March 24, 2015

10 Awesome Movies That Will Satisfy All of Your Zombie Needs!

Whether they rise from the grave, or are virally infected; whether they move slow or fast; whether they're Romero zombies, Fulci zombies, or Walking Dead zombies, there's just something about the undead that we can't get enough of. The movies below are some of the best that the genre has to offer, so let's get into the zombie spirit and celebrate them!

  • This list is not in any sort of ranking order, but I will admit that I put our favorite zombie flick first.
  • There are also some classic zombie movies that are not in this Top 10 list, but not because they aren't as good as the ones that are. We picked and chose from our faves, nothing more. This is not a definitive "Best of" list, although we would argue that it's pretty close.

*Click the pics to be taken to each movie's Amazon page, if you feel the need to watch them, or add them to your collection.

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)
For us, zombie movies don't get much better than ROTLD. Not only is Tarman one of the coolest zombie characters to ever appear on film, but the undead in this one talk, making it a unique zombie movie experience. It's also funny as hell. Whether or not this is the best zombie movie ever is debatable, but what isn't debatable is that if you love zombie movies, this one has got to be a part of your collection.

As great as ROTLD is, the documentary about its making may be every bit as entertaining. Check it out HERE.

Read our review HERE.

CEMETERY MAN (1994)
Dellamorte Dellamore is a quirky, surreal, tongue-in-cheek movie, that is as visually stylish as it is gory. Also, as per usual with most Italian Horror flicks, there's a lot of nudity going on in this one. It also doesn't make a ton of sense, but then again many of the best Italian Horror flicks of yesteryear tended not to. Perfect or not, Cemetery Man is one hell of a watch, and will always be one of our sentimental favorites.

*Go ahead and order this one if you like, but buy it used if you do; a new copy will cost you $70+ on Amazon, and that's just crazy.

Read our review HERE.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
Regarded by most as the best zombie movie ever made, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead is an absolutely seminal work in the zombie sub-genre, and the world of Horror in general. This darkly comedic gorefest is also one hell of a commentary on commercialism and its effects on society, but really, we're here for some good old fashioned zombie gut-munching, and DOTD delivers that and then some.

Though Dawn isn't our favorite zombie movie ever (it's not even our favorite Romero film), it is probably the best place to start for anyone looking to delve into the world of zombie movies.

DEAD SET (2008)
Years before The Walking Dead hit TV screens and truly made zombies into the cultural phenomenon that they are today, British TV Channel E4 commissioned this little gem of a Mini-Series. Set in the UK Big Brother house, Dead Set is a mean and gory effort that wastes no time getting to the carnage; its 2 hours and 20 minute runtime is spread over only 5 episodes, so really, there's no time for filler. It may not be as grand, but we absolutely enjoyed this one as much as we do The Walking Dead, and in some ways, maybe even more.

*Another on that is mysteriously "unavailable" on Amazon, Dead Set may be hard to track down to watch. It is absolutely worth finding though.

Read our review HERE.

LAND OF THE DEAD (2005)
For reasons that I can not explain or justify to you, or even to myself, George Romero's Land of the Dead is our favorite entry in his Dead Universe of films. I honestly think it's because LOTD feels like it's his most polished and complete zombie effort to date. All of the biting social commentary and insane gore gags are there, and it's got a budget bigger than all of his other Dead movies put together (and then some), and it shows. It's also got Dennis Hopper playing the bad guy... and does it get any better than Dennis Hopper playing the bad guy? No, it does not.

LOTD will always be a movie that we can watch over and over again, and we don't care who makes fun of us for it! *We really do care, but we pretend that we don't. It's a survival mechanism.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)
Say what you will about remakes, but James Gunn and Zack Snyder knocked it out of the park with this one. Sure, it may not have the social commentary that the 1978 Romero classic does, but this is a lean, mean zombie flick in every other way... unless of course you aren't a fan of the whole "fast-moving zombie" thing, then you probably wont like this one. Like LOTD, Dawn of the Dead (2004) is just one of those movies that we can watch anytime, and we do so gladly.

