The 10 Greatest Zombie Films of All Time (with Evidence)
Posted at 5:02 AM Oct 23, 2008
By Cory Casciato
Zombie movies are almost certainly the pinnacle of Western civilization. Think about it: Where else can you find a medium that combines such potent social commentary with a near-mandatory disembowelment scene policy? And that’s not even getting into the potential for comedy which may of the best zombie movies display. You don’t have to take my word for it. If there was any doubt that zombie movies were such an important element of our culture, would we have so damn many of them? Looking at that list, it’s obvious that the genre can be intimidating— few will deny that 90 percent of zombie movies are nearly unwatchable. In that spirit, here’s a list of the top ten indispensable zombie movies, ten can’t-miss gems that represent the breadth and depth of the genre and serve as a vital introduction to the best Western culture has to offer.
10) Shaun of the Dead
As strange as it seems, not everyone loves zombie movies. If you’re not too sure about the genre, or need a zombie movie to get your horror-hating girlfriend on board, Shaun of the Dead is just what the (mad) doctor ordered. Simultaneously working as a straight zombie movie and as a sweet romantic comedy, it focuses on a lovable underachiever who wants to prove himself to the woman who just dumped him. Luckily for us, he’s doing so in the face of a full-fledged zombie apocalypse. You can’t help but root for Shaun as he tries to save his mum, girlfriend and best buddy from becoming zombie chow, even as he proves himself to be a complete and utter dumbass at every turn. It’s especially notable for the way it manages to work in the most absurd situations—such as the scene shown here, where a zombie receives a beatdown to a Queen tune—without ever resorting to parody or cheap laughs.
9) 28 Days Later
It’s been called a zombie movie without zombies, but that’s just purists being retarded. The zombies here may not be technically dead, but they sure act like zombies: chasing people, biting them and turning them into zombies. And it sure looks like a zombie movie, with its apocalyptic vision of London, its band of survivors desperate to escape and, in a significant nod to Romero’s Day of the Dead, an insane military that’s actually far more threatening than the zombies themselves. Love it or hate it, it’s impossible to ignore its influence: Since it came out, fast zombies have become all the rage—see Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake and any number of less-famous, direct-to-video entries. Plus you can con your film geek friends into watching it since it was directed by Danny Boyle of Trainspotting fame.
8) Return of the Living Dead
This movie got its start as an alternate sequel to the original Night of the Living Dead by Romero’s partner John Russo, but by the time it finally came out it had become something much different – and much, much cooler. In the hands of Alien scribe Dan O’Bannon, zombies became not just smarter, faster and harder to kill, but also a lot funnier. Playing the genre for laughs, O’Bannon throws two bumbling medical supply warehouse workers, their asshole boss, a canister full of zombie and zombie-creating gas, a Nazi mortician and a group of punk rockers into the mix, sets the whole thing next to a cemetery full of waiting-to-be-awakened zombies and lets things evolve from there. It was this movie that gave the undead their reputation for eating brains specifically (instead of all flesh), and it helped launch the soon-to-be popular splatstick genre. If that’s not enough, it also features a hot, full-frontal nude scene from the legendary Linnea Quigley. And it's that's still not enough, it has two of the best lines ever spoken by zombies: "Send more cops" (into a police radio), and "I love you...that's why you've got to let me eat your brains!"
7) The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Serpent and the Rainbow has a distinctly different view of zombies than the rest of the films on this list. Based on a nonfiction book by anthropologist Wade Davis, it presents a relatively realistic view of the zombie phenomena in Haiti, where the myth originates. As the main character—a drug-swilling anthropologist seemingly ready to swallow anything a witch doctor hands him—searches for the drug used to create zombies, he’s drawn into the Haitian underworld of corruption and voodoo, where he’s tortured by having his testicles nailed to a chair, gets buried alive and becomes a zombie himself. Atmospherically creepy and unsettling, it shows that even “real” zombies are plenty fucking scary.
6) Junk
Asia has contributed several solid entries to the genre, and atop them all sits Junk. The story sets up a three-way battle royale between a gang of amateur thieves, their double-crossing Yakuza overlords and a brood of zombies controlled by a super-strong queen zombie hottie. If that sounds insane, it is, in a great way. Also great are the new ideas it brings to the genre (zombies as collective intelligence controlled by a “queen”) and some interesting subversions of gender roles (the two strongest characters are both women).
Comments
what, no cemetery man???
Posted 10/23/2008 at 06:15:37 AMYou've got a sure fire winner for best zombie tv series starting on British telly on the 27th October.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhGLM49k8ck
Dead Set is a Horror/comedy (with the balance tailored more to the horror than comedy) set in world were the cast of the Reality TV Series "Big Brother" leave the house to discover a full on zombie apocalypse has happened.
