The live dead has an unmistakable terrifying quality to them. The fact that one cannot avoid death at the hands of flesh-eating, reanimated, rotting corpses who are largely driven by their basic instincts lends the horror genre a broad appeal.
While the late renowned George A. Romero, commonly known as the ‘Father of the Zombie Film,’ deserves credit for exposing us to the world of the undead, zombies have their roots in deep-rooted Haitian traditional traditions.
The word “zombie” comes from the West African phrase “Bambi,” which means “spirit of a dead person,” or from the Haitian Creole term “zonbi,” which means “dead person resurrected by magic.”
Sorcerers, also known as Bokors, were supposed to be capable of resurrecting the dead at the period. The reanimated, on the other hand, we’re unable to act on their own initiative or speak; they were more akin to slaves to those who brought them from the dead. It is no surprise that Victor Halperin’s pre-Code horror film ‘White Zombie,’ released in 1932, followed in the tradition.
Jacques Tourneur’s 1943 film ‘I Walked with a Zombie,’ Jean Yarbrough’s 1941 film ‘King of the Zombies,’ and Steve Sekely’s 1943 film ‘Revenge of the Zombies’ are examples of similar plot concepts.
From the historical period described to the present, zombies have terrorized the celluloid globe with their evolution, with each phase and transformation ringed by their apocalyptic nature.
So, get ready for today’s video, in which we will look at the greatest 50 zombie movies of all time from around the world. Are you ready for the end of the world?
Night of the Comet (1984)
Thom Eberhardt’s Night of the Comet has a comet passing earth and wiping out almost 90% of the population, reducing the people to either dust or zombies. Catherine Mary Stewart as Reggie Belmont and Kelli Maroney as Reggie’s naïve sister Samantha soon discover that they are one of the very few survivors who are left in the city.
In due course, they cross paths with horrifying comet-affected zombies and deceitful scientists with their own sinister agendas. The sisters eventually team up with another survivor, truck driver Hector Gomez, to save the planet from the impending doomsday.
Backed by a script also by Eberhardt, this 1984 movie here boasts everything that B-movie fans as well as zombie film fans look forward to. With a run time of 95 minutes, the film has David Richard Campbell’s nifty background score along with Arthur Albert’s spectacular cinematography work on display.
The flick even nurtured a massive cult following in the years after its release, easily finding itself in Bloody Disgusting’s list of Top 10 Doomsday Horror Films in the year 2009. In fact, writer and director Joss Whedon was so inspired by the character of Maroney that he actually ended up creating Buffy Summers. Buffy who? Buffy the Vampire Slayer!!!
Anyway, coming back to this bodacious apocalypse thriller, it is undoubtedly a forgotten gem from the 80s that has a good blend of scares, drama, and tongue-in-cheek humor. It is still hard to forget Maroney’s most famous dialogue,
Would you believe us if we told you that this line, in reality, was improvised? She actually said that when her MAC-10 got jammed for real. Just dig into some popcorn the next time you decide to watch it!
Shock Waves (1977)
Beneath the living, beyond the dead, and from the depths of hell’s ocean comes Ken Wiederhorn’s Shock Waves. The movie revolves around a small group of tourists surviving a boat accident and making their way to the nearest island.
That is where they encounter a former Nazi commander who was in charge of the Death Corps, a squad of unstoppable, overpowering zombies to be more precise. These zombies were designed as powerful weapons for the Nazis, acting more like super soldiers who specialized in aquatic operations and could literally survive in any environment.
Post Germany losing the war, the commander sank the zombie ship as they were becoming more of a nuisance, going to extents like ambushing their own soldiers. However, all hell breaks loose when the zombies return and start slaughtering the tourists one after the other.
Boasting quite an ingenious screenplay by Wiederhorn and John Harrison, the entire movie was shot in a span of 35 days. You will be taken aback to know that the Nazi zombies featured in the movie were not really supposed to wear goggles in the first place.
However, when one of the extras returned on set post his glaucoma operation, Wiederhorn was exceedingly impressed by the whole look of the protective eyewear. So much so that he actually ended up instructing the wardrobe department to make a pair of goggles for every zombie that the movie had on display. One simply has no reason not to enjoy this creatively uncanny chiller in the good old 70s style.
