Abstract
Contagion is a function of the properties of the pathogen, social interactions, and personal relationships in the society it attacks. Filmmakers in the horror genre were inspired by the idea of rabies as a virus that could mutate into something more dangerous. Fictional epidemics of scavenging undead were often attributed to encephalitis caused by rabies or a mutated rabies virus. During the early months of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, there was a spike in streaming of the film, Contagion, that portrays a viral infectious disease modeled after a bat virus that spreads at an alarming rate, unleashing a global public panic and a clueless governmental response. We wanted to trace how filmmakers used rabies pathology as source material for their plots. We searched internet film databases and reviewed fictional films that utilized this plot device. Many dystopic, rabies-induced pandemic scenarios – mostly from the zombie genre – reveal parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many zombie films, despite their absurd premise, anticipated the realities of future pandemics.
The impact of any contagion is a function of the properties of the pathogen, social interactions, and personal relationships in the society it attacks ― once it blossoms, people often transition from nonchalance to panic and then back to nonchalance. Is this different in cinema? What pathogen is used?
Inventors of the Resident Evil video game (later, a TV and movie series) famously conceived the idea of a rabies-like virus as a catalyst of zombies. The first viral “zombifications” in film history were created in the 1970s. Renowned filmmakers, like George A. Romero or David Cronenberg, introduced the viral element of zombification as a trope. These low-budget productions with viral genesis (eg, Drink Your Blood [1970] or The Bat People [1974]) were merely attempts to capitalize on the emerging genre after Night of the Living Dead1 made zombies into box-office gold in 1968. Classics like The Crazies (1973) or Rabid (1977) soon became cult films.
These cinematic epidemics of scavenging undead are now often attributed to rabies encephalitis or a fictional mutated rabies virus. The infection often starts with seizures because the fictional viruses were neurotropic. Some scriptwriters linked pandemics to rabies encephalitis, and this speculative association led to a new fictional genre. Rarely seen in the western world in modern times, the characteristic symptoms of rabies encephalitis with its agitated delirium culminate in panic aversion to air drafts or water (hydrophobia). Pharyngeal spasms hamper swallowing, and increased salivation leads to the iconic “foaming at the mouth.” Hydrophobia, once symptomatic, is not treatable; it is a near-certain death sentence.2 The only option for intervention is to get the vaccine while still asymptomatic – a phase lasting approximately 2 weeks. This becomes a race against time, often used to induce suspense, and the thrill is produced by late recognition of the infected animal.3 Death is everywhere. For filmmakers in the horror genre, such presentations offer ideal material.
The early months of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic witnessed a spike in streaming of the film Contagion,4 which portrays a viral infectious disease modeled after a Nipah bat virus, which spreads at an alarming rate, unleashing a global public panic and a clueless governmental response. To trace how filmmakers used this multifaceted pathology (and rabies in particular) in their films, we searched the largest internet movie databases, the catalog of the American Film Institute (AFI), and the British Film Institute (BFI) collections. We only included fictional films, omitting documentaries and educational films. We also excluded films that could not be screened on DVD, streaming sites, or YouTube. We reviewed 61 neurologically themed films released between 1910 and 2021 and identified four major themes in which the neurotropic viral disease emerges as a genuine menace. (An extended filmography of films on the subject, including non-fiction films and TV series, is available online.5)
Results
How did zombie movies incorporate rabies pathophysiology into their plots? As mentioned above, the first impactful “rage-virus” movie comes from George A. Romero, who unleashed the aggressive virus “Trixie” on humanity (The Crazies, 1973).6 Inspired by the rabies virus, its remake in 2010 clearly identifies “Trixie” as a mutant of the Rhabdoviridae family. The dystopian pandemics that followed “Trixie” are startlingly reminiscent of the current SARS-COV-2 pandemic. In 28 Days Later, a highly contagious, aggression-bite-inducing virus called “Rage” is unleashed after an infected chimpanzee is freed by a group of animal liberation activists.7 However, in I Am Legend,8 a genetically engineered measles virus causes a plague that produces zombie-like creatures.
Indeed, “zombification” is the most common horror-inducing trope. The classic zombie of mythology was a slow-footed, clumsy creature with an infectious bite who typically traveled in a horde. By the 1970s, zombies gained agility, speed, and fury,6 and a sub-genre (“rage-virus films”) emerged.9 Often, the origin of the rage was the rabies virus (Figure 1), which remains a trend, usually as mutated variants but also as resurfaced ancient forms. In most cases, the incubation period is shortened, resulting in uncontrollable outbreaks leading to dystopian catastrophes that threaten the whole of human existence. Apart from the undead, bites of infected animals could lead to rabid, rampaging, or hallucinating hippie hordes. Gomez-Alonso10 recently examined the reality behind these dystopian fables. Here, the emergence of the belief in vampires in the Balkan area during the 18th century convincingly derived from the rabies virus. Both shared a coincident incubation period as well as other similarities.
