Top 100 Best Zombie Movies Part 8
Top 100 Zombie Movies: A Toast to the Zombie Gaming Revolution
Intro:
We love zombies. It’s our duty as geeks and/or gamers to be fascinated by the social commentary so often paralleled in modern zombie cinema; or at least to enjoy watching people get their faces eaten. Either way they’re lovable creatures with a following that is to be truly admired. With the ever increasing boost of zombie/undead themed games, I present to the general public a list of the best zombie movies (and worst) to date. Of course this list is my personal opinion and very much open to dispute, there are also plenty of zombie movies I have not seen that probably deserve to be on this list. This is simply one zombie fan’s attempt to further the spread of zombie admiration and perhaps get some people into some of the best zombie movies they may have never before seen. Keeping the interest high keeps the zombie games coming!
Numbers 40-31:
30] Outpost
Synopsis: "A crack team of battle-hardened mercenaries [are] on a routine mission to protect a mysterious businessman through the no-man's land of war-torn Eastern Europe. However, after he leads them to a long forgotten, underground outpost, they unwittingly reawaken a lurking terror..."
Holy crap, sadistic paradimensional Nazi zombies... that alone is enough to warrant your attention. Our group of rock hard soldiers trigger the awakening of some very dead and very angry Nazi leftovers from a seemingly abandoned and isolated outpost. They uncover a powerful rusted relic, that was developed during WWII by those crazy occult loving Germans. What follows is a gruesome and graphic nightmare that leaves a pool of blood in it's wake. Awesome stuff, and one of the best war-horror subgenre pieces available.
29] Prince of Darkness
Synopsis: "When the guardian priest of an abandoned church in Los Angeles dies, Father Loomis finds a diary and a key, opens the door of the basement and finds a cylinder with a gruesome green fluid. The priest contacts Professor Howard Birack in the local university and he invites a team of students to research the findings and translate manuscripts. The group discovers that the liquid is the essence of evil, actually Satan's remains, and has been kept locked in the church for centuries."
Satan, in form of green goo, begins infecting the folks in and around an abandoned church. While more of a possession piece, the movie develops a rather overwhelming army of homeless zombies led by Alice Cooper, which leads to one of the best kills in horror history. Slow pacing makes this one not for everyone, but a rather twisted and creepy ending involving the return of Satan along with a name like John Carpenter behind it, makes it one for the horror buffs to ensure they catch.
28] Black Sheep
Synopsis: "An experiment in genetic engineering turns harmless sheep into blood-thirsty killers that terrorize a sprawling New Zealand farm."
Classified as a zombie film it really plays out as more of a mutant sheep / were-sheep movie. Of course technically zombie or not, infected mutant zombie sheep thingies is a recipe for pure 100% unadulterated awesomeness, especially when survivors of sheep attacks become hulking and lumbering towers of fluff, teeth and claws. Oh, and of course our hero had a traumatizing experience as a kid with a flock giving him a fierce phobia of sheep. Lots of comedy, goopy entrails, and penile extraction will leave you a happy camper after viewing this one.
27] City of the Living Dead
Synopsis: "A reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from the grave."
Evil priest guy commits suicide only to resurrect as a minion of the Devil, bringing the newly risen dead along for the ride. This isn't a movie you watch for a gripping storyline, this is a movie you watch to see zombies do terrible terrible things to people. Fulci is a master of gore, and it's shown here, including a poor lass who vomits up all of her internal organs, one at a time... if that sounds like good times to you then this puppy will deliver the goods!
26] Dance of the Dead
Synopsis: "On the night of the big High-School Prom, the dead rise to eat the living, and the only people who can stop them are the losers who couldn't get dates to the dance."
Yes it's another 'zombedy', but it's very well done, witty and clever. It feels like the Mr. to Carrie's Mrs. Typical teenage dramas plague our young cast, but it's dealt with in a chuckle inducing manner with plenty of quips. The fact that it's a prom overrun by zombies, leaving the outcast underdogs and losers the only hope for salvation, makes it any zombie-nerds wet dream.
