Watch a History of Movie Zombies, from 'Dawn' to 'Shaun' and Beyond
Some movie monsters go in and out of vogue, but zombies are eternal. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Edgar Wright’s contemporary zombie classic Shaun of the Dead, The Yahoo Movie Show tracks the cinematic evolution of the walking dead, from their origins in black-and-white B-movies like 1932’s White Zombie to big-budget summer blockbusters like 2013’s World War Z. In each era, these bogeymen reflected larger fears permeating through the culture: During the war-torn ‘30s and ‘40s, for instance, zombies were mindless puppet-soldiers forced to carry out the whims of evil men. When George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead came along in 1968, they matured into anarchy-causing killing machines, destabilizing society to the point where humans acted more monstrous than the creatures they were fighting. And after 28 Days Later, zombie outbreaks became metaphors for global pandemics, where a gunshot to the head is usually the only medicinal cure. So what will these beloved, brain-devouring creatures evolve into in another ten years? Whatever they become, you can bet that there will always be blood.
