September 7, 2015

The Best of… Viral Horror!

There's something terrifying as hell about a viral outbreak which turns everyone around you into monsters that want to kill you, eat you, or assimilate you. The Walking Dead (which is not on this list, but is relative to our point) is the most popular show on TV for a reason, folks, and that reason is that pandemics, whether large or small, prey on our most primal of fears: that the world around us can go to hell at any minute.

Walking STDs; hordes of infected humans; killer mutant sheep; viral demons; flesh-eating bacteria; or even alien slugs that are determined to take over the world; the movies on this Best of Viral/Infected Horror list are sure to give you nightmares. Or even daymares. Some of them are really that scary.

  • Because there are so many great movies that could fit into both categories, we split up "Zombie" and "Infected" movies into two separate lists. Too many worthy movies would have been left out in the cold if we hadn't done so.
  • As this is the 11th list that we've done since July, you're going to see more repeat titles spread out across the lists. If a movie makes more than one list, it's because it's a great movie, and it needs to be on those lists. Black Sheep is a good example of this. 
  • The Best of Zombie Horror list will follow later today, so that the whole Zombie/Infected category can be complete.
  • Out of all of the movies on this list, we recommend that you start with The Children and Splinter; mainly because both are smaller, lesser-known movies that deserve some extra hype, and both are excellent.

If you're in the mood for a truly quality Viral/Infected Horror flick, any of the movies in our Top Six will do you right. For our money, [REC] and 28 Days Later are probably the best of them, but then again they all bring their own unique and terrifying vision to the Viral/Infected Sub-Genre.

Top 628 DaysChildrenCraziesItRecSlither
Below are the rest of our 30 Best Viral Horror flicks, and of course, a few Honorable Mentions thrown in for good measure. Keep in mind that no "Best of" list is ever perfect, but merely a solid starting point for anyone looking to watch some great flicks. 

*Most of the links go to Amazon so that you can stream or grab yourself a copy of the movies; our review of the movie (when applicable); or in the case of some of the older & more obscure titles, IMDB, because they simply aren't available to stream or purchase.

28 WeeksBlack SheepCabin FeverCarriersCraziesDoomsdayGrapes of DeathgrowthI am LegendMadMaggieMutantsNight of the CometNight of the CreepsPlanet TerrorPontypoolQuarantineRabidREC 2Resident EvilShiversSplinterStuffWorld War ZHonorableBayBlood GlacierMulberry StSignalWarning SignThaw

4 comments :

  1. Good list on a sub-genre I like a fair bit. Only a couple of comments:

    I think "The Bay" deserves much more love than it gets. The acting and script are really good, there's a satisfying gore factor as things proceed and a very clever device of linking into the CDC. I realise I am in an extreme minority on this.

    I think Jean Rollin deserves much more hate than he gets. The acting and scripts in his movies are really bad, there's an admittedly satisfying gore and mammary factor, but that's far from everything. I realise I am in a minority on this, as well.

    Finally, a word in praise of Robert Wise's "The Andromeda Strain". Not at all horror, but it's one of the best acted and most elegant (yeah, really) genre-movies out there. Deserves to be n the list, I reckon.

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  2. the Bay wasn't bad. Even if it wasn't our favorite, it did the whole "Viral" thing to perfection. That's why it's here, despite us not loving it all that much.

    We're not the biggest Rollin fans around here, but we enjoyed The Grapes of Death a lot. He's usually good for exploitational value, but little else.

    We originally had The Andromeda Strain on the list, but it got bumped. Doing lists like this can suck, because deserving movies like that get left by the wayside. GREAT flick though.

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  3. I never liked I Am Legend. The reason probably because they use CGI for the horde that much. But, funny how I love World War Z so much, whereas they also use CGI for the crawling ants horde. Care to explain why?

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    1. I can't explain it. I HATED the look of the creatures of I Am Legend too, and also really liekd World War Z... which makes no sense.

      I think WWZ was a better movie maybe?

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