Ah, the zombie movie. Pure, unadulterated carnage. Before I run down my top 20 zombie flicks, though, let me head off one train at the pass...WHAT? NO DAWN OF THE DEAD?!? Yes, I heard you; no need to scream. Let me explain myself. The original Dawn was a landmark, influential film, but it hasn't held up well over time. The pace is slow, the zombies are laughable (Hare Krishnas? Green skin? The big, fake-headed Frankenstein zombie by the helicopter?) and the social commentary on consumerism lacks punch in an age where malls are so commonplace. Surely I'm not the only one who feels this way...right? (Crickets chirping.)
Wes Craven's visual stunner returns to the traditional zombie origin, Haitian voodoo, to present a more "realistic" portrayal of the undead. They aren't, in fact, dead at all, but rather are paralyzed by a powder and then buried alive -- a prospect as chilling as the living dead themselves.
This dark, simple Spanish production doesn't need much dialogue to creep you out. The prolonged silence, broken by the shuffling of skeletal zombies (and the occasional zombie horse), is enough to give you nightmares. The added dimension of the zombies' blindness makes the action more intriguing, although really, all you have to do is kick their canes out from under them.
Night of the Living Dead co-writer John Russo is generally acknowledged as the Andrew Ridgeley to George Romero's George Michael, but at least he did help create the great Return of the Living Dead. Its campy, lighthearted approach differs drastically from Romero's films, but it proves to be just as entertaining and introduces the classic zombie call: "Braaaaaiiins..."
Got alien slugs on the brain? You're not the only one. The corpses in this fun, freewheeling cult film are reanimated by extraterrestrial mollusks who direct the zombies to, ironically, one of places you're least likely to find brains: a sorority house.
This groundbreaking British epic established a new standard for modern zombie movies, with its gritty, digital video aesthetic and frenetic, fast-paced zombie-like "infected." The fact that the baddies aren't living dead trying to eat you isn't much comfort as they rip your arm off and beat you to a bloody pulp with it. If you're lucky, they might not vomit on you.
This campy early film from The Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson delivers the most fun you'll ever have watching a zombie flick. If the thought of a zombie baby, a kung-fu priest and a lawnmower massacre don't get a rise out of you, maybe you should pop a purple pill.
This Italian classic delivers all the goods you can ask for in a zombie movie. Gut munching? Check. Grave rising? Check. Eye piercing? Check. Desperate last stand in an isolated shack? Check. Hot zombie-on-shark action? Oh, you better believe it!
The prototype zombie comedy, Shaun of the Dead brilliantly melds hilarious, intelligent humor with gory, blood-letting horror and even a bit of romance for the fairer sex (whichever one that is).
All zombie movies before Night of the Living Dead were mere child's play, and all after it have been mere imitations. The smart, play-like screenplay and powerful acting lend an air of sophistication not usually attributed to a film about dead people gnawing on intestines.
Every time I hear of another horror movie remake coming down the pike and start to groan, I think back to this film. It brought a withered relic into modern times and made it relevant again -- if not in terms of social commentary, then in terms of pure entertainment value. Bigger and badder than the original, Dawn '04 is to Dawn '78 what Aliens was to Alien, making it the ultimate zombie movie...so far.
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