Zombiemania Documentary Review.

Zombiemania Documentary aired yesterday Oct 13th on Starz. This was definitely an interesting one because it really got into depth with the Zombie genre. Throughout the documentary they mention alot of fun facts that you may or may not know. We'll get more into depth later on. It started with the question What is a Zombie? and we all know is the dead brought back to life. Hence their dubbed name 'The Living Dead' (1968) George Romero mentions that he was inspired for 'Night of the Living Dead' by reading the Classic Novel by Richard Matheson "I Am Legend" as he states he ripped it off. Except 'I am legend' was about vampires and Romero wanted to create a new creature. A creature where the dead aren't staying dead and they eat live flesh.



Something undoubtedly shocking to our ears was when Romero mentions that he doent own the rights to 'Night of the living Dead' what? you mean to tell us the movie that created a path to the rest of the zombie films is not owned by anyone? that's right no one owns the copyrights due to some issues with the title of the film and  the script being called 'Night of the flesh eaters'.

When questioned who is to blame for the zombie craze, everyone in the documentary answered "Romero" They mentioned he is the "Father" of the modern day zombie and added that "Romero liberated them into a creature that can be used in different kind of ways.

We found it fascinating that there's a book out there that is based on real life Zombies not the Zombies we are used to but actual humans that are drugged and poisoned and turned into a zombie like state This book is called  "The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist's Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombis, and Magic"
by Wade Davis. Davis apparently conducted research in Haiti to find out real zombie cases. Also based on Voodoo zombie cases is the film King of the Zombies (1941)


The documentary also gives light to the fact that Zombies have become a phenomena they mention that we already know the rules and customs of Zombies just like we know them for Vampires.

So much so, that Max Brooks wrote "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead" later became a best seller after his latest book became a best seller first titled "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War"
We know to shoot a zombie in the head and Max brooks recommends for us to use a "machete" because it wont run out of amel and it wont let the zombies know where you are opposed to the shotgun which makes noise.

The documentary  goes into the differences of Zombies like Zack Snyder's zombies are fast opposed to George Romero's which are super slow. Some Zombies talk (Shaun of the Dead) (Fido) and because of this they became humorous.  Even with the latest film Zombieland (2009) they are definitely humorous. They talk about the make up done in the films as well. They mention an interesting fact that we might notice when we watch Dawn of the Dead (1979)
' all the zombies had on Grey. In 'Day of the Dead ' the background players wore masks. According to them zombies look more menacing when their teeth are exposed. They also say that the zombie's "lack of humanity is what's most terrifying."

Other films mentioned in the documentary were:
Land of the Dead(2005)
I Am Legend (2007)
Resident Evil(2002) (Movie and Video Game)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
White Zombie (1932)
I Walked with a Zombie
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
Deadlands: The Rising

Zombiemania mentions that people also pay homage to the zombies not only in films and books but  in zombie walks --- where people dress up in full makeup and costume and parade as zombies.  Zombies even showcase their sexuality like Jenna Jameson in (Zombie Strippers )
. And another based on a Zombie nurse (Graveyard Alive)

Overall, this documentary was very interesting and explored this sub genre into a whole ....nother level. They mention things we might not have known and makes the viewers want to explore the zombie as well. It was humorous interesting and witty. They showcase the fact that 'Night of the living Dead' had a cultural sub text and also contained some controversy and politics. Tom Savini mentions that there was a whole lot of research conducted before 'Night of the living dead', such as calling the coroners office for some info. We learned that we are all zombies in this world whether it's for our jobs, boss society etc.

What we found the most interesting was when someone in the documentary mentions that 
"Why is it that we have such fascination with zombies or horror movies in general?" It is the fact that we can identify with the "monster" ---The fact we can't be the monster in real life and we crave the freedom of the "monster"  this is why we subject ourselves into watching two hours of this.

Finally, the most hilarious piece in Zombiemania was when they show a spoof of former President George W. Bush v. Zombies here is the clip