Filmmakers have long been inspired by zombies. The earliest of these films was white zombie which was made in 1932. Bela Lugosi plays the villian who uses voodoo to turn a young women into a zombie.
Since then there have been many great movies that were inspired from the idea of the zombie. Some argue maybe the best zombie movie ever is night of the living dead. It was directed by George Romero in 1968. He created what most people think of when they think of a zombie. The slow moving dead that have risen to eat humans and can only be killed by shooting their head. George Romero went on to direct and write Dawn of the Dead, another zombie masterpeice.