My Top Ten Zombie Films

Original article: http://www.ppsf.co.uk/the-zombie-lowdown-with-andy-and-ben/

 

When asked to compile a list of my top 10 zombie films I was chomping at the bit of a humans hand to do it. At 26 years old I admittedly have a child like fascination with the macabre world of zombie horror – I love that society always crumbles and watching unlikely people co-operate to survive, if you’re a zombie novice or zombie hunter elite I’m sure my list will satisfy your brain hungry self’s need for gore, guts and guffaws aplenty:

 

10. Zombi AKA Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

 Is there something in my eye?

 



Now I’ll be the first to admit this film is terrible, it’s oh so terrible but the kind of terrible where it’s almost good. The film is the only one in which you can see a zombie in an underwater tussle with a shark to see which will be having a watery grave. Ridiculous.

 

9. 28 Days Later (2002)

 

Anyone got the time?

This is the tale of man, waking up alone in hospital bed to find the world gone haywire, a film that won’t leave you for some time after viewing. Though not technically a zombie film as the villains are infected with a rage inducing virus, I couldn’t leave this from my list as the scenes of a deserted London are worth the price of admission alone.

 

8. Night of the living Dead (1968)

Christopher Maloney's latest victim. 

The one that started it all, the original Night of the living Dead is the first in the original Dead trilogy and the film that spurred a genre. The tale of an unfortunate set of survivors spending a night trapped in a zombie sieged farm house is as intense as it is nerve racking. A must see for any true fan though I do personally prefer the 1990 remake. 

 

7. Land of the Dead (2005)

An American with bad teeth; breaking stereotypes.

 

Land of the Dead is George A. Romero’s return to the genre over 20 years later and what a comeback it is, originally titled Dead Reckoning the film is about zombie’s getting gradually smarter very similar to what started with Bub in Day of the Dead(1985). They attack the last haven from the undead called Fiddler’s Green and the hero Riley and his crew must stop them with the use of Dead Reckoning a multimillion pound train-like armoured truck. Just don’t get distracted by the skyflowers.

 

6. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

 

Seriously, kids, brush your teeth!

 

I remember sitting up late the evening before seeing this remake of my all-time favourite film and seeing the first ten minutes of the film previewed, which whet my appetite for the fast paced gore fest that ensued. This was the first film I’d watched where the zombies ran (rather than shambled) which to this day I’m not a fan of but this was a fast paced, action packed remake I couldn’t help but enjoy, even if it did lose the social commentary of the original.

 

5. Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)

Zombies; in one ear, out the other.

 

Long before Shaun of the Dead showed us that zombies could be as scary as they are funny came this gem. A hilarious take on the zombie films of yore in which the zombies could only be killed by lighting which set up a cheeky nod to Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. This was the first series of film’s to have zombies talk and coined the classic ‘BRAINS!’ which is to be yelped from the undead for generations.

 

4. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

He who supplied it, denied it.

 

The first ‘ZomRomCom’; Shaun of the Dead is a hilarious tale of retail worker nobody ‘Shaun’ finding himself amidst a break-up and viral break out!
 It’s a genuinely funny film with equal measures of both gore and tomfoolery! What I like most about it is even non-zombie fans will enjoy even if they are missing the countless nods to the classics of the genre.

 

3. Night of the Living Dead (1990)

 Tissue, anyone?

 



This 1990 remake of the 1968 original is one the better remakes in the overcrowded genre. I personally prefer the remake to the original due in parts to the advancement of technology and Director Tom Savina’s use of gore (I’m rather blood thirsty). Though it could be that I saw this before the original but none the less a brilliant film and the story that started it all.

 

 2. Day of the Dead (1985)

            Side effects of listening to Gangnam Style on repeat!

 

Probably the most underrated of the original Dead trilogy; Day of the Dead tells the tale of a group of scientists and soldiers vying for control in a underground army bunker, the soldiers thinking only of themselves and the scientists searching fruitlessly for a cure or some kind of solution. A much slower pace than the others gives this film opportunity to explore other avenues such the infamous zombie named Bub who slowly learns how to act more human with time.

 

1. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Mind Blown.

My all-time favourite zombie film for many reasons; I remember seeing this as a child walking into my cousins’ living room and seeing the scene where a zombie clambers on to some boxes and inadvertently get the top of its skull lopped off by the rotating blades of a helicopter, I was enthralled. I love the story and it’s nod to the zombie like nature of modern consumerism which was a big change in the world at the time, the film being shot in one of America’s first ever shopping malls. Though as a child I loved the freedom of having a mall to yourself the most and that’s all anyone wants really, to have everything you could ever need!

There you have it, you should also watch The Walking Dead TV series, now bugger off.