World War Z (2013)
Marc Forster’s World War Z wasn’t just a commercial success but also the highest-earning zombie movie of all time. A recipient of 25 award nominations and three very interesting wins, the storyline revolves around Gerry Lane, a former United Nations agent, who along with his family gets caught up in the middle of a zombie pandemic.
But with an old friend of Lane from the United Nations reaching out to him by sending a helicopter and saving them, seconds before he and his family would have met their ill-fated deaths, Lane is left with no other options but to join his former colleagues. He has to take part in a life-threatening mission to discover the source of the widespread outbreak.
He does so on the condition that his wife and children are assured safety aboard a US Navy carrier, one that has researchers and military personnel from all over the world trying to study the outbreak. Lane travels around the world assembling clues, to find a way to put a stop to the zombie spread. He faces the ultimate challenge when he has to take a leap of faith on the basis of his field trip observations.
Based on Max Brooks’ 2006 zombie apocalyptic horror novel also called World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, the 2013 movie brags a screenplay by the terrific trio of Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, and Damon Lindelof. Brad Pitt surely deserves a special mention for his mind-blowing performance and so does Marco Beltrami for his solid work on the background score.
It goes without saying that the movie is an intriguingly inventive addition to the zombie movie canon and if you are someone who is yet to watch it, tonight’s the night for you to do so. All you need to do is just take out two hours from your busy schedule and you will thank us later for the recommendation!
Dead Snow (2009)
What was supposed to be a happy and relaxing Easter vacation in the Norwegian mountains turns out to be the worst nightmare for a group of friends. The region of Øksfjord was apparently occupied by a battalion of Nazi soldiers back in the days of the second world war.
The soldiers continued abusing and torturing the local dwellers and had even gone to extremes like plundering all their treasures. But just before the forces were about to move from the area, the local residents teamed up against them and chased them into the mountainous woods.
It was later deduced that the Nazis had all frozen to death. However, that’s not where things end! As far as ‘greed’ is concerned, it does come with a price and the zombified corpses of the Nazi soldiers resurrected years later to take back their stolen loot and brutally slaughter the group of friends that had plans of their own, after discovering the treasures.
Boasting a run time of 92 minutes, Tommy Wirkola’s 2009 Dead Snow has quite an intriguing premise that revolves around the Scandinavian fabled undead, greedily safeguarding its stolen valuables.
It is the poster of the movie, one that features a severed head of a Nazi zombie lying on the snow and giving its audience a nasty look that does the trick for the movie, luring hordes of viewers. The flick also has plenty of gore, funny and clever dialogues, along with fleshed-out characters to catch the attention of true horror fans.
Plus, when you have intestines being ripped out in ways that you can’t even imagine, you know that you are in for something. Else, why would the film be nominated for four Scream Awards in categories such as Best Horror Movie, Most Memorable Mutilation, Fight-to-the-Death Scene, and Best Foreign Movie?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGg_HeCB0vM
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
It was Richard Matheson’s 1954 post-apocalyptic horror novel, I Am Legend, that inspired George A. Romero and John Russo to conjure a movie that is often regarded as the ‘progenitor of the fictional zombie of modern culture’. The plotline has brother-sister duo Johnny and Barbra visiting their father’s grave in Pennsylvania when they suddenly get attacked by a ghoul.
While Barbra manages to flee, Johnny isn’t that lucky. She makes it to a nearby farmhouse where she meets a drifter called Ben, who drives away several ghouls and secures the place. The duo can’t really make out what’s happening.
They are further surprised when they discover a few more people in the basement of the farmhouse, hiding from the expanding group of the undead ghouls, ones who have a rather particular taste for the living. With the ghouls increasing in numbers and dead people becoming reanimated corpses, the chances of the group surviving become minuscule.
Meet the movie and the maker that started it all. George A. Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead not only made it to the list of the greatest films ever made but also garnered a huge cult following, spawning a franchise that includes five thrilling sequels.
While the original movie never really used the term ‘zombie’ and mostly referred to the living dead as ‘those things, the movie did have on display several stereotypes about zombies – things such as zombies relishing on human flesh or the fact that they cannot be killed unless they are shot in the head.