RE-ANIMATOR (1985)
Is Re-Animator even a zombie flick? Well yes, it is. It's a zombie flick that operates on a much smaller scale than most others, but it involves a mad scientist bringing people (and cats) back to life, only to see them wreak havoc on he and everyone around him, so it counts. There may honestly be no zombie movie that is as funny as Re-Animator is, and it's one of the very few movie adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft's work that doesn't totally suck; From Beyond, another movie which stars Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, and is also directed by Stuart Gordon, is another. Coincidence? I think not.

If you like your Horror flicks to be as fun as they are gory, then Re-Animator is about as good as it gets. Also, From Beyond is just as good. They make for a perfect double feature.

RESIDENT EVIL (2002)
The Resident Evil movies have always been fun, guilty pleasures for us, that we've enjoyed in spite of themselves. If you're being honest about them, they're pretty much a complete exercise in style over substance, which is fine, but some of the things that happens in them makes us roll our eyes and laugh. The first Resident Evil though was more of a "traditional" movie in that it had more of a plot, and it wasn't anywhere near as over the top and silly as its sequels were. We enjoyed all of the movies in this series, but it will always be the first one that we can say we honestly loved.

Milla Jovovich kicking zombie ass is always a good (if cheesy) thing. Never forget that.

ZOMBIELAND (2009)
I have one thing to say, and one thing only: any movie that plays For Whom the Bell Tolls over its opening credits is aces in my book. Alright I lied, I have more to say... This movie is fun as hell, and aside from the annoying actions of the main chicks throughout most of the movie, it's easily one of the best zombie comedies that we've seen in recent memory. As funny as the movie is on the whole, and it truly is, Woody Harrelson is brilliant and steals the show as Tallahassee; the zombie ass-kicking southern boy with a penchant for awesome one-liners. This is a highly-enjoyable movie, and it's just about as fun as a zombie movie can be. 

Read our review HERE.

THE BEYOND (1981)
Beware: this Lucio Fulci classic makes little to no sense, is at times confusing as hell, and has one of those "what in the hell just happened?!?" types of endings... but good lord it's impossible for us not to love it to death, all the same.

I've said it before and I will say it forever; you can't watch old school Italian Horror flicks expecting them to be coherent, or have a strong plot, or make a lick of sense. You watch them because despite many of them being shitty movies, they work exceptionally well on a visual and atmospheric level.

The Beyond will absolutely confuse the shit out of you, but it's so crazy good that you won't care. Even if you do, you'll forgive it it's trespasses, because you almost have to.It's also  got what may be the best killshot in Horror movie history, so, bonus.

Read our review HERE.

THE WALKING DEAD
It's always funny to me how people will criticize The Walking Dead and say that "nothing happens" or that there's more human drama than there is zombie action. This surprises me because George Romero's zombie flicks have ALWAYS been more about the human drama than they have been about zombie action, and yet people tend to praise his movies to high heaven. *Not that they don't deserve ample praise, because they do, but go and watch Day of the Dead (which is one of our faves, by the way), and pay attention to how much of the movie is people talking vs.any sort of zombie carnage. The balance isn't even close.

That said, The Walking Dead, though not perfect, is about as good as any show that's centered around Zombie Apocalypse has a right to be.

As much as we love the movies above, there are plenty of other zombie movies out there that are as good as, if not better, than they are, depending. Here are 10 more tales of the undead that still thrill us to this day, and that are absolutely worthy of a true zombie lover's praise and attention.

*As always, click on the pics for info on the flicks! Then go watch some. You know you want to.

3 comments :

  1. great list (not that keen on dead set though). You're quite right to put ROTLD at the top, it's the best!

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    1. In all fairness, I am a yank who is more enamored with UK television shows that I should be... So that's probably a part of it. Plus, Jamie Winstone. :)

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  2. Good call on Dead Set. One of my all time fav zombie shows.

    Come to find out, after watching a bit of Black Mirror, it's the same creator as Dead Set (Charlie Brooker).

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