Doc of the Dead - Blu-ray

Film: Everywhere the undead are currently rising from their graves to teach their inclined audience the fear in movies, TV series, books, video games or comics. But where does this zombie boom actually come from? To whom do we owe the image of the classic zombie? And what is scarier - the slow shuffling or the running zombies? Alexandre O. Philippe explores these and many other questions about zombies in his highly entertaining documentary Doc of the Dead. In the process, he was able to secure the help of numerous experts. For example, George A. Romero, the Godfather of Zombies, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg or World War Z author Max Brooks speak out in front of the camera, accompanied by numerous film clips and contributions shot specifically for this documentary.

Doc of the Dead also asks essential questions - such as whether the traditional slow-shuffling zombies are scarier than the modern running undead. There's also advice on how best to behave in the event of a zombie apocalypse, with author Max Brooks having very specific ideas on that. And you learn that there are actually people who make their money selling survival packs for a zombie apocalypse.

With plenty of humor and self-deprecation, the entire zombie genre and all its excesses are scrutinized here. Passionate fans, who make themselves up for hours for zombie walks taking place all over the world and amateur filmmakers may not be missing there of course. One of the best stories, however, Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell has to tell about a very special wedding in which he took on a truly unusual role.

Doc of the Dead is a very likeable documentary that is absolutely worth watching and has some extremely amusing, but also really interesting moments to offer, especially for horror freaks. A must see for those who love the genre but don't take it too beastly seriously. On the other hand, those who expect more of a factual, fact-only documentary will be rather disappointed. Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture quality depends on the source material shown. In the interview sequences, the image sharpness is at a very high level and also in terms of colors and contrasts there is nothing to complain about. In the case of archive footage, on the other hand, there may be some minor smudging or blurring. Overall, however, the picture quality leaves just as good an impression as the sound, which is only available in the original English audio, which conveys the voices of all interviewees powerfully and well understandable from the speakers. Good!

Extras: The disc has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: Doc of the Dead is the perfect companion documentary to the current zombie boom. When zombie experts like cult director George A. Romero, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, and Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg ponder the undead, review their cinematic history, or consider how best to behave in a zombie apocalypse, it's just a lot of fun for interested genre fans. The fact that the Blu-ray has no extras to offer besides the rather short main film is only marginally a negative due to the high entertainment value of the documentary. Absolutely recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp