Zombies on Film: A Working Body Count of The Best and Worst
A list containing all the zombie films I have seen as of yet, ranked from the best to the worst. This list encompasses a broad definition of the genre in order to fully encapsulate its widespread influence on genre cinema as a whole (yes that means infected are included because they are influenced by the genre even if they do not fit the classic definition of a "zombie").
This is a forever work in progress.
This is a forever work in progress.
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- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDavid EmgeKen ForeeScott H. ReinigerDuring an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.The towering behemoth. It gets better and better the more you watch it. It's not just a horror film; it's comic book, comedy, political allegory, adventure, disaster, etc. It's all already been said.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDuane JonesJudith O'DeaKarl HardmanA ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.The induction rite by which all zombie films live. It is Prometheus, bringer of fire. Zombies may have existed before this, but zombie films, as we know them, most certainly did not.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsJeffrey CombsBruce AbbottBarbara CramptonAfter an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.It may not feel like a zombie film per se, but there's no denying that's exactly what this film is; just it's own Stuart Gordon-y version of one. The reanimated corpses may not be completely unfeeling (some can talk) but they all are all bloodthirsty and deranged. Madcap insanity, the precipice of madness and great amounts of fun. I may actually prefer this movie to "Night" (depends on the day) but "Night's" lasting influence is clearly more profound.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsLori CardilleTerry AlexanderJoseph PilatoAs the world is overrun by zombies, a group of scientists and military personnel sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida must decide on how they should deal with the undead horde.It's not perfect like "Dawn" and "Night". Romero's original vision for this probably would have been. This film is good, and weird and just plain different enough to warrant it's own notch in the canon.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJohn LeguizamoAsia ArgentoSimon BakerThe living dead have taken over the world, and the last humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they come to grips with the situation.This is where things get tricky. I both love and hate that 4 Romero films own the top of this list, but when I get right down to it, they just do. I love "Land", maybe even more than "Day." It's bad rap is inexplicable. There's gorgeous nightmare imagery, political allegories and two decades of pent-up ideas and directorial innovation here. Embrace it.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.The best of the zombie comedies. Probably because it plays it so dry and straight (and British).
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsSarah PolleyVing RhamesMekhi PhiferA nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.This really is a great remake. Did it need to be one? Probably not. You can hate running zombies and infected all you want, but at least this flick knew it needed to innovate. Just looking at its influence on the genre as a whole its impact is substantial (I think more so than 28 Days Later, if only because it's more fun). The opening is still one of the most killer sequences ever filmed. Johnny Cash, one of the most perfect song choices.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollDavid WarbeckCinzia MonrealeA young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.Gory, surreal and ultra weird. Only half a zombie flick, which holds it back, but still it counts.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsCillian MurphyNaomie HarrisChristopher EcclestonFour weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the United Kingdom, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.Along with the "Dawn" remake, the resuscitator of the zombie genre in the new century. I think the handheld digital compression hurts it, along with the avid editing and somewhat obvious ending metaphor. It thinks it's a bit better than it really is. Truly an innovator though.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsTisa FarrowIan McCullochRichard JohnsonStrangers searching for a young woman's missing father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately seeks the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead.A simple, exceptionally well-executed adventure voodoo zombie film. It's gore scenes legendary, not just because they were truly graphic, but because Fulci knew how to frame a shot like a nightmare. His later zombie films are more overtly surreal (especially City of the Living Dead), but he does have that spirit here too. It's tempered by more straight-forward plotting, which in some ways helps the film.
Just watch the eyeball scene again. The use of shadow as the door slides open, the lighting, the sound are true intrusions on the psyche, not just shock and awe. - DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsRose McGowanFreddy RodríguezJosh BrolinAfter an experimental bio-weapon is released, turning thousands into zombie-like creatures, it's up to a rag-tag group of survivors to stop the infected and those behind its release.Really truly fun, better as a half of Grindhouse however. It's digital affectations are starting to show their age, but great popcorn midnight fare.
