Ever since The Walking Dead took the world by storm, zombies have been increasingly hard to avoid. Sure, they’re not as prevalent as they were a few years ago, but walkers are still lurking around every corner. They’re especially prevalent on Netflix, the illustrious streamer that carries a fair amount of undead content. Whether it’s foreign films like #Alive or franchise favorites like Resident Evil: Retribution, Netflix has zombie movies in many sizes — here are 10 of the best options.
#Alive (2020)
courtesy netflix
A man confined to his apartment during a zombie outbreak must figure out how to fend for himself with a lack of technology as the undead close in. This stylish genre mashup from South Korea is one of the country’s best zombie products (which is saying a lot). —Declan Gallagher
Where to watch #Alive: Netflix
Director: Cho Il-hyung
Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Park Shin-hye, Jeon Bae-soo
Army of the Dead (2021)
CLAY ENOS/NETFLIX
Zack Snyder’s cheeky subversion of genre hits a sweet spot that’s part Ocean’s Eleven, part his remake of Dawn of the Dead. Snyder is clearly back in his comfort zone, unburdened by superhero mythology and uncommitted actors. That assurance shows in the final product. While his Dawn remake remains his best movie, Army of the Dead comes close to tapping into its predecessor’s grimy, gristle-splattered aesthetic. Plus: Tig Notaro, flying a helicopter. —D.G.
Where to watch Army of the Dead: Netflix
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick, Garret Dillahunt
Related content: Zack Snyder takes us behind the scenes of the apocalyptic Army of the Dead title sequence
Cargo (2017)
Netflix
Martin Freeman gives “a performance in turns stoic and heartbreakingly desperate,” says EW’s critic, in this story about a father and his daughter in the Australian outback struggling for survival after a zombie outbreak. It’s more of a character drama than a horror film, and admittedly is not a ton of fun, but it’s a strong movie and a brave take on the zombie mythos. If you’re a fan of the genre, Cargo will offer you something with more emotional weight than you’re used to. —D.G.
EW grade: B (read the review)
Directors: Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke
Cast: Martin Freeman, Simone Landers, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter
Don’t Kill Me (2021)
courtesy Netflix
After dying of a drug overdose and returning to life, Mirta (Alice Pagani) discovers that she must eat living human beings to stay alive. Don’t Kill Me is a nihilistic drama that is certainly not for everyone, but it makes up for some questionable indulgences with its commitment to the tone. The movie never backs away from its bleak premise. —D.G.
Where to watch Don’t Kill Me: Netflix
Director: Andrea De Sica
Cast: Alice Pagani, Rocco Fasano, Silvia Calderoni, Anita Caprioli
Izla (2021)
courtesy netflix
In Izla, influencers head to an isolated island to make content but get more than they bargained for when they realize the land hosts a horde of terrible secrets. This refreshing comedy pokes fun at the zombie genre while lampooning classic horror films and couples retreat comedies. It doesn’t always hit its targets, but it’s sharply written and performed with a bevy of gross-out effects that scratch the gore itch. —D.G.
Director: Barry Gonzalez
Cast: Analyn Barro, Sunshine Garcia, Beauty Gonzalez, Paolo Contis
Ravenous (2017)
Netflix
If you enjoy the New French Extremity horror movement, you’ll love this nasty little survival pic about residents in Quebec who are besieged by a body-morphing, flesh-craving disease that turns them against their loved ones. —D.G.
Where to watch Ravenous: Netflix
Director: Robin Aubert
Cast: Charlotte St-Martin, Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, Luc Proulx
Related content: The 37 scariest movies of all time
Resident Evil (2002)
Columbia/Everett
Milla Jovovich made her name with this hell-for-leather action franchise. Playing commandos who must break into an underground bunker — the Hive, operated by the shadowy Umbrella Corporation — to stanch a zombie apocalypse, Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez give uncommonly compassionate performances for the genre. Though the series descends further into its video game roots as it goes on, this first installment (directed by Paul W.S. Anderson) punctuates its gratuitous action with a solid story and a few sequences of genuine suspense. It’s a pleasantly postmodern riff on the zombie mythos that came about at a time when the sub-genre was lacking, to say the least. Anderson satisfies the strictures of a video game adaptation while flirting with some of the bigger ideas he previously played with in Event Horizon (1995). —D.G.
Where to watch Resident Evil: Netflix
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius
Related content: Milla Jovovich is quite a character
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
Rafi © Davis Films/Impact Pictures (RE5) Inc./Constantin Film International GmbH
The fifth film in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution is here to play mind games with its protagonist: Alice (Milla Jovovich). Alice believes she is living with her husband (Oded Fehr) and daughter Becky (Aryana Engineer), but in reality, she has been captured by the Umbrella Corporation, and brought to an underwater facility used to test the company’s T-virus. When the facility’s computer system suddenly shuts down, it’s up to Alice to find her way to the surface to save the world from the Red Queen — with the help of some resistance agents sent to help her escape. The sequel to Resident Evil: Afterlife, Retribution also stars Sienna Guillory as Alice’s former ally Jill Valentine, and Michelle Rodriguez as Rain Ocampo, a member of Umbrella Corporation’s commando force. Helmed by writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson, whose work EW describes as “lunatically haphazard and dementedly enthusiastic,” Retribution isn’t the franchise’s strongest offering, but it’s still not to be missed. —Ilana Gordon
Where to watch Resident Evil: Retribution: Netflix
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Kevin Durand, Sienna Guillory, Shawn Roberts, Aryana Engineer, Oded Fehr
Related content: Resident Evil severed foot taste test
Valley of the Dead (2022)
courtesy netflix
Valley of the Dead has a similar premise to 2081’s Overlord, but this film does it in a more balanced and assured fashion. Soldiers in the Spanish Civil War must battle zombies created in a Nazi experiment in this wildly frenetic, imaginatively gory actioner. —D.G.
Where to watch Valley of the Dead: Netflix
Director: Javier Ruiz Caldera, Alberto de Toro
Cast: Aura Garrido, Asia Ortega, Miki Esparbé, Francisco Reyes
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (2023)
courtesy netflix
Adapted from the anime of the same name, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead concerns Akira (Eiji Akaso), a corporate drone who feels as though he’s become a zombie in his waking life. When an actual outbreak hits his city, it ironically gives him something to live for. By turns funny, tragic, and disgusting, Zom 100 takes a few pages from Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead playbook and executes them in an invigorating, surprisingly tender manner. —D.G.
Where to watch Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead: Netflix
Director: Yûsuke Ishida
Cast: Eiji Akaso, Mai Shiraishi, Shuntarō Yunagi, Yui Ichikawa
