Research into similar films
I will be Researching zombie films from various era's throughout the years. I started from 1920's/30's as this was the first time that the genre had been used in cinema. The 1960's as this was the time of George Romero, in which his films defined the genre and had an ongoing effect on all zombie films made since this time. Another area I used was the 80's as this was when the genre had been considered to have been defined. The final area of research I will be studying will be the recent more recent zombie films, from 2000.
1920's/30's.
White Zombie, 1932.Summary:
In this haunting low-budgeter, Bela Lugosi stars as Murder Legendre, a shadowy character who exercises supernatural powers over the natives in his Haitian domain. Coveting Madge Bellamy as his bride, wealthy Robert Frazier enters into an unholy agreement with Lugosi, whereby Madge will die, then be resurrected as a zombie.
Iconography:
Various props were used in this film, this is including numerous weapons and a coffin, which portrays death to the audience. Another important factor is that one of the scenes is set in a graveyard, which is also related to the whole idea of death and resurrection.
Characters:
A white lady, Madeleine, is turned into a zombie by a Voodoo master (played by Bela Lugosi) and forced to wed a wealthy plantation owner. These are the three main characters within this movie.
Setting:
A mansion is one of the main settings used in the film as is a graveyard and a church, during this film they are on the road to New York.
Style:
This movie is filmed in black and white and very few camera angles are used, this could be due to the fact that the movie industry was only just starting to flourish and many of the effects used in cinematography were yet to be discovered.
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| Poster for "White Zombie" |
1960’s.
Night of the living dead, 1968.Summary:
The dead come back to life and eat the living in this low budget, black and white film. Several people barricade themselves inside a rural house in an attempt to survive the night. Outside are hordes of relentless, shambling zombies who can only be killed by a blow to the head.
Iconography:
The fact that one of the opening scenes is set in a graveyard speaks a lot about this type of genre, this is the usual setting for a zombie film.
Characters:
One of the main characters is Barbara, who is pursued by the undead from the first scene. Barbara seeks sanctuary in a farmhouse peopled with refugees: Harry Cooper, his wife Helen and their daughter Karen that is sick; and Tom and his girlfriend Judy. As well a lone man, Ben, notably the only black character. Unlike the past films where black characters served only as a backdrop to bolster the “exotic” atmosphere, here Ben is a hero. He plans the escape attempt and he fights off zombies when needed. Most importantly, while all the others fall prey to the zombies, Ben makes it through the night.
Setting:
The setting itself is in the countryside, which gives the audience an understanding of the difficulty of the situation, there is not much technology. One of the first scenes is set in a graveyard as well as a farm house, all of which are isolated areas.
Style:
Like White zombie, this film was originally in black and white, although it has been remade in colour. The lack of color actually adds to the film’s atmosphere, since shadows appear everywhere, and the “fuzzy” look of the mise-en-scene give the movie a dreamy and unreal vibe. The acting in the movie is quite poor as many unknown actors were used, this film was high on creativity but low on budget.
| Night of the living dead poster |
1980's
The Evil Dead, 1981.
Summary:
Five friends go up to a cabin in the woods, where they find unspeakable evil lurking in the forest. They find a tome called the "Necronomicon", Book of the Dead, and the taped translation of the text. Once the tape is played, the evil is released. One by one, the teens are possessed. With only one remaining, it is up to him to survive the night and battle the evil dead.
Iconography:
The lighting in this opening is shown to be dark which creates mysteriousness and is a genre signifier as the setting is dark. The dark background makes the bright red titles and bloodshot stand out. There aren’t many props used in this film opening but the few props that are used are chains, and sharp things which are dangerous and murderous.
Characters:
Ash is the main character of the film, being portrayed by Bruce Campbell and the story follows his evolution from being a cowardly college student to a heroic slayer of the dead. There is also Ash's girlfriend, Linda, she is more or less Ash's sidekick. There are also Characters called Cheryl, Scotty and Shelly that play important roles within the film.
Setting:
The setting is in a woodland cabin and at this time this was considered to be a fresh setting for a horror film, the isolated area reflected the hopelessness of survival with the characters.
Style:
This timing of this movie was at the peak of the horror genre and this is acclaimed as one of the top horror films made, It had all the aspects of a good horror; the music, the low budget camera and the camera work is what really established it as one of the good horror flicks. On top of this, black humour is also used to subdue the violence of the film which almost calms the audience from the intensity of the movie.
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| Evil Dead Poster |
2000's.
28 Days Later, 2002.Summary:
28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle and produced by Andrew MacDonald was described as "genre busting" upon its release in 2002. After breaking into a primate research facility, a group of animal rights activists discover caged chimps chained up before banks of screens displaying horrifying, violent images. Ignoring the warnings of the terrified researcher who maintains that the chimps are infected, they begin to free the animals and are immediately subjected to a bloody attack from the enraged creatures. Twenty-eight days later, Cycle courier Jim awakes from a coma in the deserted intensive care unit of a London hospital. He wanders out into a church where he finds dead bodies piled in heaps on the chapel floor. A sudden explosion from a makeshift bomb heralds the arrival of fellow "survivors" Selina and Mark. They take Jim to safety and explain to him that this infection is transmitted by blood and overwhelms the infected victim with a murderous rage within seconds. Britain has been overrun, and they have no way of knowing if it has spread worldwide. Their only hope of survival may lie in the hands of a Manchester group of soldiers, as they claim to have the "answer" to infection and invite any survivors to join them at their blockade. Faced with no practical alternative, the group sets out northwards, unaware that the worst is yet to come.
Iconography:
28 days later uses themes of religion with the fact that there is a scene when Jim enters a church where he must kill an infected priest. As well as this there is a big focus on moral beliefs, how far one is willing to go to survive, for example the soldiers in this movie are seen to be extreme in their behaviour whereas Jim is more sympathetic.
Characters:
The Main Protagonist is a man called Jim, who wakes up from a Coma in the middle of this epidemic. There are also other characters such as Selena and Mark who are together when the apocalypse began and are surviving out in the streets of London. Two other characters, Frank and his daughter Hannah are held up in a set of apartments further within the city. All of these characters have important parts to play in the movie and help to interpret the zombie genre itself by combining these different personalities and seeing how they act in a post apocalyptic environment. As well as these characters there is also another group of survivors, soldiers who have a base held up within the forests.
Setting:
The Movie is first set in a hospital, which creates a sense of irony as this is a location that is supposed to aid you and in this case it ends up being abandoned. The rest of the film is set throughout England, within both urban and rural environments, such as a forest as well as more vacant areas in the city including a church.
Style:
The camera used has a slight distorted fuzz to it which reflects the daze the main character is in when he first awakes from his coma. As the film progresses this becomes less obvious and the takes are very fast in intense scenes to show the panic of the situations with the infected. The film itself is not quite the same as other zombie films as they are not actually zombies, they are infected with a virus.
| 28 days later poster |
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