BLACK ZOMBIE

(director/writer: Maya Annik Bedward; cinematographers: Duraid Munajim, Ricardo Diaz; editors: Avril Jacobsen, Jay Cheel, Peter Denes, Lawrence Jackman; music: David Arcus, Melissa Laveaux, Lister Haussman; cast: Yves-Gregory Francois (Vodou Priest), Erol Josue (Vodou Priest), Mambo Labelle Deese (Vodou Priestess), Slash (Musician), Tom Savini (Special Effects Artist), Zandashe Brown (Filmmaker), Joe Ollmann (Graphic novelist), John Cussans (Cultural Histian), Kaiama L. Glover (Professor of French and Art), Dominique Taffin (Director of the Foundation), John Russo (co-writer night of the Living Dead), Wade Davis (Ethnobotanist); Runtime: 93; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Maya Annik Bedward, Kate MacCallum Fraser, Hannah Donegan; Kino Lorber; 2026-Canada-in English, French, Haitian Creole)

“I think both horror film buffs and others will find this well-made film satisfying.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
An informative horror/zombie documentary skillfully directed by short film director from Canada, Maya Annik Bedward. It tells us in depth that these genre Hollywood B Films had their roots in Haitian vodou. The Hollywood zombie films came about in the 1930s through using Haiti’s history in the slave trade to tell its vodou story. It evolved with the 1968 Romero  classic Night of the Living Dead” and with Wes Craven’s 1988 The Serpent and the Rainbow. The racist parts of the the zombie films are fully covered.

The well-researched documentary makes us better informed how Hollywood made zombies a part of our pop culture. Interviews are with many in the film industry, and include guitarist Slash, film historian Tananarive Due, special effects artist and actor Tom Savini.

I think both horror film buffs and others will find this well-made film satisfying.
It played at Fantasia.

REVIEWED ON 10/31/2026  GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com