With Romero’s legendary Living Dead movies, and even more so with the likes of The Walking Dead, everyone has a pretty solid notion of what a zombie is.
However, the notion of a zombie dates back much further than you might think. Furthermore, they weren’t always the blood-thirsty, flesh-eating creatures we know today.
No, the Zombie was once a much more grounded creature, with its origins deep in Haitian culture and the ancient practice of voodoo. The horror genre has been there to document it all, with the likes of White Zombie and I Walked with a Zombie displaying this much more human characterisation. So, how have we wound up with the iconic flesh-eating, undead ghouls dominating the genre today?
That’s exactly what Maya Annik Bedward’s documentary Black Zombie seeks to uncover. The film traces the origins of the term “zombie,” and closely follows how it has evolved over centuries to become the horror staple we know today.
The documentary not only dives into the Haitian origins of the concept, but also covers some of the genre’s most iconic zombie films.
To share their commentary on the evolution of the sub-genre, Black Zombie has enlisted the likes of Tom Savini and Slash as interviewees.
In a statement regarding the documentary, Bedward says of Black Zombie:
“This film is my expression of gratitude to the knowledge keepers who have safeguarded these traditions and carried these histories forward. It is an invitation to look again at a figure we think we know and to confront the histories buried within it.”
Following great success on the festival circuit, Black Zombie is set to open theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on September 11 2026. A streaming release is expected to follow soon after.
If you’re a zombie devotee, this is definitely the documentary for you.
Check out the trailer below:
