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Procession of Flagellants the Inspiration for Later Zombie Processions?

posted 9 years ago by mcgryboski
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Hey all,

Recently saw this movie. One of the really unnerving scenes for me was the procession of flagellants.

The odd movements of their walking, the screams, and the almost mindless actions lacking any apparent individual freedom.

It reminded me a lot of zombie hordes I've seen in all sorts of movies and TV series later on. Is it possible this movie inspired those later scenes?

Seventh Seal was after all a fairly successful movie and it predates all the zombie flicks and shows I can think of.

[–] thesnowleopard 8 years ago

The earliest examples of Romero-type "zombies" (rather than the original Caribbean legend) actually appear over two centuries earlier than the Black Death with the Abbot of Burgh in 1090, and continue with William of Newburgh and Walter Map in the 12th century. They also have features of later vampire stories.

Whether Romero was influenced by this film (or, at least, this film alone) seems a bit unlikely, as he referred to his monsters as "ghouls" (again, not really what historical ghouls were like, but okay). But the stumbling gait of revenants is also seen in much earlier films like "I Walked with a Zombie" (1943) and "J'Accuse" (1919). It's not unique to this film.

The Historical Meow http://thesnowleopard.net