Still image from Rabid.9 Copyright © 1977 New World Pictures/Source: FilmBild Fundus. Used with permission from FilmBild fundus.
Many dystropic pandemic scenarios – mostly from the zombie genre – reveal parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, the vector for the coronavirus mutation, assumed to be transmitted by bats,11 is a recurring theme.12 As early as the 1970s, Bat People13 introduced the presumed COVID-19 vector14 into the genre, and many similar films followed, most recently Ten Minutes to Midnight (2020).15 As a cinematic metaphor, this cause of zombification suggests a revenge of nature, a topic that is also extensively discussed in the current research on COVID-19.14
Apart from its origin as a zoonotic disease, the impact of COVID-19 on society appears to be strikingly similar as well; both diseases not only create panic, chaos and despair but also lead to distrust towards the government and public institutions, which is becoming more apparent in times of globalization and growing connectivity.16 Prototypical films such as Contagion2 create dystopian scenarios in which the government appears to be exploiting its position of power, leading to riots, drama, and tragedies. What was initially perceived as a sinister science-fiction vision seems in retrospect to anticipate our pandemic realities, as contemporary headlines like “COVID protests escalate in Germany”17 or “COVID Support Force: MOD’s contribution to the coronavirus response,”18 when the British armed forces supported efforts to vaccinate people across the United Kingdom.
Finally, rabies-themed films metaphorize psychological pathologies of hypochondria, hypersexuality, post-traumatic stress disorder, or even depression and alcohol addiction. Most of these analogies surprisingly reflect the most common psychological consequences (eg, PTSD,19 depression, and anxiety20) of COVID-19 and excessive governmental restrictions.
Discussion
Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America bursting at the seams in the Night of the Living Dead1 rewrote the rules of the horror genre and combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary. Many zombie films seem to anticipate the realities of future pandemics. Seemingly absurd yet possible, they pose a warning in the guise of fiction. If a mutated virus decimates humanity, the medical world seems ineffectual; if the film spins a suspenseful but ultimately successful race for the saving vaccination, it seems omnipotent.
Cinema, despite all its fantastic and unrealistic-appearing storylines, can warn us about real-life consequences, as the body of work reveals many unexpected parallels to the recent SARS-COV-2 outbreak and mirrors the mechanisms of pandemics: ie, the paralyzing fear of infection and the interruption of social interaction. If that were not enough, there is even the fear of sitting in an enclosed space for about 2 hours in a multiplex with hundreds of strangers. Corona Zombies,21 one of the first horror films about COVID, was filmed with every member of the cast and crew under self-isolation. Several other soon-to-be released films include titles such as Songbird,22 where the virus has mutated into COVID-23 leading to extreme restrictions in mobility. The psychological effects of isolation in Locked Down entered the genre of a romantic comedy.23 Some have pondered whether the prolonged quarantine is “zombifying” us.24 The upcoming film COVID 21 Lethal Virus25 links SARS-COVID-2 with rabies, when climate change releases an ancient rabies virus trapped in the Antarctica ice. How cinema will react to SARS-COVID-2 pandemic with the passage of time remains to be seen. Historically, several important films have addressed medical epidemics. Epidemics constitute a small percentage of medically themed movies, but the major epidemics ― certainly, those of the 20th century ― have been amply acknowledged.26 Using rabies encephalitis as a trope, zombies remain an obvious metaphor for a contagious disease.
What message and what purpose do these films have for the public, apart from entertainment? First of all, the more realistic ones offer a warning and highlight how fictional works can be an omen, even when they appear unrealistic or unlikely at the time of release. Additionally, as suggested by research on the effect of watching horror movies, the audience can benefit from the cathartic effect of coping with fears,27 an outcome recently validated as a way of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.28, 29
Acknowledgment
We thank Lea Dacy for careful editing of this manuscript.
Footnotes
Disclosure: Drs. Henkel and Wijdicks report no extramural funding in support of this project and no conflicts of interest relevant to this paper.
- Received February 4, 2022.
- Revision received May 25, 2022.
- Revision received July 13, 2022.
- Accepted July 21, 2022.
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