Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Movies: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema [Paperback]

When I got Book of the dead with it's clever front cover picture homage to Fulci's City of the living dead, I thought it might be an in depth survey of Italian movies but the subtitle makes everything clear ! It is indeed the complete history of Zombie cinema, tracing the roots right back to the first use of the word zombie in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1819 ! This is the most comprehensive and obviously painstakingly researched book that takes the reader on a journey from the 1930's when the first zombie movie came out of Hollywood, right up to the present day with George Romero's Land of the dead ! It would seem that the inspiration for the first zombie film came from a disturbed writer who had researched his subject in Haiti, long associated with voodoo. You'll have to read the book to find out what this writer was in to ! Along the way we learn that those who tried to cash in on the success of the first zombie film ( White Zombie ) were sadly Poverty Row productions, a somewhat demeaning term for studios working on miniscule budgets. There is detailed coverage about all the different countries who produced zombie related movies and, of course, those wonderful Italian films are given plenty of space ! No book on this subject would be complete without extensive reference to George Romero's contribution to zombie 'culture' and he sure gets good coverage! Probably the most stunning of all the sections in the book is the one from page 96 to 129 - the inclusion of a gallery of lovingly reproduced photos of rare video sleeves and stills - these pictures are mostly foreign versions of the films and absolutely fascinating ! I thought I knew a bit about zombie movies but after reading this book I acknowledge that I knew very little - not any more ! One word to sum up this outstanding work - ESSENTIAL !

This book provides a comprehensive history of the zombie in modern popular culture, going above and beyond the place of the zombie in horror cinema to include the emergence of the monster in the English language, how it first came to be known, and what the earliest understanding of the term was - needless to say, this book is engaging, exhaustive and hugely interesting.

Russell begins his analysis by looking at the West's earliest encounters with the 'zombie', citing travel writer and occultist William Seabrook as a key figure in the zombie's introduction, thanks to his tales from the 'wilderness on the American doorstep' that was/is Haiti. His writing came at an opportune time (for him), as his expeditions there coincided with a huge surge of public interest in the country, not least because of the USA's military involvement with the much-troubled island nation. As a readership, the American public devoured information on Haiti with the same gusto that the cannibalistic movie zombies would devour the living in later incarnations - and it didn't hurt to make those formative accounts pretty salacious. Hence, tales of undead workers, mind control and voodoo were gladly received. With the inception of cinema, and the industry's liking for creature features, it wasn't long before the zombie began to emerge on screen - albeit with varying degrees of creepiness, and notwithstanding some pretty crappy efforts during the 'Poverty Row' development of the zombie genre, which regressed considerably from the genuine unease of Lugosi's White Zombie.

Russell then charts the development of the zombie creature through some fairly rough times during the end of the 1940s and 1950s, and its radical transformation, by a filmmaker by the name of George A. Romero in the late 1960s. Romero's Night of the Living Dead breathed, err, new life into a flailing genre where the zombies were becoming little more than jaded stooges used to 'terrify' the likes of Bob Hope! Romero happened upon the now-seemingly-so-obvious idea of making the zombies not just undead henchmen, but flesh-eaters - previously, the walking dead had stuck with strangulation. Using the zombie (although not then using the term) Romero was able to appall his audience as well as injecting a hefty dose of social commentary, and Russell makes the point, with which I agree, that no other on-screen monster has ever been used to such an extent for these ends.

As you would expect, a great deal of time and space is devoted to the director who pretty much created the zombie flick. Russell contextualises this, though, so you are not simply given an homage to a great director devoid of any notion of horror available to him at the time. The author also gives an outstanding study of the Italian zombie cycle of the 1970s, as well as the second regression of the zombie-into-stooge during the 80s and the massive popularity/renaissance attributable to the East, home of Resident Evil as well as a huge surge in living dead filmmaking.

Russell is a discriminating writer who mixes just the right amount of analysis and contemporary sociological/psychological/textual theory with an obvious genuine love of the genre, and this is apparent in his writing at all times, as well as in the endearing footnote where he explains his first contact with these films, and what it meant to him - something that'll be familiar with horror afficionados everywhere. Complete with a thorough filmography section and some great rare posters, stills and video artwork, this book is an absolute must.

Movie journalist Jamie Russell has produced an impeccably researched filmography covering every example of the genre from dire to dazzling. Enriched with hundreds of colour illustrations including rare movie stills and video sleeves, this handsome tome also examines why we're so fascinated with the undead - and traces their evolution from spellbound voodoo bogeymen to flesh-eating corpses with a down on the living. Russell even looks at the expansion of the genre into video gaming, with a study of the Resident Evil phenomenon.

Essential for anyone interested in genre moviemaking and the history of popular cinema.