The trend for zombie movies started when George A. Romero used a shoestring budget to craft a highly engrossing horror flick involving the deceased rising from their graves and rampaging cities. Hungry for flesh and turning more humans into one of them, these zombies made a terrifying chill run through our spines.
What’s fascinating is how zombie movies catch us holding our breath and wanting for more at the same time. What once was a rare formula, manufacturing zombiemovies today isn’t too hard. You need the same old premise, an empty wasteland, a solid backstory, and a classic depiction of the degrading society. However, not all zombie movies make for a “good” viewing experience.
At the peak of brutality, pure chaos, and bloodshed, zombie movies need a fresh flavor to make them distinctive. Whether they’re tackling underlying social commentary or portraying the struggle of moral relinquishes, the movies on this list have elements that make them highly rewatchable. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the most action-packed, gruesome, and extremely compelling zombie movies to ever exist.
10 [Rec] (2007)
[Rec] is a Spanish zombie horror movie with an extremely disquieting premise and even more alarming filming. The story of the found footage film goes like this. Angela is a late-night TV host covering a distress call with her cameramen and the firemen on duty. But soon, they realize that one of the residents, an old woman, is infected with something dangerous. The Spanish police locks down the apartment and the residents are stuck inside with terror fueling them. The movie’s use of POV camera technique is what makes it genuinely intriguing and terrifying to watch. More accurate after what the world has been through, it portrays the dread and panic that people feel when they’re quarantined. A movie that is sure to make you hold your breath throughout its runtime, [Rec] is probably one of the best found footage movies ever made.
9 Braindead (1992)
Later changed to Dead Alive but originally titled Braindead, the movie follows an overbearing and controlling mother, Vera, and her adoring son, Lionel. When a Sumatran rat-monkey bites Vera, she turns into a zombie. Scared of the danger she ming pose, Lionel locks her up in the basement but her repeated attempts of breaking out lead to her escape and she turns the people in the neighborhood into fearsome, aimlessly walking zombies. Peter Jackson’s direction is excellent, with the movie using sound, prosthetics, and disturbing visuals to its advantage and creating a uniquely horrifying viewing experience. The movie also has some strangely entertaining elements like a baby zombie and hilarious zombie hijinks. Overall, by using an absurd amount of blood and gore, Braindead manages to deliver an enduring zombie movie.
8 Day of the Dead (1985)
Set in Florida, Day of the Dead shows a time when zombies have been residing in the city for a few years now. Their terror has caused the remaining humans to bunker in a launch facility. Among the survivors are scientists looking for a profound understanding of these living-dead beings, belligerent soldiers willing to fight them off, and some scared civilians. But they can’t stay hidden for long; especially when the undead are getting restless outside. Compared to George A. Romero’s first two movies in the Living Dead series, Day of the Dead uses practicality in depicting the entire situation. It is more complex, rather claustrophobic, and intense – with there being a zombie named Bub, who an eccentric scientist ends up taming. As a conclusion to one of the most successful zombie trilogies, the movie is quit fitting and immensely enjoyable.
7 28 Days Later (2002)
Directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later is a zombie film that kicked off the 2000s as a decade for experimental horror. The movie stars Cillian Murphy as Jim, who wakes up alone in a hospital, 28 days after the United Kingdom has been infected by the Rage Virus. Upon being reacted, many have turned into the undead, while the government has evacuated the island and the government has left the remaining survivors to fend for themselves. The movie is great at tension-building. It uses overwhelming emotions and handheld camerawork to maintain the authenticity of the situation. When Jim encounters his first zombie, it’s genuinely unsettling. Moreover, John Murphy has created an immersive musical score to accompany the grittiness of the movie, which makes it all the more worth revisiting. Over and over again.
