Search - The Unexplained: Zombies on DVD

Completely fascinating and bewildering zombie documentary

C. Christopher Blackshere | I am the devil's reject | 05/21/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't think of many things more creepy than a real life zombie. I'm not referring to the Hollywood version of reanimated corpses that shamble around in search of human flesh. I'm talking about an actual human being once thought dead, now alive and moving with limited motor functions and no ability to communicate. Just a soulless entity trapped inside a normal body, void of all emotional capabilities or free will. Could this be possible?

This A&E channel documentary carefully examines the Haitian culture and voodoo lore, with some bizarre testimony that will make you shudder.

The idea of a person being clinically dead and then returning to life sounds completely preposterous. But what about a person recently proclaimed dead being misdiagnosed? Hmmm...

The diagnosis obtained from several different mysterious voodoo potions all had one common element--neurotoxins from puffer fish that could allegedly cause temporary paralysis--a death-like state. Convincing enough for doctors to sign the papers and a funeral to be held.

One man claims to have been buried alive, dug up later that night, and then forced to work for years on a farm as a zombie slave. This reminded me very much of the movie WHITE ZOMBIE. Anyway, his claims are utterly nerve-rattling, as he recalls these things so very matter of factly. It will send shivers down your spine.

Skeptics will blow off such stories as simply cases of mental illnesses. When dozens of villagers claim they attended the funeral of a man that has since returned, its quickly regarded as mistaken identity. Renowned doctors (with fancy degrees) from the States have doubts that an uneducated voodoo priest could concoct these special trance-inducing potions with the precise proportions to cause the catatonic states.

True or false, this A&E documentary presents dramatic reenactments and evidence from believers and skeptics alike. At 50 minutes runtime, it is a short but compelling look into the zombie mythology. Highly recommended."