Undead come alive on screen

《行尸之惧》：又一波丧尸来袭

导读：《行尸之惧》作为热门美剧《行尸走肉》的衍生剧，筹备伊始就吸引了一批狂热粉丝，丧尸题材的美剧正成为重口味爱好者猎奇的对象。不过不同于以往的衍生剧，《行尸之惧》采用了全新的人物角色，在恐怖氛围中加入家庭伦理的元素，新老观众都能从中获得绝佳的观剧体验。

Zombies were once a staple of cult cinema, a monster too gory for mainstream TV. But this norm is about to change, now that the American television channel AMC has achieved a smash hit with its new zombie drama Fear the Walking Dead. Its Aug 23 premiere set a cable record for amassing the biggest audience ever in the US, as well as attracting the largest number of global viewers, reported Variety.

丧尸曾是惊悚恐怖电影的主打题材，而这种怪物因为太血腥而不适宜出现在电视剧里。不过这种潜规则正在被打破。目前一部新丧尸剧——《行尸之惧》让美国AMC电视台着实火了一把。据美国娱乐周刊Variety报道，8月23日首播当天，《行尸之惧》就创造了美国电视剧收视神话，汇集了史上最多美国本土观众还吸引了大批海外观众。

The series follows a family of four: high school guidance counselor Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), her colleague and boyfriend Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis), her straight A daughter Alicia, and her drug-addicted son Nick. They need to cope not only with family disputes but also the impending outbreak of an unknown pandemic, later known as the zombie virus.

该剧讲述的是一家四口的故事：高中辅导员麦迪逊?克拉克（金?迪金斯饰）、麦迪逊的同事兼男友特拉维斯?门那瓦（克利夫?柯蒂斯饰），麦迪逊成绩优秀的女儿艾丽西亚和沉溺毒品的儿子尼克。他们不仅要处理棘手的家庭矛盾还要应对突如其来的未知病毒（之后被证实为丧尸病毒）。

To some extent, the success of Fear the Walking Dead was predictable. As a spin-off to AMC’s acclaimed series The Walking Dead, it stands on the shoulders of giants.

从某种程度上说，《行尸之惧》的成功在意料之中。作为AMC口碑极佳的电视剧《行尸走肉》的衍生剧，《行尸之惧》可谓是站在巨人的肩膀上。

Yet, Fear the Walking Dead is a blockbuster in its own right. While most spin-offs simply repurpose supporting characters as protagonists in new plots, this series focuses on a brand new cast. It also sets the action at the dawn of the zombie apocalypse, rather than right in the middle of it.

不过《行尸之惧》的一鸣惊人更是自身的优秀带来的。不同于以往的衍生剧把原剧中的配角变成新剧情中的主角，《行尸之惧》采用了全新的角色。另外它还将故事背景设定在丧尸灾变发生之前，而不是灾难发生时。

A critical hit

致命一击

This setting caters to both fans of the original series and those who are new to the franchise. Die-hard Walking Dead viewers might pick up clues about what causes the terrible outbreak. But for newcomers, The Telegraph reports that the new series offers “expertly pitched tension and finely observed human drama”.

这种剧设既迎合了原系列的粉丝又足够吸引新的观众群。《行尸走肉》的忠实粉丝或许能在《行尸之惧》中找到灾难爆发原因的蛛丝马迹。英国《每日电讯报》认为新观众则会被紧凑的剧情和剧集对人性的细致刻画吸引。

From its very first scene, Fear the Walking Dead delivers “a kick in the gut”, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

按《滚石杂志》的说法，《行尸之惧》从第一个场景起就摄人心魄了。

The first scene sees Nick scramble out of an abandoned church full of “the infected” (what zombies are called in Fear the Walking Dead). He runs into the streets of Los Angeles, where everything appears to be perfectly normal. Then he gets hit by a car.

第一个场景是尼克踉跄地逃出一个废弃的教堂，教堂里全是“被感染者”（《行尸之惧》中被感染者指的就是丧尸）。他跑到洛杉矶街头，在那一切都再正常不过了。突然他被一辆车撞倒。

“It’s as though Nick gets granted a vision of LA’s terrible future, before being wrenched back into our more mundane reality–the one where distracted Angelenos rush to work and wrestle with their personal problems, blissfully unaware of the carnage around the corner,” wrote Rolling Stone critic Noel Murray.

“在遁入百无聊赖的世俗世界前，尼克仿佛预见了洛杉矶恐怖的未来。现实中无精打采的洛杉矶人疲于工作和处理个人问题，而幸运地忽略了这场即将到来的杀戮，”《滚石杂志》评论员诺尔?默里写道。