6 Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Sequel to Night of the Living Dead, the movie steps forward from the events of the original and focuses on the panicking population of the U.S. Zombies are increasingly rampaging the land, and no place is safe. Dawn of the Dead follows Stephen, a radio station employee, Francine, his TV exec girlfriend, and two members of the SWAT, as they get away in a helicopter and fly to an abandoned shopping mall to take sanctuary. But how long will the fort hold? Romero ups the ante in this movie by making the mundane interesting, and using innovation to perfect what isn’t real from the very start. While the characters and the audience feels like they’ve found safety in comfort, he drops the mass consumerism bomb as a clever and somewhat flustering element of this horror flick. Pretty rewatchable to the day, Dawn is sure to leave you stunned with this tragic and horrifying zombie satire.
5 Zombieland (2009)
This post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film stars Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus, a college student who is afraid of almost anything. On the other hand, there’s Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee, who doesn’t even understand the concept of fear. With Emma Stone and Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin in tow, the group is traveling across America, each with their own motives, but common survival instincts, in an infected zombie-ridden country. Zombieland isn’t as horrific as it is hilarious. The comedic elements usually come from Eisenberg’s list of “rules” and the Bill Murray bit. Don’t get us wrong, though. There is plenty of gore and blood splattering, but none of it will leave you feeling unsettled. Comedy is a rare and refreshing take on zombie movies as well as on the horror genre as a whole, but director Ruben Fleischer emerges quite successful in it.
4 Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Sixteen years after George A. Romero’s 1978 film, the remake of the zombie horror film adopts some of the core elements and creates Dawn of the Dead as a high-tension, more exciting, and awfully gut-churning. As Zack Snyder’s feature film directorial debut way before anyone even anticipated the advent of the expansive DC universe, the film features a world inflicted by flesh-eating zombies, where a group of survivors takes refuge in a shopping complex.
The movie isn’t just a horror flick, but in the time that the characters anticipate dread, they use self-reflection to understand the meaning of atonement. With James Gunn writing the script, Snyder comes in, guns ablaze, and delivers full-fledged zombie activity just five minutes into the movie, so you don’t really have time to look away. The cinematography is also quite stunning, depicting the beginning of the end in a chilling and captivating way. All in all, the remake does absolute justice to Romero’s work.
3 Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan packs a truckload of emotion for a zombie movie. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the movie follows a virus-struck Korea and a train journey from Seoul to Busan, where, when an infected kid ends up on board and starts turning other people into zombies, the passengers are on their own. The central characters of the movie are Seok-woo and his daughter, Sung-gyeong, a pregnant woman, and Sang-hwa another passenger wholly involved in survival and safety. The movie includes moral ethics like selflessness and sacrifice to make the viewing experience more engaging. Moreover, it stays relentlessly in motion, with zombie action at its best, and anxiety-inducing visuals that will take you on a ride. A safer one. That said, Train to Busan non-stop-tension-building zombie flick that won’t bore you even after a couple of rewatches.
2 Night of the Living Dead (1968)
George A. Romero’s debut entry in what gradually became on of the most prominent zombie horror franchise, Night of the Living Dead is as precise and unflinching as its title. The very pioneer of the genre, the film follows a satellite radiation spreading and causing dead people to rise from their graves and hunt humans to crave their hunger. The sixties were anyway chaotic, with civil unrest at its peak, and what’s interesting is that Romero uses the movie as a subject of social commentary and creates a new wave for cinematic excellence. From the blurry Pennsylvania farmhouse shots to the fright and fear caused by the walking dead, Night of the Living Dead is an attention-grabbing classic that continues to thrill viewers till date.
1 Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun is an ordinary electronics salesman living his ordinary life in London, with a routine revolving around his girlfriend, his mother, and oftentimes, the local pub. But things go down when he’s thrown in the middle of a zombie community, to fend for what matters the most to him. Shaun of the Dead is a gentle homage to the history of the genre. It uses comedy and romance to create something fresh and breezy, while still retaining the dread and distaste caused by the undead and their spooky personalities. A particular mention would be Edgar Wright’s genius direction when the characters brutally murder an old zombie with cue sticks while Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ blasts in the background. Absolute masterpiece.