Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Last year, I celebrated the Halloween season with a blog sharing my love for horror comedies. Trying to figure out which movies I would write about in that blog was tough because two of them—Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead and Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland—also happen to be two of my favorite zombie flicks. And, I genuinely enjoy so many flicks that utilize the zombie mythos (not to mention AMC’s The Walking Dead, which is one of my favorite television shows from this century). So, I decided to devote this year’s Halloween blog to shine a light on what are (in my humble opinion) some of the best zombie movies.
Why? I guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out… 😉 [NOTE: This blog contains spoilers for several movies. You have been warned.] Night of the Living Dead (1968) Of course, I can’t write a blog spotlighting my favorite zombie movies without paying due respect to the one that started it all: George Romero’s low-budget classic Night of the Living Dead. While I don’t love this movie, I acknowledge and appreciate its significance in laying the groundwork for all zombie movies that came after it. Prior to Romero left his mark on the genre, zombie movies of the 1930s and 1940s looked and felt very different. If you watch Victor Halperin’s White Zombie, for example, (often cited as the first zombie flick) you will see zombies portrayed not as undead, flesh-eating monsters but as human beings lured by voodoo magic to become mindless, despondent slaves to their wicked masters. For decades, Hollywood conceived of zombies based on the eponymous Afro-Haitian diasporic religion. But Romero changed all that, and I would argue that it was for the better. Simply put, watching a person brainwashed by magic to be a servant doesn’t make for a very thrilling horror movie. However, dozens (if not hundreds) of corpses rising out of the grave to swarm lone survivors and eat them alive certainly does. Replacing voodoo sorcery, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead tells a story about a handful of scared, unprepared people seeking safety from the walking dead. And he says something about our society and human nature in the process. Not only did Romero’s use of blood and gore sicken the audience as they watched zombies attack the main characters, but his deeper examination of what happens when people resort to the “survival of the fittest” mantra became the metaphorical text in which all future filmmakers in this genre added to. It is Romero’s conception of zombies as an allegory for humanity’s proclivity to devour itself in the face of existential crisis and danger that makes Night of the Living Dead a film still worth talking about more than half a century after its release. Beyond just its genre trappings, however, the film clearly fits within its own time as a sharp and dark social critique of racial prejudice. By ending the film as tragically as he does, with the death of Ben (Duane Jones) at the hands of a gun-toting posse, Romero puts his personal politics front and center. Ben is the only African-American character of consequence in the film, and the only character that comes close to the hero of the story, which makes the zombie-hunting group of law enforcement mistaking him for one of “them” and gunning him down all the more horrifying. And timely. Unfortunately, Romero’s social commentary layered through the movie’s subtext remains relevant in a way that it really shouldn’t be fifty-plus years later. Yet its message is also timeless and transcends race to say something about the human species overall. And the fact that it can do all that in a brief, 96-minute runtime (and on a budget of no more than $125,000) is all the more impressive. All in all, Night of the Living Dead has been surpassed in terms of its performances, aesthetic, and visual and special effects. But its screenplay and direction continue to stand out amongst the hundreds of zombie movies that came out afterwards and serves as an important piece of independent cinema. Furthermore, its conception of the modern zombie remains the template for everything else that I’m going to talk about. If all that doesn’t deserve some praise, I’m not sure what it would take. 28 Days Later (2002) I don’t want to reduce Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later to simply an upgrade of Romero’s original zombie flick. Although, in many ways it is. His choice to shoot several scenes on a handheld digital camera parallels the black-and-white aesthetic of Night of the Living Dead, while the film’s narrative focusing on the intensely horrific experiences of its protagonists fending off both the undead and fellow humans is eerily similar. But in the same way that Romero’s film laid the foundation for the zombie genre in the mid-twentieth century, Boyle’s film revitalized it in the early twenty-first century. Made on a measly budget of eight million dollars, 28 Days Later earned over 85 million dollars at the global box office. Not since 1978’s Dawn of the Dead—Romero’s first sequel to Night of the Living Dead—had zombie flicks experienced that level of commercial success. And it was this movie, alongside Zack Snyder’s remake of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Edgar Wright’s zombie parody film Shaun of the Dead, that caused a resurgence in zombie cinema that dominated the rest of the 2000s. On its own terms, however, 28 Days Later works surprisingly well as a stripped-down, bare-bones horror movie about the lengths different kinds of people will go to survive. What it lacks in political commentary, like Romero had, it makes up for in the performances and zombie-centered thrills. Led by a then-unknown Cillian Murphy, who plays the “everyman” character Jim, the