Using the actual set of the genuine reality program big brother as well as it's presenter, and the surprising high production values for British TV this looks good. Even before you realise it's been written by Charlie Brooker. Brooker a former video games journalist, who went on to write the funniest TV review column in British Journalist, before going on to write the TV series Nathan Barley and Screenwipe*
*No I am not some PR asshole, it's that I fucking adore Brookers column's and Screenwipe is fucking hilarious.
Here he is explaining how careers in TV work
Posted 10/23/2008 at 07:30:39 AMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIyg2a72uV4
You have sadly left out "Fido" (2006), a zombie love story. Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, and Dylan Baker star in this awesome film.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 07:50:09 AMShaun of the Dead should have been much higher...top 5 at least. Just my opinion.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 08:03:37 AMLucio Fulci did some hardcore gore movies. Well, a lot Italians made gore movies back then. Good list...
Posted 10/23/2008 at 08:13:37 AMI don't know, man - "Dead Next Door" wasn't even as "good" (i.e. bad) as a Troma movie. Take away the opening and ending credits and there's about 45 minutes worth of actual movie. Plus, there's much, much better films you're leaving out: "The Beyond"? "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie"? "Cemetary Man"? "Day of the Dead"? How about the ORIGINAL "NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD"?
Posted 10/23/2008 at 08:16:40 AMIncredibly awesome list Cory, with some fine gems included!!!
I do, however, in the spirit of true nerdery, feel the need to point out the following:
1) 28 Days Later is a pale comparison to it's sequel, 28 Weeks Later. Most film franchises can't boast this claim.
2) You should have made this a Top 20 list and added such greats as: The Gates of Hell, Cemetery Man, The House By the Cemetery, the Tombs of the Blind Dead series, Burial Ground, Day of the Dead (a TRULY underrated film), Diary of the Dead, Undead, etc.
We need more kickass lists like this. Keep up the great work, guys!!
Posted 10/23/2008 at 08:21:11 AMPersonally, I think Cemetery Man should be in the Top 5. Sometimes it's hard not to let my personal preferences interfere with the Daily List editing.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 08:29:20 AMGreat list! I can't say that I agree with every single choice but, overall, good stuff.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 08:31:19 AMFido wasn't that good. For starters, zombies weren't really a pivotal part of the film. You could have changed them to aliens, black slaves, anything and you'd have the same film.
And it just sort of meandered around, raising a bunch of questions that never get answered. The plot itself was pretty standard and predictable.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 09:01:13 AM28 Days Later at 9? Come on, it's the only scary Zombie-film ever made, the rest of the ones on the list are just meh. Gorey, sure. But scary? Not at all.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 09:08:59 AMDELLAMORTE DELAMORE -- excuse me, "CEMETARY MAN" -- for sure. FIDO was a lot of fun but a tad "eh" in the final accounting. Also, 28 WEEKS LATER was lame. That whole underground chase in the dark made my head hurt, & reminded me of a gag from a Peter Sellers movie.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 09:38:41 AMim sick and tired of THE CROW not getting its due respects as one of the best zombie movies ever. your top 10 is nothing without at least a wildcard reference to it
Posted 10/23/2008 at 09:46:35 AMHes not a zombie.
He might be undead, but that doesn't equal zombie. The Crow is neither decayed, nor a mindless eating machine. If undead=zombie, by that standard, Dracula is a zombie, and hell, arguably Neo from the Matrix is a zombie too.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 10:09:39 AMWith the exception of Dead Next Door, this is a damn fine list. If you want a kitschily entertaining zombie film, why not list Dead and Breakfast? That has line dancing zombies.
Also, 28 Weeks Later is lame drivel.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 10:18:52 AMMad props for including The Serpent and the Rainbow.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 10:27:37 AMNo love for Mantan Moreland in "King Of The Zombies"? Bah.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 10:35:07 AMBest list ever. I've seen more than half of those, and I'm seeing the rest ASAP. But you forgot to mention the great tagline for Zombie: "We are going to eat you."
