Doc of the Dead, 2015.
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe.
Featuring Bruce Campbell, Simon Pegg, George A. Romero, Sid Haig, Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, Stuart Gordon, Max Brooks, Alex Cox, Robert Kirkman, Steve Barton.
SYNOPSIS:
Apparently, this is the definitive documentary examining the rise of the zombie in modern pop culture. Hmm…
Think you know zombies? Of course you do, because no doubt you have seen Shaun of the Dead on one of its weekly showings on some made-for-twentysomethings TV channel or own one of the many DVD releases of Night of the Living Dead that likely includes a documentary or an interview with George A. Romero that covers everything you need to know about that seminal movie and the influence it has had. So what does Doc of the Dead have to offer that several dozen DVD extra features doesn’t? Not a great deal, if truth be told.
It starts off with some fake news footage about a zombie outbreak and some narration by Evil Dead stalwart Bruce Campbell and Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg before charting the history of the zombie movie, beginning with the 1932 Bela Lugosi movie White Zombie. It then leaps forward to the 1950s with a brief mention of a couple of sci-fi horror movies before hitting the big one with Night of the Living Dead and spending the next 20-odd minutes celebrating George A. Romero and his vision. Nothing wrong with that because, as we all know, Romero was responsible for establishing the zombie in modern horror but there’s nothing here that hardcore zombie fans won’t already know and it’s unlikely that a documentary about zombies is going to appeal to anybody other than the already devoted.
The film does touch on a few other movies, most notably the obvious Shaun of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and The Walking Dead, and the social/political situations they represent with their metaphors but chronological order and any great depth or detail is forgotten about as the filmmakers try to mention everything from video games, comics, 9/11 and voodoo without really getting to the core of any of it.
And that is the main problem with Doc of the Dead; it says everything it needs to say within the first 30 minutes and doesn’t really have anywhere to go after that, spending far too much time darting from obsessive fans doing zombie fun runs and zombie survivalists in their tin shelters with very little focus or direction. Also, apart from Shaun of the Dead all of the films covered in any great detail are American. We get a snippet of 28 Days Later when discussing runners versus shamblers, a clip from Braindead/Dead Alive and a poster shot of [REC] but nothing from Italy, so that means no Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond, The House By The Cemetery, Cemetery Man or Zombie Holocaust – quite a big chunk of zombie history that gets left out, and that’s without mentioning other notable international titles like The Dead, Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, La Horde or Dead Snow.
For a documentary that claims to be definitive Doc of the Dead feels very shallow without any real sense of progression or context. The film looks great, the filmmakers obviously passionate and the talking head interviews are fun and informative for the most part – did you know you could hire Bruce Campbell to conduct your zombie wedding service? – but for those looking for a proper history lesson or to hear or see something that they haven’t heard or seen before then you’ll have to wait a bit longer for that particular film because this isn’t it.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Chris Ward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ONsp_bmDYXc&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published March 30, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
