Book Review: Blood Splatter

Blood Splatter: A Guide to Cinematic Zombie Violence, Gore and Special Effects is certainly what I would call a zombie curiosity. Being still relatively new to the zombie genre and all its derivations, I am continually amazed by what people are coming up with. Magazines, self-published books, shorts, brick comics to only name a few. And just when you think you have seen it all – bam! – you get something like Blood Splatter on your plate!

Ok, enough preamble; what is Blood Splatter? From the author description it’s “A Guide to Cinematic Zombie Violence, Gore and Special Effects… a detailed look into the bloody special effects that have defined the zombie genre for decades.”

The book is divided in three main sections, I’ll try to give you an overview of each.

The first section is a 200 pages long list of Zombie movies (seriously, I did not even know there were that many out there), and for each movie you get a short synopsis and a detailed analysis of the Zombie and gore effects featured in the story. Looking at the entry of Land of the Dead, for instance, will tell you that the first zombie encounter happens at 2:30, and that you will enjoy your first human death at 23:00. Based on these facts, the author then pulled together ratings such as “Zombie Effects”, “Gore Quality” or “Human Deaths”.

Now the real originality of this list is that it does not give you a critic of the movies – reading this list will not tell you which movies are the best and won’t spoil the stories. What you get is a neutral perspective of the effects featured in the movies placing de facto a master piece like The Night of the Living Dead at the same level as an obscure Z-series movie. If you get a kick out of graphic violence from zombie movies, this list will tell you where to find the best ambassadors of it.

Now, what do I think of this? Well, it’s a tricky question because it’s pretty much like asking what I think of a dictionary. It’s useful if you need it. I personally tend to perceive the graphic aspect of a movie as a mandatory element of the story but I fail to see it a goal in itself, so I am probably not the best person to evaluate this work.

The second section of the book is the part I enjoyed the most. It is a compilation of interviews from professionals of the genre conducted by the author himself. There are actors, special effects specialists, and directors. Famous and less-than-famous people that all have interesting experiences to share.

It’s pretty much like watching the bonus features of a DVD, only  without the editing of the production company. Reading this will allow you to uncover some of the techniques used to make a zombie, but also to act like one and along the way you will learn some funnies taken from the sets of the most famous movies of the zombie genre.

What I found most interesting was comparing the influences of these different people; what draw them into the genre. I knew that a piece like The Night of the Living Dead was a cornerstone, I did not realize it was also the reason why so many people one day wished to make zombie movies.

The last section of the book is the journey of the author in becoming a zombie. Craig decided at some point that his analysis would not be complete unless he became a Zombie himself… so he did! He got in touch with Toby Sells and he became a walking corpse for one day.

This part was interesting not only because it gave great insights on the make-up process, but also for the unique perspective it gave on the zombification of someone. Seeing yourself slowly become a decayed corpse is quite a reflection on your own mortality – a very nice way to wrap-up a book on the zombie theme.

To conclude I also wanted to give a mention to the book’s illustrations. It is unfortunately not a colored print but the 300 (!) pictures are still worth the while. Pulled from the personal archives of the people interviewed, you get a collection of exclusive behind the scenes shots and storyboards – a treat for the fans.

Grade: B+ (although the analysis section is difficult to rate)