We chose to do the sub-genre of zombie for our opening title sequence, we know that zombie films are currently very popular as according to IMDb the most popular feature horror film is World War Z (2013) which is a zombie film. This suggests that zombie is a popular genre of horror and is an area to make a lot of money in. We used Box Office Mojo to work out how much money can be made from a good zombie film. We saw that World War Z is the highest grossing zombie film made almost double the lifetime gross of the highest in the Slasher sub-genre.
The zombie sub-genre within films has advanced massively, it hasn't always been about blood and brains. The origin of the concept of zombies comes from old Haitian voodoo culture, zombification was not about being dead but being a voodoo mind slave. One of the very first zombie films White Zombie (1932) featured a woman called Madeline who drank a potion which allowed her to be controlled. Still in 1941 being a zombie meant being a mindless slave rather than a member of the undead, shown in the film King Of The Zombies (1941). Many other zombie films of the 30s and 40s portray zombies as they existed in Haitian folklore, more examples of this are Revolt Of The Zombies (1936), I Walked With A Zombie (1943), The Voodoo Man (1944) and Zombies On Broadway (1945)
It wasn't until around 1955 that people began to stray from the original voodoo themed zombies, although some kept the idea going, more zombie ideas began to branch out. For example some branched out into scientific territories like in Creature With The Atom Brain (1955). This is the story of a gangster who uses atomic power to reanimate the dead. Similarly to some of the popular zombies we see in films now a days, the living dead in this film have super human powers and cannot be killed by things such as bullets. However, there is no zombie make up or costume used to create zombies like we see in modern films as this idea was not yet developed, instead they just looked like normal people.
It wasn't until around 1955 that people began to stray from the original voodoo themed zombies, although some kept the idea going, more zombie ideas began to branch out. For example some branched out into scientific territories like in Creature With The Atom Brain (1955). This is the story of a gangster who uses atomic power to reanimate the dead. Similarly to some of the popular zombies we see in films now a days, the living dead in this film have super human powers and cannot be killed by things such as bullets. However, there is no zombie make up or costume used to create zombies like we see in modern films as this idea was not yet developed, instead they just looked like normal people.
It wasn't until 1968 when the zombie sub-genre changed dramatically, it is practically the creative birthing point to the zombie as we know it. Director George A. Romero completely re-created the sub-genre with The Night Of The Living Dead (1968) which features zombies who are hungry for humans with an iconic zombie look. The living dead in this film had deteriorating skin, walked slowly with a limp and looked very dead indeed.
Zombie films took a decline in the early 70's until Romero once again revived the zombie sub-genre with Dawn Of The Dead (1978). The plot of the film follows two SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his girlfriend who hide in a shopping mall from the growing zombie epidemic. The zombies in this 1978 classic are flesh eating, mouldy and extremely creepy. Zombie films also started to include a lot more gore, deaths and blood as zombies were now iconic for feasting upon human flesh.
Zombie films took a decline in the early 70's until Romero once again revived the zombie sub-genre with Dawn Of The Dead (1978). The plot of the film follows two SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his girlfriend who hide in a shopping mall from the growing zombie epidemic. The zombies in this 1978 classic are flesh eating, mouldy and extremely creepy. Zombie films also started to include a lot more gore, deaths and blood as zombies were now iconic for feasting upon human flesh.
In the 80's and 90's zombie films began flooding the box office, and film makers packed the market with many zombie films, however many of these were not very good and quite low budget.
In the 2000's zombie films became even more popular and started making huge sums of money. A good example is Resident Evil (2002) which was successful enough to make a number of sequels. The zombies in this are a huge advancement from the creatures in the films before the turn of the century. They are a much bigger threat in films as they abandon the iconic slow limp and are now fast paced, vicious killing machines. They also have a far scarier image and a lot more gore is included than in earlier zombie films.
Many other recent zombie film successes are World War Z (2013), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and I am Legend (2007). All 3 of these zombie films portray the the modern zombie image and show a great contrast to the early days of zombie films.
In the 2000's zombie films became even more popular and started making huge sums of money. A good example is Resident Evil (2002) which was successful enough to make a number of sequels. The zombies in this are a huge advancement from the creatures in the films before the turn of the century. They are a much bigger threat in films as they abandon the iconic slow limp and are now fast paced, vicious killing machines. They also have a far scarier image and a lot more gore is included than in earlier zombie films.
Many other recent zombie film successes are World War Z (2013), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and I am Legend (2007). All 3 of these zombie films portray the the modern zombie image and show a great contrast to the early days of zombie films.