Blogpost # 3: The Undead and the Widescreen

All of us love movies. Action movies, comedy movies, sci-fi movies and romance movies were just few on the list we used to watch. Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, Harry Potter, The Hangover on the other hand, were some of the popular titles who earned a lot from blockbuster, won numerous awards and even became popular worldwide. If I'm going to ask you for your favorite action movies, you can give me plenty of titles. If I'm going to ask you for a comedy movie, you can even rehearse to me your favorite jokes from the movie. If I'm going to ask you your favorite romance movies, you can almost fill up an entire paper, writing movies you spent your tears, emotions and heartfelt. But finally, If I'm going to ask you, "What is your favorite horror movie?" Some of you may refuse to answer the question or maybe not going to answer at all. It is because horror movie is considered the least favorite genre of all.

Entertainment is one of the main reason why we love movies. We also love them because we got hook on the story, on the actors, on the special effects and because of its shared popularity. But movies are not just for entertainment and fun factors. Sometimes, filmmakers use the power of film industry to express their feelings, to share their ideas and even to portray social issues and structures. Others just use it for business purposes and to earn fame and money.

By reading my recent blog entries, zombies according to its origin, the Haitian myth, are just simple, mindless and less dangerous reanimated corpse. But from our own knowledge, we've known zombies as cannibalistic monsters from the grave. As you can see, there's a missing link between how zombies were portrayed before from our present time. It's a bit confusing on how a mindless corpse from the myths turned into a horror icon. In order to answer our questions, me must go back from where it all started, invest a lot of laboratory research or explore Haiti itself as what Dr. Wade Davis did to gain evidences. But these are not really necessary at all. The answers are just in the movies.

This is also one of the purpose of the movies; it can be use to trace one's history. In an article entitled "On the Origin of Zombies," who generally tackles about zombie movies, from thesocietypages.org, stated that what makes zombie unique from other movie monsters is its unique place of origin. It has a very distinguishable diversion among its predecessors like Frankenstein, Dracula and Wolfman, who originated from Gothic literature.

After the motion picture emerged from early 1900, filmmakers started to look for a concept that will hit to the taste of the viewers, and in year 1932, the first zombie film, "White Zombie," took over the cinematic industry. Directed by Victor Halperin, White Zombie is all about a woman transformed into a zombie by a powerful evil voodoo priest. It became even more popular because of Bela Lugosi, known for his role as Dracula in 1927. Years later, it was then followed by a sequel entitled "Revolt of the Zombies" in 1936. As it gained popularity, more zombie-flick movie started to rise like "King of Zombies" in 1941 and "I Walked With Zombie" in year 1943. However, all these zombie movies doesn't engage any morbid and disturbing scenes. These were just movies were people put under a spell; the spell of Haitian voodoo and mystical tradition.

Let's be honest. Zombie movies like these are not really scary at all. Nothing is scary about a mindless, white-faced and traditional zombie. It's kind of boring to watch a reanimated corpse doing nothing especially if it falls under a horror movie genre. Until year 1968, director George Romero decided to create a different zombie flick movie, but this time, he took it to another and beyond imaginable level. The Night of The Living Dead, which is considered as the first cannibalistic zombie movie, changed the society's perspective about the undead. It even became the most successful horror movie at that time and it also created a big influence among filmmakers. As for now, it is preserved in the National Film Registry because of its originality, culturally and aesthetically significance.

The blockbuster success of George Romero's movie makes zombie movies genre the most in demand movie of all time. He also created a sequel of the movie entitled "Dawn of the Dead (1978)" which made George Romero gained the title, "The Father of Zombie Movies." Like Night of The Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead becomes a blockbuster success and because of it, Romero started his Living Dead Series.

On year 1990s, zombie movies become outdated as more genre also started to rise. Comedy, sci-fi, and romance flick movies made wave on the industry leaving horror genre behind. But in 2004, a zombie comedy movie , Shaun of the Dead directed by Edgar Wright, regained the zombie movies fame back. It became critically and commercially success in U.K and in U.S.

A scene from The Shaun of The Dead (2004).