- DirectorDan O'BannonStarsClu GulagerJames KarenDon CalfaWhen two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.Great punk rock zombie flick. The best kind of zombie comedy (the kind we need more of nowadays), one where it's not a comedy so much as rollicking good time with big laughs, big gore, and big fun.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsTimothy BalmeDiana PeñalverElizabeth MoodyA young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.A splatter flick set to the tune of zombie. This has become the gold standard for most modern zombie "comedies" or whatever (effectively becoming it's own mini sub-genre). Contains an inventiveness and insanity that most films can only dream of.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.The found footage zombie flick originator and it's damn good. Intense, confined-space terror.
- DirectorMichele SoaviStarsRupert EverettFrançois Hadji-LazaroAnna FalchiA cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies.Existential ennui. Unique and indelible.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsChristopher GeorgeCatriona MacCollCarlo De MejoA reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from their graves.Surreal to the max. Zombie ghosts more like. Doesn't make much sense but I'm not sure it needed to. Just needed a better ending (that stake stabbing is pretty anti-climactic).
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsJonathan D. MellorManuela VelascoÓscar ZafraIn order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.Nearly as good as the original. Finds just enough new ground to explore and the "twist" reveal of the zombie's origins is at least somewhat original for the genre.
- DirectorJorge GrauStarsCristina GalbóRay LovelockArthur KennedyA cop chases two hippies suspected of a series of Manson family-like murders; unbeknownst to him, the real culprits are the living dead, brought to life with a hunger for human flesh by ultrasonic radiation being used for pest control.It's a kind of hippies vs. establishment type zombie flick. The establishment has no care for the natural world and is inadvertently creating zombies out of normal folks with icky pesticides; the hippies are the only ones who can see this and save everyone before it's too late.
Fairly well-paced if not especially scary. Some solid special effects work by Fulci regular Gianetto de Rossi. - DirectorGary ShermanStarsJames FarentinoMelody AndersonJack AlbertsonSheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town.Fun with some great scenes.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsLane CarrollWill MacMillanHarold Wayne JonesThe military attempts to contain a manmade combat virus that causes death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.Not exactly a traditional zombie flick either. This is probably where the whole infected people zombies thing started, though no one says so because this film wasn't nearly as popular as Romero's true zombie films. "The Crazies" is even more overtly a political satire than his other works.
- DirectorBruno MatteiClaudio FragassoStarsMargie NewtonFranco GarofaloSelan KarayAfter an experiment gone wrong, a virus that turns people into zombies spreads throughout New Guinea. A female reporter and her cameraman, and a team of four commandos sent to investigate try to survive the onslaught.Ultra low-budget zombie film knockoff, however it's certainly much better than that. It has quite a lot of energy and fun and makes the most with the little it's given.
- DirectorFred DekkerStarsJason LivelyTom AtkinsSteve MarshallAlien brain parasites, entering humans through the mouth, turn their host into a killing zombie. Some teenagers start to fight against them.Great fun, a party flick with alien parasite infected zombie types.
- DirectorLloyd KaufmanStarsJason YachaninKate GrahamAllyson SereboffZombified chickens attempt to kill the fast-food workers that cook them in a restaurant built on an ancient burial ground.Ridiculous. It's Troma, so what do you expect? It has that magic Troma touch where everything is so over-the-top and insane a kind of lucidity comes out of it. It's not like most modern flicks of the ilk, where it's numbing to the senses. It's the opposite, measured in a way.
- DirectorAmando de OssorioStarsLone FlemingCésar BurnerMaría Elena ArpónMedieval knights executed for their black magic rituals come back as zombies to torment a group of vacationing college kids.The Knights Templar (Blind Dead) are awesome to behold. They look incredibly real and invoke real terror. The movie is too languid for it's own good at times but the parts with the Dead are nightmarish.
- DirectorBrian YuznaStarsJ. Trevor EdmondMelinda ClarkeKent McCordHaving recently witnessed the horrific results of a top secret project to bring the dead back to life, a distraught youth performs the operation on his girlfriend after she's killed in a motorcycle accident.I had a lot of fun with this one. It's a great crazy B-movie with no other pretensions. Not much of a RotLD flick though, but who cares?