Zombie movies, please.

October 4, 2006 3:24 PM

Which zombie movie must I see? Please check the list before answering.

For my birthday, I'm planning on watching some kind of zombie movie (since I've never seen one I didn't like). But I'd like a new one. So, which zombie movie is absolutely must see but not on this list?

*Night of the Living Dead (Original and Remake)
*Dawn of the Dead (Original and Remake)
*28 Days Later
*Resident Evil 1 & 2 (Yes, I even liked these. Sigh.)
*Shaun of the Dead
*Army of Darkness (does that count?)

Yes, I've searched the web and gotten some recommendations, but I'm really looking for a big sample of answers, to see if there's one that stands out as OMG YOU MUST SEE THIS.

I'm looking more on the scary end of the spectrum, not funny like Shaun of the Dead.

So, mefi, give me some of your brains.

posted by kingjoeshmoe to media & arts (51 comments total)

Braindead (Dead Alive in the USA).
posted by gaspode at 3:29 PM on October 4, 2006

Land of the Dead.
posted by Skot at 3:29 PM on October 4, 2006

Oh sorry, I didn't register your last line. Braindead is kinda funny.
posted by gaspode at 3:30 PM on October 4, 2006

I Walked with a Zombie is essential viewing, directed by Jacques Tourneur.
posted by TheRaven at 3:33 PM on October 4, 2006

Versus is kind of more actiony i guess, but worth watching.
posted by bonesy at 3:38 PM on October 4, 2006

Maybe you should save all the zombie comedies (zomedies?) for next year. By then, this will probably be available.
posted by timeistight at 3:42 PM on October 4, 2006

Day of the Dead isn't a "must see", but it's not as horrible as some people make it out to be. I thought it was pretty decent.

Absolutely see Return of the Living Dead if you haven't already. It's a blast.

Do you play videogames? Playing Dead Rising is a must, I'd say. Rent an XBox 360 if you have to. It's a blast--it's more or less Dawn of the Dead in videogame form.

I'm with you on the zombie thing, by the way. I love 'em. In fact my birthday present to myself last year was the Night/Dawn/Day trilogy on DVD. Can't get a better birthday than that!
posted by Khalad at 3:49 PM on October 4, 2006

To continue a series you've already begun, Day of the Dead is pretty good.

Dead Alive is *great*, yes. Directed by Peter "LoTR" Jackson and filmed in New Zealand, even! (But quite different. It's possibly my favorite horror film ever, fighting it out with John Carpenter's The Thing. Definitely my favorite humorous horror film.)

In a similar vein, Undead is also good (not as good) and filmed in nearby Australia.

I may be in the minority, but I've also enjoyed the Return of the Living Dead movies. They also aim for the humor-horror hybrid.
posted by xiojason at 3:49 PM on October 4, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

"The Undead" is a super-low-budget Aussie production that is a homage to many of the movies listed. It is surprisingly good and although is definately tongue-in-cheek for a good portion of the movie, manages to have some lovely pure zombie moments.

It is the only movie I've seen where the audience was spontaneously applauding particularly outstanding scenes. And this was at a small, suburban cinema.

Might be hard to find, though.
posted by ninazer0 at 3:49 PM on October 4, 2006

Note to Gaspode, "I am Legend" is filming at this moment on Lafayette and 4th street.

Since it hasn't opened yet, it's an interesting combination of undead and not yet extant.

Kingjoeshmoe, I assume from your list that you are not particular about the type of zombie (outer space virus, monkey disease, alien infestation...)

If that's the case, this quasi-zombie flick is a classic. And it has scared the bajeebus out of most of its viewers for 27 years.

Also, there are parts of another movie (warning to others, clicking may spoil) that may appeal.
posted by Phred182 at 3:50 PM on October 4, 2006

Oh, and I also need to suggest you watch "White Zombie" - a very early black-and-white job starring Bela Lugosi. I *think* that this is the very first zombie movie Hollywood made. It's terrible, but worth watching as a historical artifact.
posted by ninazer0 at 3:51 PM on October 4, 2006

Cemetery Man -- gets a bit slow at the end, but a classic

Not sure if they count as zombie movies, but:

Re-Animator
Serpent and the Rainbow
posted by jlub at 3:52 PM on October 4, 2006

28 Days Later is a great movie.
posted by Vantech at 3:52 PM on October 4, 2006

D'oh, hit submit too soon.

28 Days Later is a great movie.

Of the fast-zombie remakes like 28 Days Later - Day of the Dead (the original) is a little less shambling than it's predecessors.

Land of the Dead - decent hashing.

