31 Days of Halloween { list } Best Zombie Films
I’m a bit of a zombie aficionado. It happened in college, many many years ago. Freshman year, we had an all-night horror movie marathon on Halloween. During that I saw Evil Dead and the original Dawn of the Dead. Junior year I transferred to a new college and met my best friend. And although I’d been intrigued by zombies before that, he was the one who really opened my eyes to the awesomeness of zombies (he’s also the person who started my interest in cannibalism–theory, not practice–so it’s no wonder we’re still friends).
So here’s a list of my favorite zombie movies. (Note: I have not yet been able to see Dead Snow, which is about zombie Nazis. From that description alone, I suspect it would be on this list. I’m going to have to do VOD to see it, I think.)
1. The original Night of the Living Dead trilogy (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead). It’s hard to separate these movies. The first is obviously the best, and it made George Romero the father of the zombie flick. Sure, it looks a bit dated these days, but it still delivers a good chill down the spine when you hear “They’re coming to get you, Barbara.” I prefer the original Dawn of the Dead to the remake because it says so much about consumerism. And Day of the Dead gives a hint of possible zombie evolution.
2. The Evil Dead trilogy (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness). Who doesn’t love Bruce Campbell? Or chainsaws? Or chainsaws applied to Deadites? Of course, Evil Dead II is more or less a remake, but that doesn’t make a marathon of these any less fun. And Army of Darkness has some of the most quotable movie lines in a zombie movie ever: “Gimme some sugar, baby!”
3. 28 Days Later. There is some bit of disagreement as to whether this is a zombie movie. I don’t care whether it’s radiation from outer space or a virus that causes people intense rage, if someone doesn’t stay dead, you’ve got a zombie. It’s one of the first movies I remember that used a virus as the cause of zombies (though the novel I Am Legend used a virus as a cause of a disease somewhere between vampirism and zombiism). It’s also the first movie that used fast zombies. Fast zombies are a lot scarier. Cause really, those slow zombies? Unless they gang up on you (which eventually does happen of course), you can pretty much get away from them. (Simon Pegg, of Shaun of the Dead, doesn’t like these newfangled fast zombies.) Given the plans of some of the survivors, I might have taken my chance with the infected instead.
4. I Sell the Dead. Black comedy about eighteenth-century grave robbers who discover a whole new side of the business with supernatural “corpses.” Starring Dominic Monaghan, who relates the story to a priest on the eve of his execution. The first time I saw it, I wasn’t aware that it was a comedy as well as a horror film. I was greatly pleased. I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
5. Shaun of the Dead. I remember the movie poster read “A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies.” That’s pretty much the only way you can get me to watch a rom-com–add zombies. (I do think the phrase “gimme some sugar, baby” is romantic, so perhaps I’m not the rom-com target audience.) I never would have thought of taking zombies out with a cricket bat before this. Also a movie that shows you the true meaning of friendship (I can never hear Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” without thinking of this movie).
6. Zombieland. Sure it’s new. Sure it’s more of a coming-of-age story. But it has The Rules. The Rules are very important for surviving a zompocalypse. It also has that Bill Murray cameo. And if you end up craving Twinkies, let me tell you they’re not nearly as good as you remember from your childhood.
7. Fido. If you think keeping a zombie as a pet is a good, fun idea, you really need to watch this.
8. Return of the Living Dead. This has nothing to do with any of Romero’s movies. It’s utterly tongue-in-cheek. But it’s a very important movie in the zombie genre. This is the movie where zombies first call for braiiinnnnsssss!!!! (Before this, they just moaned and groaned and were satisfied with any body part they could get into their mouths.)
9. Re-Animator. Again, if it used to be dead and it’s not anymore, I say it’s a zombie. And when you base a movie on an H. P. Lovecraft story, fun ensues. Yes, this is one of the more cheesy movies on my list (be surprised they’re not all bad cheese-filled made for SciFi movies) but it has its creepy moments.
10. The Resident Evil series. Yes, the series has been going downhill, but Milla, er, Alice kicks ass through all of them. And that’s pretty much what you see these movies for. The first definitely had a few creepy moments.
