Michael A. Appel 
Zombies are one of the most popular monsters on Halloween, and the world’s fascination with them is timeless. Zombie movies in particular have high returns as they are often made on a lower budget and it is almost always an exciting concept for audiences. We know that although these movies are popular, they definitely dominate the horror genre, so if you don’t vibrate with this singular category, we would like to bring you 5 zombie movies in different genres.
Train to Busan – Action
Credit: Next Entertainment World
Divorced father Seo Seok-woo is a hedge fund manager who takes his daughter to see her mother on her birthday amid a rapidly spreading zombie outbreak. As their train becomes infested, they meet interesting people with very different histories and they have to find their way to the front of the vehicle for safety reasons, but have to go through every dangerous car on the way.
Although it is listed as a horror movie, this one has a lot of thrilling action sequences and surprisingly fast paced zombies. Not to mention that it broke box office records in 2016, holding one of the largest audiences for a South Korean film in theaters, and managed to be another good example of a low budget to a High box office performance for zombie movies. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video!
Warm bodies – Romance
Credit: Making Films, Mandeville Films
“R” is a zombie who can’t remember his past or how he got to his condition, but when he feasts he takes back memories of those he ate. As the narrator of the story, he is very aware of his surroundings and his status as a zombie. On a mission to collect food in the city center, her group encounters humans and “R” ends up eating the brain of Julie’s now deceased boyfriend, which causes “R” to fall in love with her and learn to Julie that not all zombies are bad.
Originally based on a novel of the same name, the zombie romantic comedy plays on a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor from a zombie perspective. While lacking in realism, as if zombie movies could be considered as such, the movie did have a happy ending and was very similar to the book for fans who loved the story long before the movie was released. It’s available on Hulu, HBO Max, or Amazon Prime Video!
#Living – Polar
Credit: ZIP Cinema, Perspective Pictures
Live video game streamer Joon-woo has been left alone in his family’s apartment as a zombie outbreak begins to break out. Time passes with him fighting off the zombie intruders, but as their presence wears off, his loneliness overwhelms him until he spots another survivor across the complex. The two quickly become friends and use each other for safety as they figure out how to escape the undead hordes below for lack of resources.
South Korea loves producing zombie movies and that’s another to add to the books. The film was not as popular at the box office, however, Netflix picked it up for distribution and it has received many positive reviews since. #Living and Alone were two movies based on the same storyline, but Netflix’s Korean version seemed to have much more critical success and higher overall ratings. You can stream it on Netflix!
Frankenweenie – Animations
Credit: Walt Disney Pictures, Tim Burton Productions
Victor Frankenstein is a young boy who, while mourning his dead dog, manages to resuscitate Sparky using electricity. His jealous classmates who wish to revive their own pets blackmail Victor to show them how to do it, causing a chaos of desperate people who become lab techs to revive their own pets.
Tim Burton is renowned for making the perfect stop motion animations for Halloween, and this movie is no different. Play on the classic tale of Frankenstein, this film returns to its ancient roots by being released in black and white. The film’s approval rating was very high, like most of Tim Burton’s other films, but it was also nominated for a wide range of awards. You should definitely see it this Halloween on Disney +!
Little monsters – comedy
Credit: Screen Australia, Protagonist Pictures, Made Up Stories, Snoot Entertainment, Neon
Dave, an overwhelmed musician, recovers from a recent breakup and decides to chaperone his nephew, Felix, on a school trip to try to impress the teacher he’s fallen for. During the excursion, a nearby military base triggers a zombie outbreak and the class must survive while facing a sadistic alcoholic who shows his true colors after the zombies escape.
Lupita Nyong’o impresses in all of her performances, but she received special praise for her role in this Sundance premiere. This film offered a fresh take on the zombie genre and involved other names such as Josh Gad and Kat Stewart on their cast list. Kids and zombies aren’t usually pictured together, so if you want to see this one-of-a-kind movie, it’s available to stream on Hulu!
