10. World War Z
In fact, it was a couple of you readers who at the premiere of this film recommended me to read the book instead, which I did, but only a couple of years later. Sure enough, the book is something else entirely, the book is superb. That said, I still can’t get over the fact that the scope of this film always enchants me, along with Brad Pitt’s phenomenal presence. There’s something about how expansively doomsday-inspired World War Z feels, without losing focus.
9. Zombieland
The sequel was (minus the scene with Bill Murray, of course) pointless but that doesn’t change the fact that the original remains a brilliant comedy that, like Shaun of the Dead, plays with the genre’s most typical tropes to create brilliant humour.
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8. It Comes at Night
The eerie music inside the little cabin in the woods in this pitch-black zombie thriller is truly memorable. Tight, chilling, human, and drenched in a kind of unsettling uncertainty that makes it one of the best zombie flicks I’ve seen. Joel Edgerton is, as usual, absolutely brilliant and the photography here is fantastic too, through and through.
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7. One Cut of the Dead
This Japanese zombie parody is not only gnarly original in terms of structure and story, it’s also as freakishly weird as it is hilarious. Without giving too much away here (because you’ll have to experience this one for yourself to truly appreciate its excellence), this film is drenched in character and has a twist that I will never forget.
6. Night of The Living Dead
Of course, the zombie genre would never have been what it is today had it not been for zombie king George A. Romero’s iconic 60s classic. The fact that this was Romero’s directorial debut stands as one of the most remarkable things the horror genre has offered and even if it doesn’t stand up very well today, it obviously has to be on a list of this kind. Anything else is considered malpractice.
5. 28 Days Later
We all remember that scene where a lost, newly awakened Cillian Murphy wanders across London Bridge in Danny Boyle’s iconic zombie classic. We all remember the interview with Boyle telling us he negotiated with London politicians to shut down the city centre for 12 minutes on a Sunday morning, and we all remember how raw and scary it was.
4. Shaun of the Dead
There are many comedies that make me laugh out loud, no matter how many times I watch them. Step Brothers, Hot Shots: Part Deux, Naked Gun 2, Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, and MacGruber are just a few of them. Then there’s Shaun of the Dead, which I think I’ve seen 25 times and consider just as funny now as when it was first released. Edgar Wright’s ultra-charming debut film is brilliant and follows the lovesick loser Shaun and sees how he tackles a prevailing, bloody zombie apocalypse.
3. 28 Months Later
I know it’s a generally unpopular opinion to prefer Spaniard Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s sequel to Boyle’s iconic original, but I do. Fresnadillo managed in this film to retain that raw, gritty, violent sense of nerve and panic without either copying Boyle or falling into a trap of lacking originality in imagery and tone. Quite the contrary, this film is dripping with tension and strong characters, and I love the scope.
2. Dawn of the Dead
Today, you rarely hear Zack Snyder’s name mentioned in any particularly friendly or positive terms. The director of Man of Steel, Sucker Punch, Army of the Dead, and Rebel Moon has become something of a buzz word in the film world as his films almost invariably focus on surface over substance, but that wasn’t always the case. With his directorial debut Dawn of the Dead, Snyder took Romero’s original and shook it up in a way that still impresses 21 years later. The intro scene with the zombified girl next door remains one of the most effective scenes ever made.
1. Train to Busan
There are, of course, plenty of zombie films worth watching (only a selection of which have made it onto this huge list) but there is only one that is the best of them all. The reigning king of the genre: Train to Busan. Yeon Sang-ho’s Korean jaw-dropper is so gorgeously filmed, so drenched in phenomenal acting, and so perfectly structured that it feels like a 118-minute-long stranglehold.
