6 Zombie Movies You Need to See: From '28 Days Later' To 'I Am a Hero'
We're still reeling from episode two of The Last of Us. We won't get into spoiler territory here but if you've seen it or played the game beforehand then you'll know what we're talking about. The Last of Us may just be the single greatest video game-to-screen adaptation of all time, but it also sits nicely in the post-apocalyptic/zombie genre (although they aren't technically zombies).
So with that plus the ongoing buzz of the upcoming 28 Years Later which has included a 4K Steelbook announcement for the original of the trilogy 28 Days Later, let's dive into some of our all-time favourite movies featuring the living dead, or indeed some other more literal living form of "zombies.”
28 Days Later
I mean it’s only logical to begin with what became one of the most influential zombie movies of all time. Think of your favourite zombie flick of the last quarter century and chances are that 28 Days Later was a direct or indirect source of influence. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s apocalyptic horror technically doesn’t feature zombies in the literal sense- that is people who have died coming back to life, which has become a norm for zombie movies in general. However, for all intents and purposes, most of them including the ones here are zombies. They look like zombies, move like zombies and sound like zombies.
Alex Garland’s love for that genre is what led him to write this movie starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Eccleston. He realised that there hadn’t been any really good zombie movies for a while since the zombie heyday of the 70s and 80s with the likes of the original Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, The Return Of The Living Dead and other such chillers with the word ‘Dead’ in their title. Fuelled with inspiration from Capcom’s Resident Evil and its zombie dogs, Garland would go on to introduce a trope that hadn’t been seen in the genre before: zombies who could run, and thus paved the way for films like World War Z. 28 Days Later spawned a sequel, 28 Weeks Later, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and the upcoming 28 Years Later, the latter of which has become the most viewed horror trailer of all time.
World War Z
Speaking of movies that helped shape the zombie genre into its current state, World War Z took what 28 Days Later did and, pardon the pun, ran with it full speed. Loosely based on Max Brooks’ novel, the film sees Brad Pitt as a former United Nations investigator racing to stop a rapidly spreading infection. Directed by Marc Forster, it expanded upon the speedy, wildly aggressive zombies and introduced audiences to zombies as an unstoppable tidal wave—literally piling on top of each other to scale city walls and overrun entire nations.
The film had a notoriously troubled production with major rewrites and reshoots, but World War Z became one of the highest-grossing zombie films ever made and the unlikely duo of Brad Pitt and the not-undead thrived. It helped renew mainstream interest by blending horror with blockbuster spectacle in a way that felt fresh and urgent. A sequel, at one point set to be directed by David Fincher, was shelved indefinitely- leaving World War Z as a one-off phenomenon that pushed zombie cinema into big-budget territory without losing the horror roots that made it work in the first place.
[REC]
Between 28 Days Later bringing speed to zombies and World War Z making them a global threat, [REC] stripped everything back to raw, claustrophobic terror. This Spanish found-footage horror, directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, drops viewers into a quarantined apartment building where a routine news report spirals into something utterly terrifying. Shot entirely from the perspective of a TV crew with you viewing from one of their cameras, [REC] doesn’t waste time with backstory or causes- it throws you into the chaos as you watch it unfold like a fly on the wall.
What made [REC] stand out wasn’t just the found-footage gimmick- which in 2007 wasn’t as overdone as it is now, but even so, it was how effectively it used it. The camera never cuts, even being placed on the floor as you are left only with the camera light and surrounding screams of panic and terror to imagine what is going on around you. The confined setting makes it all very suffocating, with viewers moving between floors up dark stairwells and shadowy doorways. The infected here are fast, violent, and disturbingly human, and the film’s slow-burn unravelling of the cause adds a creepy supernatural twist. [REC] became an instant cult classic, spawned several sequels, and even inspired an American remake a year later titled Quarantine.
Shaun of the Dead
Not all zombie classics have to involve elaborate plans that involve running and fighting for your life. Some people take a casual stroll to the store as per usual routine completely oblivious to the chaos unfolding around them. And some plans can be to take the car, go to Mum's, kill Phil, grab Liz, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.
Shaun of the Dead takes the apocalypse and injects it with that deadpan British humour (the best kind of humour), relatable slacker energy, and a lot of heart. With Edgar Wright behind the camera paired with Simon Pegg’s effortlessly funny performance as the underachieving Shaun as well as his longtime screen partner Nick Frost, Shaun of the Dead is both a comedy and a touching story about growing up- all while fending off the undead. The film works as both a genuine zombie movie and a parody, embracing the genre's tropes whilst poking fun at them. With memorable moments and endlessly quotable lines Shaun of the Dead has earned its place as a modern classic, proving that surviving the end of the world is best done with your best mate and a pint in hand.
Overlord
We’ve talked about zombie movies that go the more traditional route and ones that flip the genre on its head, but how about ones that insert them into history with a brutal mix of WWII action and body horror. Set on the eve of D-Day, Overlord (its title derived from Operation Overlord- which was the codename for the Battle of Normandy) follows a group of American paratroopers who discover that the Nazis have been dabbling in a little more than their already horrific experiments. What starts as a gritty war movie quickly spirals into full-blown zombie chaos along with some obvious sci-fi that director Julius Avery utilises in truly grotesque fashion.
Overlord blends war thriller zombie outbreak- not pulling any punches in its tension gore and just total madness. Giving the feel of a video game or some comic book fever dream, this is a genre mashup that truly commits to its mayhem. Overlord stands out as one of the boldest and most undeniably entertaining entries in modern zombie cinema.
I Am a Hero
Japan’s contribution to the zombie genre is as intense and unhinged as you might expect a zombie flick based on a hit manga to be. Directed by Shinsuke Sato, I Am a Hero takes the familiar outbreak formula and injects it with a uniquely Japanese flair complete with hyper-stylized violence and an awkward, unassuming protagonist. Said protagonist is Hideo Suzuki- a washed-up manga artist clinging to a dream long dead (thank you, I’m here all week) who suddenly finds himself thrust into a world of unimaginable chaos when a mysterious virus turns people into hyper-aggressive, twitching zombies known as ZQNs. These zombies sprint, they contort, and what’s even more- they remember things, which makes them even more terrifying.
What sets I Am a Hero apart though even more than zombies with memory is the way it navigates the apocalypse through the eyes of someone so deeply unequipped to handle it. Hideo isn’t brave or particularly skilled—he’s just trying not to completely lose it. But there’s a real emotional core to his journey as he evolves from passive bystander to reluctant survivor. The film does an excellent job of blending black comedy, social commentary, and a whole lot of gore.
Now, don’t be getting on my case if you didn’t see your favourite here. There are a lot of zombie movies! We could run a part two, part three and more on this- from Train to Busan to Re-Animator, Zombieland, The Mummy and even the likes of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. We’ll call those honourable mentions.
What are your favourite zombie movies?
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