Zombie movies have had a fascinating path to the mainstream. For decades, the creatures didn’t have much of a presence or definition outside Voodoo lore, radioactive humanoids, and the unforgettable art of E.C. comics. Zombies were scarcely used, and when they were, they were a pretty far cry from the cannibalistic, flesh-hungry, undead creatures we know and love today.
That all changed when pioneering filmmakerGeorge A. Romerocame along. While Romero didn’t invent the zombie (as he’s often credited with doing), he did redefine it and established the mold from which nearly every other zombie movie has sprung in the 50-plus years sinceNight of the Living Deadfirst arrived in theaters. Throughout his career, he would continue to evolve the idea of the zombie film, first with his satiricalDawn of the Dead— a colorful, playful diversion from the dire drama ofNOTLD —then with the divisive and highlight politicalDay of the Dead, and ultimately for the rest of his career. Never satisfied to repeat his previous work, Romero was always ahead of the curve, reacting to the world and cinematic landscapes around him to set new trends.
At the same time, an entire genre sprung up around Romero’s works, spanning the globe. Italian horror legendLucio Fulcipicked up the concept and ran in his own direction with it, first withZombi 2(akaZombie), then with his much more bizarre and experimental “Gates of Hell” trilogy. Filmmakers likeDan O’Bannon,Fred Dekker, andStuart Gordoncame along and toyed with the genre constructs; fans of Romero’s work who built off his foundation to further explore and expand what a zombie movie could be. Then, as quickly as it exploded, the zombie went out of fashion. The creature had become a core concept in the genre, but outside of ongoing horror sequels (Return of the Living Dead, Zombie) low-budget fright flicks, and the occasional genre oddity (My Boyfriend’s Back,Cemetery ManandDead Alive), the undead walked the earth no more.
Until the new millennium hit and then, hot dog, zombie business wasn’t just booming again — it was bigger than ever. FirstDanny Boyle’s genre-evolving28 Days Laterset the stage, then came theResident Eviladaption, andZack Snyder’sDawn of the Deadremake. All were big-budget studio films with nationwide theatrical rollouts. At the same time, indie zombie movies started getting really good, pushing the boundaries of the conventional zombie mythology and using the narrative format to tell strange original stories.
ThenShaun of the Deadhappened, and the genre shifted once again.Edgar Wright’s meta zombie comedy was a love letter to the genre, a razor-sharp deconstruction of the zombie classics, and a zombie classic in its own right. The next year, Romero releasedLand of the Deadin theaters, his first directorial return to zombies in three decades. It was officially official. If the godfather of zombies was back, Zombies were definitely back. By the end of the early ’00s, there were literally dozens of zombie movies a year (and more of them than ever had the word “zombie” in the title). What was even more amazing was how many of them were worth watching. There were post-modern deconstructions (Cabin in the Woods, Zombieland), clever mutations to the DNA of the creatures (Mulberry Street, Pontypool), foreign films (Rec, The Horde), remakes of foreign films (Quarantine), and animated films (ParaNorman), not to mention all the straight-up entertaining low-budget shlock that was hitting DVD shelves en masse.
In the years since, the production on zombie movies has drastically slowed, especially at the studio level. There’s still a lot of, ahem, hunger for the genre in indie cinema. But, in terms of volume and often quality, the zombie movie has taken a backseat in recent years. Is it genre burnout? Did audiences tire of the undead the way they tired of Westerns? It’s possible, but unlikely considering the success of one pop culture juggernaut: AMC’sThe Walking Dead, which has triumphed in ratings since it debuted back in 2010. It’s likely the success of that series has a role to play in the way zombie movies have withered at the cinema, either because audiences are burnt out or zombie fans are getting their fix at home. Or maybe, it’s cultural. Romero created the modern zombie film during times of great social change in the world, they resurfaced at the height of the recession and war on terror in the early 2000s, and now that we’re in the midst of an era of international political turmoil, I’ve noticed some pretty good zombie movies popping up again.
Is another cinematic age of the undead upon us? Only time will tell, but for now, check out our staff picks for the best zombie movies of all time below.
