Night of the Living Dead – Best Zombie Movie of All Time?

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. 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.

What’s more important: A unique setting, or great practical effects? You’ll find it prominently on some “best zombie movie” lists, but let’s be real—this isn’t a film that most audience members would get much out of watching in 2016. The World.

I Walked With a Zombie might be the first historical zombie film with imagery likely to stick in your memory for years. It’s a film that often feels like a big action scene is approaching, but never quite arrives. I can’t help but think, whenever I see this film, that if the title wasn’t Night of the Living Dead it would be hailed as more of a classic of the genre.

Because, let’s be clear, the creatures in Demons are 100 percent zombies, and it’s a near-perfect example of a “zombie movie”—there might be no other film on this list that is closer to the structure of Night of the Living Dead than Demons. Plus, you’ve got to love a horror movie that suggests you might get killed simply because you attended a horror movie. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero What more can be said of Night of the Living Dead? It’s pretty obviously the most important zombie film ever made, and hugely influential as an independent film as well. —Jim Vorel Director: Edgar Wright Together, 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead established precedents for the “modern” zombie film that have more or less continued to this day. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero Although Dawn will probably always have more esteem, and is significantly more culturally important, Day of the Dead is my personal favorite of George Romero’s zombie films, and I don’t think it ever quite gets the respect it deserves.

It took Romero 10 years to get his first sequel off the ground, but he ups the ante in every way possible.

Who Is Chronically Averse To Facing Death?

Work out your brains! brains! with this list of the greatest horror flicks ever to feature the walking dead. When you’re putting together a list of the biggest taboos in Western culture, death itself might not make the cut. But it should: North Americans and Europeans are chronically averse to facing death.

So the intrigue of zombie movies is that this genre forces us to confront death face-to-face. Or rather, death confronts us, looking to scoop out our brains and have us join its ranks. How’s that for an endorsement of cremation?

If you’re looking for Halloween costume Ideas, expect to find a few ghoulish options here. Products featured are independently selected by our editorial team and we may earn a commission from purchases made from our links. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news!

What Was Val Lewton’S Personal Favorite Horror Film?

Regardless of what the filmmakers call it, if it looks like a zombie and acts like a zombie, it’s fair game. Of all the films produced by legendary horror maestro Val Lewton, I Walked With a Zombie was reportedly his personal favorite. The Plague of the Zombies was the third of four Hammer films shot in rapid succession in 1965, often using the same sets.

Night Of The Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero was only 28 years old when he revolutionized cinematic horror with Night of the Living Dead. Even if you’re just here for the zombies, Deathdream is worth your time; it features the first zombie effects by FX legend Tom Savini, who would go on to create the groundbreaking rotters of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead a few years later. Dawn Of The Dead (1978) Night of the Living Dead was released a month before the MPAA’s rating system went into effect, so there was nothing to stop theaters from selling tickets to kids—which they happily did, to the horror of film critic Roger Ebert, who saw the movie at a “kiddie matinee” full of unaccompanied children.

Night Of The Comet (1984) Writer-director Thom Eberhardt has maintained that Night of the Comet isn’t a zombie movie, but it’s hard to take him at his word when stars Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney and production designer John Muto have all insisted that an early version of the script was titled Teenage Comet Zombies (a phrase that’s also spoken in the movie). “The producers wanted a zombie horror movie with a couple of cute young female victims,” Stewart said. There were scenes that we shot two different ways to accommodate the two visions.

Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987) When Sam Raimi finished his initial cut of Evil Dead 2, no one bothered to submit it to the MPAA for a rating. The decade produced at least a couple of standout zombie films, though: Besides Braindead, it gave us the wonderfully weird Italian production Dellamorte Dellamore, known in North America as Cemetery Man. Director Michele Soavi had worked with Italian horror maestros Lucio Fulci, Joe D’Amato, and Dario Argento, but it’s his stint as assistant director to Terry Gilliam on 1988’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen that might have yielded the biggest influence on his beautiful, grotesque, and darkly funny film about a cemetery watchman (Rupert Everett) who has a harder time keeping people in the graveyard than out of it.

According to Clark Collis’s definitive Shaun of the Dead book You’ve Got Red on You, the filmmakers approached Mirren and offered her the role of Shaun’s mother, Barbara. As Wright tells it, Mirren ultimately passed on the grounds that she “would only do the movie if [she] got to play Ed.” Things worked out pretty well in the end, though.

Anna and the Apocalypse was first conceived by Scottish filmmaker Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed a short film called Zombie Musical in 2011.

What Was Romero’S First Directorial Return To Zombies In Three Decades?

While Romero didn’t invent the zombie (as he’s often credited with doing), he did redefine it and established the mold from which nearly every other zombie movie has sprung in the 50-plus years since Night of the Living Dead first arrived in theaters. Filmmakers like Dan O’Bannon, Fred Dekker, and Stuart Gordon came along and toyed with the genre constructs; fans of Romero’s work who built off his foundation to further explore and expand what a zombie movie could be. The creature had become a core concept in the genre, but outside of ongoing horror sequels (Return of the Living Dead, Zombie) low-budget fright flicks, and the occasional genre oddity (My Boyfriend’s Back, Cemetery Man and Dead Alive), the undead walked the earth no more.

Is another cinematic age of the undead upon us? Only time will tell, but for now, check out our staff picks for the best zombie movies of all time below. And if you like it, there’s more where that came from in the sequel, Dead Snow: Red vs Dead.

The film follows two college boys trying to land a spot in a fraternity in the name of scoring chicks. ParaNorman, one of the stop-motion studio’s handful of original films, manages to not only (re)animate some truly gruesome and decaying corpses, but to give them a voice and agency within the story. While you’d expect that turn of events in a traditional monster movie, the twist in ParaNorman is what lends some substance to its overall message.

It’s a pensive film, not quite as primal as Night of the Living Dead and nowhere near as funny as Dawn of the Dead, which makes it a slow watch. – Chris Cabin Re-Animator (1985) Image via Empire International Pictures Director: Stuart Gordon Writers: H.P. Lovecraft’s works out there today. — Haleigh Foutch Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image via Universal Pictures Director: Zack Snyder Writers: George A. Romero, James Gunn Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Lindy Booth, Matt Frewer These days, Zack Snyder is known for being the architect of Warner Bros.’ DC Comics live-action movie universe, but it was not always that way. The most memorable aspect of Snyder’s version?

But it’s the first to leave traditional voodoo roots behind, move beyond using atomic radiation (more or less), and do away with alien invasions to give us the modern version of zombies as reanimated corpses who hunger for flesh.

What Is The Name Of The Film That Tells The Story Of A Group Of Friends On Their Way To A Wedding?

Getty Images Coming on to our list as a surprising low-budget offering, Dead & Breakfast brings musical elements to the table along with tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek comedy in this tale of a group of friends on their way to a wedding who make the mistake of stopping off in the town of Lovelock, Texas, a town known for its bed and breakfast…and its embrace of the occult. (Well that’s not nearly as well-known, but you know…) Soon, one of the friends opens a box he probably shouldn’t, promptly becomes possessed by evil spirits and starts making zombies out of people he kills.

What Can Be A Fun And Sometimes Hilarious Way To Blow Off Steam?

Zombie movies can be a fun and sometimes hilarious way to blow off steam. Throughout pop culture and films since the early 1960s, zombies have been present. So board up your windows and doors, get your best Louisville Slugger handy, and strap in for the best zombie movies ranked.

While it’s a fun and explosive adventure all the way through, Milla Jovovich is the guiding light who keeps these films alive with her incredible badassery. Anderson Main Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey Runtime: 100 minutes IMDb Rating: 6.7 Buy/Rent on Amazon 7. In Zombieland, not only do we get all the zombie action we are looking for, but we also get a fun cast of characters that make the zombie apocalypse almost look kinda fun and survivable.

Director: Ruben Fleischer Main Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson Runtime: 88 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Buy/Rent on Amazon 6. Director: Zack Snyder Main Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer Runtime: 101 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.3 Buy/Rent on Amazon 5. Shaun of the Dead (2004) The first-ever zom-rom-com to hit was the incredible Edgar Wright feature Shaun of the Dead, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to make the dialogue and narrative a dryly hilarious adventure.

The zombies are fast, they are vicious, and the virus turns them pretty quickly. Director: Sang-ho Yeon Main Cast: Gong Yoo, Yu-mi Jung, Ma Don-seok Runtime: 118 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 3. The zombies are fast, fierce, and make some terrifying sounds to boot.

Director: Danny Boyle Main Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston Runtime: 113 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 2. Night of the Living Dead (1968) In what is considered to be the first and best zombie movie of all time, George A. Romero helms this revered horror classic. Praised for its editing, practical effects, and — of course — a smart political commentary, Night of the Living Dead is the debut film from Romero that was exceptional in so many ways.

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. 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.

What’s more important: A unique setting, or great practical effects? You’ll find it prominently on some “best zombie movie” lists, but let’s be real—this isn’t a film that most audience members would get much out of watching in 2016. The World.

I Walked With a Zombie might be the first historical zombie film with imagery likely to stick in your memory for years. It’s a film that often feels like a big action scene is approaching, but never quite arrives. I can’t help but think, whenever I see this film, that if the title wasn’t Night of the Living Dead it would be hailed as more of a classic of the genre.

Because, let’s be clear, the creatures in Demons are 100 percent zombies, and it’s a near-perfect example of a “zombie movie”—there might be no other film on this list that is closer to the structure of Night of the Living Dead than Demons. Plus, you’ve got to love a horror movie that suggests you might get killed simply because you attended a horror movie. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero What more can be said of Night of the Living Dead? It’s pretty obviously the most important zombie film ever made, and hugely influential as an independent film as well. —Jim Vorel Director: Edgar Wright Together, 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead established precedents for the “modern” zombie film that have more or less continued to this day. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero Although Dawn will probably always have more esteem, and is significantly more culturally important, Day of the Dead is my personal favorite of George Romero’s zombie films, and I don’t think it ever quite gets the respect it deserves.

It took Romero 10 years to get his first sequel off the ground, but he ups the ante in every way possible.

Who Is Chronically Averse To Facing Death?

Work out your brains! brains! with this list of the greatest horror flicks ever to feature the walking dead. When you’re putting together a list of the biggest taboos in Western culture, death itself might not make the cut. But it should: North Americans and Europeans are chronically averse to facing death.

So the intrigue of zombie movies is that this genre forces us to confront death face-to-face. Or rather, death confronts us, looking to scoop out our brains and have us join its ranks. How’s that for an endorsement of cremation?

If you’re looking for Halloween costume Ideas, expect to find a few ghoulish options here. Products featured are independently selected by our editorial team and we may earn a commission from purchases made from our links. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news!

What Was Val Lewton’S Personal Favorite Horror Film?

Regardless of what the filmmakers call it, if it looks like a zombie and acts like a zombie, it’s fair game. Of all the films produced by legendary horror maestro Val Lewton, I Walked With a Zombie was reportedly his personal favorite. The Plague of the Zombies was the third of four Hammer films shot in rapid succession in 1965, often using the same sets.

Night Of The Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero was only 28 years old when he revolutionized cinematic horror with Night of the Living Dead. Even if you’re just here for the zombies, Deathdream is worth your time; it features the first zombie effects by FX legend Tom Savini, who would go on to create the groundbreaking rotters of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead a few years later. Dawn Of The Dead (1978) Night of the Living Dead was released a month before the MPAA’s rating system went into effect, so there was nothing to stop theaters from selling tickets to kids—which they happily did, to the horror of film critic Roger Ebert, who saw the movie at a “kiddie matinee” full of unaccompanied children.

Night Of The Comet (1984) Writer-director Thom Eberhardt has maintained that Night of the Comet isn’t a zombie movie, but it’s hard to take him at his word when stars Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney and production designer John Muto have all insisted that an early version of the script was titled Teenage Comet Zombies (a phrase that’s also spoken in the movie). “The producers wanted a zombie horror movie with a couple of cute young female victims,” Stewart said. There were scenes that we shot two different ways to accommodate the two visions.

Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987) When Sam Raimi finished his initial cut of Evil Dead 2, no one bothered to submit it to the MPAA for a rating. The decade produced at least a couple of standout zombie films, though: Besides Braindead, it gave us the wonderfully weird Italian production Dellamorte Dellamore, known in North America as Cemetery Man. Director Michele Soavi had worked with Italian horror maestros Lucio Fulci, Joe D’Amato, and Dario Argento, but it’s his stint as assistant director to Terry Gilliam on 1988’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen that might have yielded the biggest influence on his beautiful, grotesque, and darkly funny film about a cemetery watchman (Rupert Everett) who has a harder time keeping people in the graveyard than out of it.

According to Clark Collis’s definitive Shaun of the Dead book You’ve Got Red on You, the filmmakers approached Mirren and offered her the role of Shaun’s mother, Barbara. As Wright tells it, Mirren ultimately passed on the grounds that she “would only do the movie if [she] got to play Ed.” Things worked out pretty well in the end, though.

Anna and the Apocalypse was first conceived by Scottish filmmaker Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed a short film called Zombie Musical in 2011.

What Was Romero’S First Directorial Return To Zombies In Three Decades?

While Romero didn’t invent the zombie (as he’s often credited with doing), he did redefine it and established the mold from which nearly every other zombie movie has sprung in the 50-plus years since Night of the Living Dead first arrived in theaters. Filmmakers like Dan O’Bannon, Fred Dekker, and Stuart Gordon came along and toyed with the genre constructs; fans of Romero’s work who built off his foundation to further explore and expand what a zombie movie could be. The creature had become a core concept in the genre, but outside of ongoing horror sequels (Return of the Living Dead, Zombie) low-budget fright flicks, and the occasional genre oddity (My Boyfriend’s Back, Cemetery Man and Dead Alive), the undead walked the earth no more.

Is another cinematic age of the undead upon us? Only time will tell, but for now, check out our staff picks for the best zombie movies of all time below. And if you like it, there’s more where that came from in the sequel, Dead Snow: Red vs Dead.

The film follows two college boys trying to land a spot in a fraternity in the name of scoring chicks. ParaNorman, one of the stop-motion studio’s handful of original films, manages to not only (re)animate some truly gruesome and decaying corpses, but to give them a voice and agency within the story. While you’d expect that turn of events in a traditional monster movie, the twist in ParaNorman is what lends some substance to its overall message.

It’s a pensive film, not quite as primal as Night of the Living Dead and nowhere near as funny as Dawn of the Dead, which makes it a slow watch. – Chris Cabin Re-Animator (1985) Image via Empire International Pictures Director: Stuart Gordon Writers: H.P. Lovecraft’s works out there today. — Haleigh Foutch Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image via Universal Pictures Director: Zack Snyder Writers: George A. Romero, James Gunn Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Lindy Booth, Matt Frewer These days, Zack Snyder is known for being the architect of Warner Bros.’ DC Comics live-action movie universe, but it was not always that way. The most memorable aspect of Snyder’s version?

But it’s the first to leave traditional voodoo roots behind, move beyond using atomic radiation (more or less), and do away with alien invasions to give us the modern version of zombies as reanimated corpses who hunger for flesh.

What Is The Name Of The Film That Tells The Story Of A Group Of Friends On Their Way To A Wedding?

Getty Images Coming on to our list as a surprising low-budget offering, Dead & Breakfast brings musical elements to the table along with tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek comedy in this tale of a group of friends on their way to a wedding who make the mistake of stopping off in the town of Lovelock, Texas, a town known for its bed and breakfast…and its embrace of the occult. (Well that’s not nearly as well-known, but you know…) Soon, one of the friends opens a box he probably shouldn’t, promptly becomes possessed by evil spirits and starts making zombies out of people he kills.

What Can Be A Fun And Sometimes Hilarious Way To Blow Off Steam?

Zombie movies can be a fun and sometimes hilarious way to blow off steam. Throughout pop culture and films since the early 1960s, zombies have been present. So board up your windows and doors, get your best Louisville Slugger handy, and strap in for the best zombie movies ranked.

While it’s a fun and explosive adventure all the way through, Milla Jovovich is the guiding light who keeps these films alive with her incredible badassery. Anderson Main Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey Runtime: 100 minutes IMDb Rating: 6.7 Buy/Rent on Amazon 7. In Zombieland, not only do we get all the zombie action we are looking for, but we also get a fun cast of characters that make the zombie apocalypse almost look kinda fun and survivable.

Director: Ruben Fleischer Main Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson Runtime: 88 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Buy/Rent on Amazon 6. Director: Zack Snyder Main Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer Runtime: 101 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.3 Buy/Rent on Amazon 5. Shaun of the Dead (2004) The first-ever zom-rom-com to hit was the incredible Edgar Wright feature Shaun of the Dead, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to make the dialogue and narrative a dryly hilarious adventure.

The zombies are fast, they are vicious, and the virus turns them pretty quickly. Director: Sang-ho Yeon Main Cast: Gong Yoo, Yu-mi Jung, Ma Don-seok Runtime: 118 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 3. The zombies are fast, fierce, and make some terrifying sounds to boot.

Director: Danny Boyle Main Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston Runtime: 113 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 2. Night of the Living Dead (1968) In what is considered to be the first and best zombie movie of all time, George A. Romero helms this revered horror classic. Praised for its editing, practical effects, and — of course — a smart political commentary, Night of the Living Dead is the debut film from Romero that was exceptional in so many ways.

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. 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.

What’s more important: A unique setting, or great practical effects? You’ll find it prominently on some “best zombie movie” lists, but let’s be real—this isn’t a film that most audience members would get much out of watching in 2016. The World.

I Walked With a Zombie might be the first historical zombie film with imagery likely to stick in your memory for years. It’s a film that often feels like a big action scene is approaching, but never quite arrives. I can’t help but think, whenever I see this film, that if the title wasn’t Night of the Living Dead it would be hailed as more of a classic of the genre.

Because, let’s be clear, the creatures in Demons are 100 percent zombies, and it’s a near-perfect example of a “zombie movie”—there might be no other film on this list that is closer to the structure of Night of the Living Dead than Demons. Plus, you’ve got to love a horror movie that suggests you might get killed simply because you attended a horror movie. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero What more can be said of Night of the Living Dead? It’s pretty obviously the most important zombie film ever made, and hugely influential as an independent film as well. —Jim Vorel Director: Edgar Wright Together, 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead established precedents for the “modern” zombie film that have more or less continued to this day. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero Although Dawn will probably always have more esteem, and is significantly more culturally important, Day of the Dead is my personal favorite of George Romero’s zombie films, and I don’t think it ever quite gets the respect it deserves.

It took Romero 10 years to get his first sequel off the ground, but he ups the ante in every way possible.

Who Is Chronically Averse To Facing Death?

Work out your brains! brains! with this list of the greatest horror flicks ever to feature the walking dead. When you’re putting together a list of the biggest taboos in Western culture, death itself might not make the cut. But it should: North Americans and Europeans are chronically averse to facing death.

So the intrigue of zombie movies is that this genre forces us to confront death face-to-face. Or rather, death confronts us, looking to scoop out our brains and have us join its ranks. How’s that for an endorsement of cremation?

If you’re looking for Halloween costume Ideas, expect to find a few ghoulish options here. Products featured are independently selected by our editorial team and we may earn a commission from purchases made from our links. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news!

What Was Val Lewton’S Personal Favorite Horror Film?

Regardless of what the filmmakers call it, if it looks like a zombie and acts like a zombie, it’s fair game. Of all the films produced by legendary horror maestro Val Lewton, I Walked With a Zombie was reportedly his personal favorite. The Plague of the Zombies was the third of four Hammer films shot in rapid succession in 1965, often using the same sets.

Night Of The Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero was only 28 years old when he revolutionized cinematic horror with Night of the Living Dead. Even if you’re just here for the zombies, Deathdream is worth your time; it features the first zombie effects by FX legend Tom Savini, who would go on to create the groundbreaking rotters of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead a few years later. Dawn Of The Dead (1978) Night of the Living Dead was released a month before the MPAA’s rating system went into effect, so there was nothing to stop theaters from selling tickets to kids—which they happily did, to the horror of film critic Roger Ebert, who saw the movie at a “kiddie matinee” full of unaccompanied children.

Night Of The Comet (1984) Writer-director Thom Eberhardt has maintained that Night of the Comet isn’t a zombie movie, but it’s hard to take him at his word when stars Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney and production designer John Muto have all insisted that an early version of the script was titled Teenage Comet Zombies (a phrase that’s also spoken in the movie). “The producers wanted a zombie horror movie with a couple of cute young female victims,” Stewart said. There were scenes that we shot two different ways to accommodate the two visions.

Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987) When Sam Raimi finished his initial cut of Evil Dead 2, no one bothered to submit it to the MPAA for a rating. The decade produced at least a couple of standout zombie films, though: Besides Braindead, it gave us the wonderfully weird Italian production Dellamorte Dellamore, known in North America as Cemetery Man. Director Michele Soavi had worked with Italian horror maestros Lucio Fulci, Joe D’Amato, and Dario Argento, but it’s his stint as assistant director to Terry Gilliam on 1988’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen that might have yielded the biggest influence on his beautiful, grotesque, and darkly funny film about a cemetery watchman (Rupert Everett) who has a harder time keeping people in the graveyard than out of it.

According to Clark Collis’s definitive Shaun of the Dead book You’ve Got Red on You, the filmmakers approached Mirren and offered her the role of Shaun’s mother, Barbara. As Wright tells it, Mirren ultimately passed on the grounds that she “would only do the movie if [she] got to play Ed.” Things worked out pretty well in the end, though.

Anna and the Apocalypse was first conceived by Scottish filmmaker Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed a short film called Zombie Musical in 2011.

What Was Romero’S First Directorial Return To Zombies In Three Decades?

While Romero didn’t invent the zombie (as he’s often credited with doing), he did redefine it and established the mold from which nearly every other zombie movie has sprung in the 50-plus years since Night of the Living Dead first arrived in theaters. Filmmakers like Dan O’Bannon, Fred Dekker, and Stuart Gordon came along and toyed with the genre constructs; fans of Romero’s work who built off his foundation to further explore and expand what a zombie movie could be. The creature had become a core concept in the genre, but outside of ongoing horror sequels (Return of the Living Dead, Zombie) low-budget fright flicks, and the occasional genre oddity (My Boyfriend’s Back, Cemetery Man and Dead Alive), the undead walked the earth no more.

Is another cinematic age of the undead upon us? Only time will tell, but for now, check out our staff picks for the best zombie movies of all time below. And if you like it, there’s more where that came from in the sequel, Dead Snow: Red vs Dead.

The film follows two college boys trying to land a spot in a fraternity in the name of scoring chicks. ParaNorman, one of the stop-motion studio’s handful of original films, manages to not only (re)animate some truly gruesome and decaying corpses, but to give them a voice and agency within the story. While you’d expect that turn of events in a traditional monster movie, the twist in ParaNorman is what lends some substance to its overall message.

It’s a pensive film, not quite as primal as Night of the Living Dead and nowhere near as funny as Dawn of the Dead, which makes it a slow watch. – Chris Cabin Re-Animator (1985) Image via Empire International Pictures Director: Stuart Gordon Writers: H.P. Lovecraft’s works out there today. — Haleigh Foutch Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image via Universal Pictures Director: Zack Snyder Writers: George A. Romero, James Gunn Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Lindy Booth, Matt Frewer These days, Zack Snyder is known for being the architect of Warner Bros.’ DC Comics live-action movie universe, but it was not always that way. The most memorable aspect of Snyder’s version?

But it’s the first to leave traditional voodoo roots behind, move beyond using atomic radiation (more or less), and do away with alien invasions to give us the modern version of zombies as reanimated corpses who hunger for flesh.

What Is The Name Of The Film That Tells The Story Of A Group Of Friends On Their Way To A Wedding?

Getty Images Coming on to our list as a surprising low-budget offering, Dead & Breakfast brings musical elements to the table along with tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek comedy in this tale of a group of friends on their way to a wedding who make the mistake of stopping off in the town of Lovelock, Texas, a town known for its bed and breakfast…and its embrace of the occult. (Well that’s not nearly as well-known, but you know…) Soon, one of the friends opens a box he probably shouldn’t, promptly becomes possessed by evil spirits and starts making zombies out of people he kills.

What Can Be A Fun And Sometimes Hilarious Way To Blow Off Steam?

Zombie movies can be a fun and sometimes hilarious way to blow off steam. Throughout pop culture and films since the early 1960s, zombies have been present. So board up your windows and doors, get your best Louisville Slugger handy, and strap in for the best zombie movies ranked.

While it’s a fun and explosive adventure all the way through, Milla Jovovich is the guiding light who keeps these films alive with her incredible badassery. Anderson Main Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey Runtime: 100 minutes IMDb Rating: 6.7 Buy/Rent on Amazon 7. In Zombieland, not only do we get all the zombie action we are looking for, but we also get a fun cast of characters that make the zombie apocalypse almost look kinda fun and survivable.

Director: Ruben Fleischer Main Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson Runtime: 88 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Buy/Rent on Amazon 6. Director: Zack Snyder Main Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer Runtime: 101 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.3 Buy/Rent on Amazon 5. Shaun of the Dead (2004) The first-ever zom-rom-com to hit was the incredible Edgar Wright feature Shaun of the Dead, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to make the dialogue and narrative a dryly hilarious adventure.

The zombies are fast, they are vicious, and the virus turns them pretty quickly. Director: Sang-ho Yeon Main Cast: Gong Yoo, Yu-mi Jung, Ma Don-seok Runtime: 118 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 3. The zombies are fast, fierce, and make some terrifying sounds to boot.

Director: Danny Boyle Main Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston Runtime: 113 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 2. Night of the Living Dead (1968) In what is considered to be the first and best zombie movie of all time, George A. Romero helms this revered horror classic. Praised for its editing, practical effects, and — of course — a smart political commentary, Night of the Living Dead is the debut film from Romero that was exceptional in so many ways.

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. 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.

What’s more important: A unique setting, or great practical effects? You’ll find it prominently on some “best zombie movie” lists, but let’s be real—this isn’t a film that most audience members would get much out of watching in 2016. The World.

I Walked With a Zombie might be the first historical zombie film with imagery likely to stick in your memory for years. It’s a film that often feels like a big action scene is approaching, but never quite arrives. I can’t help but think, whenever I see this film, that if the title wasn’t Night of the Living Dead it would be hailed as more of a classic of the genre.

Because, let’s be clear, the creatures in Demons are 100 percent zombies, and it’s a near-perfect example of a “zombie movie”—there might be no other film on this list that is closer to the structure of Night of the Living Dead than Demons. Plus, you’ve got to love a horror movie that suggests you might get killed simply because you attended a horror movie. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero What more can be said of Night of the Living Dead? It’s pretty obviously the most important zombie film ever made, and hugely influential as an independent film as well. —Jim Vorel Director: Edgar Wright Together, 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead established precedents for the “modern” zombie film that have more or less continued to this day. —Jim Vorel Director: George A. Romero Although Dawn will probably always have more esteem, and is significantly more culturally important, Day of the Dead is my personal favorite of George Romero’s zombie films, and I don’t think it ever quite gets the respect it deserves.

It took Romero 10 years to get his first sequel off the ground, but he ups the ante in every way possible.

Who Is Chronically Averse To Facing Death?

Work out your brains! brains! with this list of the greatest horror flicks ever to feature the walking dead. When you’re putting together a list of the biggest taboos in Western culture, death itself might not make the cut. But it should: North Americans and Europeans are chronically averse to facing death.

So the intrigue of zombie movies is that this genre forces us to confront death face-to-face. Or rather, death confronts us, looking to scoop out our brains and have us join its ranks. How’s that for an endorsement of cremation?

If you’re looking for Halloween costume Ideas, expect to find a few ghoulish options here. Products featured are independently selected by our editorial team and we may earn a commission from purchases made from our links. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news!

What Was Val Lewton’S Personal Favorite Horror Film?

Regardless of what the filmmakers call it, if it looks like a zombie and acts like a zombie, it’s fair game. Of all the films produced by legendary horror maestro Val Lewton, I Walked With a Zombie was reportedly his personal favorite. The Plague of the Zombies was the third of four Hammer films shot in rapid succession in 1965, often using the same sets.

Night Of The Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero was only 28 years old when he revolutionized cinematic horror with Night of the Living Dead. Even if you’re just here for the zombies, Deathdream is worth your time; it features the first zombie effects by FX legend Tom Savini, who would go on to create the groundbreaking rotters of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead a few years later. Dawn Of The Dead (1978) Night of the Living Dead was released a month before the MPAA’s rating system went into effect, so there was nothing to stop theaters from selling tickets to kids—which they happily did, to the horror of film critic Roger Ebert, who saw the movie at a “kiddie matinee” full of unaccompanied children.

Night Of The Comet (1984) Writer-director Thom Eberhardt has maintained that Night of the Comet isn’t a zombie movie, but it’s hard to take him at his word when stars Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney and production designer John Muto have all insisted that an early version of the script was titled Teenage Comet Zombies (a phrase that’s also spoken in the movie). “The producers wanted a zombie horror movie with a couple of cute young female victims,” Stewart said. There were scenes that we shot two different ways to accommodate the two visions.

Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987) When Sam Raimi finished his initial cut of Evil Dead 2, no one bothered to submit it to the MPAA for a rating. The decade produced at least a couple of standout zombie films, though: Besides Braindead, it gave us the wonderfully weird Italian production Dellamorte Dellamore, known in North America as Cemetery Man. Director Michele Soavi had worked with Italian horror maestros Lucio Fulci, Joe D’Amato, and Dario Argento, but it’s his stint as assistant director to Terry Gilliam on 1988’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen that might have yielded the biggest influence on his beautiful, grotesque, and darkly funny film about a cemetery watchman (Rupert Everett) who has a harder time keeping people in the graveyard than out of it.

According to Clark Collis’s definitive Shaun of the Dead book You’ve Got Red on You, the filmmakers approached Mirren and offered her the role of Shaun’s mother, Barbara. As Wright tells it, Mirren ultimately passed on the grounds that she “would only do the movie if [she] got to play Ed.” Things worked out pretty well in the end, though.

Anna and the Apocalypse was first conceived by Scottish filmmaker Ryan McHenry, who wrote and directed a short film called Zombie Musical in 2011.

