Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Blistering performances.

Spoiler Alert: A few key scenes I mention may be considered spoilers.This is a wonderfully entertaining and informative documentary about the literary and historical evolution of the zombie from a folk lore creature to it's current pop-culture status.It contains both interviews with famous zombie directors and writers as well as original content created to illustrate certain points the film maker set out to explain. My personal favorite (spoilers) are clips from my favorite serial killer and movie critique Mr. Plinkett (red letter media).Catchy music, uplifting message, and over all highly entertaining. A must see for any zombie fan.

Doc of the Dead (2014) *** (out of 4) Did we really need another documentary about zombies? Well, yes, actually because this one here looks at the zombie film from a new perspective. Over the past five years or so the zombie movies and television shows have become more popular than any other monster so this documentary takes a look at the recent phenomenon and asks why.Of course, we also take a quick look at zombie history where we learn about WHITE ZOMBIE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and of course how everything changed with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD. From here we see clips from THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and the current crop of things like The Walking Dead. George Romero, Bruce Campbell, Greg Nicotero, Alex Cox, Tom Savini, Joanna Angel, Stuart Gordon, John Russo, Simon Pegg, Judith O'Dea and Robert Kirkman are just a few of the people interviewed.Overall this is a pretty good look at the recent zombie movement. If you're unfamiliar with some of the older movies then you're going to get a good education on them. The highlight of this is just the debates about whether it's better to be a slow or a fast zombie. Then we get some nice discussions about zombie walks and even zombie weddings. If you're a fan of zombies then you'll find yourself entertained.

As others have stated, this film doesn't delve too deeply into zombie "history", and contains very little insight into international zombie lore (except that which directly affected the evolution of the modern 'Hollywood' zombie). What this film really examines is zombies of modern American pop culture, and how this "zombie craze" that's sweeping the nation came to be. So if you're looking to be educated in zombie lore through the ages and from around the globe...look elsewhere. If, like me, you're simply a fan of Hollywood zombies and the films/shows/etc. that sparked a pop- culture phenomenon the likes of which the world has never seen...then I highly recommend you watch this film. It features interviews with pretty much EVERY recognizable name from modern zombie cinema, including George Romero; Simon Pegg; Greg Nicotero; Tom Savini; and even Judith O'Dea (a.k.a 'Barbra' from Romero's original Night of the Living Dead). I had the pleasure of meeting Judith O'Dea a few years ago at a zombie festival in my small hometown where I was working security...and she actually sat with me as we watched a screening of 'Night of the Living Dead', and gave me a running commentary throughout the movie...which, for a horror fan and overall film junkie like me...was awesome. We spoke in-depth that day about this zombie sensation that's sweeping the nation...and one thing became VERY CLEAR: whether you're a fan or NOT...American zombie films, TV show's, comic books, etc., have had a HUGE impact on modern society.I don't think anyone can ever know WHY we're so obsessed with the living dead...not definitively...but 'Doc of the Dead' will certainly leave you with a slightly elevated understanding of the phenomenon, and entertain you in the process.

The definitive zombie culture documentary? Brought to the screen by the makers of "The People vs. George Lucas".My biggest issue is that this film seems to want to cover both the zombie culture and the film history. There are segments where a first-person camera angle has a man in a zombie outbreak that was completely unnecessary.The film says we all "collectively agree" the zombie film started with "White Zombie" (1932). That seems a bit late to me, but I cannot think of an earlier example. There is some good discussion of Haitian zombies, though it might have been nice to have a clip from "Serpent an the Rainbow".As we all seem to agree, George Romero changed everything, even though his creatures were introduced as "ghouls" and not zombies. His creature introduced the idea of being turned by a bite. And, of course, "Dawn of the Dead" is the pinnacle of zombie film. And we must recognize the parallel between Bub (Howard Sherman) and Frankenstein's monster (Boris Karloff). Sadly, he went downhill after that.One commentator suggests the idea of a widespread apocalypse got more popular after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Is this true? Perhaps. But I think it also just became more and more affordable to make films as we have switched to cheap digital.Another reviewer pointed out there is a complete lack of Italian horror in this film. Good point. How influential they were to the overall culture today is debatable, but certainly Fulci's "Zombi" is among the biggest of its time and worth mentioning alongside Romero.