Kontraband Know It All

Zombie films seem to have been around forever, what was the first recognised zombie film?
The first feature length zombie film is believed to be White Zombie, which was released in 1932. This means zombies have been plaguing movies for 80 years, so they have been around for a very long time. White Zombie was an American film directed by Victor Halperin, who went on to direct its sequel, Revolt of the Zombies, in 1936. The film starred everyone's favourite black and white horror film actor, Bela Lugosi.
The film was less sensationalist than its modern counterparts, Lugosi played an evil voodoo practitioner in Haiti who could bring the dead back to life as mindless zombies. In real life, zombies were supposed to be dead people who could be brought back to life by witchcraft; this kind of folklore was prevalent in Haiti. Initial reviews for the film weren't brilliant; the acting was mostly derided (except for Lugosi). Considering playing a zombie is not the hardest thing for an actor to accomplish, it makes you wonder how bad the supporting cast was. Perhaps the zombies were too wooden, fake and unrealistic, like Jennifer Aniston in every rom-com she keeps appearing in.

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Which directors are most famous for being associated with zombie films?
Zombie films continued to be released sporadically after White Zombie, Revenge of the Zombies came out in 1943, Teenage Zombies in 1959 and The Plague of the Zombies in 1966. But it was George A Romero (nicknamed "Godfather of the Zombies") who really got the zombie film ball rolling with his Night of the Living Dead in 1968. With films like Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead it is safe to say Romero is undoubtedly the most famous zombie film director ever.
Several other directors have become linked with the zombie genre such as Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil series) and Sam Raimi (Evil Dead series). Less well known to the general public include directors like Amando de Ossorio (Blind Dead series), Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator films), Lucio Fulci ("Godfather of Gore") and Timo Rose (German horror film director). As for actors, apparently Keanu Reeves is one of the best ever zombies, as he practically sleepwalks through every film he is in (although in all fairness, some of the dialogue in The Matrix Reloaded could put anyone into a zombie-like coma).

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What are the numerous reasons for zombies plaguing the Earth in films?
White Zombie had zombies in it because of Bela Lugosi's character's mystical powers. However, it seems that horrific viruses and clandestine government experiments are the most common causes for zombies eating brains in movies. Night of the Living Dead supposes radiation contamination for being the reason that dead people suddenly feel peckish for human flesh, whereas Army of Darkness has the dead rising because of the power of evil books. Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later goes with a nasty virus called Rage and Resident Evil also goes with a genetically engineered virus (the T-virus).
The new Brad Pitt zombie film due out in 2013, World War Z, is based on a novel which also goes with the tried and trusted virus scenario (Solanum). Zombie Apocalypse plumps for a virus, the disturbingly amusing Zombieland went with a mutated strain of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Re-Animator uses a rather fluorescent looking reagent to create zombies. So if you are concerned about becoming a zombie, stay away from mutated or outer-space viruses, don't work for secretive government laboratories and avoid crazy looking doctors carrying needles full of luminous green fluid. And don't watch any film with Ashton Kutcher in it. Ever.

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What is the greatest zombie film ever?
Night of the Living Dead (1968 version) is the greatest zombie film ever. Romero made zombies much nastier than they had been before, they became cannibals and ate the flesh of the living (Romero even had one young female character eat the corpse of her father). The zombie threat had arrived in mainland USA and was not limited to just a few people being manipulated by an evil sorcerer. This classic work by Romero currently has a rating of 96% on film review site Rotten Tomatoes, an incredibly high score for a film which can be classified as a splatter film. Horror films are notoriously mauled by critics upon release, whereas Night of the Living Dead has been chosen by the US Library of Congress for preservation.
Other highly rated zombie films include Zombieland (90%), 28 Days Later (88%) and Re-Animator (93%). The original zombie film, White Zombie, has a decent rating of 79%. Sadly, the genre-crossing masterpiece that is Zombie Strippers only rates 38%; which is shocking when you consider it stars horror film legend Robert Englund, porn film "legend" Jenna Jameson and even former UFC champion Tito Ortiz as a bouncer. Breasts in abundance and buckets of blood couldn't save this camp monstrosity from being returned to the grave. If only it could have taken the cast of TOWIE with it.

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