Upcoming documentary Doc of the Dead will explore the ways zombies have shambled from the movie screen into our everyday lives.
"Zombies are definitely part of mainstream culture now," says Repo Man director Alex Cox in the first trailer for the movie. "I mean, there can hardly be anybody left who hasn't seen a zombie movie by now."
But Doc of the Dead, currently in production and seeking funding through Kickstarter, will do much more than look at zombie movies. From the zombie walk phenomenon to the face-eating "bath salts" nightmare in Miami, director Alexandre O. Philippe and his crew are looking to approach the undead from wide frame of reference.
"The Zombie Apocalypse seems to be on everybody's lips these days," says the Doc of the Dead Kickstarter page. "Should we categorize it as fiction, dismiss it as far-fetched paranoia, or speculate about it as a plausible scenario? We, at Exhibit A Pictures, believe there's never been a better time to release an epic, comprehensive and contemporary cinematic celebration of Zombie Culture."
Perhaps nobody is better suited for the task. Philippe previously turned his camera on Star Wars geeks for 2010 documentary The People vs. George Lucas. It was a shrewd move: He asked fans and collectors to submit their own Star Wars tributes, and used the crowdsourced material to turn the film into a fascinating look at Star Wars fandom.
For his zombie investigation, he's already interviewed Cox, godfather of the dead George A. Romero, Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg, Toronto Zombie Walk creator Thea Munster and the Zombie Research Society's Matt Mogk. And Phillipe's once again asking fans to submit their best videos (.pdf).
"Please send us anything you might have that's zombie-related, whether live-action or animated films, documentary footage, interviews or artwork," reads the Doc of the Dead submission page. "Anything (fact or fiction) related to the upcoming zombie apocalypse and how to deal with it would also be great!"
See the first trailer for Doc of the Dead, which will be co-hosted by Red Letter Media's Mr. Plinkett and Geekscape's Jonathan London, below.
