Fortunately, there is no universally accepted rating of zombie films yet. Each self-respecting media resource compiles its own “correct” list. And almost every large film studio shot its own national blockbuster about wandering and biting animated dead. From films shot "on the knee", the genre jumped to multi-million dollar budgets. We offer our rating of the best films about zombie apocalypse. The main selection criteria: the number of views on various Internet platforms, movie budgets and our subjective opinion.
1. "Resident Evil"
Since 2002, fans of the genre have been pleased with Mila Jovovich, who has starred in six films in the series about the adventures of the sexy Alice in a world inhabited by many living dead. The last part, the picture "Resident Evil: The Last Chapter" was released in 2017. The film is based on the computer game of the same name directed by Paul Anderson. Not all films turned out to be equal, but they are always included in the top list of ratings of films about zombies (7.5 out of 10). The director himself loves the first film most of all, because then he met his future wife Mila Jovovich.
In a secret laboratory code-named "Anthill" a new type of biological weapon, the T-virus, was developed. Unknown during the abduction of the strain specifically breaks one of the flasks. The central computer, to localize the spread of the virus, sprays nerve gas, which kills the employees of the complex. The main character comes to life in the soul of the mansion with complete amnesia. Wandering around the building, she meets Matthew Addison (Eric Mabius) and a squad under the command of Rain Ocampo, played by Michelle Rodriguez.
Together, they go to the laboratory to get an antivirus. When the survivors of the zombie crowd, Mett and Alice, the survivors return to the mansion, they are captured by employees of the corporation. The main character again comes to her senses this time in the hospital, having climbed out she sees the ruined city and the headline of the newspaper "The Dead Go." This is probably the best zombie apocalypse movie in the ranking.
2. "I am a legend"
In 2007, another film adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel was released, which became one of the most successful films in the genre of post apocalypse. Initially, the film was planned to be shot in the mid-90s with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role, but then it was not possible to coordinate the budget. Despite the great audience success. critics wrote that the film was a compromise between the genres of fantasy-warning and horror, where the zombies were not very scary. “I am a legend” is almost always on the list of the best films about zombies (rating 7.8 out of 10).
A program is being broadcast on television, the presenter says that a cure for cancer was found. But the miracle cure turned out to be the virus that caused the zombie apocalypse. Three years later, only wild animals roam the empty streets of New York. Lt. Col. Robert Neville, played by Will Smith, lives alone in a deserted metropolis. All attempts to find other people failed. Samantha’s dog is the only living creature next to him. He preys on deer, loots, collecting supplies, and tries to develop a cure for the virus. The nightly masters of the city are infected people who die in the sunlight. True, they are the least bloodthirsty "living" dead who are in the pictures from the list of the best films about zombies. For all the cinema, only one shepherd was killed.
When the hero almost lost his will to live, he met Anna, played by the Brazilian actress Alice Braga, with her son (Charlie Tahen). They offer to go with them to the colony of survivors in Vermont. Robert dies, saving them from zombies. A woman with a child safely gets to living people, bringing them serum from the virus.
3. "Welcome to Zombieland"
Invariably in the list of the best rated films about zombies is this comedy of 2009 about the world captured by the living dead (7.5 out of 10). The young guy Columbus, played by Jesse Eisenberg, makes his way home, traveling across the country, fighting or just running away from zombies. From the very beginning of the epidemic that swept the country, he began compiling a list of rules, thanks to which he survived in Zombieland, as the United States began to be called. In the very first episode of the film, a crowd of the dead attacked Columbus, who drove up to a gas station in a car. He is saved using the first survival rule from his list - to be in shape. And "heroically" escapes from them.
The next day, the main character was lucky to meet another survivor of Tallahassee when he left the city on foot. The colorful character, armed to the teeth, portrays his famous comedian Woody Harrelson. He offers to drive the kid to his hometown in Ohio. I must say that the main characters are named after American cities, the same Columbus is the capital of Ohio. Tallahassee, despite its brutal appearance, has an irresistible weakness for the liver.