Now... the best movie (although not available until later in the month ...) would be Slither. It's *awesome*.
posted by Vantech at 3:56 PM on October 4, 2006

Yeah, The Return of the Living Dead is a must.
posted by hot soup girl at 4:03 PM on October 4, 2006

I also say Return of the Living Dead
posted by prjo at 4:12 PM on October 4, 2006

I third Dead Alive. I just watched it for the first time 2 weeks ago... it was awesome.
posted by telseth at 4:27 PM on October 4, 2006

Braindead (1992) - Peter Jackson's gore opus

Day of the Dead (1985) - See this before Land of the Dead

Land of the Dead (2005) - Many were disappointed by this but I thought it was quite good.

Dellamorte Dellamore (1994) (aka Cemetary Man) - It's been awhile since I've seen it but I remember lots of laughs.

Evil Dead, The (1981) - May wish to watch before Evil Dead II. This one is all about the horror.

Evil Dead II (1987) - My favorite Sam Raimi movie. This one is all about the humour.

I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - An early classic

Last Man on Earth, The (1964) - Vincent Price is awesome.

Night of the Comet (1984) - A mid-80s classic.

Re-Animator (1985) - Very fun

Return of the Living Dead, The (1985) - A great riff on the Romero films
posted by dgeiser13 at 4:35 PM on October 4, 2006

Versus (2000) - Ryuhei Kitamura's movie is great fun as well but if you aren't used to the japanese sense of humour it may seem very odd.
posted by dgeiser13 at 4:37 PM on October 4, 2006

OMG you must see this!

Omega Man. It's a loose retelling of I am Legend which was also the source for Vincent Price's Last Man on Earth, which was a huge influence on Romero.

Omega Man is not technically a zombie movie, it's more of a communist-albino-vampire luddite movie. Despite a few nonstandard zombie conventions, it scratches the zombie movie itch. It's got Charlton Heston, guns, an awesome 70s sound track, and the best anti-zombie bachelor pad ever devised.

I'd go out on a limb and tell you to buy it straight up.

In the exact opposite vein, avoid Fulci's Zombie/Zombi2 which is crap and isn't really a zombie movie at all. I don't know why people always mention that movie. It's a waste of time.
posted by Telf at 4:39 PM on October 4, 2006

Well, Lifeforce is pretty scary, and has the bonus of the most gorgeous undead nudie (BOOBIES!) evah.
posted by rob511 at 4:40 PM on October 4, 2006

zombie movie database
posted by psychobum at 4:41 PM on October 4, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Night of the Creeps. It's on VHS and bootlegged on DVD.
posted by adipocere at 4:43 PM on October 4, 2006

I'm goning to plug one even though it's funny since it doesn't seem to get enough attention: "Graveyard Alive." Like "Sean," it is both funny and horrific.
posted by chairface at 4:48 PM on October 4, 2006

Adipocere: "Night of the Creeps" is great, but it's funny, no? The line I remember is: "Girls, the good news is, your dates are here. The bad news is, they're dead."
posted by GaelFC at 4:49 PM on October 4, 2006

"Return of the Living Dead," despite being funny, has one of the most chilling scenes/lines/concepts in zombie moviedom.

Not to spoil it, instead I'll link to a story I wrote on zombie flicks that explains the scene.
posted by GaelFC at 4:52 PM on October 4, 2006

Rise of the Undead by brundlefly.
posted by team lowkey at 5:21 PM on October 4, 2006

My two favorite zombie movies form my childhood are Redneck Zombies and Gore-Met, Zombie Chef From Hell.

They were AWESOME. In a most awful kind of way.
posted by zerokey at 5:21 PM on October 4, 2006

Wild Zero, for the alien/zombie/ladyboy trifecta.
posted by Pinback at 5:26 PM on October 4, 2006

Return of the Living Dead. Seriously.
posted by Brainy at 5:44 PM on October 4, 2006

For non-brain eating zombies based on traditional Haitian voodoo:

I Walked with a Zombie
White Zombie
King of the Zombies (won an Academy Award for best score!)
Serpent and the Rainbow
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:27 PM on October 4, 2006

I'll throw in my expert vote for "Return of the Living Dead"...

I didn't care much for "Land of the Dead", George missed the mark on that one.

My favorite, of course, is the "Dawn of the Dead" remake... I managed to do an extra bit in that one... If you watch the scene where they are escaping from the gun shop, you might see my feet doing the zombie shuffle somewhere in there.
posted by HuronBob at 7:16 PM on October 4, 2006

Night of the Comet, sorta.
posted by Kickstart70 at 7:44 PM on October 4, 2006

I can't believe no one has mentioned Bubba Ho-Tep -- with Bruce Campbell as Elvis in a nursing home fighting a zombie that is picking off the senior citizen residents. It is a great, witty story, though the pace of the action is what you might expect from a movie involving senior citizens.
posted by onlyconnect at 8:01 PM on October 4, 2006

Bubba Ho-Tep, while awesome, would be better categorized as a mummy movie. But if you're not picky about your brand of undead, it is severely excellent. (Honestly it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long long time.)

