Abstract

This article aims to examine the social and political function of zombie cinema in the years following the attacks on the World Trade Centre and during the ensuing 'War on Terror'. Recent zombie films have established a link between the zombie and the figure of the terrorist or political insurgent, but the concomitant humanisation of the zombie figure has complicated this simple association. The post-millennial cinematic zombie subverts its conventional role as representative of the cultural other. By examining several key films this article will focus on the zombie's increasing sophistication as a Gothic/horror trope; in particular, the humanising process and its consequences for the subject positioning of the audience, who are encouraged to question whether it is the zombie, or the human response to it, which provides the most significant threat.