Movies where scratches can result in infection?

[MaxVeers]

I don't know why, but when I first started really digging into zombie movies, I had thought that scratches could cause infection, however much slower than bites. Is this a factor in any film or franchise?

[UNDEAD FRED]

The only zombie movies I can think of right now are 28 Days/Weeks Later. I know the pregnant lady was bite in Dawn of the Dead 2004. When I first saw it I thought she was scratched because it took so long for her to turn.

[kanUsurvive]

The only zombie movies I can think of right now are 28 Days/Weeks Later. I know the pregnant lady was bite in Dawn of the Dead 2004. When I first saw it I thought she was scratched because it took so long for her to turn.

Actually I do think she was scratched in DOTD 04. That's why it took so long.

[Subgenius]

What we do not know is if scratches and bites are directly related to becoming a zombie. The infection from the bite or the scratch from a zombie could invade the living body with a super-virulent bacteria that kills (eventually, sooner or later) the living person. But, we do not know if it causes the dead to come back. Romero never says or shows that in any film. And, even further, in NOTLD (1990) we see zombies from the graveyard that were clearly not bitten yet they are zombies.

[Creeping Death]

Scratches would cause infection.
But probably not the kind of infection that would turn you into a zombie. :drool:
You'd probably just have to clean it out with peroxide, then move one. :lol:

[Victor Clark]

I wouldn't know how scratches can make an infection (unless the zombie's fingernails had some of it's blood or saliva on them), but I remember that there was a zombification of a woman just from a scratch in the back in Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave.

[info]

In the Resident Evil movies scratches can make you a zombie. The Red Queen says "Just one bite, one scratch from these creatures is sufficient. And then, you become one of them."

[LMOE]

Actually I do think she was scratched in DOTD 04. That's why it took so long.
No, she was definitely bitten. It was a small bite and missed major veins. In World War Z, it's theorized if a person gets an organ transplant from an infected person, the infection could take weeks to get to the brain. This is only true in a minor transplant, such as skin.

I don't think scratches would cause an infection if the nails for example are dry. If the nail are wet with blood, or saliva, then it would cause an infection.

In the ...of the Dead series, infection is spread exclusively though bites. You can't even get infected if you take a bath with a zombie and a deep cut in your arm (the cop from DotD 04).

[Subgenius]

Dawn of the Dead 2004 is also outside of the Romero continuum of zombification. And, it's inconsistent. Andre clearly had a relationship with Luda. She was pregnant with his child. Yet, even after he kissed her and after the childbirth, Andre is not infected. Luda was turned into a zombie, but we don't know that the infection from the scratch did that. If so, then that entire room was infected since she gave birth, which is never a clean and sterile event. Ana really does confuse the viewers with her guess about the zombification through infection. Ana is a nurse, not a doctor.

[MaxVeers]

What we do not know is if scratches and bites are directly related to becoming a zombie. The infection from the bite or the scratch from a zombie could invade the living body with a super-virulent bacteria that kills (eventually, sooner or later) the living person. But, we do not know if it causes the dead to come back. Romero never says or shows that in any film. And, even further, in NOTLD (1990) we see zombies from the graveyard that were clearly not bitten yet they are zombies.

It depends on the franchise.

In Romero films, zombies are recently-dead people brought back as monsters after death. If you're bit, you just turn into one faster. However, no matter HOW you die (unless it's a death that would kill the undead, like a shot to the head or otherwise destroying your brain entirely), you become one, anyway. This doesn't really mean it's a virus (in fact, it's suggested that that it's radiation or religious causes, but never defined), but whatever it is, it's EVERYWHERE, to the degree that even the living and doomed to the same ends as someone who gets directly bitten no matter how they die. WHEN they die, the results are the same.

As far as the remake of Night goes, the idea is the same: recently deceased people are returning to the living world as undead creatures, bitten or not. If they've died recently, they'll turn. It goes the same for the five Romero "Dead" films.

As far as the infected, yes, it's obviously viral. If you fall or starve or otherwise die or more natural causes than the virus itself, you won't turn (since they're not really dead anyway, they're just rabid living people). In a strange meld between these two schools of thought is the remake of Dawn, much like the old vampire lore, where, if you are BITTEN, you turn. If you die of natural causes, gunshot wounds, trauma, etc etc etc, that ISN'T a bite, you won't turn. They (somewhat stupidly, as it was entirely unnessicary to the plot whether this was the case or not, but being said still lost the respect of a lot of hardened Romero-style zombie fans) went out of their way to make this clear.

As far as Trioxin in the ROTLD films, it's biological. If you BECOME a zombie and get chopped up, those chopped up parts continue to thrive. What this means to someone nearby Trioxin exposure (but not so forcefully exposed like the protagonists of ROTLD1) who gets a limb cut off... it's technically dead, but who knows if it comes back, despite that exposure? Those they show as coming back are either dead from the get-go or bitten (in the case of Trash). Scratches? Who knows.

Other franchises, like many of the Italian films, Japanese stuff, etc, either follow (often strictly) the guidelines to infection and characteristics of the undead from these above franchises or are very vague and/or inconsistent in forming their own.

[MaxVeers]

I wouldn't know how scratches can make an infection (unless the zombie's fingernails had some of it's blood or saliva on them), but I remember that there was a zombification of a woman just from a scratch in the back in Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave.

I meant to mention this as a bit of a clarification of my above statement about the Return franchise, but the later films go so far as to change their own lore and archetype entirely. While the first two (or three, perhaps) films depict faster, slightly more cognizant zombies out almost entirely for brains, that can only be put down by fully dismantling and burning the bodies, the latter two films make the easier to kill and slower, much like traditional Romero zombies. Being made under the pressure of the cultural impression of zombies, without the canon or real support of the existing pieces of the franchise, will do this to a new flick. Bastardization is... well, a bastard.