cast excels in their respective roles. From Naomie Harris as Selena, the woman who initially saves Jim and teaches him about the post-apocalypse, to Brendan Gleeson as Frank, an older cab driver whose primary concern is the safety of his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), they all endear the audience to their characters almost immediately. In doing so, we become greatly invested in their daily struggle for survival that quickly becomes hell on earth. But the movie really comes together in its latter half, when Jim and company wind up in the clutches of megalomaniacal Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) and his hyper-paranoid soldiers. It is when their horrifying plan for Selena and Hannah is revealed that 28 Days Later establishes itself as an exceptional modernization of Romero’s exploration of the human psyche’s darker shades in a postmodern world. In other words, the zombies aren’t the real monsters in the post-apocalypse: we are. Simply put, 28 Days Later holds up twenty years later as an important addition to the zombie genre that took what came before from filmmakers like Romero and updated it to twenty-first-century eyes and ears. Surprisingly, it stands toe to toe with some of the best zombie movies of the last decade despite being low-budget in casting and creation. But, if nothing else, it gave us Cillian Murphy. 😊 Land of the Dead (2005) In the midst of the zombie genre’s resurgence of the 2000s, George Romero returned to his roots with a fourth entry in his Dead series. Made on a bigger budget, Land of the Dead retains much of the spirit of its three predecessors in terms of mixing social commentary with gore-infused action and bloody horror. And, for my money at least, it was this movie that finally made me admire Romero’s storytelling rather than simply respect it. As I said earlier with regards to Night of the Living Dead, Romero set the standard for all the zombie movies that I really enjoy despite the movie itself not being one of my personal favorites. But Land of the Dead is a different story. Its production values lean heavily into Romero’s message about destructive, post-apocalyptic classism very well, which helps pull off a slightly melodramatic story. Yet I say that fully as a compliment; this movie was just so much fun to watch. The cast seemed to know the movie they were in, particularly John Leguizamo as rebel Cholo and Dennis Hopper as plutocratic dictator Paul Kaufman. Their dynamic with the other characters and with each other heightens the somewhat thin plot with some great dramatic moments and action beats. Simply put, Land of the Dead is just fun. I don’t want to say too much more, because I’d rather you just give the movie a chance and know as little as possible. If you go into it expecting a reasonably entertaining zombie flick from the progenitor of the genre himself, it might just end up being your favorite of George Romero’s Dead series like it is mine. 😊 I Am Legend (2007) Before becoming the go-to director for The Hunger Games franchise, Francis Lawrence collaborated with action star Will Smith to adapt Richard Matheson’s 1954 post-apocalyptic novel for the big screen. In doing so, he made the highest-grossing zombie movie of all time: I Am Legend (unless you don’t count it as a zombie flick; in that case, World War Z starring Brad Pitt holds that claim). Only two years after Romero’s Land of the Dead, this movie made a big impact at the box office by treating zombies as great sources of raw, unfiltered horror for moviegoers. In spite of its rather dated computer-generated special effects, I Am Legend remains genuinely suspenseful throughout to make the pointed moments of fright truly terrifying. Much of this suspense comes from the story of Dr. Robert Neville (Smith), the sole human left in New York City dedicated to curing the virus that wiped out 99 percent of humanity while avoiding the vampiric, cannibalistic “Darkseekers”—infected humans with a thirst for human flesh. Simply put, this movie doesn’t work without Will Smith. In one of his more dramatic roles that (in my humble opinion) stands parallel to his turns in films like The Pursuit of Happyness and last year’s King Richard, Smith embodies the “lone survivor” trope in an impressively humanizing manner. His traumatic past, strong bond with Sam the German Shepherd, and unorthodox methods for coping with his existential loneliness make Neville a great survivor character all thanks to Smith’s fantastic portrayal of the man. Of course, Smith’s performance in I Am Legend is aided very well by the work of Lawrence as director and his crew to beautifully depict the deterioration of urban landscapes. Despite not necessarily being scientifically accurate, the film leans more into creative license to craft a look for post-apocalyptic New York that thematically enriches its story and main character’s descent into madness. If not for the world building of the movie, the audience would simply not be as entertained watching Neville and Sam evade the “Darkseekers” and survive the night. Arguably the scariest film that I’m talking about in this blog, I Am Legend may not be the most technically sophisticated or narratively complex zombie movie out there. But, it doesn’t need to be. Its reliance on stripped-down thrills and strong character work is enough to leap towards the top of my list of favorite movies in the genre. And if this isn’t the most depression “dog moment” in a movie that you’ve seen, then we’ll just have to agree to disagree. 