along.

I’m just going to stop here for a second… this film shows you just how much of a liability you are in disaster situations when you are pregnant. The anxiety here is simply how exposed and reliant you must be on others at some point if you are faced with disaster while also getting ready to have a baby. Already somewhat vulnerable, a pregnant mother is, typically, unable to move as fast, lift as much, walk as long or carry on in the same way as someone who is not making a human inside her. This makes her a dangerous liability.

In an actual disaster or zombie apocalypse, a pregnant mother would be looked at like a weakness in a group, not an asset, and god forbid you should have some kind of complication like gestational diabetes that limits and controls your diet or preeclampsia that messes with your blood pressure. There are so many issues that can come up in pregnancy that it’s almost a certain death sentence to be with child during an apocalypse.

So, moms – make sure you can handle yourself in case you get yourself in a group of selfish people who refuse to help you because you might slow them down. Be aware of the ways you can help yourself, be useful, so you can display that value to others who would rather leave you behind than waste their time and resources on you. People are terrible, so it is probably best to just plan for that.

When the group gets to the mall, Luda is scratched by a zombie but tells no one. She is weak and tired, but not unusually so given her condition and no one really notices, but you can tell by the random glances between them they are thinking about how she’s in for big trouble when she gives birth. No one knows if she will make it, but no one says anything.

The expectant parents stick to themselves after they reach the mall. They transform the baby store into a makeshift delivery room and quiet space for the mother to relax. As the days go by, the father to be becomes more protective. He makes it clear they would prefer their privacy and everyone respects it, understanding this must be a stressful and scary time for the couple. Still, no one knows about the injury Luda received…

Now, here’s the anxiety issue I have with this part; the team has a nurse in their group. She’s the main character. Sure, she’s a general practitioner nurse, not specialized in prenatal care and I know there are other injured people in the group, but really- the pregnant mother who hasn’t shown her face should probably be receiving some extra care, right? But she’s so preoccupied with everything else and there is only one of her, so what are you supposed to do? You can’t be everything for everyone all the time, even if they need you, right? So the mother is left to herself with a father to be who won’t open up to anyone about their situation. This is why pregnant mothers need to empower themselves with education and the information to take care of themselves if they need to. Sure, it’s important to rely upon doctors – that’s what they are there for – but if they weren’t there, would you be able to take care of yourself or would you die because you were unwilling to learn? Pregnancy isn’t just making another person. It’s knowing your future is uncertain and if you give all the power to someone else then suddenly IS NO ONE else, you’re toast. This is why I’m a firm believer in prenatal classes, birthing classes, emergency procedures for home birth, being aware of homeopathic options and first aid. Moms need to get their heads out of the fluffy, pink and blue clouds and realize bad things can happen. They need to know how to take care of themselves.

 So, the scratch becomes fatal. The father is crushed, but has taken precautions by binding her hands and feet before it happened.

He sees the baby kicking furiously within Luda’s abdomen and realizes he must remove the baby. He does so, and Luda reanimates within seconds. Of course, just then, a friend, Norma, comes down to check on them and finds the zombified Luda snapping her teeth and writhing in her bed trying to get at anyone she can bite.

Norma points her gun at zombie Luda, the father points a gun at the Norma. With tears in his eyes, he asks her in a pleading voice, “you’re gonna kill my family?” She pulls the trigger, killing Luda, he shoots her, she shoots him, everyone is dead…

But what about baby?

It’s been too long, so the others go to see what is keeping Norma and they find the gruesome scene with dead Luda in bed with the gash across her stomach, the father dead, Norma dead and a blanket covering a mewling, moving baby… they uncover her face to find she was born a zombie. The undead infant lets out an unearthly scream and they kill her instantly.

So, now we know; apparently the placenta cannot filter out the zombie virus. If you become infected while pregnant, your baby will be a zombie. Sorry ’bout it.

The end finds our remaining team without children, without parents, without anyone who isn’t 100% self-sufficient and strong and even then, they don’t make it…

Moral of this story; this film is what turned me into a “prepper”. The reality is, if you are not prepared, if you cannot take care of yourself, if you cannot carry the weight of you and your children and survive without the help of others, (because they will likely not want to help you) do not expect to survive more than a few days.

Stop for a second and consider if you have the supplies and tools you need to keep your family alive in this scenario. If not, start working because you never know and you don’t want to be the one defending a dead wife and your zombie baby because you had no clue how to do anything but shoot stuff.