Also, you will be quite surprised to know that one of the working titles of the movie was Night of Anubis, in reference to the deity of mummification as per prehistoric Egyptian religion. Romero changed it post learning that very few would be able to relate to it or even understand what it means in the first place. To those of you who still haven’t watched it, please don’t miss out on this one. It is the OG of zombie movies!
Re-Animator (1985)
Herbert West is an ambitious medical student, who is absolutely obsessed with the idea of overcoming the obstacle of death and very determined on proving his theory. Post the death of his professor and West trying to bring him back from the dead at the University of Zurich Institute of Medicine, he gets himself enrolled at the Miskatonic University, in Arkham, Massachusetts to carry on with his research.
He initially begins testing his reanimating agent on dead animals and then eventually on human bodies. In the process, West manages to tempt his roommate and fellow medical student, Dan Cain, and the duo starts reanimating the dead and exploring uncharted territories.
Very soon, the entire campus starts getting a little too crowded with the reanimated corpses by West, something that catches the attention of Dr. Carl Hill, who has his own agendas.
The nifty blend of horror and sick humor is what makes this adaptation of Lovecraft’s short horror story, Herbert West – Reanimator, an undisputable horror classic. Here’s pointing out a few highlights of the movie; for starters, the movie features an absolutely terrific cast of Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, and Barbara Crampton to be more precise.
Next, the flick moves at a very smooth pace and for that, we have the director and co-writer Stuart Gordon to give full credits to. Then come the witty one-liners and Combs’ dialogue delivery. For instance, Comb saying, “Who is going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow!”, still manages to steal the show even by today’s standards.
Juan of the Dead (2010)
‘Juan of the Dead, we kill your beloved ones. How can we help you?’ – Well, it has been 11 long years since Alejandro Brugués’ Spanish-Cuban zombie comedy flick was released, and yet the famous movie slogan still has its charm.
Also known as Juan de Los Muertos in Spanish, the plot has a 40-year-old slacker called Juan, the protagonist who is in the process of reconnecting with his daughter. However, Camila wants nothing to do with her father and instead, has her own plans of going to her mother’s place in Florida.
Lazaro, who happens to be Juan’s sidekick, is a bigger slacker than Juan and is prone to accidents and screw-ups. Soon, bizarre things start taking place; the dead come back to life, people start going crazy and go to extreme levels like killing each other as well as devouring their flesh.
With the Cuban government blaming dissident groups paid by the US government for the disturbances, Juan starts reaping profits from his very own zombie-killing business that he carries out along with his friends. However, they find their lives at risk when the group realizes that what they are up against is a lot deadlier than the dead.
Filled with gracious amounts of splatter slapstick, this 2010 movie here even won the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film in 2012. Backed by a script also by Brugués, the film very deftly fuses humor, horror, and zombies with political satire. Who would have thought right?
The movie brags this sense of authenticity that makes the viewers actually feel like they are in Cuba and that everything’s taking place right in front of them. The cast on display is absolutely terrific; all of them are very different people and their character development conclusively deserve a definite mention. The character of Lazaro is way too cool; his sense of humor is unparalleled. In short, if you are a sucker for zombie movies, know that you just cannot miss this.
Dead Alive (1992)
Peter Jackson came up with this modern masterpiece of horror that was probably one of his most expensive films at that time. And, while the movie also known as Braindead was a box office flop, it eventually became a cult hit and is considered as one of the bloodiest flicks of all time.
The storyline is pretty simple; Timothy Balme stars as Lionel Cosgrove, dwelling in a beautiful Victorian mansion with his overprotective, overbearing mother, Vera. As fate would have it, Lionel gets smitten by a local shopkeeper’s daughter, Paquita.
During one of their dates at the Wellington Zoo, Vera follows them only to get bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey there. That leads to her apparent death but she reanimates as a voracious zombie and goes on a killing spree, transforming everybody she bites into zombies like her.
So how do you kill something that is already dead? That’s the simple premise of the 1992 New Zealand zombie comedy flick, which still has an IMDb rating of 7.5 just by the way. A recipient of 14 awards and 7 nominations, the movie had about 300 liters of fake blood being used just for the final scene.
