Alright, we all know that there are two kinds of zombies which appear in mainstream movies. First, we have the original, shuffling cadaver which first made a romp in George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead". Then, we have the running zombie from the House of the Dead series of films, and the remade Dawn of the Dead.

Now, let's look at the two carnivores both seperately and together.

Both
- Only killable by destroying the brain, or removing the head.
- Does not notice any physical damage to itself.
- Cannibalistic.
- Emits a gutteral moan or snarls, rather than speak.
- Multiply in number from bitten victims, or the dying populace.

Shuffle
- Slow, rigid movements.
- Most commonly shown zombie.
- Slower Metabolism allows for extended periods of digestion.
- Normally in large numbers.
- Can be taught to reason with simple objects(i.e. Bub{George A. Romero's Day of the Dead}).

Runner
- Quick, agile running zombie.
- Shown in House of the Dead, and remade Dawn of the Dead.
- Faster metabolism, which increases hunger.

Now, we all know that the running variety of zombie may seem scarier because it can...well, RUN. But, due to the faster metabolism and the rate that it digests food, the supply of digestible humans will diminish rather quickly(As shown in a 23-hour period).

Shuffling zombies. The walking cadavers of the earliest zombie films and by far the most prominent variety of the living dead shown. Slower metabolism rate allows for slightly slower digestion, leading to a slower rate of food diminishing.

One thing that affects the survival/longevity of the undead is, of course, the weather. Colder climates are more likely to preserve the cadavers rather than destroy them.
Opposite to that would be the hot and arid deserts of Africa/Middle East/Southern US, who's higher temperature would cause the flesh to slough off of the corpse at a quicker rate.

Real question to the people is, which one do you think is more "frightening"? As far as the superior hunting machine goes, it's the runner. Intimidation is...matter of opinion.

I'd like to add another variety:

Braindead Zombies (From Peter Jackson's film "Braindead")
- Can't be killed by destroying the brain.
- Can reproduce (produce zombie babies).
- Can sort of speak.
- Susceptible to drugs.
- Feel emotions.
- Can only be killed by chopping them up into really small bits. With a lawnmower.
- Not that scary.

There's another point you missed out on. You need to show how they appear in the movies.

Fast zombies are normally seen coming around corners a good deal away from the victim and/or hero. These give you plenty of warning as they start a suicidal head-long charge.

Slow zombies, however, are mostly always seen popping out of random places. In movies, you will se them rising out of the water (Resident Evil), breaking through glass windows (Shaun of the Dead), or coming out of dark alleyways where they spring into a quick grab when they are two feet away.

For shock value, kudos to the slow zombie.

Not in all cases, there were several zombies in the remake of Dawn of the Dead which got the jump on the protagonists(i.e. the "flying" zombie in the parking garage, and the zombified security guard when they first enter the mall).

Conversely, in Night of the Living Dead, you typically see the (slow) zombies from miles away.

'tis true, 'tis true. But mostly, the protagonists are being chased by hordes of undead, rather than being jumped.

Also, slow zombies have a kind of humor value, as shown in SotD.

How can you not laugh seeing several of them placed in a bungie run with fresh meat at the other end?

i think the slow zombies are scaryer when they rise out of the water

Well I'm going to point it out this way.

Running Zombies are generally seen in smaller numbers, case and point the Red heads from Resident Evil, as you only saw them if you were to lazy to dispose of the bodies properly. Anyway, since Runners would most likely be seen in lesser numbers since they would be more prone to eating the ENTIRE corpse rather than just several bites.

The Slow zombies however, are usually seen using the horde tactic. They swarm towards you as you slowly diminish their number, your impending doom drawing ever closer.

soyeah, Slow moving Zombie horde is scarier than runners for me.

You know, if zombies are only concerned about eating flesh, wouldn't they continually try to eat themselves or each other?

And if they wanted to eat brains, how do they keep creating new zombies if they don't have brains either?

*spawns plothole*

Zombie flesh is highly toxic, so I dunno. It's probably not very healthy, even for zombies. Maybe zombies use a lot of the energy from their own flesh, as sugars or whatever, in order to move, as they certainly aren't capable of aerobic respiration.

They create new zombies because they tend to move a lot slower than normal people and generally fail at trying to eat them. Even runners tend to fall over, or get locked in buildings. During the start of an infestation, a single zombie might bite ten victims who escape and go on to become zombies themselves. Later on, though, victims are trapped and get ripped apart and all sorts of nasty things rather than being zombified.

The slow one... it really seems he is past running. He just keeps walking at you slowy, while ignoring your pityful attempts to stop him (even though they are most likely stopable) they seem just past caring if they get you or not, you're just another pesky thing for them to eat. And you may run, run whenever you go, they just follow you, slowy, because they don't need to run. They have all the time they want, and you know that. Eventually you will be trapped, somewhere with no means of scape, you even try to resist, but you know it's useless.

Now the fast one. He jumps at you and kills you. Practical, yes, but not scary. Terror needs more time to build up, or else it'll be only the "AHHHH!!" moment and that's it.

I think they need non-rotten flesh in order to metabolize it. That would explain why we don't ever see zombies that aren't rotten: the just dead ones that are 'ok' (as much as you can be ok while being dead) were eaten.

Just on a point of reference, I'd like to know if I might enter the phenomenon of Evil Dead/Deadites/Demons of Candar into the mix. They are, strictly speaking, zombie-things, creatures of necromancy. They, I believe, represent zombies in the more traditional necromantic form, which hath not been discussed here, though they do exist in fair quantity enough to be considered mainstream.

Actually...

...in Land of the Dead, one of the zombies was lit on fire, and he felt pain. Which is why the other zombie did a mercy-killing on him.



Just throwing that out there.

that was becuase of their life span...or span of remaining undead. Their brains started firing off more synapses and they were starting to "remember" and use logic in some way. THey gained a little bit of how they were before.

Basicly, they werent "mindless" any more.