Z O M B I E M OV I E S

GENRE RESEARCH

THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI 1920

• Although not a true zombie the sonambulist, Cesare embodies many of the behaviours viewers would come to associate with the Living Dead.

WHITE ZOMBIE 1932

• Possibly the first depiction of zombies in cinema. The zombies in White Zombies are true voodoo zombies: an undead army controlled by a High Priest, Murder Legendre.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE 1943

• Based loosely on Jane Eyre, this film still packs a punch with its scenes of Voodoo rituals and the gigantic zombie, Carrefour.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH 1964

• Remade twice as The Omega Man (1973) and I Am Legend (2008), this Italian shot movies is closer to the novel in which the antagonists are more zombie-like than vampiric.

THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES 1966

• This film shows the traditional voodoo zombies as being more predatory and violent and was a major influence on George A Romero, as was The Last Man on Earth.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

• This movie begins the modern zombie movie and sets in place the characteristics of the zombie movie:

• A group of survivors trapped in an enclosed space.• The survivors becoming more of a threat to each other

than the Living Dead.• The flesh eating zombie.• The down beat ending.• The term, “The Dead”.• An scientific cause of the zombie outbreak rather than a

magical cause.• The shambling, moaning zombie.• Romero’s trademark of black actors taking lead roles.

ROMERO

Followed Night of the Living Dead with:Dawn of the Dead (1978)Day of the Dead (1985)Land of the Dead (2005)Diary of the Dead (2007)Survival of the Dead (2009)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

ITALIAN ZOMBIES

Europe saw an explosion in Zombie Movies. Notable titles are:• Zombie Flesh Eaters• The Gates of Hell• Beyond• The House by the Cemetery

NOT QUITE ZOMBIES

• PontypoolLanguage carries an infection. The only way to avoid infection is to speak in a foreign language. If infected, the only way to avoid exploding is to infect others by biting them.

• 28 Days FranchiseHuman beings become infected by a rage virus.

COMEDY ZOMBIES

• Shaun of the Dead

• Zombieland

• Fido

• Ozombie

“REAL” ZOMBIES

• Harold’s Going Stiff

• Torchwood: Miracle Day

A relatively new sub genre which imagines a world in which zombies, or something like them, are real but not supernatural or flesh eating. These films emphasise the tragedy of the condition.