Current Events Linked to Zombie Movies?

Is there a correlation between social unrest and zombie movies? The bloggers over at i09.com seem to think so. They produced this chart showing US and Canadian zombie movies over time and argue that social unrest, wars, and catastrophes cause spikes in the number of zombie movies produced.
Personally I think the argument is a little flimsy. As we all know from our “Zombie Movie or Not?” series on the ZRC, the very definition of a zombie can often be contested. The authors here include mummies, but not vampires or ghosts. I don’t think that any of our readers would claim that 1943’s Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man could be classified as a zombie movie. They also point out that the list is focused on American and European movies, but a several Asian movies are included. Was Pakistani Omar Kahn thinking of the Iraq War when he directedZibahkhana-Hell’s Ground?
Furthermore, the idea that zombie movies depict an apocalyptic mirror of current events is not always true, particularly for early works in the pre-Dawn of the Dead era. Movies like I Walked with a Zombie and Zombies on Broadway can hardly be called reflective of the social climates during World War II. Modern movies such as Fido, American Zombie, and Otto; or Up With Dead People are mold-breaking films that further muddy the waters on what is a “typical” zombie film.
I think the evidence for any correlation between current events is weak at best. Fads, the increasing accessibility of video equipment, and a combination of the two (creating a rush to cash in on zombie movie popularity) are the main reasons we see spikes in the number of zombie movies.
What do you think? Is there a correlation there or is it just a case of fitting the data to justify the statement?


War and Social Upheaval Cause Spikes in Zombie Movie Production



There's been a huge spike in the production of zombie movies lately, and many of them seem to be inspired by war. Everything from 28 Days Later to Zombie Strippers make explicit reference to wartime, as did seminal 1968 zombie flick Night of the Living Dead. Is there really a connection between zombie movies and social unrest? We decided to do some research and find out. The result? We've got a line graph showing the number of zombie movies coming out in the West each year since 1910 — and there are definite spikes during certain years, which always seem to happen eerily close to historical events involving war or social upheaval.

Mostly we've focused on movies from the U.S. and Europe, and we've included the living dead among zombies — so mummies are included, but vampires and ghosts aren't. Obviously as you look at this chart, you have to correct somewhat for the fact that more movies are being made as we get closer to the present, and (more importantly) there are better records of those movies with better tagging. So it's easier to research movies with zombies in them if you're looking at productions from the 1980s onward. In addition, there's been a huge boom in indie and low-budget horror movies over the past ten years, and that undoubtedly accounts somewhat for the giant spike you see during the last 8 years or so.

Still, even correcting for the fact that there are more movies being made today, you can see that there are distinctive spikes in zombie popularity - and they always seem to fall slightly after a huge political or social event has caused mass fear, chaos, or suffering. That's why World War II, Vietnam, and the current Iraq War are all followed by a zombie rush at theaters. Obviously, if you're going to look at these historical correlations, you have to consider that movies inspired by a real-life event aren't going to show up in theaters for at least six months to a year, so we've accounted for that.

You can see that most of these spikes in zombie popularity do seem weirdly close to periods of historical trauma like wars or the AIDS epidemic. Is there a causal connection, or is it just coincidence? You be the judge.

Chart by Stephanie Fox. Additional reporting by Katharine Duckett.

Appendix: # of Zombie movies we included in this study.

1910: 1

1911: 1

1919: 1

1931: 1

1932: 1

1933: 1

1935: 2

1936: 4

1938: 1

1939: 1

1940: 1

1941: 1

1942: 1

1943: 4

1944: 1

1945: 1

1946: 1

1952: 1

1953: 1

1955: 1

1957: 3

1958: 4

1959: 6

1960: 1

1961: 3

1962: 2

1963: 1

1964: 7

1965: 2

1966: 2

1967: 2

1968: 6

1969: 2

1970: 4

1971: 4

1972: 7

1973: 15

1974: 13

1975: 7

1976: 1

1977: 3

1978: 4

1979: 4

1980: 10

1981: 13

1982: 9

1983: 5

1984: 6

1985: 12

1986: 12

1987: 14

1988: 11

1989: 17

1990: 5

1991: 9

1992: 11

1993: 7

1994: 7

1995: 6

1996: 4

1997: 10

1998: 9

1999: 5

2000: 12

2001: 15

2002: 9

2003: 22

2004: 29

2005: 29

2006: 34

2007: 33

2008: 9

Hit the link for titles of movies used in this study.
http://io9.com/5070243/war-and-social-upheaval-cause-spikes-in-zombie-movie-production