They Live! A History of the Living Dead

A retrospective on Zombie Cinema. From Romero to Romero and everything in-between.

Zombies. Why has the idea of an apocalyptic world, where the dead walk the earth and all of society as we know it has broken down, attracted so many people? The zombie sub-genre has fascinated audiences for decades and has firmly established itself as a potent and versatile subject for horror cinema.

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The idea of walking corpses, Zombiism, began with Haiti's Voodoo culture. In Haitian, “zombi” means “spirit of the dead”. We all know what this spirit entails. As George Romero's shocked news reporter puts it:
"Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills. The people it kills get up and kill." - Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Hollywood, as always, was the first to profit from this new cultural emergence. Even before Zombies had any presence in literature or other social media, Universal, riding on the success of “Frankenstein” (dir. Whale, 1931) and “Dracula” (dir. Browning, 1931), produced a film in 1932 called “White Zombie”(dir. Halperin). Bela Lugosi, of Dracula fame, plays a man who runs his mill in Haiti by controlling the deceased with his mind. This marks the first time, the “Zombie” name and figure was introduced into pop culture.

Unfortunately, neither “White Zombie” nor its sequel “Revolt of the Zombies” (dir. Halperin, 1936) and further Zombie projects were subsequently shelved. Over the next two decades, Zombies only made appearances in low-grade films such as Ed Wood's “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959) or Yarbrough's “King of the Zombies” (1941).

“Who died and made you f*cking king of the zombies?” - Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Then, in 1968, a young filmmaker named George A. Romero made the instant cult-classic “Night of the Living Dead”. The film introduced a new methodology, the idea of the “infected human”, to the Zombie figure and serves as the basis for all Zombie films to follow. But, not only did this low-budget black-and-white film shock audiences, it also raised interesting moral issues and at once elevated discussions about horror films. Through a discussion of “Night of the Living Dead” and Romero's subsequent Zombie films, a term, which has since been used in every analysis of horror cinema, was first applied to explain the fascination audiences held with horror cinema: The Return of the Repressed.

Sigmund Freud

The Return of the Repressed
The phrase was first coined by famous Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud in order to address mental disorders and their causes. It suggests that, beneath a calm and ordinary exterior, a person might possess unhealthy urges and desires. In a moment of weakness, this dark side might surface and consume the person.
Film Critic, Robin Wood, applied this theory to the study of film. He argues that there are certain suppressed issues in society that only really surface in horror films, particularly in the form of the “Monster”.

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If we look at Romero's “Living Dead” trilogy, consisting, besides “Night of the Living Dead”, of 1978's “Dawn of the Dead” and 1985's “Day of the Dead”, Wood's argument succeeds in explaining why they work as horror films, and why the Zombie aspect to the story captures our imagination:

“Night of the Living Dead”, according to Wood, comments on the idea of the “Nuclear Family” and deals with the race and civil rights movement of the 1960s. All of these element improve the film's narrative and it's overall effectiveness as a horror film. The theme of the “monster” born out of the “normal” American family, introduced in 60s horror films, is represented most obviously and vividly through a girl coming back to life and eating her parents in the last act of the film. Furthermore, the unsympathetic killing of the “Ghouls”, as they are called in Romero's debut film, raises strong humanitarian issues. And, while the “Living Dead” themselves do not represent any racial minority, a point toward this subject is certainly made when the only on-screen black character, and sole survivor of the Zombie attack, is shot on the white sheriff's orders.

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“Dawn of the Dead”, the second film and arguably the most revered instalment in the trilogy, mainly deals with issues of emerging consumerism in 1970s society. The overall message comes across very clearly, as the film's majority is set in the confines of an American shopping mall, with the Zombies representing mindless, conformist shoppers. The film also carries a slight feminist theme, again there is a strong female character alone with a group of rather masculine men, but this is overshadowed by the strong satirical comment on the shopping mall culture. To understand the effect Romero's marriage of social commentary and the horror genre really has on audiences, one could also compare it to the 2004 remake by director Zack Snyder. Because it is set in 2004, the story looses it's satirical undertone, although it does play with American misconceptions in post-9/11 times. All in all though, “Dawn of the Dead” (2004), while entertaining, remains forgettable and will not be able to acquire the same cult status as the original.

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When Romero's third film in the “Living Dead” trilogy “Day of the Dead” was released in 1985, it was met with “almost total incomprehension” (Wood, 2001). This could mostly have been due to the arguable decline of the feminist struggle and the subsequent rise of masculine “Reaganite” cinema. “Day of the Dead” comments on this development by juxtaposing the imminent threat of a zombie attack with the situation inside the bunker, the main setting of the film, in which a group of scientists and a group of ultra-masculine military officers are hiding as the world above is overrun by Zombies. The film features a single female protagonist, echoing the various famous female leads of the slasher genre.

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"Sorry we have to leave you here, but it just ain't right to eat your wife's and daughter's brains. Plus you're really disgusting and I don't wanna spend any more time with you." - Undead or Alive (2007)

Following Romero' s foray into Zombie Cinema, Zombies became a household name and were now a strong presence in horror cinema. And while the 60s and 70s were more or less dominated by Romero's films (the prolific filmmaker had directed six films in ten years), the 80s saw the emergence of a great number of new, original Zombie films. Sam Raimi burst onto the scene with his low-budget shocker “The Evil Dead” (1981) and followed the success of that film with his “Evil Dead II” (1987), a film many consider to be one of the greatest horror films of all time. Other Zombie-gems from the 80s include Gary Sherman's “Dead & Buried” (1981), Dan O'Bannon's “The Return of the Living Dead” (1985) and Fred Dekker's “Night of the Creeps” (1986).

The 90s shied away from the traditional Zombie formula with films such as the very weird “Dellamorte Dellamore” (dir. Soavi, 1994) and Peter Jackson's ridiculously gory “Braindead” (1992).
This trend was continued in the following years, bending the common conceptions of what a Zombie film should be, with examples such as “Black Sheep” (dir. King, 2006) and “Dead Snow” (dir. Wirkola, 2009). However, due to advances made with this new approach, audiences were also introduced to a new sub-sub-genre: the Zombie comedy!

With great comedy films such as “Shaun of the Dead” (dir. Wright, 2004) and “Zombieland” (dir. Fleischer, 2009) and great Zombie dramas such as “28 Days Later...” (dir. Boyle, 2002) and the current tv-series “The Walking Dead”, audiences can be hopeful that the Zombie genre will continue to evolve and remain a strong presence in horror cinema.

"Your mother ate my dog!"
- Braindead (1992)

written by Movie Parliament Minister for History,
Leonhard Balk

What's your favourite Zombie movie? Leave us your thoughts in the comments section.

Referenced Films:
28 Days Later... (2002)
Black Sheep (2006)
Braindead (1992)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Day of the Dead (1985)
Dead & Buried (1981)
Dead Snow (2009)
Dellamorte Dellamore (1994)
Dracula (1931)
Evil Dead II (1987)
Frankenstein (1931)
King of the Zombies (1941)
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
Revolt of the Zombies (1936)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
The Evil Dead (1982)
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
The Walking Dead (tv-series, 2010)
Undead or Alive (2007)
White Zombie (1932)
Zombieland (2009)