Not long ago, it seemed like anyone with a camera and a vague understanding of horror films was producing genre-specific documentaries. Stars like Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror made circles around other attempts at shallow puddles like The found footage phenomenon. Even more heralded titles, around 5 years old, have never seen the light of day (yet), despite lucrative crowdfunding campaigns and heralded talent. In short, when the iron was hot, many filmmakers attempted to strike, and few did so with a lasting impression. Apprehension was inevitable before Maya Annik Bedward’s arrest. Black Zombiebut my fears were quickly dashed – it’s one of the best horror documentaries I’ve seen in a minute.
This isn’t another quick look at the undead. Bedward’s intentions are anthropological, citing the noir origins of zombie cinema, particularly as a demonization of Haitian people and cultures. Assembled is a smaller gallery of talking heads than usual, but we know we’re in good hands when author and film historian Tananarive Due shows up right off the bat to drop his knowledge. Where documentarians like those behind Doc of the Dead mention White Zombie before the AMCs The Walking Dead or George A. Romero monopolizes the time, Bedward takes into account and stays on the ugliest beginnings of zombie cinema.
Black Zombie is rich in historical context, seeing horror through the black experience. Specifically, Bedward includes Haitian spiritualists and scholars who have seen Hollywood vilify Haitian Vodou traditions. The work of tourist journalists William Seabrook and Wade Davis placed white men at the center of black stories – for which other white men purchased the film rights, only for other white men to misrepresent Haitians as these mystical monsters from an untamed land. Movies like White Zombie And The snake and the rainbow are shocked by new readings, as Haitians explain how damaging these representations remain.
Knowledge is power in Black Zombie. Speakers connect horror cinema to Haiti’s tumultuous timeline, from slavery in cotton fields to the Haitian Revolution to economic punishments for an uprising that liberated Haiti from French colonial rule. Black Zombie it’s not just about dissecting films and themes as a critique; Bedward believes it is very important to remind ourselves of the impact of media beyond entertainment. Haiti’s difficulties are directly linked to Hollywood stereotypes of voodoo as evil, a bastardization that is continually exploited. Bedward asks Haitian singer Erol Josué: “What do you think of my film?” And he responds, in such a sharp tone: “I want to trust you.” Hollywood has failed them, other countries have failed them, and it’s so hard to hear a Haitian in 2026 still not convinced that voodoo can be presented as peaceful, moving and beautiful by non-Haitians.
This is the beauty of Black Zombie. Instead of being another redundant at-a-glance documentary on the zombie genre, it focuses on an often forgotten and well-explained topic. Rock ‘n’ roll legend Slash and Zombie Walk founder Thea Munster provide context as zombie movie fans; the goremaster Tom Savini and Night of the Living Dead co-writer John A. Russo provides commentary on the industry, but the film spends much more time on the foreign-influenced Haitian experience. The entire identity of zombies as a parallel to otherness – hordes of brain-dead corpses, stripped of their humanity, breaking down the doors of wealthy white families – is reduced to the Haitian zombie and voodoo. Bedward has a clear motivation as a documentarian and never loses his perspective; she holds Hollywood responsible for the gross generalizations launched against the Haitian people.
Black Zombie is an informative, passionate and insightful documentary that goes much deeper than the average sub-genre clip show. To appreciate the horror genre is to understand its origins; Bedward builds on fragile roots that have been buried beneath pop culture tradition. George A. Romero is considered the “Godfather of the Dead,” but the flesh-eating zombies who have taken over theaters have a darker past that, when overlooked, erases the black experience. Bedward’s narrative is as much about preservation as it is about recognition and reevaluation, at a time when Haitians remain under fire from corrupt regimes that exploit societal fears of the “other” for their own personal gain. This is why documentaries like Black Zombie are so important in today’s landscape because bigotry will always exist. The more education the masses receive, the better equipped we are to combat weaponized misrepresentations intended to stoke fear of the “Other,” lest revolution ultimately break out.
Rating: 4/5