And that British series Dead Set looks awesome. Mostly because I want all Big Brother contestants dead and/or eaten.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 10:41:27 AMShaun of the Dead is more of a love letter to zombie movies, rather than an 'introduction' IMHO. So much of it requires viewing of the other movies to 'get it.' Zombi #1? Jeeze. It's historic, but not good. Dawn is #1, by a long shot. Serpent and the Rainbow? Not even really a zombie movie and , again opinion, one of the worst from a good director. And to those hating on 'Next Door' you just aren't getting it. Everyone has made their own little zombie movie and this is the Citizen Kane of those. The entertainment value far outweighs the lack of funding and professionalism this movie has.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 11:04:59 AMJunk doesn't deserve to be placed that high. The Dead Next Door doesn't deserve to be on the list at all. And to not have Night of the Living Dead at number 1, let alone not on the list at all, is a travesty and destroys any validity this list had.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 11:09:36 AMGreat list! From the absurd to the sublime, you've captured the finest in brain-eatin' fun!
Posted 10/23/2008 at 11:34:46 AMOkay, Jeff...
Posted 10/23/2008 at 12:25:34 PMPeople who think that Dead and Breakfast should appear on this list have NO BUSINESS saying that 28 Weeks Later is drivel.
Here's another vote for Cemetary Man...can't believe I forgot that one.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 12:46:01 PMWTF!!! NO EVIL DEAD???!!!!???!!! the first one was WAAAY up there in ketchup milk and sputnum...gawd
Posted 10/23/2008 at 12:53:59 PMEvil Dead = demons, not zombies. Though on consideration I do agree that NOTLD deserves to be on this list as a separate entry -- as does DOD. If that makes it too Romero-centric, so what? They're both absolute landmark films. Of course, if you want another overlooked historic entry, how about Bob Clark's "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things"?
Posted 10/23/2008 at 01:12:39 PMEvil Dead is debatable based on whether or not they're truly zombies, but, at least in the first two films, I think it's close enough that they should be considered zombies. I mean people come to life after being killed, and then try to kill humans in a basically mindless fashion. Sounds like Zombies to me, so I'd put the original Evil Dead in top 10. I think 2 is a bit better, but not as significant as the original.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 01:47:03 PMI hear ya, Coral, but the fact that they're animated by a higher intelligence that taunts Ash, plus they don't have the munchies for him, would make a purist say "nay." I was thinking about them, too, though .. they're both wonderful films, & I agree that the 2nd one does edge out the 1st ...
Posted 10/23/2008 at 03:12:59 PMSorry, but "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" trumps "Zombi" any day. It's directed by the guy who filmed "Christmas Story" and it is by far a better movie than most on this list.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 03:17:15 PMSun faa sau si ( Biozombie)
Hong Kong's answer to George Romero's Dawn Of The Dead. A soft drink tainted with bio-chemicals has the power to turn people into flesh-eating zombies. A man drinks from the bottle, and wanders into the night. As two young VCD sellers (Woody Invincible and Crazy Bee) from a local mall are returning to the mall with their bosses' car, they hit the man. Unsure of what to do, they bring the man back to the mall with them. The mall closes, and soon there are zombies everywhere! A small group of mall employees must bond together to try and fight their way out.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 03:17:46 PMWhat a crap list.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 04:38:41 PMGreat list! I think Shaun of the Dead should have scored higher though :p
Posted 10/23/2008 at 05:47:39 PMNo Dead Heat??
C'MMMMMON!
Treat Williams! Joe Piscopo! What more could you want?
Posted 10/23/2008 at 05:50:11 PMBeing a Zombie appreciator who has sat through very few true Zombie movies I find myself falling towards Fido, just because I love the concept of a pet zombie. Not saying I don't want to see the others, I love Shaun of the Dead, and want to see others, but for me the georgous combination of a vaguely "Pleasant Vill" concept with Zombie attack.
Plus it is a world where the zombie apocalypse has hit, and humanity has survived and made use of those who... well didn't
Posted 10/23/2008 at 08:39:52 PMEh, this list is shit... and for no other reason then it being purely 'odd man out' opinion list but coming off with this 'definitive' attitude.
When you leave off--from what I can tell--at least 5 (or more) movies that should be here and force feed us some absolute garbage zombie titles instead, you need to put a disclaimer in there somewhere.
Had you put up some honorable mentions or stated zombie movies are purely based upon personal taste (and explained how that is to people that don't know there is flavors of zombie flick), this might have gotten a Digg. Instead it easily earns a bury.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 09:06:22 PMDawn of the Dead should be #1. Saw that movie at the drive-in when I was about 12. I'm now 40 and I still can't watch it too late at night or I won't sleep well. Great list but Serpent and the Rainbow Doesn't qualify.
Posted 10/23/2008 at 09:54:57 PMI wholeheartedly agree with you on a lot of the things you say, but I have to say, because I am a huge zombie fan, that there are at least four (4) epic movies that you have left out here.
Posted 10/24/2008 at 12:50:54 AMDawn of the Dead: Remake... Scary, Fast, Dark and awsome.