In the supermarket, where the characters stopped by in search of cookies, they meet two sisters, prone to scams Little Rock and Wichita. Girls trick the car away from gullible guys, and in the film they do it again later. Two cute “scammers” played by the Hollywood beauties Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are heading to the Wild Adventure Park, where they believe there are no zombies.
Bill Murray also starred in the film, playing himself surviving in a house in Beverly Hills, thanks to the ability to make up under the dead. But he was not lucky with Columbus, who kills him, mistaking him for a real zombie. It ends with a traditional happy ending, our heroes save the girls and drive away together in a car. There are many episodes in the picture that parody the classic scenes of the struggle against the living dead. At the same time, heroes often fall into unusual comedic situations. "Welcome to Zombieland" deservedly gets to the top places in the lists of the best in the ranking of films about zombies.
4. "A zombie named Sean"
A British parody horror comedy is always among high-rated zombie films (7.4 out of 10). Sean, whose image was brilliantly created by Simon Pegg, works as an ordinary boring sales assistant in an electronics store. All his free time with his friend and neighbor Ed (Nick Frost) is spent in the Winchester Pub. Sean Liz's girlfriend (Kate Ashfield) constantly nags him for a plant-based lifestyle and wants to part with him because he cannot break away from his beloved establishment.
In the city, information began to appear about the flu epidemic with strange symptoms. Chaos reigns on the streets, many people appear to faint. In the news they transmit instructions on how to behave with the zombies that appear, Sean and Edom go to save Liz. Two friends, along with the friends they collected along the way, are locked in a pub. They fought off the attacks of the living dead all night, until the morning only Sean and Liz survived, whom the military saved. Almost all zombies are exterminated, the few remaining are used for entertainment and as labor. In the last shots in the barn behind the house, Sean plays on the console in the "zombie".
5. "War of the Worlds Z"
The English name is an allusion, referring to the last world war and / or war with zombies. This is the most expensive zombie movie, about $ 190 million was spent on filming, and the highest grossing one earned $ 540 million at the box office. Even only these indicators are enough to make “War of the Worlds Z” always included in the ratings of the best zombie films (7 out of 10).
Brad Pitt co-produced the film and starred Gerald Lane, a former UN investigator. An epidemic begins in the world, monstrous bloodthirsty creatures rush through cities, in which bitten people turn. He manages to remove the wife Karen (Mireille Inos) and daughters Rachel (Abigail Hargrove) and Constance (Sterling Jerins), who are sent by helicopter to a squadron standing at sea, from the city that has been seized by madness. But Lane must, in exchange for security, investigate the causes of the disaster. He travels the world, having visited South Korea, Israel and Wales, in search of the causes of the zombie apocalypse. Lane is helped by a girl from the Israeli army of Segen (Danielle Curtes). Scientists are developing a vaccine, after the use of which zombies stop paying attention to people. The destruction of zombies begins.
6. "Madmen"
Also a remake of the film by the famous director George Romero was released in 2010. A typical but well-beaten plot allows Mad Men to enter the top 10 zombie movie rating (6.5 out of 10).
Ogden Marsh City Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) is investigating to find out the cause of the wave of killings that covered the city. Peaceful, quiet residents suddenly became aggressive. Together with the assistant to the sheriff Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) they find a crashed military plane that crashed into a local river, from which water is drawn for the city. Quarantine is introduced in the city, survivors are taken out of the city, including the wife of Sheriff Judy, played by Australian actress Rada Mitchell. It turns out to destroy the witnesses.
7. "New era Z"
The film received a cinematic award for best directing at the Austin Fantastic Fest 2016. One of the top films of recent years in the ranking of zombie films (6.1 out of 10).
