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Book Review
DOWSE Guide to the
Movies
by Tony Lee editor of
Pigasus
Press
The Dead Walk
Andy Black
Noir Publishing, 160 pages paperback £11.99 / $19.95
review by Jeff Young
This is probably a long awaited update on zombies in the cinema as the only other
critical book I can think of that touches on this theme is Halliwell's lamentable
effort, The walking Dead. Andy Black's study begins with an exploration of the
rise to prominence of voodoo in Haiti (revealing its murky but fascinating historical
origins in the Caribbean's mixing of European Catholicism and African tribal culture),
from where it tracks the erratic course of zombie legends through such mysterious,
quasi-religious rites, modern scientific inquiries into anaesthetic drugs, and the
Haitian political intrigues of 'Papa Doc', to the fully developed folklore of today's
horror film iconography.
There are ten chapters. 'Monochrome Zombies' time-warps us all the way back to
Jacques Tourneur's atmospheric I Walked With A Zombie, and Mark Robson's superb
Isle Of The Dead, noting why these films owe so much to their culture clash
plotlines and how they delivered a strong counterpoint to the then popular urban noir
thriller. Next, Black praises John Gilling's melodramatic offering Plague Of The
Zombies and, although he argues a good case on its behalf, I still think that
film is one of the worst clunkers Hammer produced. We are on safer ground with George
Romero's gruesome and gothic America of Night Of The Living Dead, the episodic
Dawn Of The Dead, and Day Of The Dead which, taken together, form the
most satisfying and complex trilogy of zombie films yet seen. Not content with
revisiting the exotically supernatural horror and deliriously enjoyable gore-fest
shockers that most film fans would think of when discussing zombies of the cinema,
Black also examines offbeat SF zombies - often simply cases of parasitic possession -
and looks at the history of that curious cousin of the traditional voodoo created
zombie, the Mummy. All of which brings us right up to date with the recent trio of
films based on ancient Egyptian curses and the 20th century's greedy tomb robbers who
ignore the familiar legends.
As an all-inclusive survey of a singularly unfashionable and (it must be said)
largely disreputable theme, this is a treat for fans of subgenre cinema.
Back to Movies on Dowse index.
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