The Happiness of the Katakuris is not specifically a zombie movie, but it does have several scenes with re-animated corpses. In one, they even sing. It is also excellent, but not scary.

I will nth Dead Alive.
posted by fuzzbean at 8:09 PM on October 4, 2006

The Last Man on Earth is not only awesome, but in the public domain, thus free for the torrenting.
posted by Espy Gillespie at 8:32 PM on October 4, 2006

BioZombie is good. It does have some humor but it also works as a zombie movie.
Fulci's "Zombie 2" has the unforgettable underwater fight between a zomie and a shark.
I'll also second Versus, Dellamorte Dellamore, Evil Dead and Brain Dead.
posted by anansi at 9:24 PM on October 4, 2006

Shit, wish I could edit my post...for what you seem to be looking for, out of all of the responses, I'd recommend Versus. It wins hands down for shear ass-kicking, OMG-you-gotta-see-this action.
posted by anansi at 9:27 PM on October 4, 2006

Night of the Comet (1984) - A mid-80s classic.

*heh* I love that movie. I made my own DVD copy for my 40th birthday movie party. (Made from a well loved VHS copy I picked up at Wal-Mart years ago.)
posted by smallerdemon at 10:12 PM on October 4, 2006

"...[A]nything that says there's anything after death is ultimately an optimistic story." --Stanley Kubrick on The Shining.
posted by Phred182 at 10:15 PM on October 4, 2006

Also not quite a zombie movie: "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum."
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:26 PM on October 4, 2006

For my birthday, I'm planning on watching some kind of zombie movie

Consider also buying yourself a copy of the new book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (yes, he's Mel's son, and the Zombie Survival Guide guy). It's written as a semi-official U.N. report a few years after the global zombie apocalypse, and it's great - a must for zombie fans. It'll give you a jump on the recently announced movie version, too.
posted by mediareport at 11:17 PM on October 4, 2006

I haven't seen Dead Heat, but an 80s zombie buddy cop movie with a character called Roger Mortis surely has to be worth a try, right?
posted by malevolent at 11:36 PM on October 4, 2006

I would suggest that you just see every zombie movie you possibly can - that's my plan. A better birthday gift to yourself might be the The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, by Peter Dendle. this damn book has WAY more listed than any Mefi thread could possibly give you, and it will ensure that your netflix queue will never be empty.
posted by sluggo at 3:41 AM on October 5, 2006

The mexicans are pretty hot on zombie movies. They are gore-fests like Jackson's work.

Weekend at Bernies 2
posted by asok at 5:06 AM on October 5, 2006

'Zombie Flesh Eaters' is a must, and I've been strongly recommended 'Nightmare City' by an expert in the field - not got round to watching my new DVD copy yet, but it shows promise!
posted by timpollard at 5:49 AM on October 5, 2006

i'm quite the zombie afficionado, and i'll have to second the japanese punk rock zombie movie 'wild zero'. its absolutely the perfect movie. seriously, it has everything: zombies, punk rock (the stars of the movie are from the band guitar wolf), breasts, awesome plot (yeah i said it, i liked it!) and it is probably the funniest thing i've ever seen.

also - in the special features, there is an embedded drinking game. every time someone combs their hair, flame shoots out of anything, someone says rock and roll, or a zombie's head gets popped off, a little beer glass pops up on screen and you take a drink. trust me, play the drinking game, and your birthday will be awesome.
posted by kneelconqueso at 7:45 AM on October 5, 2006

ok, it's late and a bit of glomming on to anothers post, but i just ponied up my 5 bucks today and don't want to wait a week to ask when someone already started to answer my question here...

does anyone know of any zombie games for PS2 other than the resident evil series (which is way too complicated - I just want to run around and either eat brains, or destroy the brains of those eating brains, is that so wrong?)

dead rising looks interesting, but alas, i'm not gonna fork over for an xbox just for 1 game...

also, zombie honeymoon is a lot of fun.
posted by mrblakwell at 9:35 AM on October 5, 2006

Looks like either Return of the Living Dead or Dead Alive for the win.

I'll definitely take a look at the other recommendations when I get a chance. Like I said, never seen a zombie movie I didn't like.

Thanks all!
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 9:47 AM on October 5, 2006

A little late to the party—and it's not a zombie movie—but anyone interested in a zombie mod for Half-Life 1 and 2 might want to keep an eye on Zombie Panic.
posted by Merlyn at 1:12 PM on October 5, 2006

Let us know what you think of the movie(s) you end up watching.
posted by dgeiser13 at 11:56 AM on October 14, 2006