ZOMBIES! My Top Ten Favorite Zombie MoviesJul 07 '08 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Zombie films!
Zombies! The living dead. Slow or fast, they eat human flesh and have been the undead stars of many a horror film. The genre has had some original films and some just cashing in on the genre. I've seen plenty of monster movies, and plenty of zombie movies, so here is my list of my favorite top ten zombie movies. #10 Resident Evil (written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson 2002) Alright, this wasn't the best zombie movie and it really wasn't that true to the ground breaking video games that inspired it. However, it starred Milla Jovovich and it was actually pretty fun. It's on my list because it does pay homage to the best zombie video game series of all time, Resident Evil. Has the Umbrella Corporations youth serum gone horribly awry creating zombies? Afraid so, and Raccoon City will never be the same. #9 Day of the Dead (written and directed by George Romero 1985) Although I didn't like this zombie film as much as Romero's second zombie film Dawn of the Dead this movie showed that Romero was a master of the horror genre and the director that was really responsible for the zombie genre as we know it today. In this third of Romero's zombie trilogy, zombies have taken over the world and pockets of humanity strive to survive. This movie focuses on a desolate military base where civilians and military personnel have as many problems with each other as they do the zombies. #8 Return of the Living Dead (written & directed by Dan O'Bannon 1985) This took a different direction with zombies than the Romero films that started the genre, but the premise was the same. A couple teenagers inadvertently unfreeze two government stored zombies and zombie mayhem breaks out. Brains! This one was aimed at a teenage audience (for which I fit the bill back in 1985) and focused more on comical scares than gore. It inspired several sequels, but none quite as good as the first. This film actually was released at the same time as Romero's own Day of the Dead, the third of his films. #7 28 Days Later (written by Alex Garland directed by Danny Boyle 2002) Here come the fast zombies! Technically, these creatures are presented as alive, but with some disease that knocks out all sense of reason and makes them crave human flesh. They can be stopped with a head shot. Okay, they don't walk slow like zombies, but lets face it, 28 Days Later and its sequel 28 Weeks Later are Zombie films. I loved this bleak London zombie infested world starring Cillian Murphy as one of the sole survivors. Like a good zombie film it also had plenty of scares and jump in your seat moments. #6 I am Legend (based on novel of the same name by Robert Matheson, directed by Francis Lawrence) Based on the same book as The Omega Man, this movie plays it much more like the zombie genre than the Charlton Heston original. In Omega Man, the creatures of the night were definitely human and alive, just crazy. In the Will Smith remake, the creatures are the fast moving 28 Day style zombies that move fast and will scare the heck out of you. This was also a very well done film, and the best adaptation of Matheson's book in my opinion. (the other adaptation, I am Omega wasn't even worth seeing). #5 Dawn of the Dead - remake (remake of George Romero's screenplay, directed by Zack Snyder 2004) I normally don't go for remakes, but this remake of the classic Romero zombie film was actually very good and quite horrifying. Starring Ving Rhames and Sarah Polley, this film also kept the black humor present in Romero's original. It scared me almost as much as the original. #4 Shaun of the Dead (written by Simon Pegg, directed by Edgar Wright 2004) - the first of a new breed of zombie films, this English comedy takes the zombie genre and turns it into an outrageous comedy while retaining the horror aspect of the genre and even adds elements of romance. A new style of zombie film was born, the zom rom com. I laughed and I jumped in my seat trhoughout the movie. (Their follow up movie Hot Fuzz did to buddy cop films what this one did to zombies) #3 Fido (written and directed by Andrew Currie 2006) Another entry into the zombie genre that turned it on its ear. This is another zombie comedy with a fresh idea. In a bright sunny 1950s style world, zombies have tried to take over the world and they have been subdued in the zombie wars and domesticated by ZomCom, a corporation that trains zombies for domestic service and factory work. An all American family (including Carrie Ann Moss as the mother) finally gets their own zombie. Their son develops a fondness for him and names him Fido (hilariously performed by Billy Connelly). However, when Fido breaks the rules and succumbs to his desire for human flesh... all comedy and a bit of gore break loose. #2 Planet of Terror (written & directed by Robert Rodriguez 2007) One half of the homage film Grindhouse, Rodriguez managed to pump lots of new blood into the zombie genre with his over the top gore fest starring Bruce Willis, Freddie Rodriguez and Rose McGowan. Rodriguez managed to take all the best cliches of the genre, shines them up and makes them new again. #1 Dawn of the Dead (written and directed by George Romero 1978) This was the first really great zombie movie I had ever seen. No it wasn't Romero's first, but it was definitely the best, not just of Romero's films but of Zombie films of all times. Humanity is faced with crazed human flesh hungry zombies and a band of survivors lock themselves up at a local shopping mall. Not only was Romero's film the BAR for all zombie movies thereafter, it was also a brilliant social satire. Moreover, between this film and his original Night of the Living Dead Romero defined and wrote the rules for the zombie genre. There, my top ten. It was hard to put them in order, but my number one was never a question since I first saw it at a midnight showing 20 plus years ago.  |
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