David Paul Strohecker, the author of the article, says, "As we can see, the zombie has a unique cultural history and serves as a powerful metaphor for social anxieties. This movie monster might have come out of the Caribbean, but it became a powerful representation of modern fears when it met the silver screen."

I totally agree to the statement. As a person, I also do fear certain things. Gore and morbid as it is, but these kinds of movies represent my fear. I have a Necrophobia or fear of the corpses or dead people. I'm also afraid looking at them in a coffin. These movies represent my fear because the main antagonist and the main conflict were also dead people. Not just dead people, but a walking and flesh-eating dead people. Sometimes, these movies help me to overcome my fear because corpses were not just alive, but they're out of the coffin. For me, a corpse that's out of the coffin is less scarier.


80 years after the first zombie movie, White Zombie, was released on theater, and 44 years after the first flesh-eating reanimated corpse, The Night of the Living Dead, took over the box office, more versions of these movies appeared on widescreen. It also created a new kind of movie-goers, the gore hounds. These are the people who like seeing guts, bloods and flesh on movies. But the question is, why are there kinds of people like this?

Zombie movies are not just movies that generally kill and eat people. Filmmakers doesn't make it just for the purpose of money and fame. They're making it because they want us to realize something; something we don't commonly see in movies. In another article entitled, "Zombie Love: Why Are We So Obsessed with Things That Want to Eat Our Brains?" from nofilmschool.com, explains the three reason why we choose to engage to these kinds of movies.

First is because of too much technology. Even before the release of Romero's The Night of The Living Dead, technology have already been dominated the world; let us put the World War II as an example. As more as the technology blooms from generation to generation, the more we become dependent on them. The more they become hi-tech, the more we become reliant on letting them do our human stuff. Technology, even if we don't admit it, makes us feel like a zombie ourselves because it lessens our human ability like zombies. For short, zombies represent too much technology and not enough humanity.

Second is because of our too much consumerism. Living, on stone age eras, are less complex compare to what kind of living we have now. Today, in order to survive, me must have this, we must have that without realizing that we are now living on a materialistic generation. Did you ever wonder why most of the people go to malls more often? It is because they want to buy stuff that will satisfy their cravings. Now, did you notice any similarities from zombies on the movies from people nowadays? Both of them shows an act of consumerism. Like people who go to mall, zombies consume a lot too by eating and hunting flesh. They will not stop until it satisfies them.

World War Z (2013) - top grossing
Zombie flick movie

The third and the last one is because of conformity. We like to be recognized by our individuality but we can't avoid being grouped into specific set of people. You can do everything you want when your at home, but you can't do everything when your in school. In school, you were classified as a student. As a student, you need to act what a student does. With these systematic flow of the world, we are forced to act like someone we don't use to be. It loses our senses and identities much like a horde of zombies. In real life, we don't have a choice but to follow the flow of our systematic rule to survive. It is very similar to the zombies on the movies because them too, doesn't have choice. Even if they refuse it, they will eventually turn into a mindless corpse who eats flesh.

"To be a part of something means having a little more safety than not being a part of something," says V Renee, author of the article.

There is an old saying goes, "If you can't beat them, join them." This can be either positive or negative. Positive in a sense that, if you're on a situation where you don't have any choices anymore, joining your enemies has a big advantage for your survival. Negative, because sometimes, you will be forced to do something that is against your will. But to be in zombie apocalyptic world, to join your enemies is very much applicable. Not literally join the zombie horde, but to engage into a group of people even though most of them are your enemies. Whether you like it or not, I'll tell you, you will gain greater chance of surviving and moving on.


Personally, I didn't expect that movies will play a very special role to the influence of zombies on our modern culture. I thought movies were just for entertainment purposes only but there are still more from that. Let us take horror movies for example. Most of us can't stand watching them alone. It is because it brings out the creeps inside us. In result, we use to hate them. Others, ban them from their own countries. Horror movies, particularly zombie flick movies, need our understanding. Romance movies, comedy movies, and action movies may continue to lead the box office for a long time, but no other genre will ever beat the concept, the meaning, and symbolism that only a zombie horror movie can give.