British zombie films
Films that generally fall into the "zombie" category, which for this list I'm keeping pretty loose, so as well as your classic zombie movies, it includes what I'm calling contagious violence, like the 28 X Later films, and the vengeful dead.
The British zombie movie is important in the history of the genre because they helped keep the flame alive and would, in turn, influence George Romero who was inspired by them (and many others movies) when coming up with Night of the Living Dead, as explained by Jennnifer Dotson in her Ma thesis:
Given the fact that there was a small homegrown tradition of such films before NotLD, it is odd that it took so long for we Brits to get in on the trend, once the game changed and the sub-genre too off, as outlined by British horror historian MJ Simpson:
He then goes on to touch on the two key British "zombie" movies:
They weren't just locally important but would help revitalise the whole sub-genre and are a vital part of the push that helped make zombies mainstream and now almost ubiquitous.
Links: UK films at the Zombie Movie List
See also: The British horror renaissance - there were zombie films before this but the recent upsurge in Brit horror has seen an explosion in the number of zombie movies. Asian zombie films is another regional breakdown of these kinds of movies.
Comments: As I don't have a Facebook account I cannot interact with the new comments system, so have switched it off and replaced it with a thread on the message board.
The British zombie movie is important in the history of the genre because they helped keep the flame alive and would, in turn, influence George Romero who was inspired by them (and many others movies) when coming up with Night of the Living Dead, as explained by Jennnifer Dotson in her Ma thesis:
In the fifties, science fiction had surpassed horror in popularity in Hollywood, and Gothic monsters such as vampire, werewolves, and mummies were traded in for giant insects, killer vegetables, and alien invaders. After the influx of poorly constructed zombie-themed films in the 1950s failed at the box office, most Hollywood producers abandoned the zombie altogether. When it seemed the living dead were indeed a dying breed in Hollywood, the zombie film was given a new life abroad. As a result of Hollywood's cold shoulder, the zombie was relocated and began to flourish in other countries, particularly in Great Britain and Mexico. British films like Doctor Blood's Coffin (1960) and The Earth Dies Screaming (196), although low budget, helped the zombie genre gain popularity in Great Britain during a horror revival there in the 1960s. Hammer Studios, the leading producer of horror films in Great Britain, released a zombie film in 1966 called Plague of the Zombies. Although the film is not well know, having been overshadowed by more successful Hammer endeavours, it is notable for giving the zombie an international stage.
Given the fact that there was a small homegrown tradition of such films before NotLD, it is odd that it took so long for we Brits to get in on the trend, once the game changed and the sub-genre too off, as outlined by British horror historian MJ Simpson:
it took a long time for zombie films to take hold in the UK. If we skip over the 'walking dead' in the Terence Fisher sci-fi opus The Earth Dies Screaming and those in Hammer's pre-Romero The Plague of the Zombies, we find (unless we're prepared to really bend the definition) a complete dearth of the living dead in British film-making until Andrew Parkinson's I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain in 1998. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s there were zombie films made in the USA and Europe but the closest we got to British zombies was Jorg Grau and his Manchester Morgue, which was shot in the UK but is, in real terms, a Spanish film. It just never occurred to anyone making British horror features - at any level - to try to put Romero-esque zombies into British genre culture.
He then goes on to touch on the two key British "zombie" movies:
after that brace of indie undead, it was two much bigger studio productions which really established the UK as a suitable home for zombies. 28 Days Later was released in 2002; Shaun of the Dead two years later - yet even at this short remove they seem to have appeared together, solidly establishing the United Kingdom as a place where the dead walk.
They weren't just locally important but would help revitalise the whole sub-genre and are a vital part of the push that helped make zombies mainstream and now almost ubiquitous.
Links: UK films at the Zombie Movie List
See also: The British horror renaissance - there were zombie films before this but the recent upsurge in Brit horror has seen an explosion in the number of zombie movies. Asian zombie films is another regional breakdown of these kinds of movies.
Comments: As I don't have a Facebook account I cannot interact with the new comments system, so have switched it off and replaced it with a thread on the message board.
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- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.Here to provide a thumbnail graphic, the list proper begins below:
- DirectorCharles SaundersStarsGeorge CoulourisVera DayPeter Forbes-RobertsonA mad scientist captures women and feeds them to a flesh-eating tree, which in turn gives him a serum that helps bring the dead back to life.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsKieron MooreHazel CourtIan HunterPeople are mysteriously disappearing near a remote Cornish village, where a scientist is experimenting; reviving the dead.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsWillard ParkerVirginia FieldDennis PriceIn Britain, a group of survivors fights off a deadly alien invasion that uses robots and a poisonous gas to take over the Earth.Although I'm pretty sure they weren't zombies by any of my definitions above I am including it here because American Zombie Gothic says "Such films as Cahn's Invisible Invaders and Fisher's The Earth Does Screaming depict hoards of reanimated human corpses used as armies by alien forces to invade and subjugate the human race,, and they present obvious sources of visual inspiration for Romero[19]" Unless I missed something in TEDS, then "reanimated human corpses" only refers to Invisible Invaders, but the mind-enslaved "zombies" here do definitely look like a the undead from Night of the Living Dead and, as explained above, it is a key stage in the evolution of the sub-genre.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsAndré MorellDiane ClareBrook WilliamsDuring a mysterious epidemic in a small Cornish village, the local doctor summons his professor friend for help.Intriguing pre-Romero zombie outing, it does draw on the voodoo zombie ideas, but visually they are definitely corpses returned from the grave.
