When it comes to page to screen adaptations, classic literature is always a very popular choice. There is just something about beloved literary masterpieces that not only make for great stories in live action (and, sometimes, in animation) but moviegoers tend to enjoy them as well. Getting to see the characters bring stories to life is, frankly, delightful and sometimes controversial if fans disagree over a casting choice, a story decision, or even some major creative liberties filmmakers might make with a sacred text. We saw a great example of the controversial adaptation with Emerald Fennel’s Wuthering Heights earlier this year that drew quite a bit of conversation for its approach to Emily Bronte’s novel. But 10 years ago, another classic work of literature was the topic of conversation for a very different reason: it brought to life a horror reimagining of one of Jane Austen’s best works.
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Released in 2016, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an adaptation of an adaptation. The film is based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 novel of the same name which is itself an adaptation (or, more accurately, a parody) of Austin’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. The film boasted a stacked cast with Lily James, Same Riley, jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance, and Lena Headey and pairs it with a bonkers plot: it’s literally Austen’s original novel just add zombies. No one is going to call the movie a success — it outright bombed at the box office — but a decade on the movie is a delight and it’s headed to Netflix next month.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Proves Everything is Better With The Reanimated Dead
The thing about Jane Austen’s work is pretty simple: you either absolutely love her novels or you struggle with them and it’s that latter aspect that makes Pride and Prejudice and Zombies honestly kind of great. The movie (like the book it’s based on) preserves the major beats of Austen’s work — we get Elizabeth Bennet and her hasty judgments, we get Mr. Darcy, we get the love story, the society elements, we get Regency England, all of it — but it’s just more fun. The five Bennet sisters in this story have all been trained in weaponry and martial arts, which comes in handy when zombies attack a society ball. It’s a fun way to get the high notes of a classic love story with the action and horror touches that will keep your attention if classic love stories aren’t your thing. It’s the best of both worlds — just don’t try to watch the movie and pass it off as doing your lit class homework. That won’t quite work.
All joking aside, though, I think what makes Pride and Prejudice and Zombie so interesting is that it is something of a snapshot in time. It’s not the only adaptation of literary or historical tales with a reanimated dead twist. Just a few years before, another of Grahame-Smith’s books, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was adapted for the big screen as well. That film also had an impressive cast, including MCU stars Anthony Mackie and Dominic Cooper along with Benjamin Walker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell, and more. There was just something about the 2010s where these sort of offbeat takes on both the classics (or in the Lincoln case, history) and horror simply worked. Maybe it was a simpler time. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that The Walking Dead was wildly popular at that time, too. Whatever the case, you can enjoy a little wild, zombie-killing fun for yourself. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies will arrive on Netflix on October 6th. Just in time for Halloween.
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A scene from Death to Smoochy
