Top four zombie films: From founding classics to modern revisions

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Slasher films and suspenseful thrillers are all well and good, but zombie movies inspire a special kind of terror in their audiences.

The fearful sight of undead monsters rising from their graves has inspired generations of filmmakers.

1. “Night of the Living Dead” (1968)

This film is often considered the catalyst of the modern zombie craze within pop culture. George A. Romero directed this film about a group people who have barricaded themselves inside a farmhouse to hide from a horde of “ghouls.” These ghouls are the first incarnation of the modern, slow-moving zombies.

Romero established what many people consider a zombie to be in “Night”: slow-moving, groaning, grey-skinned “undead” people whose only motivations are to consume human flesh.

This is the zombie archetype that shaped the horror genre into what it is today.

2. “28 Days Later” (2002), directed by Danny Boyle

Though the villains in this film are not technically zombies, as they aren’t dead, it still successfully reinvented the modern zombie.

In the film a man wakes up in a hospital 28 days after the collapse of humanity; the result of a deadly virus which inspires unbridled rage and aggression in its victims.

Unlike Romero’s zombies, these ghouls are no slow-pokes. In fact, they are unbelievably fast, making escaping much more challenging.

The fact these “zombies” are fast-moving makes the “jump factor” much more intense, unlike Romero’s films which rely on the fear that the zombies are always coming.

3. “Dawn of the Dead” (1978)

Another Romero film makes the list. This film is the chronological sequel to his “Night of the Living Dead.”

The film primarily takes place in a mall where a small group of survivors are attempting to barricade themselves until help arrives.

Help is far away and as supplies dwindle and more and more zombies arrive at the mall, things get tense. This film, again, taps into fear of an enemy that never stops coming.

This film also continued the theme of humans being the true monsters, as a legion of pillaging bikers led to the safe house’s ultimate demise.

4. “Shaun of the Dead” (2004)

Enter the zombie-parody. This movie was one of the first true parodies of the zombie-genre, and to this date is still the best.

The film is about a man, his small band of friends and an ex-girlfriend as they attempt to survive a zombie outbreak in London.

At first the group behaves somewhat nonchalantly about the outbreak, this “just a bad day” attitude sets this film apart from the others.

Every zombie trope is on display in this film: destroy the brain, zombies are unintelligent. The list goes on.

But while being a comedy, it is also an excellent example of a quality zombie film.