- DirectorHerbert J. LederStarsDana AndrewsAnna PalkPhilip GilbertA crazed scientist (Dana Andrews) keeps the heads of Nazi war criminals alive until he can find appropriate bodies on which to attach them so he can revive the Third Reich.
- DirectorGordon HesslerStarsVincent PriceAlister WilliamsonChristopher LeeAristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Sir Edward occasionally escapes and causes havoc around the town.An interesting mix of voodoo zombies and Romero zombies, showing the sub-genre was still in flux so soon after NotLD.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsJoan CollinsPeter CushingRalph RichardsonFive strangers get lost in a crypt and, after meeting the mysterious Crypt Keeper, receive visions of how they will die.
- DirectorEugenio MartínStarsChristopher LeePeter CushingAlberto de MendozaWhile on the Trans-Siberian Express, an anthropologist and his rival must contain the threat posed by the former's cargo: a prehistoric ape which is the host for a parasitic life-form.The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
- DirectorBob ClarkStarsJohn MarleyLynn CarlinRichard BackusA young soldier killed in the Vietnam War inexplicably shows up at his family home on the night of his death.
- DirectorDon SharpStarsGeorge SandersBeryl ReidNicky HensonAn amiable, psychopathic leader of a violent teen motorbike gang is spurred by his mother, a Satan-worshiping spiritual medium, into committing suicide and returning to life as an "undead".Undead bikers back from the grave to cause mayhem. Fits more with the vengeful dead than classic zombies. Still it is a nice slice of period British horror.
- DirectorAntony BalchStarsMichael GoughRobin AskwithVanessa ShawJason Jones and Judy Peters, young British people, meet on a train heading to the country. They stay with odd characters in a secluded mansion, where deranged Dr. Christian Storm is using his guests for surgical mind-control experiments.Possibly a stretch as they are lobotomised patients.
- DirectorsRoy Ward BakerCheh ChangStarsPeter CushingDavid ChiangJulie EgeIn China, Professor Van Helsing helps eight kung fu-trained siblings reclaim their ancestral mountain village, now the domain of seven powerful vampires and their army of undead slaves.A Hammer/Shaw Brothers co-production but, despite being co-directed by Chang Cheh (one of the leading kung-fu directors of the time) it was rather a clunky, but watchable, effort. It didn't have much impact on British horror movies (which is a pity as this could have been made to work) but did give a big boost to the home-grown Hong Kong horror films, which led to some classic films.
- DirectorKevin ConnorStarsPeter CushingIan BannenIan CarmichaelAn anthology of four short horror stories revolving around a mysterious antique shop owner and his antique pieces, each of which hides a deadly secret.
- DirectorJorge GrauStarsCristina GalbóRay LovelockArthur KennedyA cop chases two hippies suspected of a series of Manson family-like murders; unbeknownst to him, the real culprits are the living dead, brought to life with a hunger for human flesh by ultrasonic radiation being used for pest control.aka The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
A Spanish/Italian co-production largely filmed in the UK (mainly the NW), which is why it is in here especially as it is one of the first where we get to see recognisable living dead in the British countryside (although Plague of the Zombies got there first, this post-dates NotLD). - DirectorNorman J. WarrenStarsMichael GoughMartin PotterCandace GlendenningA woman driving her parents to her uncle's house crashes near the house. Her parents die but she survives. She stays with her uncle, but it becomes clear that he and his son are planning something sinister for her.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsSteve RailsbackMathilda MayPeter FirthA race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.Space vampires arrive in orbit, but there are zombies thrown into the mix too.
- DirectorHenri SalaStarsRobert John BurkeKim DossinDean GatesA female scientist performs experiments on three college girls that turn them into drooling, murderous mutants.
- DirectorMichael J. MurphyStarsRob BartlettDebbi StevensEddie KirbyA scientist places her son and his girlfriend into a cryogenic sleep so they can survive the coming apocalypse. They wake 25 years later in a world dominated by neo-Nazi like ruler, called the Messiah who holds the "Death Run".A post-apocalyptic dystopia in a wasteland full of mutant cannibals.
- DirectorAndrew ParkinsonStarsGiles AspenEllen SoftleyDean SiplingA young man gets infected and gradually starts turning into a zombie.
- DirectorThomas J. MooseStarsThomas J. MooseAdrian OttiwellLee SimpsonSet in England, a man and his servant unwittingly release a zombie-producing toxin into the countryside. A roller coaster of mishaps and adventures ensue, ultimately resulting in a fantastic showdown between good and evil.
