A different type of Zombie movie

I thought it was a zombie movie when I saw the poster because zombies are the ones with decaying flesh and vampires usually look like humans except maybe more pale.

I also consider it a vampire movie. Zombies in folklore are actually undead slaves to the bokor, a.k.a a Hoodoo sorcerer, who raised them. Zombies as we known them in popular culture are actually closer to flesh-eating revenants in general, with the oldest reference to these being in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Also, ghouls in folklore are not undead and were never human to begin with. There were instead a type of jinn, a genie/demon in both Arabic and Islamic folklore; One thing popular culture still has right is that they do dwell in graves, burial sites, and other uninhabited places.

Now as for vampires in folklore, particularly the undead kind in the Eastern European regions, they are much closer to the revenants in this movie than to vampires in popular culture. They (specifically "they" in general since there's many kinds of vampire folklore in Eastern Europe) have the following characteristics, which I will compare to the main revenant in this movie, which is Bart:

. They were made out to be repulsive looking and corpse-like looking rather than pretty (Bart fits this really well).

. They drank blood (Bart also fits this).

. They usually came from peasants and commoners rather than nobility (Bart fits this).

. They were capable of going out in sunlight but were mainly nocturnal (Bart differs from this in the sense that he goes comatose during the daytime until night comes).

. They were capable of having sex with the living and producing half-vampire offspring which are called dhampirs (It's unknown if Bart is capable of siring offspring or not in this fashion).

. Plenty of them have heartbeats (Bart doesn't).

. Stakes are actually used to not kill them but to prevent them rising out of their coffin and are not necessarily driven through the heart (Bart is actually closer to vampires in popular culture in this regard rather than to folkloric vamps).

. They are either pale or ruddy in complexion (Bart is definitely pale).

. They're capable of shapeshifting into wolves, birds, snakes, spiders, and other creatures (Bart does not fit this).

. Plenty are capable of floating/hovering in the air while few are capable of flying in human form (Bart doesn't fit this).

. Like other supernatural characters such as witches, ghosts, demons, and fairies, they are cannot cross running water nor a line of salt, require an invitation into someone's house (not all folkloric vampires actually have this limitation), and can be repelled (but not harmed) by religious artifacts (Bart fits neither of these).

. They're repulsed (but not harmed) by the presence of garlic and/or onions (Bart doesn't fit this).

. They're often cited to be the causes of diseases and outbreaks such as plagues (Bart doesn't fit this).

. They actually don't drain their victims in a single night but rather over a period of many nights (Bart doesn't fit this).

. They're actually capable of eating food and the flesh of their victims but don't gain nourishment from either (Bart slightly fits this but only after he ingested blood and it only applies to alcohol, not solid food).

. It actually varies on whether they have a reflection in the mirror or not, and some are stated to have no shadow instead (Bart fits the kind that do have a shadow and reflection)

. Some vampires were werewolves, people with red hair and grey eyes, and/or evil people before they died and rose back up as one of the undead (Bart doesn't fit either).

. Plenty are often just going after their families rather than anybody else (Bart doesn't fit this, but he did bring misfortune to to his friends nonetheless, albeit unintentionally)

. Asides from garlic and/or onions, they're deterred by plants like wild roses, hawthorn, and ash tree (Bart does not fit this).

. They're super strong (Bart doesn't fit this actually).

. They heal at an unnaturally fast rate (Bart does fit this, but to a limited degree).

. Most are immortal in the sense that they can't die by age (Bart fits this)

. Like fairies, trolls, and some other creatures, plenty of vampires suffer drom arithmomania, i.e. the compulsion to count things like rice, salt, etc. (Bart doesn't fit this).

. Some can become human during daytime but go back to being vampires during night time (Bart doesn't fit this).

. Vampirism can infect other creatures and even plants as is the case with "vampire watermelons" (it's unconfirmed if Bart's kind can do this)

. Some have multiple hearts (It's unlikely that Bart fits this).




With all this in mind, it pretty much supports that Bart and the other revenants in this film are much closer to folkloric vampires rather than folkloric zombies. Thus, this is a vampire film rather than a zombie film.




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