Zombies Through the Years - The Pop Culture Evolution of the Undead

Did you know that the first ever zombie film was made in 1932 and was called “White Zombie”? It was followed by the film “Revolt of the Zombies” four years later, beginning a pop culture trend that is still popular to this day.

From “Night of the Living Dead” to “Shaun of the Dead”, zombies are a huge part of our culture. They appear in movies, television shows, zombie-attack-recreation experiences such as those offered by wish.co.uk and video games and there is a lot of zombie folklore surrounding how they originate and what they are capable of. There are even zombie dolls, action figures, t-shirts, mugs and all sorts of other zombie memorabilia. If you search the internet for zombies, you will find hundreds of websites about their history, folklore, capabilities and of course, what to do in a hypothetical zombie attack.

The Long and Interesting History of Zombie Media

This interesting infographic takes a look at the history of zombies in films and video games, from the very first B-movie horror films to the most recent new releases. It looks at why zombies have appeared in so many popular stories and why we find them so incredibly terrifying. Perhaps it’s the idea of the slowly limping undead creatures being hungry for human flesh, or the fear that once you are bitten you will quickly become one of them?

Also, in the 1990s there originated the trend of the “Funny Zombie Movie”. Instead of being always terrified of the concept of zombies, we have also found a way to laugh at them. A great example of this is “Shaun of the Dead”, in which the title character doesn’t recognise a zombie invasion right away because the local people in his town just mindlessly lurch around moaning all the time anyway. It’s a brilliant satire on modern culture, as well as being both scary and humorous at the same time.

While some like to laugh at zombies in films like “Shaun of the Dead”, other horror film fans love to be scared out of their minds by the truly violent, blood-thirsty, brain-hungry zombies of the horror films. If you are looking for a few ideas for films to watch on a scary movie night, this infographic lists all of the classics as well as a few that you might not have heard of before.

Take a look and find out more about the zombies that have staggered and lurched their way across the silver screen over the years. This infographic highlights a lot of great zombie films, some that are funny, some terrifying and some really old and cheesy – but still really fun to walk. It’s interesting to see how the zombie of the silver screen has evolved over the years and how filmmakers have found ways to make them even more terrifying to audiences. What’s your favourite zombie film?

If you like this interesting zombie infographic, feel free to share it with your other zombie-fan friends.




Chris Hoole is an avid Zombie film lover and knows pretty much every film made that is worth watching on the subject!