Bragging a screenplay by Stephen Sinclair, Frances Walsh, and Jackson, the flick is clever and fast-paced. Believe it or not, it is quite the visual treat, especially for all the gorehounds out there. Balme’s performance as Lionel keeps us entertained and glued to the screen for a good 104 minutes.
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Back in 1959, an alien experiment containing slug-like organisms got released and crashed straight to Earth, infecting a college fraternity member. The body was kept cryogenically frozen and it has been 27 years since that incident. But with two university geeks, Chris Romero and J C Hooper joining a fraternity, the duo discovers the frozen cadaver in suspended animation and inadvertently sets him free.
What ensues is chaos at the Fraternity house when tiny slug-like creatures begin inhabiting human bodies, causing them to turn into zombies and thereby infecting the whole campus.
Distributed by TriStar Pictures and produced by Charles Gordon, this flick here is an underrated horror masterpiece that certainly deserves your time. Fred Dekker marked his feature directorial debut with this science fiction horror comedy movie.
Guess it would not really be wrong to admit that Night of the Creeps was more like his serious shot at a B-movie stint and also a tribute to the genre. With a run time of 88 minutes, this fun splatter fest brags quite a memorable tagline – the good news is your dates are here. The bad news is they are dead.
Plus, when a film features an entire cast who have the last names of the most famous horror directors along with a solid movie title, some very strange looking aliens, a frozen body, and an evil rotten corpse, you know you are in for a stellar time.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
For 29-year-old Shaun, life isn’t going anywhere. He has a dead-end job at an electronics retail shop where he is insulted more than he is given respect. Most of the time, Shaun is seen killing time either playing video games or getting drunk with his slob best friend, Ed, at their favorite pub. So much so that he literally has his love life dying on its feet.
Liz has had enough, which calls off their relationship. The next day, he wakes up to a zombie apocalypse that has by then overrun nearly the whole of London. It is precisely then that Shaun realizes that he has to rise to the occasion, even if that meant him rising from his own sofa.
Backed by an impressive script by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, this 2004 horror comedy film happens to be the first installment of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, still boasting an IMDb rating of 7.9.
It goes without saying that the movie was a global commercial success that garnered two nominations at the British Academy Film Awards. Categorically, one of the best zombie movies you will ever come across, Shaun of the Dead is a tried and tested formula by the legendary Romero himself.
In fact, Romero was so impressed with the script that he asked both Pegg and Wright to make cameo appearances as zombies in his 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film, Land of the Dead. Mind you, one does not have to be a fan of horror movies to enjoy this sublime piece of satire. You are bound to laugh till it hurts, that’s the kind of movie this is – an absolute classic!
[Rec] (2007)
![[Rec] (2007)](https://marvelousvideos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rec-2007.jpeg)
Directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, this Spanish-found footage horror flick revolves around late-night television host Ángela Vidal and her cameraman Pablo, who work for the documentary television series, ‘While You’re Sleeping.
During one of their night shifts at a local Barcelona fire station, the fire service gets a distress call to an apartment building regarding an old woman who is trapped inside. The duo accompanies the firefighters in hopes of nice coverage. But what follows next is a night that none of them will ever be able to forget.
Flaunting a current 7.4 IMDb rating, the film is held as one of the best found footage films to this very day. It wasn’t just a major commercial but also a critical success, easily making Time Out’s list of ‘The 100 best horror movies.
You will be surprised to know that the actors in the film were never really handed the full scripts. So basically, this means that none of them knew the fates of the characters they played. Therefore, the reactions of the actors on display are nothing but genuine ones.
For instance, say around 18 minutes into the movie, there is a scene that has a young fireman falling from the stairs. None of the actors present were aware of this scene so the reactions captured were pretty much real. Next comes the casting part; both Balagueró and Plaza intentionally opted for unknown faces to give their movie a sense of authenticity.
No wonder Rec ended up generating the Rec film franchise, having three more sequels in the series. For those of you who aren’t aware of its English remake, the movie was remade as Quarantine and released in 2008.