Night of the Comet (1984)
Director:Thom Eberhardt
Writer:Thom Eberhardt
Cast:Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran, Sharon Farrell, Mary Woronov, Geoffrey Lewis
What would kids in the 1980s do if the apocalypse blew through the world without them noticing? Hang out at the mall, but of course. That’s the set-up for this very funny, quite dated horror-comedy, which begins when a quartet of adolescents lock themselves inside a projection booth at the mall’s multiplex. This somehow allows them to live through an extinction-level event of some sort, which has also left roaming bands of murderous mutants. Catherine Mary Stewart of the equally inexplicable Weekend at Bernie’s leads the film, but it’s a movie of mood more than substance ultimately. Does the wealth-fueled naiveté of the average white teenager survive in a vacuum? Does it go away when they are being hunted for sustenance? It’s an interesting to watch on these terms and when the zombies show up, director Thom Eberhardt adds menace and a tight feel for suspense to the action sequences. And if we’re being honest, it belongs on this list for its soundtrack alone. The rest of this is just whip cream and cherries. -Chris Cabin
Director:Tommy Wirkola
Writers:Tommy Wirkola, Stig Frode Henriksen
Cast:Vegar Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Charlotte Frogner, Jenny Skavlan, Ørjan Gamst
With so many zombie movies over the years, eventually you’re going to run out of ways to freshen up the sub-genre. Enter Wirkola’s decidedly skewed take on zombies in this horror-comedy with plenty of guts. Sure, zombies are great movie monsters, but if you have Nazi zombies, well you’ve just doubled-down on the level of villainy (and pun-worthiness) in your picture!
This splatter-fest puts a Nordic spin on the traditional zombie by adding in elements of the Draugr, an undead creature from Scandinavian folklore that fiercely protects its treasure horde. In the case ofDead Snow, these draugr happen to be former SS soldiers who terrorized a Norwegian town and looted their belongings, only to be done in or chased into the freezing mountains by the villagers themselves.Dead Snowgets originality points for this, for sure. It’s also a very funny, gory, and satisfyingly violent movie with elements ofEvil Deadand “teen sex/slasher” flicks scattered throughout. And if you like it, there’s more where that came from in the sequel,Dead Snow: Red vs Dead.– Dave Trumbore
One Cut of the Dead
Writer/director:Shin’ichirō Ueda
Cast:Takayuki Hamatsu, Mao, Harumi Syuhama, Yuzuki Akiyama, Kazuaki Nagaya
One of the most thrilling things you can do right now is enthusiastically recommend the filmOne Cut of the Deadto a friend, because forat least15 minutes that friend will think you’ve lost it.Shin’ichirō Ueda’s zombie-comedy gem opens with a perfectly fine and fun found-footage premise: A film crew, led by aggressively enthusiastic director Takayuki (Takayuki Hamatsu), is filming a zombie movie in an abandoned warehouse when, wouldn’t you know it, anactualzombie apocalypse goes down and all hell breaks loose. It takes a few shaky, B-movie minutes to realize all the action is being captured in one shot, a pretty cool concept that still doesn’t quite justify how hard I yell at people to watch this movie immediately. And then One Cut of the Dead twists, and then it twistsagain, both in ways that turn a pretty fun creature feature into a gut-bustlingly funny love letter to horror filmmaking itself. To say too much more would risk spoiling the fun, so just know thatOne Cut of the Deadremains one of the most joyous movie theater experiences I’ve ever had—audiences realizing what they’re seeing is adelight—and not a single person I’ve recommended this movie to has stayed mad by the time the credits rolled.–Vinnie Mancuso (POM!)
Cemetery Man (1994)
Director:Michele Soavi
Writers:Gianni Romoli, Tiziano Sclavi
Cast:Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi, Fabiana Formica
Directed by Dario Argento protege Michele Soavi,Cemetery Man(orDellamorte Dellamore) is a weird, wild head trip of a movie that treats the living dead as more of a nuisance than a deadly threat. Based on the comic seriesDylan Dog,Cemetery Manstars Everett as Francesco Dellamorte, a misanthropic gravedigger who prefers the company of the dead to the living. And why wouldn’t he? The living are assholes and they keep spreading rumors he’s impotent. There’s just one catch – the dead won’t stay burried in his graveyard. When he meets a stunning widow (Falchi) at her husband’s funeral, Dellamorte falls head over heels, courts her in the morbid halls of his ossuary, and before you know it, they’re stripped naked and steaming it up on top of her dead husband’s grave. That’s just the start of things getting weird.
