The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia

by Peter J. Dendle

Zombies are cautionary forms of humankind's most universally cherished ideal--life after death. Ragged, ill-spoken, rotting zombies (or the post-dead ) seem socially awkward beside the more popular and aristocratic undead , like Count Dracula. The humble zombie remains, for the most part, unappreciated and unacknowledged--until now. The first exhaustive historical overview of zombie films, this book's lengthy entries evaluate more than 200 movies from 16 countries over a 65-year period from the early 1930s to the late 1990s. It covers everything from large studio films to backyard videography, and touches on memorable television episodes and miscellaneous shorts. An introduction traces the evolution of the genre and interprets the broader significance of the zombie in contemporary Western mythology.

Genres: Zombies, Reference, Nonfiction, Horror, Film

259 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Dr. Peter Jonathan Dendle is Assistant Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's face it: I love zombies! Zombie movies, zombie books, whatever. They're just "fun"! So when I saw that I'd won The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia through Library Thing's Early Reviewers, I thought "What fun!"

I wasn't sure what to expect, but figured it was probably your standard-type of movie listing book. Just a list of movies, year released, actors, and quick synopsis.

What I found instead was a bit more than that. The book begins with an in-depth Introduction, whereby the author explains his fascination with zombies, and then walks you through the anatomy of a zombie movie by era. For example, "The Early Film Zombie (1932-1952)" and "The Stabilizing of the Contemporary Zombie Mythos (1966-present)".

The bulk of the book is an alphabetical listing of zombie movies released 1932-1998. Each movie is listed with the Director, Producers, Screenplay Writer, Cast, and date of release, followed by the author's review and impressions of each movie.

The book ends with some additional lists and index. Appendix A is a listing by year, and Appendix B is a listing by Country. The one thing that has me perplexed is why the movie listing by year only goes up to 1998?

This seems to be a thorough listing of zombie movies from 1932-1998, and I look forward to taking the time working my way through each and every movie available from my Netflix list! Well done, Mr. Dendle!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why read: Received for review from LibraryThing Early Reviewers

What impressed me: I enjoyed that Dendle put his own voice and opinions in the reviews. It felt more personal that most movie encyclopedia reviews.

What disappointed me: The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia is terribly out of date. Why publish a book in 2010 if you haven't updated the information since it was first published in 2001? A huge amount of zombie movies have been released in that time period, all of which would be of interest to zombie movie fans. Reading the reviews, Dendle often sounds like he really doesn't like the genre. He favors a few classics, but for the most part the reviews are negative, telling potential viewers not to waste their time.

Recommended: No. I'd recommend reading any other zombie film review book as they would most likely be more up-to-date and written by someone who actually enjoys the films.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got my copy straight from Mr. Dendle himself. Great author and great book. He even covers TV appearances of zombies. An invaluable resource.

[Amy Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-issue of a hardcover book that was published in 2000, so if you're looking for an up-to-the-minute guide to zombie movies, this probably isn't the book for you. For zombie movie fans who have been keeping up with the shamblings and nibblings of our undead friends via blogs and Rotten Tomatoes and want a well-written book on the evolution of zombies in film without all the annoying "film studies"ese, this is terrific.

Dendle has some wonderful phrases and one-liners throughout his reviews. My husband is particularly taken with "Spaghetti Zombie" (in reference to Erotic Nights of the Living Dead.) To Dendle's credit, he had trouble seeing a connection between living dead and erotic; I'm glad I'm not alone there.

Zombie movie fans will enjoy Dendle's introduction as he chronicles the evolution of zombies in film around the world and what the trends reflected about fears and anxieties of the times. I consider myself quite the horror movie aficionado, but I found quite a few gems in [The Zombie Move Encyclopedia] that I've missed. I think I'll skip Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, but some of the others are definitely going on my Netflix cue. (Just as a word to the wise: if the quotes from White Zombie tempt you, don't give in. The band was exponentially cooler.)

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I won a free copy of this book, I really wasn't sure what to expect. Campy Zombie Spoof? Bizarro Fiction? Really creepy, scary stuff of nightmares? As it turns out, none of the above is the correct answer. This book starts with a fascinating study of the Zombie as it evolved from the African-Caribbean tradition to the Western Suburban Mythological tradition. Written by Peter Dendle, an Associate Professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto who focuses on the monstrous (in film, folklore, and society), this discussion of how the image of the Zombie continuously reinvents itself, reflecting the concerns, socio-political issues and paranoias of society is really intriguing.

The rest of the book is truly an encyclopedia of Dendle's reviews of Zombie-themed movies and stage productions in which he provides honest & entertaining discussions about these films. Since each review is short, they can read separately, making this one a great coffee table book to read sporadically (if you don't mind having zombies on your coffee table of course :P) . I also think it would be a lot of fun to go through the encyclopedia and watch as many of these zombie movies as possible. (Although I wonder if "Nudist Colony of the Dead" is even available anymore... :o) )

This book is fascinating and fun for those of us who love our monsters!

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing I do with a book like this, which is essentially a list of zombie movies, is to flip through the book, find all the movies I've seen, read the descriptions, and finally, check them off the list. I did not read the rest of the book; that's not how I work. I will, however, continue to read the book as I work my way through watching the rest of the movies mentioned within.

I found the descriptions I did read to be entertaining and contain a healthy dose of intelligent criticism. Dendle points out potential interpretations of my favorite zombie movies, which I had not considered before, making me think about many of these movies in a new way. This raises it above just a list of movies with descriptions, to making it something more worthwhile, something I'm definitely looking forward to eventually completing.

Considering that this book is being republished in 2010, however, a huge disparaging oversight is that The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia was not updated since its first publication. The listings only include movies up to 1999, and there have been a plethora of new zombie movies since them, such as Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, and so many more. I'm even more disappointed in this after reading a portion of the book, as it would have been fascinating to know what Dendle thought of the recent influx of zombie movies.

[Sunday Kofax]

It's a comprehensive encyclopedia of zombie movies, with astute observations in the synopses. Better yet, the introduction has a great overview of the movei genre. I'm no stranger to zombie movies, but there was plenty to learn in the intro. It's a nice cred factor to have it on your bookshelf, but it's also a great read.

[Marya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved that I have a handy reference to grab when arguments on zombie movies get heated. Wish it was more up to date, but beggars cannot be choosers.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. Found out about a ton of movies I never heard of. Alot of off the radar movies that are hard to find. Good read