A pandemic caused by a fungus turns people into carnivorous zombies, in the film they are called "hungry." Surviving people are hiding behind high fences at military bases. Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) is developing a vaccine. The main character Helen Justino (Gemma Arterton) works as a teacher for children who were infected in the womb. They can behave like ordinary people, but they are also dangerous and carnivorous. Among them, Melanie (Sennia Nanua) is distinguished by special intelligence. Meanwhile, the "hungry" break through to the base, our heroes decide to flee to London. They have to fight with the "hungry" and gangs of feral people. Of the people alive, only Helen, who is now locked in the laboratory. Melanie collects wild children and her classmates, now the teacher will teach them.
8. "Dawn of the Dead"
A remake (2004) of the 1979 horror movie of the same name - classics of the George Romero genre. "Dawn of the Dead" is invariably present among high-rated zombie films (7.3 out of 10). In the film, the traditional situation of the zombie apocalypse is played around the confined space and hordes of the living dead. A group of people is locked in a supermarket and fights off zombies who want to bite them.
The main character, nurse Anna, played by Canadian actress Sarah Polly, shows the doctor x-rays of a patient whose condition is getting worse. He was bitten in a drunken brawl at a bar. On her way home, she hears a radio message about the aggressive behavior of people. The next morning, running away from her husband, who has already become a zombie, Anna gets into an accident. She is picked up by policeman Kenneth (Ving Rhames), they go to the supermarket to take cover there. On the way they are joined by Michael (Jake Weber), Luda (Inna Korobkina) and Andre (Mechi Fyfer). In the building of the store, many surviving residents of the town find shelter. All night, people fight off zombies and killing comrades bitten in these fights. At the end of the film, Anna, Kenneth, supermarket guard Terry (Kevin Zegers), Nicole (Lindy Booth) and dog Chips escape, sailing on a boat to a desert island.
9. "28 days later"
In 2002, a picture was released that gave a new breath to the modern interpretation of stories about the horror of the apocalypse. In 2017, the English magazine Time was included in the list of 100 best British films. In the rating of horror films about zombies "28 days later" almost always is in the top 10 (7.5 out of 10).
A radical group of "greens" breaks into the laboratory that conducted the tests of the "Rage" virus. The extremist who became infected during the attack attacks her comrades and scientists. The epidemic covers Britain.
Jim (Killian Murphy), who fell into a coma after the accident, woke up after 28 days in an empty hospital. Traces of desolation and riots are visible on the street, he finds a newspaper with the headline "Residents leave London. Evacuation." From a zombie attack, he is saved by Selina (Naomi Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley). In the struggle for survival, the heroes make and lose friends, face betrayal. Another 28 days pass and infected people die of exhaustion.
10. "Train to Busan"
One of the few Asian films that occupy high places in the ranking of horror films about zombies (6.9 out of 10). The Busan Train is recognized as the best in South Korea in 2016. It was successfully shown in different countries, in Russia the film received a positive rating from viewers and critics.
The main character, the head of the investment fund So Sok Woo, played by the South Korean star Kon Yu, constantly disappears at work. He is the divorced father of little daughter Su An (Kim Su An), whom he promises to take on her birthday to visit his mother, who lives in the very south of the country in Busan. Suk Wu wants to cancel the trip, but when he sees the unhappy face of the girl in the video from the matinee, cancels all his affairs. In the morning they set off for the train station, fire trucks rode past, and puffs of smoke were visible in the distance. Father and daughter board a high-speed train, where they also ride Yoon San Hwa (Ma Dong-suk) with their pregnant wife Song Jong (Jung Yoo Mi), a wealthy businessman Yong Sok (Kim Yi Song). A baseball team also gets on the train. At the time of boarding, zombies appear, and one of the bitten women manages to drop into the last carriage. The train quickly fills with infected people. Our heroes fight back, losing one by one. On the phone, they find out that in Busan, the military managed to repel a zombie attack. So Sok U, who, as it turned out, funded the research that caused the disaster, dies last, saving his daughter and a pregnant woman. "Train to Busan" worthily represents South Korean cinema in the ranking of films about zombies.