Doc of the Dead

2014
Dir. Alexandre O. Philippe

Depending on your opinion, Danny Boyle either has a lot to answer for, or has not been given nearly enough credit for the popularity of zombie themed entertainment throughout the last decade. 28 Days Later arguably kick-started the current interest in zombie movies, and while it isn’t strictly speaking a 'zombie' film, Boyle took a fairly typical zombie movie template and fashioned a dark and breathlessly taut film which poked at the same slagheap of ideas and themes (infection, social collapse, global catastrophe) as George Romero’s earlier flesh-ripping classics. Shaun of the Dead quickly followed, and its success convinced studio honchos that zombies were hot again. This prompted them to, for once, throw money at George Romero, who is largely responsible for the overriding popular perception of zombies today anyway, to help him make Land of the Dead, a belated follow-up to his ‘Dead trilogy’.

In the few years since then, zombies have spread virus-like into cinemas, onto DVDs, into computer games, comic books, graphic novels, the small screen, and live action role-playing games, with increasingly recognisable imagery and traits.

Alexandre O. Philippe’s latest documentary attempts to explore why contemporary society has so embraced the figure of the zombie, ensuring it an increasingly prominent place in popular culture.

Head over to Exquisite Terror to read my full review.

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