Horror fans love a solid doc on the history of the genre, whether it’s something straightforward like “Nightmares In Red, White, And Blue,” an out-there offering like Rodney Ascher‘s “Room 237,” or the Shudder series “Horror Noire.” But Maya Annik Bedward‘s “Black Zombie” may be the best kind of horror doc of all: a meticulously researched and in-depth look at a sub-genre through a very specific lens.
In this case, Bedward unpacks the zombie genre, tracing the mythology of zombies from their origins in Haitian Vodou to their evolution into a trope that both dissects and distorts Black history. And NYC/LA residents, take note that “Black Zombie” hits your cities before the doc reaches the rest of the country later this Fall.
Here’s an official synopsis for “Black Zombie,” courtesy of Kino Lorber:
BLACK ZOMBIE digs beneath the blood-soaked spectacle of modern horror to uncover the zombie’s buried and unsettling origins. Long before it became associated with flesh-eating ghouls, the zombie was a living metaphor for slavery: not a monster, but the ultimate victim of colonial power. A symbol of stolen agency was recast as an object of fear, while Black spiritual traditions were distorted, sensationalized, and erased. Director Maya Annik Bedward traces the evolution of the zombie from colonial Haiti to contemporary Hollywood, reconsidering iconic films like WHITE ZOMBIE, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW alongside archival footage, vérité scenes, and interviews with cultural historians, artists, and genre legends including Yves-Grégory Francois, Mambo Labelle Déesse, Slash, Tom Savini, and Zandashé Brown. Part cultural reckoning, part horror remix, BLACK ZOMBIE exposes how a figure born from enslavement, spiritual belief, and resistance was transformed into one of pop culture’s most profitable monsters.
“Black Zombie” features interviews with Yves-Grégory Francois, Tananarive Due, Mambo Labelle Déesse, Slash, Tom Savini, Zandashé Brown, and more.
Bedward writes and directs “Black Zombie,” and also produces the film with Hannah Donegan and Kate Fraser. Executive producers on the film include Jennifer Holness, Michael Paszt, Andrew Thomas Hunt, James Fler, and Slash.
“Black Zombie” had its world premiere at SXSW 2026 in March, and its Canadian premiere the following month at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Bedward also won the Northern Excellence Award for Canadian Filmmaking at the Fantasia International Film Festival earlier this summer.
“Black Zombie” hits Quad Cinema in NYC and Laemmle’s Nuart Theatre in LA on September 11 before expanding nationwide later this Fall. Watch a trailer for the film below.