Dellamorte descends into madness, and the further he falls the moreCemetery Manthreatens to go off the rails, leaving logic behind in favor of a slipstream psychosis. The result is a bit of a mess without a plot to speak of, but a gloriously weird mess it is. Saturated with philosophy and offbeat humor,Cemetary Manis all about sex and death, friendship and deception; a surrealist, satirical and stylish trip to the brink loaded with splendid visuals and a knockout performance from Everett that takes him from a strapping hero to spitting psychopath. –Haleigh Foutch
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Director:Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Writers:Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Enrique López Lavigne, Jesús Olmo
Cast:Rose Byrne, Idris Elba, Jeremy Renner, Robert Carlyle, Imogen Poots, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack
28 Weeks Lateris one of those rare sequels that does the original proud, especially when the original is a film as acclaimed and influential as28 Days Later. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo made his English-language directorial debut on the sequel, stepping in for Danny Boyle, and pulled off a fantastic trick in honoring the “franchise style” Boyle established in the original – the quick edits and snarling infected – while evolving it and adding his own visual flourish to the mix.
28 Days Latersubverted the conventions of the zombie genre in such clever, convincing ways, it became the modern-day zombie template that countless films tried to mimic.28 Weeks Laterwas smart enough not to follow the blueprint and flipped the script, depicting the British government’s attempt to rebuild society in the aftermath of the rage virus and the subsequent outbreak that brings it all crashing down. Through the contained military facility we get to witness a small-scale version of the viral apocalypse that we missed in the first film and the desperate, hopeless attempts to stop it. That makes 28 Weeks Later is a bit more of a conventional zombie film, depicting the downfall of society and the breakdown of boundaries in times of terror, but it’s a very good conventional zombie movie. Fresnadillo hits all the right notes, lacing the broad arc with intimate family drama and depending on his superb cast to sell every moment of heartbreak amidst the bloodshed. –Haleigh Foutch
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Director:Fred Dekker
Writer:Fred Dekker
Cast:Jason Lively, Tom Atkins, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow
The delightfully delirious directorial debut fromMonster Squadhelmer Fred Dekker,Night of the Creepsis a loving tribute to the zombie genre that’s as packed to the brim with self-reference as it is with cheeky, cheesy fun. The film follows two college boys trying to land a spot in a fraternity in the name of scoring chicks. To earn their initiation, the boys have to sneak into the college medical center, where they discover the long-frozen corpse of a 1950s coed with alien slugs coursing through his brain. Hijinks follow, the body thaws, and space parasites are unleashed on campus, transforming their hosts into mindless zombies.
A blunt-force display of Dekker’s sensibilities,Night of the Creepsis an exuberant blend of zombie genre trappings and the sci-fi B-movies of yore; likeMars Attacksby way ofNight of the Living Dead. Dekker lines his film with loving references to the genre, most obviously with his characters, who he names after the horror greats: Romero, Raimi, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Cameron, Landis, and Hooper.Night of the Creepsfeels like Dekker took all his favorite movies and stirred them together in a silly, slimy stew. It can be clunky and goofy, butNight of the Creepswears its idol worship like a badge of honor and Dekker’s creative flourish is a firewall that keeps his homage from becoming derivative. –Haleigh Foutch
ParaNorman (2012)
Directors:Chris Butler, Sam Fell
Writer:Chris Butler
Cast:Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland, John Goodman
Rarely do zombies get the animated treatment (rarer still, stop-motion animation), and even if they do, they’re traditionally made the villains. LAIKA is anything but traditional, which makes their films so endearing, unique, and memorable.ParaNorman, one of the stop-motion studio’s handful of original films, manages to not only (re)animate some truly gruesome and decaying corpses, but to give them a voice and agency within the story. Most live-action movies can’t even achieve that much.
