 | |
| Author | Glenn Kay |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Film criticism |
| Published | 2008 (Chicago Review Press) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 978-1-55652-770-8 |
Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide is a 2008 non-fiction book by Glenn Kay about zombies in popular culture, primarily zombie films. It was updated in 2012 to include television episodes and more films.
The initial printing was in 2008. A second edition was published on October 1, 2012. [1]
Kay traces the history of zombie films from White Zombie in 1932 to modern days. The updated version has reviews of approximately 400 films and adds reviews of television shows, such as The Walking Dead . Films are rated on a five-point scale, which includes a "so bad it's good" score. Also included are interviews and film stills. [2]
Jeremy Martin of San Antonio Current wrote that Kay "most certainly makes some omissions" and has idiosyncratic inclusion criteria, but the writing is humorous. Martin suggests that Kay's list of top films would make a "great start for beginners". [3] Justin Dimos of PopMatters rated it 7/10 stars and called it "the zombie movie bible for the film student and horror moviegoer". [4] Reviewing the updated edition, Rod Lott of the Oklahoma Gazette wrote, "With hundreds of capsule reviews and nearly as many photos and posters, it’s something no self-respecting psychotronic film fan should be without ... especially now that it's grown even larger." [5] Doug Sarti of The Georgia Straight wrote, "With such a wealth of information, Kay's book is bound to keep any zombiephile entertained for days, reliving the thrill of favourite classics." [6] Ryan Daley of Bloody Disgusting wrote, "Kay is a knowledgeable writer with a dry sense of humor, and while he offers some genuinely keen observations regarding the evolution of the subgenre, some readers will vehemently disagree with his individual ratings." [7]
Zombie High is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Ron Link. The film was released theatrically on October 2, 1987, and stars Virginia Madsen as a beautiful young teenager who must fight against a boarding school that is intent on turning everyone into a Stepford-esque "perfect" student.
Hell of the Living Dead is a 1980 horror film directed by Bruno Mattei. The film is set in a laboratory in Papua New Guinea that releases a dangerous chemical, turning the technicians and locals into zombies. A French news reporter and her crew land on the island to investigate.
After Death is an Italian zombie film directed by Claudio Fragasso. The film is set on a remote island where a voodoo curse raises the dead from their graves to feast on the flesh of the living. When a boat of explorers—including a young girl who experienced the zombie uprising years earlier—makes an emergency docking on the island, the crew find that their only hope for survival is a protective idol given to the young girl by her mother years ago.
Burial Ground is an Italian exploitation zombie movie directed by Andrea Bianchi. It is one of several films released under the alternative title of Zombie 3.
The Dead Hate the Living! is a 2000 low budget zombie film written and directed by Dave Parker and produced by Full Moon Entertainment. The film is dedicated to producer Kirk Edward Hansen, who died on December 18, 1999.
The Ghost Galleon also known as El buque maldito, is a 1974 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio and starring Jack Taylor. It has numerous alternate titles, including The Blind Dead 3, Horror of the Zombies and Ship of Zombies. In Germany it was released as The Ghost Ship of the Swimming Corpses, though the German theatrical poster also has the title The Ghost Ship of the Blind Dead on it.
Night of the Seagulls is a 1975 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio. The film is the fourth and final in the Blind Dead series, being the sequel to The Ghost Galleon (1974).
Dead & Buried is a 1981 American horror film directed by Gary Sherman, starring Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson, and James Farentino. It is Albertson's final live-action film role before his death six months after the film's release. The film focuses on a small town wherein a few tourists are murdered, but their corpses begin to reanimate. With a screenplay written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the film was initially banned as a "video nasty" in the U.K. in the early 1980s, but was later acquitted of obscenity charges and removed from the Director of Public Prosecutions' list.
Vengeance of the Zombies is a 1972 Spanish horror film directed by León Klimovsky and starring Paul Naschy, Mirta Miller, Vic Winner and Aurora de Alba. The film was shot in July 1972, but was only theatrically released in Spain in June 1973. It was shown in Italy as La Vendetta dei Morti Viventi. The film was shown in Germany over the years under three different titles....Rebellion of the Living Dead, Invocation of the Devil and Blood Lust of the Zombies.
Garden of the Dead is a 1972 horror film directed by low-budget film director John Hayes and stars Phil Kenneally, Duncan McLeod, Lee Frost and Susan Charney.
Zombie Holocaust is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Marino Girolami. The film is about a team of scientists who follow a trail of corpses in New York to a remote Indonesian island where they meet a mad doctor who performs experiments on both the living and dead in his laboratory. The team face both zombies and cannibals in an attempt to stop the doctor. The film was re-edited and released theatrically in the United States in 1982 under the title Doctor Butcher M.D.
Die You Zombie Bastards! is a 2005 American superhero comedy horror film directed by Caleb Emerson, written by Emerson and Haig Demarjian, and starring Tim Gerstmar, Geoff Mosher, and Pippi Zornoza. It is about a serial killer (Gerstmar) who must save his cannibal wife Violet (Zornoza) from zombies animated by Baron Nefarious (Mosher).
Zombie Lake is a 1981 Spanish-French horror film directed by Jean Rollin and Julian de Laserna. The film stars Howard Vernon as the mayor of a small French town that is plagued by Nazi zombies who were killed by the town's villagers 20 years earlier. It was distributed by Eurociné.
Birdemic 2: The Resurrection is a 2013 American satirical romantic thriller-horror film written and directed by James Nguyen and produced by Jeff Gross. The sequel to Nguyen's 2010 film Birdemic: Shock and Terror, which has been considered one of the worst films of all time, Birdemic 2 features self-referential humor about the reception of the previous film. Taking place four years after the first Birdemic, the film follows another mass bird attack caused by global warming, this time in Hollywood.
The House of Seven Corpses is a 1973 American horror film directed by Paul Harrison and starring John Ireland, Faith Domergue and John Carradine.
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead is a 2014 action comedy horror film directed by Tommy Wirkola. It is a sequel to Wirkola's 2009 film Dead Snow. The film was released in Norway on 12 February and in the United States on 10 October 2014. Vegar Hoel reprises his role from the first film as Martin, the sole survivor of an attack by Nazi zombies led by the evil Herzog. Filming took place in Iceland.
Love in the Time of Monsters is a 2014 comedy horror film directed by Matt Jackson and starring Doug Jones, Kane Hodder, Mike McShane, Shawn Weatherly and Heather Rae Young. It was produced and distributed by TBC Films and Indican Pictures respectively. It premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival and was released on DVD and VOD in the U.S. and Canada on February 17, 2015.
Supernatural Activity is a 2012 comedy film directed by Derek Lee Nixon and starring Joey Oglesby, Donny Boaz, Andrew Pozza, Devin Bonnée, and Lizabeth Waters as paranormal investigators. It parodies various supernatural films, such as Paranormal Activity, The Last Exorcism, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
The Dead and the Damned is a 2010 American Western horror film directed by Rene Perez, written by Perez and Barry Massoni, and starring David Lockhart, Camille Montgomery, Rick Mora, and Robert Amstler. The film depicts a meteorite that unleashes a zombie virus in the American Old West.