Nazi zombies

Horror trope
Nazi zombies are common in art and popular culture. Here they can be seen in an art exhibition by Jake and Dinos Chapman.

Nazi zombies are a horror trope found in films, video games, and comic books. Nazi zombie narratives usually feature undead Nazi soldiers resurrected to fight for the Third Reich. The book Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Low-Brow Cinema and Culture described the genre as a small theme of horror films.[1]

The first Nazi zombies films King of the Zombies and Revenge of the Zombies were produced during World War II.[2] Nazisploitation began to appear concurrently in other film subgenres.[3] These include a mini-invasion of Nazi zombie films such as Shock Waves, Night of the Zombies, Zombie Lake and Oasis of the Zombies.[3][4] The increased popularity of the zombie film in the 2000s increased interest in the Nazi zombie subgenre, with films such as Horrors of War, Dead Snow, and Frankenstein's Army.[5] More modern films such as Overlord, continue the Nazi zombie film genre.[6] Nazi Zombies also feature in the Wolfenstein series, Call of Duty series, and Sniper Elite series of video games.[7]

Selected media featuring Nazi zombies

Films

Title Director Year Notes Ref.
King of the Zombies Jean Yarbrough 1941 [8][9]
Revenge of the Zombies Steve Sekely 1943 [10][9]
They Saved Hitler's Brain David Bradley 1963 Also known as The Madmen of Mandoras [11][12]
The Frozen Dead Herbert J. Leder 1966 [13][14]
Shock Waves Ken Wiederhorn 1977 [15]
Zombie Lake Julian de and Jean Rollin 1981 [16][17][18]
Night of the Zombies Joel M. Reed 1981 [3]
Oasis of the Zombies Jesús Franco 1982 [19]
Hard Rock Zombies Krishna Shah 1985 [20]
Devil Story Bernard Launois 1986 [21][22]
The Ginseng King Chu-Chin Wang 1989 [23]
Operation Nazi Zombies David B. Steart III 2003 Also known as Maplewood [24][unreliable source?][25]
Horrors of War Peter John Ross and John Witney 2006 [26]
Outpost Steve Barker 2008 [27]
Dead Snow Tommy Wirkola 2009 [28][29]
First Squad Ashino 2009 [30][31]
War of the Dead Marko Makilaakso 2011 [32]
Attack of the Herbals David Ryan Keith 2011 [33]
Outpost: Black Sun Steve Barker 2012 [34]
Nazi Zombie Death Tales Pat Higgins 2013 Also known as Angry Nazi Zombies [35]
Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz Steve Barker 2013 [36]
Frankenstein's Army Richard Raaphorst 2013 [36]
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead Tommy Wirkola 2014 [37]
Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead Luca Boni and Marco Ristori 2015 [38]
Overlord Julius Avery 2018 [6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Magilow (2012). Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Low-Brow Cinema and Culture. A&C Black. p. 249. ISBN 978-1441183590.
  2. ^ Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. McFarland. p. 69. ISBN 978-0786461639.
  3. ^ a b c Magilow (2012). Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Low-Brow Cinema and Culture. A&C Black. p. 72. ISBN 978-1441183590.
  4. ^ Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. McFarland. p. 69. ISBN 978-0786461639.
  5. ^ Magilow, Daniel H.; Silverman, Lisa (2015). Holocaust Representations in History: An Introduction. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 978-1472513007.
  6. ^ a b Ordoña, Michael (November 8, 2018). "'Overlord' promises Nazis and zombies but delivers disappointment". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  7. ^ Howerton, Ross (June 11, 2019). "Where Do all these Nazi Zombies Even Come from Anyway?". Parallax Media. Parallax Media. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  8. ^ "King of the Zombies". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Dendle, Peter (2012). Zombie Movie Encyclopedia: 2000–2010. McFarland. pp. 256–. ISBN 9780786492886. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Revenge of the Zombies". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  11. ^ Magilow (2012). Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Low-Brow Cinema and Culture. A&C Black. p. 97. ISBN 978-1441183590.
  12. ^ "THE MADMEN OF MANDORAS". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  13. ^ Dowell, John A.; Miller, Cynthia J. (6 December 2017). Horrific Humor and the Moment of Droll Grimness in Cinema. Lexington Books. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-1498565004.
  14. ^ Green, Paul (2017). Encyclopedia of Weird War Stories: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media. McFarland. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-1476666723.
  15. ^ "Shock Waves". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  16. ^ "Le Lac des morts-vivants". bifi.fr (in French). Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  17. ^ Lucas, Tim (July–August 2013). "Discs in Depth". Video Watchdog. Cincinnati, Ohio: 65.
  18. ^ Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. McFarland. p. 69. ISBN 978-0786461639.
  19. ^ Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. McFarland. p. 69. ISBN 978-0786461639.
  20. ^ Magilow (2012). Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide. Chicago Review Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-1569766835.
  21. ^ Russell (2015). Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema. FAB Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-1903254332.
  22. ^ "Devil Story (1985)". AllMovie. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  23. ^ Dendle, Peter (2010). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. McFarland. p. 75. ISBN 978-0786463671.
  24. ^ "Zombie Movie Review - Operation: Nazi Zombies". 29 May 2012.
  25. ^ Green (2017). Encyclopedia of Weird War Stories: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media. McFarland & Co Inc. pp. 137–138. ISBN 978-1476666723.
  26. ^ Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. McFarland. p. 69. ISBN 978-0786461639.
  27. ^ Pulliam, June Michele; Fonseca, Anthony J. (2014). Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth. ABC-CLIO. p. 181. ISBN 978-1440803895.
  28. ^ "Død Snø". Filmweb (in Norwegian). Filmweb AS. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  29. ^ "Review: Nazi zombies lead to 'Dead Snow'". San Francisco Gate. July 17, 2009.
  30. ^ "Fantastic Fest Review: First Squad". Film School Rejects. November 3, 2009.
  31. ^ "First Squad". Fantastic fest. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  32. ^ "War of the Dead". Toronto After Dark. Archived from the original on February 1, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  33. ^ "Film Review:Attack of the Herbals (2011)". Horror News. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  34. ^ "Outpost:Black Sun". Sitges Film Festival. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  35. ^ "ANGRY NAZI ZOMBIES (2012)". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  36. ^ a b Watson, David (September 2013). "The 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival". The British Journal of General Practice. 63 (614): 488–489. doi:10.3399/bjgp13X671768. PMC 3750791.
  37. ^ Cooper, Tracie. "Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)". AllMovie. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  38. ^ "Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead (2015)". AllMovie. Retrieved August 1, 2020.