Here are the best zombie movies of the last decade, ranked according to IMDb
Michael A. Appel
5 min read
As Halloween approaches, fans will be looking for the right horror movies to get in the mood for the spooky season. While there are many types and subgenres of horror movies, one of the biggest and most popular has long been the tried and true zombie movies.
While George A. Romero will likely always be the king of the genre, filmmakers like Edgar Wright, Zack Snyder, and Danny Boyle have dabbled in a good zombie flick in recent years. In the 2010s alone, there were some stellar entries into the zombie movie collection, including some overlooked gems.
ten Maggie (2015) – 5.6
When you hear that Arnold Schwarzenegger is starring in a zombie movie, it’s hard not to imagine the action star taking down hordes of flesh-eating villains. In this regard, maggie is a very different movie than fans probably expected, which might explain the lower rating.
Schwarzenegger plays a man alive with his daughter (Abigail Breslin) during a zombie invasion. After being bitten, he goes to extreme lengths to protect her as she slowly transforms into a zombie herself. maggie is a much calmer and more emotional zombie story with an effective performance from Schwarzenegger.
9 Cargo (2017) – 6.3
Cargo is an Australian film that actually shares a lot of similarities with maggie. Martin Freeman stars as a new father who loses his wife to a zombie attack and is bitten. Knowing that the virus will soon consume him, he begins a desperate search for someone who can care for his newborn baby.
This is another film that takes a smaller scale approach to zombie history. Although it may seem a bit dry for some audiences, Cargo is a deep and personal story for the genre.
8 Little Monsters (2019) – 6.3
When it comes to zombie comedies, Shaun of the Dead is considered the best of the best. But there are other fun zombie movies that mix humor and gore quite effectively. A recent attempt at this mash-up is little monsters.
Lupita Nyong’o gets a rare chance to show off her acting skills as Miss Caroline, a sweet-but-tough music teacher who is forced to protect her students when a zombie outbreak occurs on a school trip.
seven The Fools (2010) – 6.5
One of George A. Romero’s lesser-known horror films has been remade for this underrated gem. Crazypeople takes place in a small town where a virus outbreak turns citizens into mindless killers. Timothy Olyphant stars as the sheriff who tries to get his wife out of town while the military takes extreme measures to contain the outbreak.
Crazypeople is a unique approach to the genre because the army is as bad as the zombies. The film’s fast-paced nature and sharp writing elevate it above the genre, and there’s a bit of fun dark humor throughout that adds another entertaining layer.
6 Overlord (2018) – 6.6
JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions delivered this hard-R WWII zombie flick that deserved to find a wider audience. Suzerain follows a group of American soldiers who parachute behind enemy lines on a secret mission. Soon they discover that the Nazis are performing gruesome experiments to create the ultimate soldier.
The bloody, action-packed adventure is a blast from start to finish. Jovan Adepo makes a friendly lead while Wyatt Russell has a lot of fun with his action hero role.
5 The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) – 6.6
Considering how many zombie stories have been told over the years, it’s always a treat when a movie can find a fresh take on the genre. The girl with all the presents takes place in a dystopian future devastated by a zombie virus.
The film follows a group of people who believe that a young girl caught between a human and a zombie could be a cure for the virus. It’s a bloody, action-packed film that also has a powerful emotional core to its story.
4 Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) – 6.7
Even though the first zombieland was a big hit with audiences and critics alike, it still took ten years to get the sequel off the ground. The sequel reunites the four heroes played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin as they form a pseudo-family during the zombie apocalypse.
The cast is a big part of why the movie works so well and it’s pure joy to see them all together again. There are also some fun new additions to the cast as the story continues to have fun with genre tropes.
3 Hot Bodies (2013) – 6.8
Warm bodies is yet another zombie comedy, but this one stands out from the rest by telling the story from the zombie’s perspective. Nicholas Hoult plays R, a strange zombie who saves a girl from being eaten by other zombies and begins to fall in love with her.
The film is a fun and fresh take on not only the zombie genre, but also the story of Romeo and Juliet. It’s full of humor from start to finish.
2 World War Z (2013) – 7.0
Although the zombie genre doesn’t always attract the world’s biggest star, Brad Pitt has entered this full-scale zombie epic based on Max Brooks’ bestselling book. Pitt plays a former United Nations employee who embarks on a globe-trotting mission to trace the origins of a zombie outbreak.
It’s great fun to see zombie movies get a big-budget blockbuster treatment like this. Pitt makes a great hero to follow this story and there are some great sets throughout the movie.
1 Train to Busan (2016) – 7.6
There have been many great thrillers that have emerged from South Korea, but Train to Busan is one of the biggest national hits. The film follows a group of passengers on a high-speed train heading to the major Korean city of Busan.
The film’s claustrophobic setting is spot on, and the characters are compelling enough to keep audiences invested throughout the carnage and mayhem. Train to Busan is a wild and thrilling zombie action-adventure.
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