The End of the World

Zombies allow people to deal with their own anxiety about the end of the world. Night of the Living Dead and its counterparts also illustrate the fear of widespread apocalyptic destruction. It is not a coincidence that these movies appeared mostly at the height of the Cold War paranoia. Much like the atomic bomb, zombies … Read more

Exploitation

Control and related themes of power and exploitation are basic to the voodoo zombie films. “They work faithfully and are not worried about long hours,” says zombie master Legendre of his creatures in White Zombie, in justification of the capitalist organization represent by the metropolis-like machinery of the mill. Zombies of the Haitian Voodoo variety … Read more

Loss of values

Another element often found in zombie films is the freakishness of familiarity the victims seem to have with the creatures attacking them. When the main character is attacked by a zombie who was originally a friend or a loved one and want to turn it into his next meal, there are no limits to sheer … Read more

Death

Death is the underlying basic theme of every zombie film and reflects the attitude and beliefs of society towards mortality. There is little explanation of what happening after death and the livings, though liberated from the stigma of religion, are still haunted by this existential issue, either feeling that they are responsible for the dead … Read more

Zombie Sociology

Solitary zombies are very rare. Zombies tend to gather in groups called packs or hordes. Zombie packs are typically much larger than vampire packs. Using their strong sense of smell to lead the way, newly transformed zombies will instinctively gravitate to other zombies. Within days of the onset of a plague, packs made up of … Read more

The evolution of zombies in movies

Although zombies appeared in movies as early as 1919, many people credit George A. Romero with setting the standard for modern zombies. In the classic movie Night of the Living Dead, Romero portrayed zombies as slow-moving, flesh-eating corpses, reanimated by radiation from a satellite returning from Venus. The radiation affected the recent, unburied dead, and … Read more

Zombies in history

Undead in antiquity In folkloric sources as diverse as Babylonian literature, the shroud-eating Nachzehrer of Germanic tradition, and the Chiang-Shih “hopping vampires” of Chinese legend, notions of corpses rising from the grave have long been documented. The Ancient Greeks may have been the first civilization terrorized by a fear of the undead. Archaeologists have unearthed … Read more

Other causes for zombies

Revenge from the past Visions of the walking dead as instruments of ghostly vengeance date from ancient times. Also known as corporeal ghost, they are not really zombie as they usually display a strong personality and remembrance of the past. Their vengeance is usually restricted to those who have violated their sleep or caused their … Read more