Nightmare City (1980)
Umberto Lenzi’s Nightmare City, released in the US as the City of the Walking Dead, stays unequivocally true to its title. The movie has Hugo Stiglitz in the role of a TV reporter called Dean Miller. He is seen waiting at the airport to interview a scientist in regards to a recent radioactive spill and witnesses a Lockheed C-130 Hercules military plane makes an emergency landing.
But with the plane doors opening, a horde of armed undead people previously exposed to strong doses of atomic radiation make their way out and start massacring the military personnel on the runway. What’s surprising is the fact that they are invincible to all kinds of weapons and they have this particular taste for human blood.
Dean barely manages to get out of the situation and when he tries to alert everybody about this incident, he is stopped by General Murchison of Civil Defense who forbids him to leak the news. With the zombies going on a rampage and increasing in numbers with every victim they bite, Dean along with his doctor wife, Anna, try doing the impossible – flee from the city.
A lot of you who have seen this 1980 science fiction horror flick might point out the sudden, hasty twisted climax and that’s absolutely okay. We will tell you why that happened. It shouldn’t be shocking when we tell you that the filmmakers had a limited budget and with what they had, they could not really think of any other plausible way of finishing the story.
Anything else they tried was crossing their shoestring budget. Anyway, coming back to the movie, the usage of hatchets and knives by the blood-thirsty zombies or let’s say them choking humans with ropes for that matter might seem ludicrous given the current time period, but do know that whatever’s on display is historically accurate and Lenzi did come up with a successful gut muncher. Fans of the genre, please do check this movie out if you still have not!
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
The second flick in George A. Romero’s series of zombie movies, the storyline of Dawn of the Dead revolves around a phenomenon, whose origin still happens to be a mystery.
With three weeks passing by, it has already emerged as a massive zombie outbreak. In spite of the National Guard trying to take the necessary countermeasures, they are failing at it quite miserably. The film has David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross in leading roles, as the four survivors of the zombie apocalypse. They take refuge inside a deserted shopping mall.
Initially, all goes well for the four of them till they realize how they have all become victims of consumerism. Things get even worse when they catch the attention of a biker gang that breaks into the mall and so do the horde of flesh-eating zombies. What follows next is a bloody fight for survival.
Romero’s 1978 directed, written and edited zombie horror movie went ahead earning 66 million dollars given its budget of $640,000. Still boasting a 7.9 IMDb rating even today, Dawn of the Dead garnered a colossal cult following besides its widespread critical commendation.
So much so that even 30 years post its release, the film made it to the list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time by the popular British film magazine, Empire. While the flick is a successful sequel to its predecessor, Night of the Living Dead, it has no familiar characters or settings from the 1968 movie. So, to all of you who were planning on giving this film a watch, you know you can give it a whirl tonight itself. Just call for some pizza and dig in!
Evil Dead II (1987)
With a screenplay by Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel, the sequel to the 1981 horror movie, The Evil Dead, follows Ash Williams on a romantic vacation with his girlfriend Linda, to some off-the-beaten-track cabin in the woods.
That is where he comes across the audiotape of the cabin’s previous occupant and makes the blunder of playing it. Oblivious to Ash, the tape recites verses from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis or the Book of the Dead, setting free an evil force with sinister intentions.
Stephen King had endorsed the first movie, brought Evil Dead II to the notice of Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, who provided the project some major financial backing. We are talking about a budget of 3.5 million dollars here.
Also, it was Laurentiis who urged Raimi to have the premise of the movie similar to its predecessor. Well, Raimi wanted the premise of the flick to be set around the Middle Ages via some kind of a time travel concept.
Those who have seen the movie know what happened and to those who are still yet to, you have got to see the sequel, one that features a very fascinating storyline and the one and only Bruce Campbell to entertain you throughout the run time of 84 minutes.
Cooties (2014)
Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion’s Cooties has a batch of elementary school cafeteria chicken nuggets that turn children into a mass of flesh-eating zombies, one after the other.
Almost all the children are infected by playtime and they start satiating their ravenous appetite by choosing to have the school staff as their meals. Now, with a group of misfit teachers finding themselves tormented by killer zombie students within the confines of the school, they join hands to fight and survive the utter bedlam.
