The Westernization of the African zombie in Nollywood Films

Abstract

The Nigerian film industry (nicknamed Nollywood) has, over the years, embraced foreign influences as a form of newness and singularity. Many films produced in the industry have displayed the capacity to re-contextualize and indigenize specific forms and styles associated with the global mass culture, including Hollywood horror films and the zombie genre. Thus, there have been at least two ways of representing zombies in the Nollywood films. While most films have depicted zombies according to local African or Nigerian myths, a certain number of recently produced films have displayed representations of these undead creatures (zombies) which are visibly inspired by the Western imagination or fantasies. This thesis could well be illustrated through a critical study of two Nollywood films namely A.C. Enonchong‘s Witchdoctor of the Living Dead and Sam Perry‘s Outbreak 2020. Using the two above mentioned films as case studies, this paper specifically seeks answers to three research questions: how are Western myths about zombies different from those prevailing in the Nigerian socio-cultural space? How has the zombie filmic genre evolved in the Nigerian film industry and how are Western myths about zombies informing or reflected in selected Nollywood films?