10 Best Zombie Movies You Need To Watch After 28 Years Later

Published 10 hours ago• 13 minute read

, infusing it with visceral horrors and documentary-like immediacy, while placing an emphasis on story and character development.

Although the math doesn't exactly line up, the long-awaited "28 Years Later" arrived in theaters in 2025, 23 years after the original film first terrified audiences in the U.K. (it opened in the U.S. in 2003). A reunion between director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland (who served as executive producers on the first sequel, "28 Weeks Later"), it imagines how life in England would adjust after society collapses due to the Rage Virus, which turns most of the country's population into crazed zombies.

Like the original, the film reinvigorates the zombie movie by portraying the mindless flesh eaters as fast and furious instead of slow and spooky. With the follow-up, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," slated for release in 2026 and a third entry set to star Cillian Murphy (who headlined the first film) in the works, it looks like the planned "28 Years" trilogy will continue scaring us for years to come. In celebration of the latest sequel's arrival, here are the 10 best zombie movies you need to watch after "28 Years Later." (Assuming you've already watched "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later," neither are included on this list.)

Zombies walk through the woods in "Night of the Living Dead" (1968)

Pictorial Parade/Getty Images

The granddaddy of all zombie movies, "Night of the Living Dead" follows a hodgepodge of strangers — led by the calm, rational Ben (Duane Jones) and the impulsive, volatile Harry (Karl Hardman) — who take refuge in a Pennsylvania farm house while a swarm of brain-dead flesh-eaters terrorize the countryside. Director George A. Romero, who cut his teeth helming commercials and segments for "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," put his guerrilla filmmaking experience to good use with his first feature, opening the door for other aspiring filmmakers to break into the horror genre with low-budget chillers. He also reshaped a horror trope with the casting of Jones, a bold move considering most theaters in the South still wouldn't play movies with Black leads at that time.

All of its historical significance would make "Night of the Living Dead" merely an important relic were it not still scary, which it very much is. Like its spiritual successor, "28 Days Later," it benefits from its bare-bones production values, which gives it the quality of a cursed home movie that no one should be watching. So great was its impact that it launched several Romero-helmed sequels (more on some of those later), as well as remakes, reboots, and the whole zombie movie genre as we know it.

Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Keith Wayne, Russell W. Streiner

George A. Romero

96 minutes

1968

Prime Video, Max, The Criterion Channel

A zombie rides in an elevator in "Dawn of the Dead" (1978)

United Film Distribution Company

10 years after "Night of the Living Dead," George A. Romero returned to the genre that started his career with the wildly ambitious sequel, "Dawn of the Dead," made in collaboration with Italian horror icon Dario Argento. As the zombie apocalypse has ravaged the U.S., Philadelphia traffic reporter Stephen "Flyboy" Andrews (David Emge) escapes in the radio station's helicopter with his pregnant girlfriend, Francine (Gaylen Ross). They're joined by two SWAT members, Roger (Scott Reiniger) and Peter (Ken Foree), and the quartet take refuge against the zombie horde in an abandoned shopping mall.

If "Night of the Living Dead" was a commentary on race relations during the Civil Rights era, "Dawn of the Dead" was a critique of American consumerism. How else to explain the use of a shopping mall as the site of humanity's last stand? That's not to say Romero abandoned the racial angle entirely, as Roger and Peter turn their guns on poverty-stricken Black and Latino citizens who are being devastated by society's breakdown. At its core, however, "Dawn of the Dead" is a deeply frightening film, one that was so graphically violent that it initially received an X rating (it was later released unrated) and became embroiled in Britain's "video nasty" controversy of the 1980s. Even Zack Snyder's 2004 remake can't claim that distinction as a badge of honor.

David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross

George A. Romero

126 minutes

1978

Prime Video

A zombie gives a woman an eyeful in "Zombi 2" (1979)

Variety Distribution

When George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" opened in Italy (it was an American-Italian co-production), it hit theaters with a slightly shorter edit bearing the title "Zombie," and thus Lucio Fulci's "Zombi 2" (alternately called "Zombie Flesh Eaters") was produced as a sequel of sorts and quickly released the following year. An English-language Italian production, it centers on a British journalist, Peter West (Ian McCulloch), who travels to a Caribbean island at the behest of Anne Bowles (Tisa Farrow), whose father, Dr. David Menard (Richard Johnson), is treating a mysterious ailment there. Turns out there's an epidemic turning all of the natives into flesh-eating monsters, which is bad news for anyone looking for a relaxing island getaway.