25] Night of the Living Dorks
Synopsis: "Three not-so-cool school friends decide to try [an] old voodoo ritual. Later, they die in a car accident, but live on as zombies. But being a zombie has advantages, too..."
More zombedy goodness. Now I'm sure this movie should not be this high up the list, however, if this movie is viewed with English dubbing I cannot see how you could keep a straight face. It's terrible, it makes porn acting seem Oscar worthy, it is just awful and that's why it's gold. The dialogue and dubbing is so funny (and I swear it's intentional, especially the dad) that combined with the zombie action and teenage hijinx on-screen it makes for a roaring good time. Where else can you see a young zombie boy trying to get with his crush only to have his testicles fall off and roll across the room? Plus we can't forget the poor nerd who has a book where he writes down every person that's ever picked on him and what they did... I wonder what happens when he becomes a zombie... hmmmm. Fun stuff for any zombie fan.
24] Resident Evil: Degeneration
Synopsis: "A warrior seeking revenge unleashes a deadly virus in Harvardville. Responding to the threat are former special forces members Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who look to bring down a mutated monster before history repeats itself."
If you enjoy the Resident Evil games, then you'll love this. It takes every aspect of the games and turns it right into a fun little animated movie. We're talking hero and heroine, a little child that needs protecting but also helps, Umbrella conspiracies, unlawful testing, a mutating tyrant that suffers from the typical 5-fight boss syndrome, and oh yeah, zombies galore. Basically feels like a a Resident Evil game with all the game taken out and just the cutscenes left. I only hope that with the recent increases in animated teenage/adult-oriented animated movies we get to see more films of this caliber!
23] Undead
Synopsis: "A quaint Australian fishing village is overcome by meteorites that turn its residents into the ravenous undead, leaving a small group of those unharmed to find a way out."
This one stands out as the first Australian zombie flick (atleast that was largely received) and is filled with everything you could want from the decaying corpses we've come to enjoy. Humor (it's hit and miss here, but for the most part it's such a warm welcoming movie the misses are forgivable), ludicrous characters (the farmer with the 3 barreled shotgun), gore gore gore, and of course zombies (some silly looking, but hey, it's not exactly huge budget).
What makes this one really stand out, is the nifty twist halfway through the film, following throughout until the end. What a neat idea, kudos! It's humor isn't over the top, the action is well paced, and the story is satisfying. Worth your time!
22] Messiah of Evil
Synopsis: "Arletty travels to the coastal California town of Point Dune to visit her bohemian father, from whom she has received worrisome letters of late. Once there she discovers he has vanished, leaving behind cryptic diary entries. Joined by aristocratic loafer Thom and his two 'groupies', Arletty investigates her father's disappearance and is struck by the strange behavior of the townsfolk."
I'll be blunt with this one. I found myself groaning on my first viewing. It's long and dragged out... By this far in the film I want entrails dragged out, not a story about a vanished father and some preppy drifter and his two girlfriends. However, once our stars start coming to unfortunate zombie ends, I found myself astonished by the artsy visuals and bleak and despairing yet colorfully lit settings, paired with these bizarre visuals of lifeless cadavers... the introductions of which are slow and and meticulously paced, creating tension and unease. Brilliant execution as these aren't your normal mindless zombies, they are just as capable as the living, and their deathliness is visual only by their paleness (and the blood stains around their mouth). It's creepy and effective and definitely worth a mention in the list as the classic it is.
21] Mulberry Street
Synopsis: "A deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to devolve into blood-thirsty rat creatures..."
By rat creatures, it means zombies that take on some rat-like appearances (pointy facial features). Of course it takes place in Manhattan, because New Yorkers never seems to have enough catastrophe in movies, right? The characters are very unique, very vulnerable and very likeable, making their closeness throughout the situation enheartening, and seeing them meet unfortunate ends via various overwhelming or unlucky situations really makes you root for these guys. It doesn't follow standard zombie conventions, people that don't deserve to die do and asides from our hero boxer, no one stands much of a chance going man-o a man-o. The film has a green filter over much of it, making it feel sick when it needs to be, and only occasionally becomes distracting. Really do yourself a favor and catch this little hidden gem.
Movie synopses care of IMDB or each film's respective Official Website.
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