Best Zombie Movies of All Time: From the 1930s to the modern era, zombie movies have frightened crowds. They’ve additionally involved a special situation in the horror genre in that they can fill in as sociopolitical allegories. Obviously, there are some best zombie movies that make us terrified.
For this list, we’re positioning the 12 best zombie movies ever. This is a list for each horror filmmaker hoping to sharpen their art as there will undoubtedly be a few movies on this list you need to look at.
List of Best Zombie Movies of All Time
1. “Train to Busan” (Yeon Sang Ho, 2016)
Yeon Sang-ho’s standout K-horror entry “Train to Busan” (2016) deftly balances unexpected, bloody bursts of comedy with a nail-shredding “Snowpiercer”-esque train ride through a zombie apocalypse.
“The Age of Shadows” star Gong Yoo plays Seok-woo, a workaholic who’s distracted by his job in finance, and estranged from his kid daughter and wife, who lives in Busan. For her birthday, Seok-Woo agrees to agrees to take her to her mother in Busan via train from Seoul to Busan. But a meant-to-be-simple father-daughter journey turns into the ride from hell, as a virus of unknown origin rapidly spreads on the train, transforming victims into zombies in swift and hideous ways. Hyung-deok Lee (2010’s “The Housemaid”) crams us into chaotic train cars, with balletic choreography as Seok-woo and a pack of passengers try to survive — yet turn on each other.
2. “Dawn of the Dead” (George A. Romero, 1978)
“Night of the Living Dead” is not in the Top 10. Make no mistake: It’s a brilliant film, the closest cinematic approximation of the style of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio play, complete with fake news broadcasts, as it envisions a truly credible end of days. But “Dawn of the Dead” is the better film.
A TV news producer escapes from the zombies assailing her studio in a helicopter with a few companions — but there’s only so much fuel. They land at an abandoned shopping mall surrounded by the walking dead… and proceed to live their best lives, plundering all the stores for luxury goods and diverting amusements. Of course, before these consumerist pleasures can be fully enjoyed by all, the zombies inside the mall have to be dispatched in a grisly “hunt” that makes you question whether the zombies are really the villains of the piece. After all, these undead are drawn to the mall for the same reason our living are: “It was a place that was important to them.”
3. World War Z 2013
World War Z (2013) is not at all faithful to its source material, and it’s pretty bland for most of the runtime. The main novelty is that it’s probably the only “zombie epic” that has a massive scope, setting the main character on a globe-trotting adventure. This is in stark contrast to most zombie films where the characters pretty much stay in one location the entire time. Maybe it would’ve ranked higher if there was any chance that David Fincher-directed sequel ever came to fruition.
4. The Beyond 1981
The Beyond (1981) transcends conventional labels. It takes place in a hotel with a gateway to Hell in the cellar, leading to a horror flick that combines zombies, a haunted house, ghosts, and demonic possessions. It’s not always clear what’s going on, but the visuals stick with you. You may not remember the plot (if there even is one), but you won’t forget it any time soon.
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5. Warm Bodies 2013
The zombie film had been parodied and mashed with other genres for years, so it was only a matter of time until someone made a zombie romantic comedy. Warm Bodies (2013) tells the story of a zombie who falls in love with a human woman and gradually becomes more alive in the process. It’s a fun spin on the genre, and it’s perfect for people who maybe can’t stomach as much blood and guts as everyone else.
6. Zombieland 2009
Zombieland (2009) works best when you already understand the rules of the genre and can tell when it’s being subverted. The humor works so well because so many in the audience likely identify with Columbus and have their own set of rules if a zombie apocalypse ever broke out. And of course, that Bill Murray moment will live on for ages.
7. Night of the Living Dead 1968
Night of the Living Dead (1968) is arguably the most important zombie film ever made. It set forth all the ground rules that virtually every zombie movie to come since has followed. And even though it came out in the 60s, it still holds up as a great independent film that touches on themes of racism and mob mentality.
8. One Cut Of The Dead 2019
To say too much about Shin’ichiro Ueda’s film would be to ruin its delicious, joyous surprises – but, suffice to say, if the opening minutes come off like a particularly ramshackle horror movie, that’s entirely the point. An out-of-his-depth director is attempting to make a zombie film of his own, when the production finds itself besieged by actual zombies. From there? Well, you’ll have to see for yourself. But it’s a film fizzing with invention, one that manages to turn the zombie movie on its head in all-new ways while displaying real heart. Destined to be a cult classic.
9. Rec 2 2009
This second dose of panic-attack-inducing found-footage horror is largely as effective as the first film – one that revisits the outbreak-afflicted tower block from a new perspective, as a team of bodycam-wearing soldiers head in to retrieve a sample. It makes for a more action-oriented follow-up, but one with ideas too – delivering a unique take on zombie lore, with the viral infection compounded by some religious occultism. It’s especially impressive for managing to hop between perspectives without ruining the central first-person concept.
10. Zombie Flesh Eaters 1979
Imagined as a quasi-sequel to Dawn Of The Dead, Italian director Lucio Fulci’s film, notorious for its truly sickening effects, took zombie mythology back to its black magic-inspired roots. Zombie Flesh Eaters – also known as Zombi 2, after Dawn Of The Dead was released as Zombi in Italy – depicts a zombie outbreak on the Caribbean island of Matul as the result of a voodoo curse, with its creaky undead shufflers pictured in various stages of decomposition, often covered in (real) maggots. A famous scene involving some up-close eyeball damage got it caught up in the ‘Video Nasty’ scandal – and though a cult favorite, it’s more beloved by hardcore zombie fans than critics. Bonus points for the stupidly dangerous zombie vs. shark showdown.
11. 28 Days Later 2002
Purists will tell you it’s not a zombie movie. If they’re technically right, they’re also totally wrong – Danny Boyle’s film about a deadly rage infection reinvented and redefined what a zombie film could be, taking the idea of running infected from Return Of The Living Dead and, running with it. It’s a gritty, gripping work with an iconic opening, as Cillian Murphy’s hospitalized Londoner Jim awakens to find the capital city eerily deserted – until it becomes all-too-clear what’s happened to everyone. If the rage infection wasn’t perilous enough, Alex Garland’s screenplay highlights how the surviving humans are just as deadly.
12. Planet Terror 2007
Robert Rodriguez’s trash-tastic exploitation homage is the splattier, squelchier half of the Grindhouse double-bill he cooked up with Quentin Tarantino – the story of a go-go dancer, a bioweapon gone awry, and Texan townsfolk turned into shuffling, pustulous monsters. Leaning heavily into its B-movie roots, with missing reels, scratchy edits and hammy overdubbed dialogue, Planet Terror has its exploding tongue firmly rooted in its rotting cheek. Its over-cranked gore and oozing effects are downright disgusting, and it builds to a stupidly fun finale in which Rose McGowan’s hero Cherry Darling has her severed leg replaced with a machine gun. All together now: “I’m gonna eat your brains and gain your knowledge!”