Italy produced many great horror directors during the 1970s (Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Umberto Lenzi), but few were as extreme as Fulci, who was nicknamed "The Godfather of Gore." Like "Dawn of the Dead," "Zombi 2" ran afoul of British censors during the "video nasty" moral panic of the 1980s, which only added to its reputation amongst horror fans eager to feast their eyes on blood and guts. Like his fellow "giallo" filmmakers, Fulci takes cinematic violence to the utmost limit, pushing past reality into something more surreal and dreamlike. Those with weak stomachs beware: "Zombi 2" isn't for the faint of heart.

Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Olga Karlatos

Lucio Fulci

91 minutes

1979

AMC+, Shudder, and Tubi

Bub the zombie points a gun in "Day of the Dead" (1985)

United Film Distribution Company

The final chapter in George A. Romero's original zombie trilogy, "Day of the Dead" finds the remnants of humanity struggling to survive as the apocalypse continues. In an underground bunker in the Florida Everglades, a small group of scientists and soldiers argue over how to deal with the growing zombie horde. Dr. Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan (Richard Liberty) believes the undead can be domesticated through conditioning, while Dr. Sarah Bowman (Lori Cardille) seeks a cure. The soldiers, meanwhile, want to put their missile stockpile to good use.

Try as he might, Romero was never able to fully leave the zombie genre behind, and at the end of his career he produced a new trilogy of "Living Dead" movies ("Land of the Dead," "Diary of the Dead," and "Survival of the Dead"). He was able to use the first three "Living Dead" films as a means to explore greater societal problems, and in this case, it's how a failure to communicate with each other leads to a breakdown in society. Though not as stylistically ambitious as "Dawn of the Dead," this initial final entry is just as thematically dense and gnarly as its predecessors. Romero's newer zombie movies might have had better special effects thanks to new-fangled technology, but in terms of pure scares and thought-provoking horror, there's no topping the originals.

Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joe Pilato, Jarlath Conroy, Richard Liberty

George A. Romero

100 minutes

1985

Peacock, Kanopy, Shudder, and Tubi

Empire International Pictures

In a way, one might consider "Frankenstein" the first zombie story, since it concerns a scientist trying to bring the dead back to life. The desire to play God and reverse the natural course of life has inspired many different authors, including H. P. Lovecraft, whose short story "Herbert West — Reanimator" served as the basis for the film "Re-Animator." Directed by Stuart Gordon, who updates Lovecraft's story from turn-of-the-century to modern day, it centers on Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), a medical student who's experimenting with re-animating fresh corpses by way of a miracle serum he's developed. One of his specimens is Dr. Hill (David Gale), who West decapitates with a shovel before bringing his head back to life.

One of the great qualities of the zombie movie is that it allows for comedy and horror to be intertwined, and there's something devilishly funny about young Herbert's quest to create life by taking it away from people. Like many horror movies, "Re-Animator" ran into issues with the MPAA over its violent content, and some of its gorier scenes were cut out in order to secure an R rating (the unrated version is the one that's widely in circulation). The film achieved cult status upon its release, and two sequels, 1990's "Bride of Re-Animator" and 2003's "Beyond Re-Animator," followed, not to mention a musical adaptation and a comic book series.

Jeffrey Combs,Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Robert Sampson

Stuart Gordon

86 minutes

1985

Buy on Amazon, Google Play

Orion Pictures

After "Night of the Living Dead" fell into public domain, George A. Romero and co-writer John Russo parted ways over disagreements about the direction a sequel should take. Their solution was to each create their own separate film series based on the original: Russo retained rights to titles featuring "Living Dead," whereas Romero's movies would simply carry the "Dead" moniker.

While not a direct sequel, "The Return of the Living Dead" retains a lot of the DNA of its (indirect) predecessor while charting a separate course from Romero's sequels. The directorial debut of "Alien" scribe Dan O'Bannon, it centers on a pair of halfwits, Frank (James Karen) and Freddy (Thom Mathews), who inadvertently bring the dead back to life after accidentally releasing a toxic gas that's stored in the medical supply warehouse they work in (one can only imagine how bad the hiring process was).

"Return of the Living Dead" is credited with introducing several popular concepts into zombie lore, including the undead's hunger for brains and their seeming indestructibility against gunfire (which makes sense considering they're already dead). Scored with a playlist of punk rock standards from the era, it's more comedic in tone than Romero's films, with an emphasis on visual style over any sweeping dramatic themes. Four sequels followed between 1988 and 2005, with a reboot scheduled for 2025.

Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph

Dan O'Bannon

91 minutes

1985

Prime Video

Lionel runs from a zombie horde in "Braindead" (1992)

Trimark Pictures

Long before Peter Jackson was the Oscar-winning director of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, he gained cult fame as the maker of splatter comedies like "Braindead," which was released in the U.S. as "Dead Alive" (so as not to get mixed up with the 1990 Bill Pullman movie "Brain Dead"). Set in Jackson's native New Zealand, it stars Timothy Balme as Lionel Cosgrove, a meek little pushover who's still living with his domineering mother, Vera (Elizabeth Moody). When Vera gets bit by a rat-monkey at the Wellington Zoo, she turns into a ravenous zombie, and poor Lionel tries to keep the virus from spreading by locking his mother in the basement, to little avail. It all culminates in a comedic bloodbath at a posh dinner party held by Lionel's uncle, Les (Ian Watkin).