Day of the Dead... Bloody as hell with a load of Cussing.
Night of the Living Dead: Remake... Awsome special fx and a twist form the boring original
and of corse
The Stink of Flesh... With Hot zombie rape and Cock-Sucking, Hyper-Zombies... you just cant go wrong.
I wholeheartedly agree with you on a lot of the things you say, but I have to say, because I am a huge zombie fan, that there are at least four (4) epic movies that you have left out here.
Posted 10/24/2008 at 12:52:31 AMDawn of the Dead: Remake... Scary, Fast, Dark and awsome.
Day of the Dead... Bloody as hell with a load of Cussing.
Night of the Living Dead: Remake... Awsome special fx and a twist form the boring original
and of corse
The Stink of Flesh... With Hot zombie rape and Cock-Sucking, Hyper-Zombies... you just cant go wrong.
Also, on reflection, which the author obviously didn't do much of before compiling the original list, if you're gonna have a token "real" zombie movie on there, though SERPENT & RAINBOW is pretty good, it should easily be trumped by Val Lewton's I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, starring Bela Lugosi. Jeez, do we have to do ALL your work for you here in the comments section?
Posted 10/24/2008 at 01:51:51 AMAlso: Doctor Death, what are you, like sixteen years old? I only ask because your shitastic choices reflect an absolute ignorance of anything made more than five years ago ...
Posted 10/24/2008 at 01:54:05 AMWhat about Pot Zombies?
Posted 10/24/2008 at 06:00:18 AMWhat's the reason for the NOTLD snub? Was the best Romero entry (Dawn) supposed to represent for the entire catalogue?
Posted 10/24/2008 at 06:35:13 AMI think "The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue" deserves an honorable mention.
Posted 10/24/2008 at 09:38:44 AMThanks for the great effort. From the movies listed above I prefere Dawn of the Dead (probably my all time favorite) and Junk. But there are missing some of my favorites:
1) Tom Savini's 1990 Remake of George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead". Check out the famous cemetery scene: "They comin' to get you Barbara." http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=7wtIBaV8fWk
2) Then of course Romero's original "Night of the Living Dead" from the late 1960'ies. Check out the original cemetery scene: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=bnLF-5pXMNs&feature=related You know, what you get here is SUSPENSE, not only THRILLING ACTION.
3) And at last the ultimate zombie movie of our time: "The Zombie Diaries" ... ultra shocking and ultra realistic, handheld camera perspective http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fx3sfLhXow
Stay tuned,
Posted 10/24/2008 at 11:57:20 AMNolasker
I commend you Cory Casciato for making a list of zombie movies that actually seems to be from a zombie movie lover. Every time I see a list like this one I get frustrated because Night of the Living Dead is number one. While it's not bad, it is inferior to every movie on this list. (Except maybe, Dead Next Door, I've never seen it.) Thank you for a list I can appreciate.
Posted 10/24/2008 at 12:48:57 PMDay of the Dead was a pile. People need to except that. One torso rip scene, does not make a good movie. I do agree that the Dawn remake should be on here, though.
Posted 10/24/2008 at 12:55:56 PMdawn of the dead is the best, the remake is good, too. shawn of the dead should be much higher, like number 3. 28 days later is box-office-schlock. good movie but fuck that. might as well put 'i am legend' on this list.
Posted 10/24/2008 at 11:30:42 PMAgreeing totally with those who suggested Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. That movie is awesome, and deserves a spot in any zombie top ten. Ditto for Cemetary Man as well. Most beautiful undead love story ever.
Posted 10/29/2008 at 03:44:13 PMwhat about the movie with the zombie children who use weapons to kill and then eat?whats that movie called?
Posted 11/09/2008 at 04:16:39 PMok, not too bad of a list, but for real, 28 days later is so not a zombie movie, call me retarded all you want... but in my opinion for a creature to be considered as a zombie, it first needs to die, and than come back to life... which no one in this film does. and than needs to feed on human flesh, and all it seems people need to do in that movie is beat the piss outta people... don't get me wrong i like that movie, but its not a zombie movie... plain and fucking simple
Posted 01/30/2009 at 10:06:46 AMNo i walked with a zombie! Thats a classic
Posted 03/01/2009 at 08:05:42 PMi dont think zombie aka zombi 2 aka zombie flesh eaters, should be 1st AT ALL. by far dawn of the dead should be in that spot. just my opinion of course but i found zombie a bit boring
Posted 04/01/2009 at 10:37:57 PMthe undead is clearly the best movie ever made...
Posted 04/21/2009 at 02:55:09 AM