2013's World War Z was a major zombie movie hit, and there are many other great zombie movies that are great to follow it up with. Based on Max Brooks's eponymous 2006 novel, World War Z follows ex-U.N. Investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and other characters as a zombie outbreak erupts across the world, zombies literally climbing over one another to get to their human prey. World War Z would become one of 2013's biggest movies, pulling in $540.5 million worldwide.
While a sequel to World War Z was initially planned, it ultimately did not move forward despite the first film's strong box office success and reception. While cast like Mireille Enos speak about World War Z 2 hopefully finally happening, as the movie approaches its 10-year anniversary, zombie lovers have no shortage of equally enthralling tales of the undead to check out. Here are 12 great zombie movies to watch after World War Z.
12 Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The zombie movie genre was birthed with George Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead, with a band of human survivors taking refuge in a farm house in the middle of zombie outbreak. For its time, Night of the Living Dead was staggeringly violent, but none of its power and ability to frighten has diminished. For as much as zombie movies have evolved since Night of the Living Dead, revisiting it should be an absolute priority for any zombie movie lover.
11 Dawn of the Dead (1978)
A decade after Night of the Living Dead, Romero's best zombie movie Dawn of the Dead brought the undead back from the grave again. With zombies overrunning the world, a group of human survivors seeks refuge from the undead in a shopping mall. While the ash-grey undead are a bit dated in their zombie looks, Romero nonetheless massively steps up the zombie thrills and subversive capitalist commentary in Dawn of the Dead – this time with the benefit of color, which makes the blood component twice as memorable.
10 Train to Busan
2016’s Train to Busan follows a zombie outbreak in South Korea, with human occupants aboard a train headed from Seoul to Busan on a story of survival. Train to Busan stands a major sleeper hit that took the world by storm, and packs all the zombie thrills and chills anyone could ask for with locomotive efficiency. Fortunately for zombie fans, Train to Busan has not stopped either, spawning the ongoing Train to Busan movie franchise.
9 REC
REC follows a news crew in Madrid covering the night-life of the local fire department, only to find themselves pulled into an unexpected zombie outbreak in a local apartment complex. REC’s claustrophobic sense of dread and superb use of jump scares make an exhilarating ride of scares, and its climactic reveal of the undead progenitor at the top of the building is a powerful exercise in silence as the ultimate tool of fright. REC would spawn numerous sequels, as well as the pretty good American remake Quarantine in 2008.
8 Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Zack Snyder’s feature directorial debut Dawn of the Dead takes the core premise of George Romero’s original of human hiding in a mall from a zombie apocalypse, and gives it a much more fast-paced makeover. That extends to the zombies themselves, who sprint after their prey with ferocious abandon. Less a remake than a total re-imagining, Dawn of the Dead pays tribute to Romero’s original while totally standing on its own. The DVD short films “Special Report” and “Andy’s Lost Days” also add immensely to Dawn of the Dead as excellent special features.
7 Shaun of the Dead
The comedy duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost anchor one of the most hilarious zombie comedies in history, Shaun of the Dead. With a zombie outbreak unfolding in London, a group of survivors hide in a local pub, but Shaun of the Dead is far from an average zombie flick. With dry British comedy and zombie action in equal supply with Pegg and Frost’s buddy chemistry, Shaun of the Dead is great fun as an undead romp.
6 I Am Legend
Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend is frequently cited as the progenitor of the modern concept of zombies, and the Will Smith-led I Am Legend movie does it proud. Smith plays Robert Neville, a scientist trying to devise a cure for the plague of “dark seekers” that have overrun the world and left him possibly the last human left on Earth. Smith’s tour-de-force performance carries the emotional story of I Am Legend, felt most powerfully in the heartbreaking scene where is forced to say goodbye to his dog companion. Some of the CGI on the dark seekers is a bit shoddy, but I Am Legend is nonetheless a zombie movie winner.
5 28 Days Later
2002’s 28 Days Later opens with London devastated by a zombie plague, and a handful of humans including Jim (Cillian Murphy) and Selena (Naomi Harris) trying to survive. As a zombie film, 28 Days Later more than delivers on the grime and apocalyptic terror that a zombie apocalypse demands, with some of the most feral zombies ever seen on film to that point. Like any great zombie movie, 28 Days Later tells a harrowing survival story that grips from start to finish.
4 Zombieland
Ruben Fleischer’s hellacious zombie comedy Zombieland follows the college loner Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) as he forms an unlikely family with his fellow survivors Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). The comedic banter of Zombieland’s quartet of heroes makes the movie’s zombie apocalypse one of the most fun ever, and even works in a zany Bill Murray cameo midway through. Zombieland 2 brought new zombies back to the big-screen a decade later, keeping its predecessor's wacky fun alive.
3 Night of the Living Dead (1990)
Remaking a classic is always a tall order, but Tom Savini’s 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead equals and even arguably sures its 1968 predecessor. The premise is largely the same of a cluster of human survivors making their stand in a farm house, but Savini’s Night of the Living Dead makes the story and characters its own. That’s especially true for its protagonist Barbara (Patricia Tallman), who transforms from terrified bystander to a zombie-slaying Sarah Connor.