The gore in "Braindead" was so extreme that it was either severely edited or outright banned in several countries, although the violence is so over-the-top that it's almost like a "Looney Tunes" cartoon. There's a fun allusion to Jackson's eventual "King Kong" remake, as the rat-monkey originates on the same Skull Island where Kong and his fellow monsters reside, foreshadowing the playful tone the film takes. "Braindead" may be gross, but it's ambitious in its grossness, as if Jackson wanted to make the horror comedy to end all horror comedies.

Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin

Peter Jackson

104 minutes

1992

Buy on Amazon, YouTube

Shaun and Ed chat as zombies approach in "Shaun of the Dead" (2004)

Universal Pictures

"Shaun of the Dead" was the first of what became known as the "Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy (followed by "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End," so named for their symbolic relationship to ice cream), and it kickstarted the film careers of director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg, both of whom co-wrote the script.

A comedic riff on "Night of the Living Dead," the film centers on a London slacker named Shaun (Pegg) whose uneventful life is disrupted by a zombie apocalypse. It's time for Shaun to step up and save his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), his mom, Barbara (Penelope Wilton), and his slovenly best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), as a mob of the undead descend upon the local pub.

The kinetic, energized style Wright would hone in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and "Baby Driver" is present in "Shaun of the Dead," which, like other horror movies before it, does a lot with its limited production value. Like the strawberry-flavored Cornetto ice cream it takes its inspiration from, "Shaun of the Dead" is soaked in red to an almost cartoonish degree. Yet like all Wright movies, there's a great deal of heart to go along with the action and excitement. The film was so popular that it spawned two comic book adaptations: "There's Something About Mary" and "Plot Holes."

Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Nick Frost, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy

Edgar Wright

99 minutes

2004

Prime Video and Starz

A zombie approaches a camera in "[REC]" (2007)

Filmax

The found footage craze kicked off by "The Blair Witch Project" became something of a joke by the late 2000s, as pretty much every low-budget horror movie attempted to cut costs by pretending to be assembled from "real" footage. Some of these found footage movies were better than others, and you can put the Spanish zombie flick "[REC]" firmly in that camp. Manuela Velasco stars as Ángela Vidal, a news reporter covering an emergency at an apartment building. As Ángela and her cameraman follow the firefighters into the building, they learn that an infection is quickly spreading that's turning all of the residents into flesh-eaters.

Whereas most found footage movies pretend to be "documentaries" or "home movies" that keep shooting long after the cameras should have stopped rolling, "[REC]" has a fairly clever conceit in that it's supposed to be a local news report. Ángela has stumbled upon the story of a lifetime, and sees no reason to end the broadcast even when she and her crew are quarantined. And because it's presented as "real," it's all the more terrifying when the zombies jump out of the shadows, often from off-screen. Three sequels followed (although only the second one kept the found footage aesthetic), none of which matched the raw, intense terror of the original.

Manuela Velasco, Ferrán Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso, David Vert

Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza

78 minutes

2007

Tubi, Prime Video, Apple TV

Passengers watch out for zombies in "Train to Busan" (2016)

Next Entertainment World

Most zombie movies involve people hiding in a safe house against a threatening horde of reanimated corpses. But what if the very walking dead you were trying to evade were trapped in the safe house with you? That's the central concept of "Train to Busan," which uses the claustrophobic environment of a moving train to great effect. As a zombie outbreak sweeps throughout South Korea, Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) and his estranged daughter, Su-an (Kim Su-an), board a train to Busan, unaware of the growing chaos around them. All hell breaks loose after an infected woman bites a train attendant, setting off a mini apocalypse on the wildly careening locomotive.

Much like the work of South Korean directors Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook, "Train to Busan" is a critique of class warfare masquerading as a genre film (Bong's "Snowpiercer," which also uses a train as a metaphor for society, comes to mind). The carefully constructed class system that has oppressed millions since the dawn of time is laid to waste in a zombie apocalypse, as things quickly devolve into survival of the fittest. Moving at a breakneck speed befitting its setting, "Train to Busan" is a tense, bloody, and ultimately emotional riff on the classic zombie movie, one that spawned an animated prequel, "Seoul Station," and spiritual sequel, "Peninsula."

Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik

Yeon Sang-ho

118 minutes

2016

Netflix, Prime Video, and Kanopy

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