Troma's Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead promises to be cheap, brutal, and devoid of any moral compass. The sociological criticism of consumer culture is also humorous.
A group of stranded boaters discover a sunken SS submarine's zombie crew on a desolate island. Peter Cushing as an insane-looking SS Commander.
A party of tourists investigates the remnants of a sinister Templar abbey, waking the blind dead who can find you by listening to your heart. Sword-wielding zombie Templar warriors on zombie horses chase them through a field.
In the movie "Deadgirl," which examines the sexuality of the undead, a group of young men argue among themselves to see who will get the opportunity to rape the "deadgirl" next. The movie is effectively eerie and revolting, and it makes the list for the simple reason that it suggests a use for zombies that hadn't been explored in this detail in the previous 40 years.
In Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, a sonic radiation machine raises the living dead from the earth.
Wes Craven's 1988 film The Serpent and the Rainbow is an unexpected revival of the voodoo-style Haitian zombie, and a reminder that it's probably still possible to make a "voodoo zombie" movie that takes itself semi-seriously and aims to scare.
Juan of the Dead injects political heft into zombie films, with Juan attempting to profit from the fear and uncertainty by launching a modest company that quickly spirals out of hand.
In Romero's last movie, the zombies become intelligent, and Dennis Hopper plays the evil plutocrat who runs a walled-off Pittsburgh. It's not as subtle as his other movies, but it still looks good and has just enough of Romero's rebellious spirit to make it worth watching.
Rammbock is a 63-minute (right here) German independent film. Michael, a delusional sad-sack, enters his girlfriend's apartment during a zombie invasion.Cemetery Man is a scary art-comedy about a cemetery caretaker who travels through life aimlessly. Its protagonist's melancholy and loss of identity are akin to American Psycho.
A squad of law enforcement officials break into a largely deserted apartment high-rise in order to take down a gang of drug traffickers who are responsible for the death of one of their own. Twenty minutes into the operation, however, a group of zombies appears.
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is a young Australian director's post-apocalyptic zombie picture with flair. It's terrifying without being dour, emotive without sounding pretentious, and gruesome without sliding into the violent farce of Peter Jackson's Dead Alive or Bad Taste.
A low-budget zombie drama about a former baseball pitcher and catcher traveling across the country together in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. The zombies are there, but they mostly just get in the way and remind these men of everything they've lost.
Dawn of the Dead by Zack Snyder is a leaner, bloodier, and more action-packed zombie film that is heavily indebted to 28 Days Later. It has one of the finest opening scenes in the history of zombie films.
In 2007, both the first Paranormal Activity film and Romero's own Diary of the Dead were released. The best found-footage zombie film is still REC, a Spanish film that blends traditional zombie myth with Catholic spirituality.
Italian horror masterpiece Zombi 2 raises the bar for insanity and bloodshed to new heights. The film is packed with unforgettable scenes that have become cultural pillars of terror.
Night of the Living Dead by George Romero is the most powerful zombie movie ever made.
Re-Animator is proud of its scientific approach to bringing dead people back to life. Herbert West, played by Jeffrey Combs, is a crazy scientist who uses flashing green ooze to bring the dead back to life.
The sequel to Night of the Living Dead is considered a masterpiece among zombie films, although its director, John Russo, is mostly forgotten.
Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero is a major leap forward in terms of presentation, professionalism, thematic intricacy, and innovative visual effects. It is set in a garish mall overrun by zombies and has classic visuals that subsequent zombie films have sought to replicate or ridicule.