Top 25 Best Zombie Movies Of All Time, Ranked

25. 28 Weeks Later (2007)

This relentless and incredibly bleak sequel to Danny Boyle's classic is a worthy successor to the original movie. Set six months after the initial outbreak, the U.S. Army has declared the infection burned out and begins to repopulate a secure zone in London. The film is famous for its absolutely harrowing opening sequence — a masterclass in tension and terror. It is more brutal than its prequel and explores the dangerous consequences of human error.

24. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

Expanding from the claustrophobic Hive to the overrun streets of Raccoon City, this sequel cranks the action up to eleven. It introduces iconic game characters like Jill Valentine and the terrifying Nemesis, a hulking bioweapon programmed to hunt down S.T.A.R.S. members. While it leans heavily into action over horror, Apocalypse is a fun, explosive, and fan-favorite entry that successfully captures the large-scale chaos of its video game source material.

23. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)

After a meteor shower turns most of the population into flesh-eating ghouls, a mechanic discovers that the zombies' breath and blood can be used as a substitute for gasoline. It’s a wildly creative, funny, and action-packed film that injects a fresh and unique idea into the genre. It’s literally Mad Max translated into the zombie apocalypse genre. This Australian indie film is praised for its high-octane action sequences.

22. I Am Legend (2007)

In this epic blockbuster, Will Smith gives a powerful one-man performance as Robert Neville, the last human survivor in a New York City overrun by nocturnal, vampire-like zombies. By day, he searches for a cure; by night, he barricades himself against the infected. The film explores themes of loneliness and survival on a global scale during a massive and incurable outbreak.

21. Army of the Dead (2021)

When Zack Snyder returned to the zombie genre, he created waves with this high-octane heist set in the midst of an apocalypse. Set in a walled-off, zombie-overrun Las Vegas, the film follows a team of mercenaries who must break into the quarantine zone to pull off a massive casino robbery. It’s a visually spectacular and action-packed blockbuster, featuring one of the best and most famous opening scenes that lead to a full-blown zombie apocalypse.

20. Little Monsters (2019)

Lupita Nyong’o shines in this hilarious and heartwarming horror-comedy. She plays a kindergarten teacher on a field trip to a farm when a zombie outbreak suddenly occurs. To protect the children, she pretends it’s all a game, leading them in sing-alongs while dispatching the undead. While it’s sweet and funny, the movie doesn’t shy away from the blood and gore characteristic of the zombie apocalypse genre.

19. Resident Evil (2002)

Resident Evil launched a blockbuster franchise that became a key part of modern zombie horror. A special forces team is sent to infiltrate “The Hive,” a vast underground genetic research facility, after a deadly virus is unleashed. Trapped with a homicidal AI, mutated creatures, and the reanimated dead, the team must fight to survive. It successfully translated the video game’s claustrophobic tension and corporate horror to the big screen.

18. The Crazies (2010)

A remake of George A. Romero’s 1973 film, this is a slick and incredibly tense thriller. When a military toxin infects the water supply of a small town, its residents are turned into psychopathic, methodical killers. This isn’t a zombie film in the traditional sense, but it captures the terror of a “rage virus” outbreak perfectly. It’s unique and terrifying because the infected are no longer wandering mindlessly — they actively hunt down survivors.

17. The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

This is yet another zombie movie with a different outlook on the genre. In a dystopian future, a special young girl named Melanie is part of a group of hybrid zombie-human children being studied at a military base. She is a “hungry,” but she retains her intelligence and emotions. The film is a thoughtful, character-driven, and often brutal exploration of evolution.

16. World War Z (2013)

World War Z is one of the biggest zombie blockbusters ever made. Brad Pitt stars as a former UN investigator who must race around the globe to find the origin of a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments. The film is famous for its depiction of massive, fast-moving zombie hordes that swarm like insects. It creates genuine dread while presenting an intelligent and innovative solution to combat the outbreak.

15. Re-Animator (1985)

A cult classic of ’80s horror-comedy, Re-Animator is a gory, funny, and wonderfully over-the-top adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story. A brilliant but deranged medical student, Herbert West, invents a glowing green serum that can reanimate the dead. The film’s blend of science fiction and gore was well received as the plot turns into a chaotic, bloody mess. It remains a beloved entry in the genre.

14. Maggie (2015)

Sometimes, a zombie apocalypse can be more than just horror and high-stakes action. Maggie is an emotional, slow-burn drama set during a zombie outbreak. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a father dealing with the agony of his daughter slowly turning into a zombie after being bitten. The film follows their heartbreaking journey as he struggles with the impossible choice he knows he must make.

