In movies and stories, zombies are undead menaces that lurch around mindlessly, in search of flesh -- and braaaaaains! Where did the idea for zombies originate? Do they exist outside of fiction? Tune in to this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com to find out.
AI Summary
In this episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive into the fascinating world of zombies, exploring both the real and fictional varieties. They start with the documented cases of actual zombies from Haiti, examining the research of ethnobotanist Dr. Wade Davis who investigated zombie powder, voodoo practices, and real people who claimed to have been zombified and buried alive. The hosts then transition into pop culture zombies, tracing their evolution from George Romero's groundbreaking "Night of the Living Dead" through modern zombie films, and even discuss a Canadian mathematician's study on whether humanity could actually survive a zombie apocalypse.
28 Days Later
2002
1h 53m
★ 7.2
"Well, like 28 days later is technically not a zombie movie because no one who is a zombie is a zombie is actually dead. — Mentioned to distinguish between infected people and actual undead zombies."
— Chuck
Evil Dead II
1987
1h 24m
★ 7.5
"Or, uh, evil dead. Yes. Two. Dead by dawn. Dead by dawn. — Referenced when discussing zombie body parts that continue to move after being severed."
— Josh
"What kind of makes sense? You know, was it Futurama that had the different heads in the jars — Referenced when discussing the concept of preserving just the brain/head for reanimation."
— Josh
Night of the Comet
1984
1h 35m
★ 6.2
"I love night of the comet. By the way, I just want to go on record. — Chuck expresses his fondness for this 1980s zombie/apocalypse film despite acknowledging it was dated."
— Chuck
Night of the Living Dead
1968
1h 36m
★ 7.6
"Mr. George A. Romero pretty much set the scene for all zombie movies to follow — Discussed as the foundational zombie film that established the rules for all subsequent zombie movies."
— Josh
Re-Animator
1985
1h 26m
★ 7.0
"Chuck, let me talk about one of my favorite zombies. Okay. Reanimator. Did you see it? — Josh discusses this H.P. Lovecraft-based film as one of his favorite zombie movies."
— Josh
Resident Evil
2002
1h 40m
★ 6.7
"Resident Evil, the game. They had some herky jerky fast moving zombies, right? — Referenced when discussing different types of zombie movement in various media."
— Josh
The Return of the Living Dead
1985
1h 31m
★ 7.2
"That actually, uh, came later. That was largely, uh, return of the living dead from 1985 — Discussed as the film that introduced the concept of zombies specifically wanting to eat brains."
— Josh
The Serpent and the Rainbow
1988
1h 38m
★ 6.4
"That was serpent in the rainbow, right? Yeah. What was it? 1987? Yeah. West Craven flick. — Referenced when discussing the real zombie research that inspired Wes Craven's film about Haitian zombies."
— Josh
"So Michael Jackson and his cohorts can't get in. Nice. You like that? — Referenced in the context of barricading against zombies, alluding to the famous music video."
— Josh
Zombieland
2009
1h 27m
★ 7.3
"He was during the making of Zombie Land when he blamed, remember, he attacked those photographers? — Mentioned when discussing Woody Harrelson's legal troubles during the filming of the zombie comedy."
— Josh
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