Thanks to its heavy inclusion of Māori culture, Shudder's The Dead Lands changes zombie movie tropes. The Māori people's spiritual beliefs and reverence for the dead brings a new spin to the often overplayed beats of zombie movies. Let's break down how The Dead Lands changes zombie movie tropes.
The Dead Lands, based on a 2014 film of the same name, tells the story of a Māori warrior who is killed in battle, but rejected from the afterlife. His ancestors tell him he can only return to the afterlife once he finds honor and redemption among the living. When he returns to the land of the living, he finds that the world is broken — the dead roam the land and stalk the living. Waka choses to find redemption by working with a young woman named Mehe to restore the veil between the dead and the living.
Stereotypical zombie movies tend to take place in a predominantly white American town that treats zombies as a virus that must be eradicated. The Dead Lands takes a more thoughtful approach to the genre, giving its zombies a richer backstory. Let's take a look at how The Dead Lands flips zombie tropes on its head.
How The Dead Lands Changes Zombie Movie Stereotypes
The Dead Lands focuses on the Māori people, and that impacts its portrayal of zombies. The dead are a revered part of their culture. Mehe and Waka will stop at nothing to protect their people, even if that means destroying the dead. But actually killing the dead isn't their top priority — they'd rather restore the rift between the dead and living in order to see them return to the afterlife. In a way, Mehe and Waka both fear and respect the dead. It's why, despite their antagonistic relationship, Waka still respects the advice of his dead mother. The duo understands that the dead are still Māori. So they would rather see them transition to the afterlife, instead of be completely destroyed.
This is a departure from most zombie films. The protagonists in typical zombie films have zero attachment to the dead. Zombies are treated as an infection that needs to be eradicated — soulless creatures without a past. Zombie stories are one of the most common themes within the horror genre. Repeating those same tropes puts the sub-genre at risk of becoming overplayed. The Dead Lands adds a new layer to zombie stories. By giving their zombies a people and a culture, the Shudder show is able to tell a richer and more complex story. If more zombie movies followed The Dead Lands' suit and injected culture into their plots, they could open up improve the zombie genre.