Is Zombieland Really a Zombie Movie?

So apparently someone was nice enough to let their good friend, The Internet, borrow their full DVD quality rip of Zombieland, and then The Internet passed it on to me. And I'm glad they did, because it's a great flick, though I don't recall liking it as much a I did Shaun of the Dead, which it's often compared to.

I loved the post-apocalypticness of it, with all the scenes of the abandoned towns, and the little tibits thrown in like the plane crashed on the freeway. And it was definitely funny; I'm going to have to watch it a few more times to make sure I catch all the one-liners ("You've got a pretty mouth, Boy!" was one good one) Well worth watching and I'm looking forward to the inevitable sequel.

But what I was wondering is what the true zombie fans out there think of it. Not about the movie itself, 'cause I'm sure most of them will like it as much as I did, but about whether or not it's really a zombie movie at all. I remember after 28 Days Later, there was an outcry from the true zombie fanatics that unless they were dead, they weren't zombies. "The Infected" were cool and all, but don't try to call them zombies, because they just weren't.

So in Zombieland, the only explanation I heard was along the lines of "it's a virus which causes the brain to swell, gives you a high fever, and the desire to eat flesh". And they didn't seem to be worried about the traditional headshot rule, which all adds up to infected, but not zombies.

Overall, it doesn't matter, it's a great movie, but the purists might have an opinion on the matter, and I doubt they'd be shy to share it if you asked them.