Customer Reviews

The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're a zombie film-lover wondering whether this volume is worth the hardcover price, simply click the "buy" button and get it over with. Once it's in your hands, you'll forget about the cost and enjoy several hours of great reading - as well as a reference you'll return to again and again.

Dendle provides several scholarly (yet not stuffy) pages of historical overview and then delves into a film-by-film analysis that had me re-visiting and re-appreciating my own video library and then running out to buy those films I know knew I could not live without. As any zombie film fanatic knows, we can spend lots of money and sit through hundreds of wasted hours before finding a diamond in the rough. Dr. Dendle's done the work for you - all you have to do now is find the films.

The ZOMBIE MOVIE ENCYCLOPEDIA is by no means complete - while the author visits many films that have even the slightest zombie connection (e.g., WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S PART 2), he misses out on others altogether that could easily fall into the zombie genre (e.g., John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS or Lamberto Bava's DEMONS films). Still, there's no way any of us can see them all and Dendle appears to have seen and reviewed more than anyone else.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. Ignore the cheesy cover art. Don't worry about the price. If you love zombie films, this will immediately become your primary reference source. As a matter of fact, buy two - every zombie fanatic seems to have a friend who's just as devoted to the genre - and this will make a great gift.

This is a first-rate piece of work. There are not many encyclopedias around which I would read cover-to-cover, but this is one. Not only is it informative, it is witty and entertaining to read - and peppered with delicious stills from the films.

Dendle really seems to know his stuff. Clearly, there have been more than a few late nights in front of the TV for this one - but where he was able to see some of these films, I really couldn't guess. He must have a video collection to-die-for (hee hee hee).

But seriously, Dendle gives his subject matter its due reverence, which, he freely admits, in some cases, is not much. But his object is not to provide a list of great zombies; rather, it is to chronicle the growth of this horror-film staple from its origins to the present day. But this, as he points out in a very insiteful introduction, is a mirror for wider American anxieties - from the racial fears implict in the films of the 30s and 40s to the 80s and 90s plague anxiety.

I strongly recommend this work not just to zombie film enthusiasts but to movie enthusiasts in general. It is the chroncile of a sub-genre in horror films but it is also a reflection of the fears of 20th century America.

This book is a must be for anyone fan of zombie movies or horror fans, the movies are well described and commented, all classical zombies movies are there, although a few zombies movies (or realted) are missing but the final result is extremely positive and fullfill a gap in the genre. Anyone searching information on zombies movies will find this book a great help.

Dr. Peter Dendle's the, "Zombie Movie Encyclopedia," is the definitive reference for everyone that ever wanted to know anything about zombies. Whether it be movie history and evolution, or lore of the Zombie and its origins; It's all in there and it reads wonderfully. Dr. Dendle put a considerable amount of time into this book, and it shows in his excellent writing and the wealth of information which is contained within this Encyclopedia. Highly recommended! +:-)

Peter Dendle, The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia (McFarland, 2001)

Dendle tries to come up with an exhaustive compendium of zombie flicks and review them all. He does quite a good job with the reviews (there are some laugh-out-loud funny one-liners, and the requisite pack of odd bits of trivia that only dedicated film fans would know), but he does miss a few major films (Bio-Zombie and Wild Zero being the first two that come to mind) and a slew of minor ones. That aside, though, what's here is a great way for the zombie movie fan to find a number of releases he or she probably missed over the years and commence hunting them down. Dendle's views are at times refreshingly counter to the norm (he finds use for Oasis of the Zombies, for example, and considers Fulci's Zombi 2 superior to the same director's The Beyond), and overall this is a valuable addition to the book collection of any horror film fiend. *** ½

Covers all great Zombie movies i can think of, a must for Zombie fans, and Horror fans alike, a great read for the Un-Dead.

Very thorough reference for lovers of the ZOMBIE genre. Can't say I always agree with the author, but his synopses/reviews are extremely well-written and well fleshed-out (sorry). If you love movies featuring unearthed, cannibalistic, slow-moving zomboids, then this will make the perfect top-of-the-t.v. guide.

I am only a casual zombie scholar. I mean, I've read my Brooks, and I am of course familiar with the oeuvre of Romero. But I am only a third-degree expert and far from the elite ranks of geekier obsessives. So while I believe this is a fairly exhaustive work, I can't state with certainty that the author has dredged up every last zombie flick.

To all appearances, though, he's been very successful, and has done more than find every American iteration on this theme--he's also identified plenty of international stuff, from the well-known Spanish and Italian efforts to more obscure offerings from Mexico, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. Included are flicks about both major zombie kindreds--your voodoo slave-types and the more culturally prominent shambling brain-eaters.

The film (and TV episode) listings are a bit idiosyncratic. Some movies get barely a sentence, while others more clearly capture the author's interest and get lengthier treatment. Generally he affects a jocular and light-hearted air, being unafraid, for instance, of dismissing an entire cast as a bunch of "poindexters", and getting downright silly in captioning some of the photos. Not that this is a bad thing.

The book is not quite ten years old, but it unfortunately already feels dated. There was no way, of course, to foresee the recent zombie renaissance that was kicked off by the "Dawn of the Dead" remake and "28 Days Later". There have been plenty more where those came from--at this year's Fantastic Fest, for instance, not only was "Zombieland" screened, along with a new Romero entry, but there was also the low-budget "Revenant" and the even lower-budget "Yesterday", not to mention ads for "Pontypool". So the genre is alive (well, maybe "unalive") and well, for sure, and an updated edition would have plenty of new material to cover. Not sure why the zeitgeist has recently been so open to both zombies and vampires, but that would make a nice topic for the author to explore next time.

Maybe I don't know much about Zombies, but I do know funny, and that's just what Peter Dendle's Zombie Encyclopedia is. From zombie classics to episodes of the Simpsons to obscure musicals, Peter seems to cover everything. I can only imagine the late-night zombie movie fests, the video rental late fees, and the hours of thinking "wait, is this pun too punny? I mean, I want this to be scholarly afterall." Well, Pete. It is scholarly. It's tight; it's witty; it's so...you.

While I enjoyed this book and found it to be very comprehensive, I do think it a tad overpriced at $35.

It isn't very long, and the short entries about the film and TV episodes make it most suitable for bathroom reading.

I recommend it, but think it would be better value as a paperback, if it is ever issued as one.