But as far as being unsure how scratches can make infection... When it comes to undead (not living, rabid creatures like in 28 Days Later), the teeth and mouths must be dry if they've been dead or any amount of time at all. The body won't continue to function to produce saliva and blood doesn't flow anymore, it's stagnant. A bite doesn't produce zombification, logically, through traditional infection. This sort of infection is something else, something more basic and whimsical. I guess it would be a similar question as if a zombie had no teeth or dentures from pre-death still in their mouth and were able to bite down enough to cause a wound, would that still cause infection? Dry mouth, no real teeth... but I bet it would, don't you? Why is that?

[MaxVeers]

No, she was definitely bitten. It was a small bite and missed major veins. In World War Z, it's theorized if a person gets an organ transplant from an infected person, the infection could take weeks to get to the brain. This is only true in a minor transplant, such as skin.

I don't think scratches would cause an infection if the nails for example are dry. If the nail are wet with blood, or saliva, then it would cause an infection.

In the ...of the Dead series, infection is spread exclusively though bites. You can't even get infected if you take a bath with a zombie and a deep cut in your arm (the cop from DotD 04).

As I mentioned above, i don't think infection in these situations, of the truely undead, have anything to do with wetness. Saliva no longer flows, and the blood in an undead person's body no long moves. Their mouths are logically fairly dry.

Not trying to correct you or be a hardass about it, this is a friendly discussion on a friendly forum, of course, so I mean absolutely no offense, but you're also mixing franchises. The five "of the Dead" films, Night to Diary, use the same sort of infection and the same sort of creature. Many of the remakes and re-envisionings, the remake of Dawn of the Dead included, change the lore and type of infection. Where in the original films ANYONE who dies will turn, in the remake of Dawn, only those bitten with. So, with THAT specified, no, the cut wouldn't have caused infection, even having soaked in water filled with zombie blood and infection. They seemed to go out of their way to do that sort of stuff, showing the arm get cut but not infect the police officer, showing the older woman get shot and die but not turn then discuss why it happened... which leads me to believe the Russian woman's injury was a bite and not a scratch. But, either way, those franchises and their stories are entirely different.

[MaxVeers]

Dawn of the Dead 2004 is also outside of the Romero continuum of zombification. And, it's inconsistent. Andre clearly had a relationship with Luda. She was pregnant with his child. Yet, even after he kissed her and after the childbirth, Andre is not infected. Luda was turned into a zombie, but we don't know that the infection from the scratch did that. If so, then that entire room was infected since she gave birth, which is never a clean and sterile event. Ana really does confuse the viewers with her guess about the zombification through infection. Ana is a nurse, not a doctor.

I think the point here is that infection comes from bites ONLY. Kissing (saliva, some more dire situations blood), childbirth (every fluid under the sun), being attacked by a zombie and not getting bit (Mike with the security guard zombie that he shoves the crochet mallet handle into the head of, we can assume he drooled and bled on him, for example)... With these fast creatures, and the high-powered weapons that kill them, their blood is everywhere. But that's not what turns people. It's just the bites.

[MorganaLeFaye]

I know it works with DEMONS! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewh2VEgGT-A)

[Subgenius]

I think the point here is that infection comes from bites ONLY. Kissing (saliva, some more dire situations blood), childbirth (every fluid under the sun), being attacked by a zombie and not getting bit (Mike with the security guard zombie that he shoves the crochet mallet handle into the head of, we can assume he drooled and bled on him, for example)... With these fast creatures, and the high-powered weapons that kill them, their blood is everywhere. But that's not what turns people. It's just the bites.

All of that leads me to conclude that it is not a virus infection at all. Infections spread through saliva and blood. You do NOT want an HIV patient bleeding on you. And, you do not want people with the Flu sneezing on you. Kissing and sex would spread the virus as well. What we saw in Dawn of the Dead 2004 was a super-virulent bacteria that kills the living person. Then, some other force was at work that made the dead person into a zombie. Any death should cause the person to become a zombie. That's where that film was inconsistent. Andre and Norma should have both become zombies. IIRC, Luda was scratched.

[RIP]

In the films Demons and Demons 2, scratches cause people to turn into the demons.

[Zombob]

I think the point here is that infection comes from bites ONLY. Kissing (saliva, some more dire situations blood), childbirth (every fluid under the sun), being attacked by a zombie and not getting bit (Mike with the security guard zombie that he shoves the crochet mallet handle into the head of, we can assume he drooled and bled on him, for example)... With these fast creatures, and the high-powered weapons that kill them, their blood is everywhere. But that's not what turns people. It's just the bites.

In Plane Dead, there was a scene where a guy got bit by a female zombie, and it was later revealed that the zombie was wearing dentures and that's why he was still okay.

[MaxVeers]

In Plane Dead, there was a scene where a guy got bit by a female zombie, and it was later revealed that the zombie was wearing dentures and that's why he was still okay.

God, I hate that movie. But I guess it addresses the issue... At least for that (shitty) franchise.

[info]

In the ...of the Dead series, infection is spread exclusively though bites.

I don't think this is accurate except for the Dawn of the Dead remake. I think in all the original Romero movies there is no infection as far as a "zombie virus" goes. A bite does not infect someone with a zombie disease and then turn them into a zombie. A bite kills a person, and then anyone who dies (bite or not) will return to life. It's popular in a lot of other zombie movies that the bite is what creates a zombie but I think in Romero movies it's much more likely something like radiation that is causing all corpses to reanimate.

[Creeping Death]

I specifically remember the Red Queen saying:

"One bite, One Scratch, is enough to cause infection."
Or something like that. :roll:

But yeah, the T-Virus can be transmitted through scratches. :scare: