The shuffling undead have been featured in numerous movies. There is something gripping about zombies in all their incarnations. Sometimes they shuffle slowly, sometimes they run. Sometimes they moan, sometimes they mumble about how good your brains will taste. One constant is that they are always entertaining. Even terrible zombie movies can be entertaining. I would say that it is actually difficult to make a movie about zombies that a good amount of people won’t find to be enjoyable. Still, there are definitely some zombie movies that have been better than others and become classics. These are the movies we can watch over and over again until our brains turn into mush. It’s a win/win situation, we decay our brains watching great zombies movies, and the zombies don’t need to chew when they get our brains.
Dawn of the Dead
I couldn’t really decide which Dawn of the Dead I enjoyed more. George A. Romero made the original in 1978 and it became an instant classic in the zombie genre. Then Zack Snyder remade Dawn of the Dead in 2004 and reminded people how awesome zombie movies could be. The original Dawn of the Dead proved that a zombie movie can actually be done well. The remake had Ving Rhames. You can see my dilemma in deciding which of these movies is a better example of the zombie genre, so we will just agree that they were both great.
Army of Darkness
Bruce Campbell is a legendary name known to everybody who likes zombie movies. He is a B-movie god, there is no other way to describe it. His best role was undoubtedly as Ash in the Evil Dead series by Sam Raimi. While all the movies in the Evil Dead series are great, Army of Darkness stands head and shoulders above the others. There are zombies, time travel, skeletons, demon things, and all sorts of medieval goodness. While it wasn’t strictly a zombie movie, it is close enough and good enough to earn a spot on this list.
28 Days Later
28 Days Later showed that zombie movies can have more monsters than just zombies. Here is a hint, the survivors are monsters. This was more of a thinking man’s zombie movie, as the movie showed how the survivors of a zombie outbreak became animalistic and possibly even more evil than the zombies. I mean zombies don’t really know what they’re doing, like a puppy chewing up a pair of shoes for the first time. Unfortunately you can’t discipline a zombie like a puppy, as they are far more terrifying. The final scene in 28 Days Later is one of the most bad ass scenes in any zombie movie ever.
Resident Evil
The Resident Evil video game series is without a doubt the best zombie themed video game series of all time. Surprisingly enough, that video game series turned into a pretty good zombie movie. The first Resident Evil showed off a kick ass side of Milla Jovovich and a crazy zombie rabbit thing with a killer tongue. This movie was pure zombie outbreak action, and as any guy will tell you, that is one of the best kinds of action. Plus we like to see Milla Jovovich kill zombies by doing high kicks in a dress.
Shaun of the Dead
It was a tough choice between Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, but ultimately Shaun of the Dead provided more laughs. Shaun of the Dead established Simon Pegg as one of the funniest guys in movies, and Nick Frost is a very good fat friend. What made Shaun of the Dead so good was how much humor they managed to extract from a zombie infestation. It remained a fairly lighthearted movie even as multiple people were devoured by zombies, some quite messily. Shaun of the Dead remains as the movie that all other humorous zombie movies will be compared to.
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George Romero is unquestionably the master of the zombie movie, which is why I’m excited for his latest project, Survival of the Dead. There are two things in the trailer that stick out to me. First off, the zombies are not super zombified like in a lot of recent zombie movies. By that I mean they aren’t missing half their faces and such, they are fairly simplistic. They kind of remind me of the first zombies George Romero introduced us to. The second thing I noticed is that is one bad ass old Irish man who is not afraid to crack a joke, even with zombies trying to eat his brains. Survival of the Dead looks to be a zombie movie with some humor, which I look forward to seeing. I’m not expecting Zombieland levels of jokes, but I’m sure there will be a chuckle or two provided in between the action. Survival of the Dead hits theaters May 28th, but will be available on X-Box Live, On Demand, and Amazon April 30th for you impatient types. I might be one of those who doesn’t wait for the theatrical release, I’m always ready for a good zombie movie.
