Maya Annik Bedward’s documentary Black Zombie traces the real-world origins of cinematic zombies from Haitian Vodou and the horrors of enslavement to Hollywood’s commercial co-optation. Kino Lorber released the trailer for Black Zombie on Wednesday, August 12. The film opens September 11. The film premiered at South by Southwest in March. It also played Hot Docs Canada, Fantasia and Blackstar Film Festival.
Maya Annik Bedward Directs Black Zombie
Horror has had its ups and downs over the decades, but the zombie subgenre has remained consistent. Whether it’s television sensations like The Last of Us or The Walking Dead, cinematic chillers like Night of the Living Dead or the 28 Days Later franchise, or even pop culture staples like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” society seems to live for the undead. Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie is arriving later this month, and another 28 Years Later entry is gobbling brains on the horizon. Now that Halloween is creeping closer, scary-movie fans will plan re-watches of George A. Romero’s classics and all the tales of undead flesh-eaters that followed in his wake. Yet Black Zombie, directed by Canadian filmmaker Maya Annik Bedward, uncovers a deeper history. The documentary demonstrates how the cinematic zombie originated from the brutality of enslavement in Haiti, where human beings endured a living death under colonial rule. In Bedward’s skilled hands, we understand how the term “zombies” originated from the horrors of enslavement, a time when Black individuals were trapped in a form of living death.
Tracing the History from Saint-Domingue to Hollywood Cinema
William Seabrook and Wade Davis in Black Zombie
Black Zombie is loosely organized into chapters, starting with “The Crossing,” which takes us back to 1790s Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was known during its time as a French colony that amassed great wealth on the backs of enslaved people. Bedward arrived at Black Zombie out of pure curiosity, she explained to Dread Central. A lot of my personal passions have stemmed from me wanting to have a better sense of where I come from and my ancestry,
the filmmaker told me over Zoom. I’m a history nerd, and I was always really frustrated in school when I wanted to learn more about Black history, especially here in the Americas before colonialism,
she continued. Often, people would say we just don’t have a record of that, and I found that really frustrating.
This led her to learn more about diasporic practices such as Santería, Obeah, and vodou. Bedward was shocked, just like I was watching her documentary, to find the connection between zombies and Haitian vodou. I was like, ‘How do I not know that?’,
adding that she was “blown away” to discover how Hollywood had taken the zombie myth, run away with it, and caused vodou and other African Traditional Religions (ATRs) to be misconstrued as evil.
The narrative then shifts to how these cultural roots were distorted for Western entertainment. The documentary effectively documents how the works of white authors such as William Seabrook (whose controversial book Magic Island was adapted into White Zombie, the first film to feature zombies on screen) and Canadian Wade Davis (whose book The Serpent and the Rainbow was adapted by Wes Craven) were instrumental in fostering negative images perpetuated in movies like Live and Let Die.
Interviews and Perspectives Shaping the Documentary
Tom Savini and Slash Interviewed by Maya Annik Bedward
To unpack this complex legacy, Bedward weaves together a riveting historical quilt that captures the impact of colonialism on Haiti, and the reverberation still felt in Hollywood to this day. Incorporating interviews with famed guitarist Slash, film historian Tananarive Due, special effects artist and actor Tom Savini, filmmaker Zandashé Brown and more, Black Zombie offers a well-rounded look at both the zombie phenomenon and Vodou culture in an easily digestible format. Additional interview subjects include Yves-Grégory Francois, Anderson Mojica, Erol Josué, and Mambo Labelle Déesse Botanica. Tom Savini, who created the zombie makeup for George Romero’s films, is included. Among Bedward’s interview subjects is a Vodou priest who’s clearly been burned by past projects in a similar vein, telling the director he wants to believe that her film won’t just be another exploitative text, but he’s not sure if he can trust her. Watching the finished film, it’s clear Bedward’s intentions were to educate and illuminate, which she does through a raft of interviews, film clips, reenactments, documentary footage, and clever moments of animation.
For Slash, the enduring appeal of the genre comes down to relentless pursuit. You could run as fast as you wanted,
Slash says. They would always get you.
The trailer features additional speakers about Haitian zombie mythology and modern dancers of the Vodou movement.
Reclaiming Vodou and Re-evaluating Horror Tropes
Kino Lorber Releases Black Zombie in Theaters
Showing how the fear of Blackness has long been woven into entertainment, the fight for civil rights and anti-migrant sentiment, the documentary challenges audiences to recontextualize the stereotypes, especially around Vodou, they frequently consume in film and television. In its most compelling moments, Bedward’s film reclaims the historical importance and cultural significance of Vodou, a spiritual practice that has long been bastardized by Hollywood. Giving a voice back to those who have long practiced Vodou, Bedward presents a religion steeped in a rich history of faith, community and survival.
Following its festival run across South by Southwest, Hot Docs Canada, Fantasia, and Blackstar Film Festival, Kino Lorber brings Black Zombie to theaters on September 11.
