What is a Zombie Movie?

How do you know if you're watching one? It's not as simple a question as it might at first seem, because what constitutes a zombie has changed over the years and continues to evolve. Recent films such as 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead have broadened the definition beyond the walking dead to include still-living characters infected with an incurable disease that extinguishes their personalities and turns them into bloodthirsty killers. Even the classic conception of the zombie, as a corpse that rises from the grave to feed on the glash of the living - of at the very least slaughter them - became the standard only after the release of the classic 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead.

The Zombie's beginnings can be traced back much further still, to a beautiful but troubled country of Haiti. A Caribbean paradise filled with fruit and fertile soil for farming, Haiti was introduced to the European world by the Spanish, who declared the land theirs and named it Santo Domingo. Sometime later the French took control. They were noted for shipping slaves directly from Africa to work on their plantations. Conditions and the treatment of slaves were sickeningly poor, with landowners opting to maxmize profits by working them to death, literally. However, these slaves brought with them their own religious customs, which they continued to develop and expand on in their new home country. Of particular note was their practice of vodou.

Belief in vodou helped support the enslaved people in their struggle, the vodou gods protecing them from their so-called owners. As common spiritual beliefs grew among slaves, a society arose. Dances, animal sacrifices and the beating of drums became a part of the culture. Within the community, leaders and experts gained influence, further honing the use of ritual chants, poisons and potion making.

Through the use of these potions and rituals, a vodou priest was believed to be able to invoke supernatural powers. One such power was the ability to reanimate a dead human body. The resulting creature was known as a zombie, and it was characterized by slow mannerism, low intelligence and a lack of willpower or a soul. Often, zombies were believed to be under the control of the person who had caused them rise from the grave.

In 1791 slaves in the northern part of the country reportedly invoked vodou to seize control of an even greater prize - their own destinies. In a massive uprising led by the Haitian general Toussaint L'Ouverture, they violently rebelled against the wealthy French plantation owners. A famous local legend has it that the unrest was preceded by a vodou ceremony at Boius Caiman that united the participants against the government's continued proslavery stance. Their forces clashed with colonial armies sent to quash the unrest; the slaves were victorious. The French administration announced that it would finally abolish slavery in Haiti.

In 1802, howerver, Napoleton Bonaparte sent more military forces into the colony, a clear attempt by the French to reestablish slavery. While his soldiers initially made inroads, Haitian nationalists fought back and met with victory once again. By 1804 the country had won its independence from France and become the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in history. The success of the slave revolution inspired similar rebellions in such nations as the United States and Brazil. But Haiti's troubles were far from over.

Leaders came and went during the next hundred years and over time the country sank deeper into depression, debt and chaos. Many leaders were assassinated and give presidents violently rose and fell between 1910 and 1915. The last, Gen. Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, had perhaps the most tragic impact. His political opponent, Rosalvo Bobo, criticized the leader's dealings with the U.S government and began to influence others within Guillaume Sam's administration. The fearful president began executing potential threats to his power, even going so far as to have 167 political prisoners killed. When word spread, Haitian citizens revolted, turning into a unruly mob. Gen. Guillaume Sam was taken from his palace and publicly torn to pieces, which were scattered and put on triumphant display.

This gruesome scene may have led to the birth of the zombie movies, since the death of Guillaume Sam brought Haiti to the American consciousness. The U.S. government was concerned about Bobo's unfriendly stance toward the United States and frighttened by the distant possibility that German forces could easily invade the unstable nation, so in 1915 the U.S. occupation of Haiti Began.