Maya Annik Bedward’s feature debut documentary Black Zombie examines the cultural roots and misappropriations there of behind one of pop culture’s most endearing monsters. It’s a profound, all encompassing work that exists simultaneously at the crossroads of history, spiritualism, cultural ethnography, and cinema.
Black Zombie traces the evolution of those titular undead creatures that have haunted cinematic cemeteries for decades back to their cultural roots in Haiti. Bedward and a selection of historians, authors, filmmakers, and Vodou practitioners draw a line connecting depictions of zombies on film and the island nation’s history of slave labour and exploitation. Fuelled in part by hysteria created in written accounts of “real life zombies” documented by writer William Seabrook and later by anthropologist Wade Davis (whose book The Serpent and the Rainbow was made into a more standard zombie movie by Wes Craven), zombies first began appearing in films around the 1930s and 40s. They were taken to another level by George A. Romero in the 1960s, and even further with today’s full blown zombie epics like World War Z, The Walking Dead, and The Last of Us. The specifics of these films and how their zombies work differ wildly, as do their connections to traditional beliefs about how they come about, but at the heart of all these stories are deeply ingrained fears about the loss of autonomy, self, and soul.
Bedward weaves the scars of slavery and the demonization of an entire nation with close readings and historical deep dives into pop culture. In Black Zombie, the scholarship and history behind Bedward’s work is a lot more fascinating and eye opening than a lot of the beats where the filmmaker talks to genre stalwarts like Tom Savini and modern celebrations of these creatures via large scale gatherings and walks. The film’s examination of Vodou is particularly insightful, especially for those unaware of how the religion came together and operates.
Once viewers are able to understand the meaning of certain rituals and beliefs, they’ll be better equipped to realize how far zombie lore has strayed from the truth, and how some depictions of them on screen are problematic. Black Zombie is great viewing for the horror buff who wants to learn more about the subject at hand. When people talk about great film and cultural criticism, it should look, feel, and sound something like Black Zombie.
Black Zombie screened as part of the 2026 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival.
