There's a wealth of zombie-related goodness out there; books, comics, games, films and events. There's no way you can avoid it, but how much of it have you actively sought out?
The issue is that zombies are, as they say, 'cheap'. Cheap to put in a film, with minimal make-up and easy to act. Cheap to put in a game, since they can look awful and have atrocious AI. Cheap to write books and comics about, since you don't need a big cast and can kill anyone off at any time, and the art doesn't have to be that great to do the trick.
While this lets the zombie fever spread like a particularly nasty rash in a particularly sensitive area, it does mean that a huge amount of zombie output is, as they say, 'awful'.
'Have You Seen/Played/Read...' is a wee series of bit to ferret out the good stuff; to pan the little nuggets of gold from the raging torrent of audio-visual sewage that there is out there. SO, without further ado, let us begin with something really obvious. I mean, honestly. You know where this is going, don't you?
Have you seen...
White Zombie?
HA! Bet you thought it was gonna be Night of the Living Dead. Too obvious. NOTLD is a classic and a classic for a reason, but let's start a little further back than that.
Let's start at the beginning.
in 1932 the word 'zombie' was still fresh as a daisy. It had been introduced to the western world by William Seabrook's 1929 travel-book The Magic Island, which described voodoo practices on the isle of Haiti. More importantly, it revealed that there existed on the island poor victims of the voodoo hougans (witch doctors), who were fed a toxin that induces a death-like coma and chemically lobotomises the subject. They would be buried and mourned, and that night exhumed by the hougan, who would relieve the coma, leaving the subject in a blank, unthinking state. Able to move but not think, they were put to work on plantations as slaves, or in the case of pretty girls, become playthings to the voodoo-men. Zombies.
As you can imagine, lurid tales of voodoo, death and rebirth, and the ultimate sexual domination-submission all happening on an island so close to the continental United States caused a sensation on release in 1929, and the book sold in droves. 'Zombie' entered the popular lexicon almost immediately, and it was not long before White Zombie brought these themes to the silver screen.
The issue is that zombies are, as they say, 'cheap'. Cheap to put in a film, with minimal make-up and easy to act. Cheap to put in a game, since they can look awful and have atrocious AI. Cheap to write books and comics about, since you don't need a big cast and can kill anyone off at any time, and the art doesn't have to be that great to do the trick.
While this lets the zombie fever spread like a particularly nasty rash in a particularly sensitive area, it does mean that a huge amount of zombie output is, as they say, 'awful'.
'Have You Seen/Played/Read...' is a wee series of bit to ferret out the good stuff; to pan the little nuggets of gold from the raging torrent of audio-visual sewage that there is out there. SO, without further ado, let us begin with something really obvious. I mean, honestly. You know where this is going, don't you?
Have you seen...
White Zombie?
HA! Bet you thought it was gonna be Night of the Living Dead. Too obvious. NOTLD is a classic and a classic for a reason, but let's start a little further back than that.
Let's start at the beginning.
The first zombie film, White Zombie was produced in 1932, with a villianous Bela Lugosi, fresh from his break-through role in Universal's Dracula, starring as the amazingly-named voodoo practitioner Murder Legendre. It's a very different story to the z-films of today; an evil plantation owner using voodoo and ritual to zombify workers into slaves, using these same practices to zombie-up a beautiful newlywed at the behest of a lustful, wealthy American.
in 1932 the word 'zombie' was still fresh as a daisy. It had been introduced to the western world by William Seabrook's 1929 travel-book The Magic Island, which described voodoo practices on the isle of Haiti. More importantly, it revealed that there existed on the island poor victims of the voodoo hougans (witch doctors), who were fed a toxin that induces a death-like coma and chemically lobotomises the subject. They would be buried and mourned, and that night exhumed by the hougan, who would relieve the coma, leaving the subject in a blank, unthinking state. Able to move but not think, they were put to work on plantations as slaves, or in the case of pretty girls, become playthings to the voodoo-men. Zombies.
As you can imagine, lurid tales of voodoo, death and rebirth, and the ultimate sexual domination-submission all happening on an island so close to the continental United States caused a sensation on release in 1929, and the book sold in droves. 'Zombie' entered the popular lexicon almost immediately, and it was not long before White Zombie brought these themes to the silver screen.
Interestingly, these early voodoo-zombie pieces tend to have a strong sexual subtext. Pretty girls could be made into unthinking, unresisting zombies for the hougan to do with as he pleased, and in White Zombie, covetous American businessman Beaumont (Robert Frazer) hiring Lugosi's Murder Legendre to zombify the newlywed American Madeline (Madge Bellamy) on her wedding night. He soon bores of her lifeless, mentally vacant state, and pressures Legendre to undo his wicked work. "Performing his every desire" the poster proudly proclaimed. Zombies were a sexual taboo as much as anything else; total ownership over a person who is unable to resist. The implications of rape and domination are not ignored or overlooked, but a focal point.
Subetext aside, this film was the first time anyone had seen a zombie on-screen. Dead-eyed and shambling, they presented a horrifying, mindless force, ready to obey their master's whims and directions without pause. This was something new- something original.
This was the beginning of zombies.
This was the beginning of zombies.
Despite its cultural significance, it was panned by the critics for the lacklustre acting (not from Lugosi, though), and made only a modest profit. It does hold the dubious distinction of being one of the very few American horror films to not be banned by the Nazis government, so make of that what you will. It was more warmly received by the public who, fresh from the real-life horrors of the Great Depression, poverty and breadlines, would have perhaps found greater significance at the zombified slaves, working thoughtlessly for their master's prosperity.
Time has been kinder to it, and it is now regarded as one of the most important films of the 30s.
If you haven't seen it, the film is in the public domain and a very nice HD version can be found for free on Youtube.
Time has been kinder to it, and it is now regarded as one of the most important films of the 30s.
If you haven't seen it, the film is in the public domain and a very nice HD version can be found for free on Youtube.
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