😊 Warm Bodies (2013) More in line with films like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, New York native Jonathan Levine (50/50, Long Shot) decided to inject some comedy and heart into the zombie genre with his film Warm Bodies. If Shaun of the Dead is a zombie parody, than Warm Bodies is the zombie rom-com. It tells the story of “R” (Nicholas Hoult), a zombie who’s lost much of his memory of his life while alive but wants to remember and rediscover his humanity. In the process, he falls in love with Julie (Teresa Palmer) who just happens to be the girlfriend of Perry (Dave Franco) who shot R in the chest before R killed Perry and ate his brains. And that’s just the first twenty minutes. Given how much zombies had been exploited for entertainment by 2013, Warm Bodies feels like a surprisingly refreshing (and funny!) take on the genre. By making the central zombie character both endearing and sympathetic, Levine’s direction and screenplay make his romance with Julie never creepy but, at first, unsettling before gradually becoming charming. By the third act, he’s convinced the audience to root for an undead man to prove his love to Julie so that he can become human again. Of course, the film’s premise doesn’t work without the two leads’ infectious (😉) chemistry. Almost from the get-go, Hoult’s stoic yet devoted nature to Julie imprints him on our hearts while Palmer’s slow yet steady willingness to give R a chance effectively balances some pretty hilarious bits with fleshing out the movie’s central message about how love can make us feel alive in a way that nothing else can. That alone could turn off people so easily; its cheesy idea has been done in virtually every romantic comedy ever made. But, Levine’s sensitive approach to the material and smart balance of comedy and drama make Warm Bodies a quirky and bizarre—yet heartwarming and memorable—addition to the zombie genre while also upholding all the tried-and-true elements of virtually any classic rom-com. If you haven’t checked this one out before and want a rather delightful movie about the power of love to watch, then this is the zombie flick for you. Train to Busan (2016) While zombie movies were going out of vogue in the United States by the mid-2010s, filmmakers in East Asia took it upon themselves to make their spin on the genre. Arguably, the most notable example of this is the film Train to Busan by South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho. Set in the urban landscape connecting Seoul to Busan, the film explores the immediate aftermath of a zombie outbreak in Korea through the eyes of a bunch of disparate train passengers. Primarily, the narrative focuses on workaholic and distant father Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) who is taking his daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) to her mother for her birthday. Along the way, Seok-woo befriends Yoon Sang-hwa (Don Lee) and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong (Jung Yu-mi) as they work together to survive. While much of the cast is great, it is these four actors that carry the emotional weight of Train to Busan. From Seok-woo stepping up as his daughter’s protector to Yoon and Seong-kyeong becoming a sort of surrogate family to Su-an, their respective journeys culminate in one of the most emotional climaxes to any zombie movie that I’ve ever seen. While this makes the film stand out compared to the rest of the genre, Train to Busan also checks all the boxes that zombie fans are looking for. First and foremost, director Yeon Sang-ho’s combination of making the undead fast and fierce within the confines of train stations and passengers cars results in some superbly tense and suspenseful sequences involving the survivors evading and escaping them (shoutout to the scene in the tunnel). Beyond just the set pieces, though, he also takes full advantage of the claustrophobic nature of the passengers’ environment to explore the subtext of Korea’s class divisions by sowing distrust and betrayal amongst different factions of the train. In a way, the film deals with socioeconomic divides just as well as Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. Overall, Train to Busan is a movie that makes for a great example of East Asia’s take on the zombie flick. It’s done with all the craft and care of a big-budget Hollywood movie, but includes an unexpectedly effective amount of heart to put it over the top of many of its contemporaries. If you’re looking for a two-hour thrill ride from start to finish, you simply cannot go wrong with Train to Busan. Conclusion Perhaps these movies aren’t the pinnacle of horror cinema, but I generally really love zombie movies. From the more thrilling ones like I Am Legend and Train to Busan to the more lighthearted ones like Warm Bodies, they offer a specific take on scary movies with what is (in my humble opinion) one of the best movie monsters ever put to the silver screen. Why? It’s simple: unlike serial killers, sharks, or vampires, we don’t have to do anything in order for zombies to show up at our doorstep and attack us. Which is, perhaps, precisely the point. As a metaphor about enjoying the little things in life and taking an active role in preparing ourselves for catastrophe, zombies remind us cinephiles that what’s scarier than any ghoul or ghost is, in fact, each other. Despite something of a drought in great zombie films recently, the genre remains alive and kicking (😉). From Julius Avery’s World War II horror movie Overlord to the South Korean movie #Alive to Zack Snyder’s ensemble Netflix original Army of the Dead, filmmakers of all shapes and stripes have not stopped dipping back into the zombie well to varying degrees of success. Who knows if zombies will ever be as relevant to the cultural zeitgeist as they were earlier this century. If not, then I’m grateful we were at least given these movies (among others) to enjoy for all time. What do you like or dislike about zombie movies? What other zombie flicks do you recommend? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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