13. Dead Alive (1992)

Before he directed The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson made this gloriously gory and hilarious zombie comedy — often cited as one of the bloodiest films of all time. It follows a young man whose mother turns into a zombie after being bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. The real twist comes when he tries to hide the growing carnage from his girlfriend. The film’s legendary finale, featuring a lawnmower fight against zombies, is horror-comedy gold.

12. One Cut of the Dead (2017)

Imagine being in a zombie movie — while the low-budget zombie movie you’re shooting goes wrong. The film opens with a frantic chase as the crew gets attacked by zombies during the first 37 minutes. However, once the sequence ends, the movie completely changes its premise with an abrupt U-turn. It’s a brilliant love letter to filmmaking and one of the most original zombie movies ever made — a true stroke of genius in the genre.

11. ParaNorman (2012)

ParaNorman is a beautiful and surprising entry in the zombie genre, unlike any that came before it. It follows Norman, a young boy who can speak with the dead, as he tries to save his town from a centuries-old witch’s curse that raises an army of Puritan zombies. The film is funny, spooky, and wonderfully crafted, delivering a powerful and profound message about bullying, fear, and empathy.

10. Zombieland (2009)

Zombieland is known for turning a dark, gritty genre into a game. It gives us the unbreakable rules of surviving the zombie apocalypse — and then gleefully breaks them. The movie is funny and enjoyable, leaning into the comedic side of the apocalypse rather than its despair. With its great cast, clever writing, and iconic “Zombie Kill of the Week,” Zombieland is a beloved modern classic of the genre.

9. Day of the Dead (1985)

The third film in George A. Romero’s original trilogy is his most bleak and claustrophobic. A group of mistrusting scientists and soldiers are trapped in a bunker while trying to study the undead. The film is famous for its groundbreaking, gruesome special effects and for introducing “Bub,” a captured zombie who begins to show signs of remembering his past life — a terrifying and fascinating development.

8. [REC] (2007)

This Spanish found-footage masterpiece is one of the most terrifying horror films ever made. A television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside an apartment building quarantined by authorities after a mysterious and violent infection breaks out. The film’s first-person perspective and real-time progression create an almost unbearable sense of claustrophobia and panic.

7. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

A punk rock horror-comedy that completely changed zombie rules. It was the first film to introduce the idea of zombies specifically eating “brains,” and it created zombies that could run and even talk. With its iconic soundtrack, dark humor, and unforgettable Tarman zombie, it’s a beloved cult classic that had a huge and lasting impact on the genre. Sometimes, you don’t need tense and gritty action — Return of the Living Dead is undying proof of that.

6. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

A perfect satire and rom-com that includes zombie elements, Shaun of the Dead is hilarious and self-aware. It mocks many aspects of mainstream zombie movies with its absurd survival ideas. Though created as a parody, it became a standalone gem in the genre, offering fans a fresh take on the infected apocalypse. Edgar Wright’s brilliant film follows an aimless Londoner who must get his life together and win back his girlfriend — all while the zombie apocalypse unfolds around him.

5. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Zack Snyder’s directorial debut is a rare remake that stands proudly alongside the original. This version takes Romero’s shopping mall setting and injects it with pure, high-octane adrenaline. It famously opens with one of the most intense and terrifying sequences in horror history. The movie stands out as one of the best remakes and a blockbuster in the zombie genre. Snyder masterfully blends fast, aggressive zombies with Romero’s social commentary.

4. Train to Busan (2016)

This South Korean blockbuster is undoubtedly one of the best zombie films of the past decade. It’s emotional, feral, and terrifying. The movie’s set pieces and grim silences are shattered by sudden, horrifying zombie attacks. Train to Busan is a claustrophobic masterpiece set in the confined cars of a moving train, exploring themes of sacrifice and what it means to be human in times of crisis.

3. 28 Days Later (2002)

Danny Boyle reinvented the zombie genre with a vital refresh, introducing zombies as fast, terrifying, and filled with pure, animalistic rage. The story follows Cillian Murphy as a coma patient who wakes up to find himself alone in a world-ending apocalypse. He must regroup with the remaining survivors and stay vigilant if he hopes to survive in a world that has lost everything.

2. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The movie that started it all. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is a low-budget, black-and-white film that became the foundation of the modern zombie genre. It established all the rules: zombies are reanimated corpses, they crave human flesh, and the only way to kill them is to destroy the brain. Trapping a group of strangers in a remote farmhouse, the film is tense, claustrophobic, and revolutionary.

1. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

George A. Romero perfected the zombies he created in Night of the Living Dead, giving them a more dangerous and high-stakes premise in Dawn of the Dead. The movie is the ultimate sequel—bloodier, scarier, and far bigger in scope. Set in a shopping mall, it captures the paranoia and desperation of four survivors trying to outlast the hordes of zombies clawing to get in. It remains the ultimate zombie film — a masterpiece that is as intelligent as it is terrifying.