It may be anecdotal, but I’m certainly seeing a sharp rise in the number of Zombie-themed short films this year. From Cabine of the Dead to Lonely to the shorts we’re going to see this weekend at Drunken Zombie, the indie film circuit is just awash in films about the Differently Animated.

Once our new review paradigm is up and running we’ll have a lot of in-depth analysis for you here as well. In the meantime I have to wonder what it is about Zombies that’s catching on in the public mind, even if the resulting entertainment is largely negative, from a Zombie Rights point of view.

Is it simple Vampire fatigue that leads horror directors to cast about for a new Undead villain? I don’t think so; the Wolfman remake didn’t catch on, despite having Anthony Hopkins, and we haven’t seen trends of werewolf movies, creatures from various lagoons or even, dare I hope, giant leeches.

It isn’t a strictly American phenomenon either, with Japanese and European Zombie products, again usually negative in nature, coming out left and right (Highschool of the Dead or Rec, for examples)

All this before the tragic popularity of The Walking Dead on tv as well. No doubt next year the number of Zombie-bashing knockoffs of Robert Kirkman’s opus of oppression will crowd their way into the DVD bargain bin; good riddance, I say. The fascination from the indie horror community is something I find far more interesting for our Cause. Is it just that they are ahead of the curve? Anticipating future trends? What, exactly, do Zombies represent for them?

If we can find the answer to that question, perhaps we can begin to change it, and the relationship between filmmakers and their Undead fellow citizens.

Tags: Movies

This entry was posted by John Sears on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.