I don’t know if it matters that the characters inherently understand how to kill zombies. Shaun of the Dead does this well, where they hear it on the news in five seconds and they’re like “oh that makes sense.”
The original Dawn of the Dead I think they say it on the radio or TV too, I believe. There isn’t really a spot where they don’t know and it matters. The thing that forces drama in zombie movies to me isn’t aiming for the head, it’s being overrun.
But I also mostly just like the old Romero ones so I may be wrong!
Oh hey, this was essentially my experience too, but with the Walking Dead comic! The TV series used plot points from the comic book and I think you can kinda tell where the TV series’ success started affecting the comic and the whole thing turned into an ouroboros of trying to maintain the success of a flashy zombie TV show.
I think maybe it was inevitable. Robert Kirkman’s original idea of a never-ending human drama surrounded by the pressures of zombies doesn’t seem profitable long-term without insane character deaths and (more) deliberate gore porn.