What Was Romero’S First Directorial Return To Zombies In Three Decades?

While Romero didn’t invent the zombie (as he’s often credited with doing), he did redefine it and established the mold from which nearly every other zombie movie has sprung in the 50-plus years since Night of the Living Dead first arrived in theaters. Filmmakers like Dan O’Bannon, Fred Dekker, and Stuart Gordon came along and toyed with the genre constructs; fans of Romero’s work who built off his foundation to further explore and expand what a zombie movie could be. The creature had become a core concept in the genre, but outside of ongoing horror sequels (Return of the Living Dead, Zombie) low-budget fright flicks, and the occasional genre oddity (My Boyfriend’s Back, Cemetery Man and Dead Alive), the undead walked the earth no more.

Is another cinematic age of the undead upon us? Only time will tell, but for now, check out our staff picks for the best zombie movies of all time below. And if you like it, there’s more where that came from in the sequel, Dead Snow: Red vs Dead.

The film follows two college boys trying to land a spot in a fraternity in the name of scoring chicks. ParaNorman, one of the stop-motion studio’s handful of original films, manages to not only (re)animate some truly gruesome and decaying corpses, but to give them a voice and agency within the story. While you’d expect that turn of events in a traditional monster movie, the twist in ParaNorman is what lends some substance to its overall message.

It’s a pensive film, not quite as primal as Night of the Living Dead and nowhere near as funny as Dawn of the Dead, which makes it a slow watch. – Chris Cabin Re-Animator (1985) Image via Empire International Pictures Director: Stuart Gordon Writers: H.P. Lovecraft’s works out there today. — Haleigh Foutch Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image via Universal Pictures Director: Zack Snyder Writers: George A. Romero, James Gunn Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Lindy Booth, Matt Frewer These days, Zack Snyder is known for being the architect of Warner Bros.’ DC Comics live-action movie universe, but it was not always that way. The most memorable aspect of Snyder’s version?

But it’s the first to leave traditional voodoo roots behind, move beyond using atomic radiation (more or less), and do away with alien invasions to give us the modern version of zombies as reanimated corpses who hunger for flesh.

What Is The Name Of The Film That Tells The Story Of A Group Of Friends On Their Way To A Wedding?

Getty Images Coming on to our list as a surprising low-budget offering, Dead & Breakfast brings musical elements to the table along with tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek comedy in this tale of a group of friends on their way to a wedding who make the mistake of stopping off in the town of Lovelock, Texas, a town known for its bed and breakfast…and its embrace of the occult. (Well that’s not nearly as well-known, but you know…) Soon, one of the friends opens a box he probably shouldn’t, promptly becomes possessed by evil spirits and starts making zombies out of people he kills.

What Can Be A Fun And Sometimes Hilarious Way To Blow Off Steam?

Zombie movies can be a fun and sometimes hilarious way to blow off steam. Throughout pop culture and films since the early 1960s, zombies have been present. So board up your windows and doors, get your best Louisville Slugger handy, and strap in for the best zombie movies ranked.

While it’s a fun and explosive adventure all the way through, Milla Jovovich is the guiding light who keeps these films alive with her incredible badassery. Anderson Main Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey Runtime: 100 minutes IMDb Rating: 6.7 Buy/Rent on Amazon 7. In Zombieland, not only do we get all the zombie action we are looking for, but we also get a fun cast of characters that make the zombie apocalypse almost look kinda fun and survivable.

Director: Ruben Fleischer Main Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson Runtime: 88 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Buy/Rent on Amazon 6. Director: Zack Snyder Main Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer Runtime: 101 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.3 Buy/Rent on Amazon 5. Shaun of the Dead (2004) The first-ever zom-rom-com to hit was the incredible Edgar Wright feature Shaun of the Dead, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to make the dialogue and narrative a dryly hilarious adventure.

The zombies are fast, they are vicious, and the virus turns them pretty quickly. Director: Sang-ho Yeon Main Cast: Gong Yoo, Yu-mi Jung, Ma Don-seok Runtime: 118 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 3. The zombies are fast, fierce, and make some terrifying sounds to boot.

Director: Danny Boyle Main Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston Runtime: 113 minutes IMDb Rating: 7.6 Watch on Hulu 2. Night of the Living Dead (1968) In what is considered to be the first and best zombie movie of all time, George A. Romero helms this revered horror classic. Praised for its editing, practical effects, and — of course — a smart political commentary, Night of the Living Dead is the debut film from Romero that was exceptional in so many ways.