But what truly makesParaNormana great zombie tale is that the zombies themselves are more than just part of the spooky story (along with witches, ghosts, and dark magic), they’re a similar stand-in for societal problems first addressed by Romero’s original undead flick. Without giving away too many spoilers, the zombies themselves are reanimated townsfolk from colonial times who have realized the error of their ways but are prevented from setting things right thanks to a witch’s curse. Because they can’t communicate, they’re set upon by an angry mob. While you’d expect that turn of events in a traditional monster movie, the twist inParaNormanis what lends some substance to its overall message. As a bonus, it’s a zombie movie you can watch with the kids!– Dave Trumbore
Zombieland (2009)
Director:Ruben Fleischer
Writers:Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Cast:Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin
One of the greatest enjoyments of horror cinema in the last few decades has been watching filmmakers who grew up knowing the rules of the genre find new and exciting ways to subvert them.Shaun of the Deadis the gold star of self-referential cinematic love letters, but Ruben Fleischer’sZombielandis a rollicking comedy horror in its own right.
Zombielandarrived in theaters in 2009, towards the end of a new zombie boom, and it’s a film made for audiences who already know the rules and want to have some fun playing the game. The script comes fromDeadpoolscreenwriters Reese and Wernick, and both properties share the duo’s knack for genre deconstruction and razor-sharp, smart-mouthed humor. The ensemble comedic performers has a blast doling out verbal beatdowns in between actually beating down the undead. And let’s be honest – even ifZombielandwasn’t an all-around fun and entertaining action horror, it deserves a spot on the list for giving BIll Murray the most Bill Murray cameo of all time. –Haleigh Foutch
Planet Terror (2007)
Director:Robert Rodriguez
Writer:Robert Rodriguez
Cast:Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Bruce Willis
In the tradition of Romero, modern Zombie films have become known as the home of sharp social commentary and forward-thinking humanism. You won’t find any of that inPlanet Terror. Initially released as one half of the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double featureGrindhouse,Planet Terrorwas initially dismissed by critics as the lesser of the two entries, but time has proven it to be a raucous, endlessly rewatchable, and consummately reprobate entry to the zombie genre. Written and directed by Rodriguez (though cast interviews revealed that the directors collaborated freely on both pictures),Planet Terroris cheeky, free-wheeling, and delighted with its own depravity as it employs the shield of grindhouse tropes to hack through horror taboos from child death to testicular violence.
Borrowing heavily from the exploitation aesthetic with the kind of budget its forbears could only dream of, the film stars Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling, a brassy go-go dancer who finds herself in the midst of the apocalypse with a rag-tag band of survivors – played by an A+ ensemble of underrated actors who finally get to play the leading roles they’ve always deserved. Flesh-hungry humanoid mutants tear through the Texas countryside, leaving a gooey trail of body parts in their wake. In short order, Cherry winds up with a machine gun for a leg, as you do, and the film boils over into a chaotic free-for-all of bloodshed and grotesqueries. It’s a blast and it triumphs because it leans in so hard. Just look at the “missing reel” in the second act, which skips everybody’s least favorite part of a zombie movie and jumps right into the climactic third act. And that’sPlanet Terrorin a nutshell; audacious, goofy and always going right for the guts. –Haleigh Foutch
Train to Busan (2016)
Director:Sang-ho Yeon
Writers:Joo-Suk Park, Sang-ho Yeon
Cast:Yoo Gong, Yu-mi Jung, Dong-seok Ma, Su-an Kim, Eui-sung Kim, Woo-sik Choi, Sohee
After the zombie genre got a big boost in the early aughts, the living dead thrived on serialized television but they died off in cinemas for a while.Train to Busanis a proper return to form for the genre, an old-fashioned zombie drama with heart and soul, a simple but clever set-up and some scary af zombies. The film follows a father and his young daughter on a terrifying train ride that sends them speeding through a zombie outbreak in South Korea, trapped inside increasingly infected compartments of the passenger train. Filled with characters you root for – and some you love to root against —Train to Busan is packed with zombie action that uses the tight quarters to thrilling effect, traveling through the cars of the train with a series of imaginative set-pieces that put the physicality of these contorted, fast-moving zombies to great effect. After watching the living survive among the dead for years on the silver screen, it’s damn well time for someone to give the undead their bite back andTrain to Busanis just the ticket. –Haleigh Foutch
