Top 10 Zombie Movies

Editorial

Night Of The Living Dead

This is the movie that started it all. George A Romero’s black and white masterpiece not only spawned four sequels (so far) but was responsible for an entire genre, all with reliable endings as dark and depressing as the subject matter itself. Widely regarded as one of the most influential zombie films of all time, NOTLD is a must see for anyone purporting to be a fan. In fact, you’d be doing yourself a great disservice if you skip the other films in the ‘dead’ franchise also: Dawn, Day, Land, and Diary of the Dead, because nobody does it like George did it.

28 Days Later

You know the story – granola munching hippie-types unknowingly release an infectious virus into the air and everything gets the gruesome treatment. A trailblazer of the genre in the sense this is one of the first zombie movies where the infected aren’t hindered by rigor mortis. This grisly little gem was an instant classic and ranks among the best.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Half human and half machine, model-turned-actress Milla Jovovich and super-hot gun-toting Sienna Guillory join forces in a city overrun by zombies. Not convinced? Who cares?  Picture this: half human half machine model-turned-actress Milla Jovovich and super-hot, gun-toting model-turned-actress Sienna Guillory join forces in a city overrun by zombies.

Return of the Living Dead

This makes the list for its fine contribution to the zombie vernacular via the now famous zombie-cry: ‘brains… braaaaains…’ In a priceless example of the after-life imitating art imitating the after-life, the sequel features a scene with zombies dancing to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.

Dawn of the Dead

About the only thing Romero’s 1978 classic and this remake have in common is that they both centre on a group of survivors taking refuge in a shopping mall. An impressive cast, including  Sarrah Polley, Ving Rhames and Jake Webber, give this modern-day version ‘The A-Team’ treatment when they convert ordinary old buses into ready-made mobile zombie killing machines. In addition, the zombie-birth scene is gut-wrenching (literally) making this a modern-day classic.

Shaun of the Dead

British humour at its best. Upon realising all is not well in the village, Shaun and his socially-challenged mate use cricket bats and even old vinyl records in their mission to save his mum and girlfriend from the zombies. Seeking refuge from the zombies, the group ends up – much to the disgust of Shaun’s girlfriend and mother – holed up in the local boozer.  

Note: in the recent release of ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’ the Brits tried to apply the same winning ‘Shaun’ formula to another classic horror genre. Unfortunately for the makers (and viewers), they had about as much success as one might have trying to convince a vampire that bathing in holy water would be good for the skin…’nuff said.  

Land of the Dead

Many may overlook this relatively recent addition to Romero’s ‘dead’ franchise however, it rates a mention not only for its relevant social commentary (which although is present in each of his ‘dead’ films, here focuses on current issues such as terrorism and social status), but the progress zombies have made since he first invented them (in this instalment they have the ability to learn and communicate). Makes you wonder why we don’t just teach them that eating us is bad…

Black Sheep

Zombies Kiwi style: flesh-eating, undead sheep that terrorise the living. If that’s not enough to get you excited then you might already be dead. Here, the kiwis are good-humoured enough to take the mickey out of themselves (the old sheep jokes are obvious but still funny) and good enough to make this a genuinely awesome movie (once you’ve seen a pair of zombie-sheep stare-down their human prey prior to launching into attack mode you’ll never look at sheep the same way again).

Planet Terror

Apart from plenty of gore, this Robert Rodriguez flick has Rose McGowan not only showing off her plentiful talent in the flexibility department by dodging rocket-propelled grenades but – in classic B-Grade horror style – impresses the hell out of everyone by substituting a fully-automatic assault rifle for a prosthetic limb. Not since fire-breathing dragons have in-body-built weapons been so cool!

Zombie Strippers

To truly appreciate this film you need to be aware that it is based on the play, ‘Rhinoceros,’ in which people who become Rhinos are suddenly more attractive… Alright it is stupid, but Jenna Jameson’s zombie pole-dance – complete with torn-out throat – is truly unforgettable, even if the rest of the film isn’t.

Michael Stevens, Citysearch