Paste's 50 Best Zombie Movies of All Time
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Here’s a film truism that everyone can agree upon: George Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead is probably the most influential and important “zombie film” of all time. It codified an entirely new meaning for the term, which is ironic, given that the word “zombie” never actually appears in the movie, where the creatures are typically referred to as “ghouls.” But regardless, NOTLD catapulted the Americanized idea of “zombies” past their Haitian voodoo origins and into the cultural consciousness as dead bodies come back to life or otherwise reanimated, who fed upon the living. Few films in any genre can claim to be so influential. But is it the best zombie movie of all time?
Despite its classic, definitive imagery, and despite everything it contributed to the history of horror cinema, it’s not as if Night of the Living Dead is a flawless film. It can be slow, a bit dated, and is limited by its minimal budget in more ways than one. With the historical record taken into account, it’s a great film. But it’s simply not the “greatest zombie movie of all time,” if we’re being objective.
What, then, even makes for a great zombie film? Are they determined more by great human characterization, or by the utilization of the zombies themselves? What’s more important: A unique setting, or great practical effects? Gore and mayhem, or wry social commentary? Black comedy, or genuinely frightening suspense? Each can make for valid, classic examples of zombie cinema. And please, let’s not debate what is and isn’t “zombies.” We all know that the “infected” of 28 Days Later aren’t Romero-style zombies, but the construction of the film is 100 percent “zombie movie.” Likewise with many other entries on the list—it’s about intent and presentation, not whether the creatures fit within a very specific guidelines.
So without further ado: Here are the 50 greatest zombie movies of all time. The list could easily have been longer, and we trimmed quite a few classics just to get down to 50. Will we reach 100 next year? Who’s to say?
Pssst, want to check out the Paste's 50 Best Zombie Movies of All Time list in our new look?
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1 -
Dawn of the Dead
1978, in 15 top lists Check -
2 -
The Return of the Living Dead
1985, in 3 top lists Check -
3 -
Re-Animator
1985, in 7 top lists Check -
4 -
28 Days Later...
2002, in 9 top lists Check -
5 -
Day of the Dead
1985, in 4 top lists Check -
6 -
Shaun of the Dead
2004, in 13 top lists Check -
7 -
Evil Dead II
1987, in 9 top lists Check -
8 -
Night of the Living Dead
1968, in 20 top lists Check -
9 -
Zombi 2
1979 — a.k.a. Zombie, in 4 top lists Check -
10 -
Dèmoni
1985 — a.k.a. Demons, in 2 top lists Check -
11 -
Pontypool
2008, in 3 top lists Check -
12 -
[Rec]
2007 — a.k.a. REC, in 2 top lists Check -
13 -
...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà
1981 — a.k.a. The Beyond, in 4 top lists Check -
14 -
Busanhaeng
2016 — a.k.a. Train to Busan, in 4 top lists Check -
15 -
Zombieland
2009, in 2 top lists Check -
16 -
Dawn of the Dead
2004, in 1 top list Check -
17 +1
Braindead
1992 — a.k.a. Dead Alive, in 8 top lists Check -
18 +1
The Plague of the Zombies
1966, in 1 top list Check -
19 +1
Night of the Creeps
1986, in 1 top list Check -
20 +1
The Battery
2012, in 0 top lists Check -
21 +1
Kamera o tomeru na!
2017 — a.k.a. One Cut of the Dead, in 4 top lists -
22 +1
Wyrmwood
2014 — a.k.a. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, in 0 top lists Check -
23 +1
Dead & Buried
1981, in 1 top list Check -
24 -7
Night of the Living Dead
1990, in 1 top list Check -
25 -
28 Weeks Later
2007, in 2 top lists Check -
26 -
La horde
2009 — a.k.a. The Horde, in 1 top list Check -
27 -
Dellamorte Dellamore
1994 — a.k.a. Cemetery Man, in 5 top lists Check -
28 -
Rammbock
2010, in 0 top lists Check -
29 -
Planet Terror
2007, in 1 top list Check -
30 -
Night of the Comet
1984, in 2 top lists Check -
31 -
Land of the Dead
2005, in 1 top list Check -
32 -
I Walked with a Zombie
1943, in 10 top lists Check -
33 -
Juan de los Muertos
2011 — a.k.a. Juan of the Dead, in 2 top lists Check -
34 -
The Serpent and the Rainbow
1988, in 2 top lists Check -
35 -
No profanar el sueño de los muertos
1974 — a.k.a. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, in 2 top lists Check -
36 -
Slither
2006, in 3 top lists Check -
37 -
Incubo sulla città contaminata
1980 — a.k.a. Nightmare City, in 0 top lists Check -
38 -
Død snø
2009 — a.k.a. Dead Snow, in 1 top list Check -
39 new
Little Monsters
2019, in 0 top lists -
40 -
Warm Bodies
2013, in 1 top list Check -
41 -
Deadgirl
2008, in 1 top list Check -
42 -
Zeder
1983 — a.k.a. Revenge of the Dead, in 1 top list Check -
43 -
Wasting Away
2007, in 0 top lists Check -
44 -5
Cooties
2014, in 0 top lists Check -
45 -1
La noche del terror ciego
1972 — a.k.a. Tombs of the Blind Dead, in 3 top lists Check -
46 -1
World War Z
2013, in 3 top lists Check -
47 -
The Dead Next Door
1989, in 0 top lists Check -
48 -
Shock Waves
1977 — a.k.a. Almost Human, in 2 top lists Check -
49 -
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead
2006, in 2 top lists Check -
50 -
White Zombie
1932, in 2 top lists Check
Last updated on Sep 15, 2021 by Panunzio; source