Summary

• Fast zombies redefine horror genre by introducing relentless, terrifying undead threats in recent films.
• Classic horror comedies and action horrors showcase the evolution and danger of fast-moving zombies.
• Movies like "Train to Busan" and "28 Days Later" explore post-apocalyptic fast zombie scenarios in thrilling ways.

Fast zombies were terrifying creatures that have frightened filmgoers in plenty of nail-bitingly tense zombie movies in recent years. While the zombie horror movie genre dates as far back as White Zombie in 1932 and its modern incarnation can be traced to George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968, these earlier movies featured slow-moving, lethargic zombies that were easily outrun when compared to more sinister fast-moving zombies. While fast-moving zombies have their origins in 1980s horror, they truly came to the forefront in 21st-century horror movies that featured undead creatures.

From horror comedies like The Return of the Living Dead to truly tense action horrors like Train to Busan, there has never been a threat more sinister than a fast-moving zombie. Far more frightening a foe than traditional slow-moving walkers of earlier horror movies, the fast-moving zombie breaks the rules of zombie movies and was a threat both immediate and terror-inducing and ensured that if movie characters wanted to avoid becoming creatures of the night themselves, then they had to act fast. There have been plenty of incredibly fast zombie movies over the years.

10 Dead Alive (1992)

Directed by Peter Jackson

Before gaining worldwide recognition with The Lord of the Rings, New Zealand director Peter Jackson enthralled audiences with his own fast-moving zombie comedy Dead Alive, also known as Braindead. A gory splatter-filled farce about a man dealing with a zombified version of his mother who was bitten by a Sumatran rat monkey, Dead Alive may not be the most serious of all fast-zombie movies, but it was certainly one of the funniest and stood as one of the best releases in Jackson’s early more humor-based filmography.

9 Resident Evil (2002)

Directed by W.S. Anderson

Although the Resident Evil film series has never quite been able to match up the video games they were based on, the first Paul W.S. Anderson Resident Evil movie from 2002 delivered enjoyable, fear-inducing, fast zombie thrills that included outrageous mutants, zombies, and deathly creatures that felt like exciting, albeit disposal, movie fun. A true guilty pleasure, even acclaimed Avatar director James Cameron has a soft spot for Resident Evil and told Empire it was “beautifully made” and that watching Michelle Rodriguez move “like this feral creature” was “joyful.”

“One of my guilty-pleasure films that I actually think is quite beautifully made is Resident Evil. Watching Michelle Rodriguez in that film, moving like this feral creature, is joyful.”

8 The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

Directed by Dan O’Bannon

The Return of the Living Dead was a comedy horror with a punk rock attitude that spawned the “fast zombie” trope (via Game Rant) as well as the idea that zombies craved brains rather than just simply human flesh. Full of silly 1980s-style humor, gruesome gross-out violence, and satirical calls back to classic George A. Romero movies like Night of the Living Dead, The Return of the Living Dead was a cult favorite that’s notable for being the first of its kind. Much smarter than it initially appeared, screenwriter and director Dan O’Bannan had previously penned the script for Alien.

7 I Am Legend (2007)

Directed by Francis Lawrence

The post-apocalyptic thriller I Am Legend featured a terrifying variation on infected fast zombies through the Darkseeker mutants turned bloodthirsty from the Krippin Virus. As an adaptation of Richard Matherson’s novel of the same name, I Am Legend starred Will Smith as the last human in New York, desperately trying to develop a cure while being pursued by fast-moving nocturnal mutants. A thrilling exploration of the impact of total societal collapse, I Am Legend was a box-office success and a long-awaited I Am Legend sequel has been confirmed with Will Smith expected to return along with Michael B. Jordan.

6 28 Weeks Later (2007)

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

28 Weeks Later was set after its predecessor 28 Days Later and depicted a stand-alone story where NATO military forces attempted to salvage a safe zone in London to rebuild a world ravaged by the fast-moving infected victims of the Rage Virus. With an entirely new cast, 28 Days Later was a worthy sequel that added depth and intrigue to the post-apocalyptic world it depicted. However, not everything went according to plan and 28 Weeks Later quickly delivered fast-paced, full-blown, zombie-style terror.

5 Rec (2007)

Directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza

The fast-moving zombies of the 2007 Spanish found-footage horror movie Rec were infected with a highly contagious virus that suggested demonic possession. A highly engrossing nightmarish hellscape, the world presented in Rec was made all the more terrifying through its faux-documentary style that presented the horrors on screen with a ‘shaky-cam’ sense of realism and authenticity. A truly effective found-footage horror movie, the surprise box office success of Rec led to three sequels that further investigated these hybrid zombie-demon creatures.

4 Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

Directed by Zack Synder

For Zack Synder’s 2004 remake of George A. Romero’s 1978 classic horror Dawn of the Dead the director chose to include running zombies over the more traditional slow-moving undead ghouls. In Synder’s version of the story, the creatures have the capabilities of professional athletes and could no longer be so easily outrun. This major change from the Romero version gave the Dawn of the Dead remake its own identity and ensured they were even more terrifying and nail-bitingly frightening as everyday survivors attempted a evade a worldwide plague while holed up in a small mid-Western shopping mall.

3 World War Z (2013)

Directed by Marc Forster

The terrifying consequences of fast-moving zombies were expertly explored in the action horror World War Z, starring Brad Pitt. An epic story of a world ravaged by a zombie pandemic; World War Z was a high-stakes zombie story on a scale much grander than the enclosed settings of so many other zombie movies, as World War Z addressed the way the United Nations and Navy SEALs would tackle a zombie apocalypse. Full of fast-moving thrills and a strong performance from Pitt, this adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel of the same name was a gripping and imaginative addition to the fast zombie genre.

2 Train To Busan (2016)

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho

A truly terrifying South Korean zombie movie, Train to Busan was a nail-biting thrill ride that took place primarily on a train ride from Seoul to Busan as engers were confronted with the outbreak of a fast-moving zombie apocalypse. A highly entertaining and universally acclaimed action-horror hybrid, Train to Busan featured masses of undead threats grounded through the story of a workaholic father and his relationship with his estranged daughter. As one of the best zombie movies in recent years, Shawn of the Dead director Edgar Wright personally recommended Train to Busan on Twitter in 2016.

1 28 Days Later (2002)

Directed by Danny Boyle

The absolute pinnacle of fast zombie movies was Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later which helped popularize the notion of the agile undead and reimagined these flesh-eating creatures for the modern era. A groundbreaking horror movie, 28 Days Later was led by Cillian Murphy as a man who awoke from a coma to discover a crumbled society following the outbreak of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus. 28 Days Later subverted many zombie-movie tropes and, rather than positioning the undead as mindless bloodthirsty creatures, they appeared as more sympathetic infected victims.

Sources: Empire, Game Rant, Edgar Wright on Twitter