When Heath Ledger first flashed that smudged red crack of a smile as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," the expectations for superhero movies were forever changed – out with schlock and camp, in with serious themes, gritty action and Oscar-caliber acting.
When the world gets a first look at "The Walking Dead," AMC's post apocalyptic zombie-filled TV series debuting on Halloween night, the same will happen for the horror genre – especially as it applies to TV.
From its source material (Robert Kirkman's ongoing graphic novel of the same name) to Frank Darabont's writing/direction and Greg Nicotero's makeup supervision, the show feels weightier and more real than anything before it.
HBO's "True Blood" is sexy and stylish, but still with the stench of camp. The CW's "The Vampire Diaries" is too pretty to be taken seriously. And "Zombieland," the latest zombie flick to make a splash, was cool and funny -- another silly zombie spoof.
But "The Walking Dead"'s pilot episode, beautifully filmed, lingering on inspired acting performances and carefully crafted, believable dialogue, is character-driven enough for nonbelievers – yet gory and startling enough for true horror fans.
"We're doing something that's never been done before," Steven Yeun, 26, who plays former pizza delivery boy Glenn, told The Wrap. "It's not just the fact that this is about zombies. With this show, we've seen emotions I've never thought to go to: guttural, internal emotion pouring out, what you see in real life."
The six-episode arc largely follows Kirkman's graphic novel, centered on Georgia sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes. But where the graphic novel speeds along after Grimes wakes in the hospital – alone – the show’s slowed-down pace allows for a more detailed, gut-punching personal journey, with each emotion registering in shadow and light on British actor Andrew Lincoln's hollow-eyed face.
Even the horror itself has been made into something more than just horrible: A scene in the very 
beginning of the comic, when Grimes sees a skeletal zombie in the grass, stretches into visceral, close-up horror in the TV show, with the legless, female zombie crawling and helplessly gurgling, a disturbing mix of veiny flesh and rotting gums.
It’s a sight to pity as much as fear.
"That is the first zombie we really get a close look at in the show. She's both threatening and sympathetic," veteran makeup supervisor Nicotero told TheWrap. "Rick really is moved. That puts the zombies in a completely different place than ever before."
Nicotero, whose resume includes Darabont's "The Green Mile" as well as several George Romero zombie flicks including 1985's "Day of the Dead,” coached more than 150 wannabe extras in a special zombie school a few days before the series' two-and-a-half-month summer shoot in Atlanta.
The show's walking corpses don't look drowned in ketchup, nor are they relegated to caricature status; rather, there’s a certain humanity and sadness in them.
