Just in time for Halloween, Glenn Kay’s Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide (published by Chicago Review Press) is a chronological account of every zombie picture the author could locate. He found many, beginning with Bela Lugosi’s White Zombie (1932) and running through Will Smith’s I Am Legend (2007). Although Kay uses the word “classic” a little too liberally, a few specimens of the horror subgenre might rise to the level of importance, especially Val Lewton’s atmospheric I Walked With the Zombie (1943), George Romero’s grizzly Night of the Living Dead (1943) and Danny Boyle’s viral update, 28 Days Later (2002). Even the author, clearly a fan if a discriminating one, admits that many of his selections are junk. A few interesting surprises do crop up. Who knew that Michael Curtiz, who went on to direct Casablanca, made a movie called The WalkingDead (1936).