This 2014 horror-comedy doesn’t just boast an outstanding cast but also a very entertaining script by Leigh Whannell and Ian Brennan. The highlight of the flick happens to be its trailer – what you see there is exactly what you get.
It is a rather innovative take on the zombie genre and the point of the whole film is to not take it seriously. Cooties is an excellent fusion of both comedy and gore, it is very well-paced and most importantly, worth your time. To those who are still contemplating giving this movie a shot, please don’t hesitate. You are in for a real treat!
Zombieland (2009)
Ruben Fleischer made his theatrical debut with the 2009 zombie comedy flick, Zombieland. It turned out to be a colossal commercial as well as a critical success, sliding easily into the list of the top-earning zombie films. It maintained the rank till Marc Forster’s World War Z happened.
Speaking of the storyline, Jesse Eisenberg stars as Columbus, a survivor of the zombie apocalypse who has had a very strict set of rules to live by. He is on his way to Columbus to check if his parents have survived or not when he crosses paths with three different people; Tallahassee, Wichita, and her younger sister Little Rock on the way. Together, the four of them take what looks like some kind of a protracted road trip to Los Angeles in search of an area that is apparently free of zombies.
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick’s initial script was meant for a television pilot so one can imagine the number of modifications the script went through for it to become a feature film. Here’s a fun fact; the original title of the film was Another Day in Zombieland, which was later changed of course as it gave vibes of a sequel and Fleischer didn’t want that at all.
Adding on to the surprise quotient, it was John Carpenter who was meant to direct this. As per Reese and Wernick, Carpenter was quite fascinated with the script, especially when it was meant to be a television pilot but with the shift into a feature film, Carpenter lost interest. In other words, his busy schedule did not allow him to invest himself in a movie.
But then again, we all know how the flick turned out to be, and just in case you did not know, Zombieland became a recipient of 29 nominations and 10 wins. It is a cult classic and there’s no denying that! We highly recommend it.
The Horde (2009)
Also known as La Horde in French, Benjamin Rocher and Yannick Dahan’s 2009 horror flick revolves around a squad of French policemen on a revengeful mission post one of their colleagues getting slain by some ill-famed drug dealer. As per sources, he is hiding out in some deserted high-rise building that happens to be in one of the shadiest areas of Paris.
The plan is to take him down but the policemen are eventually taken captive by the overpowering opposite gang. However, unbeknownst to both the parties, there is an entirely different race of opponents, zombies to be precise, waiting to dig into their flesh. What follows next is a union of the policemen and the perpetrators and an intense battle for survival against the undead.
With a run time of 96 minutes, The Horde makes sure to keep its viewers entertained and on the very edge of their seats with its fast pace and intensity. We have a screenplay by Arnaud Bordas, Stephane Moissakis along with Rocher and Dahan and the quartet does a fabulous job of keeping the tension levels pretty high.
The film boasts some pretty decent scares, good special effects, and a seamlessly suitable finale, as some like to call it. The movie is also blessed with Julien Meurice’s brilliant work of cinematography and Christopher Lennertz’s tempting musical score. Planning to watch it? Oh, you must and tonight.
The Crazies (1973)
Post the accidental release of a contagious bioweapon, martial law is announced and the entire rural town of Evans City goes into quarantine. Victims getting affected are either turning up dead or going to the extent of becoming deranged and murderously insane.
As for anyone seen trying to escape, they are being shot straight up by the military. Bombers armed with nuclear explosives are also sent to annihilate the town if needed. In the midst of all this, a group of five Vietnam war veterans turned firefighters – David and Clank, David’s pregnant girlfriend Judy, teenager Kathy and her father Artie attempt to cross the sealed border of the town but in the process become a target of the US army.
George A. Romero’s 1973 science fiction horror flick was based on a script by his friend and co-worker, Paul McCollough, called The Mad People. After the latter gave the script to Romero, he revised it and what we have in front of us is The Crazies. Agreed that the movie post its release was a box office failure, but thanks to the fans it became a cult movie later. Fortunately, this underrated gem here did not fall into obscurity. Backed by a screenplay also by Romero, the film boasts a rather atmospheric opening scene.
We are stressing about a man slashing the throat of his wife and setting their house on fire right in front of his kids. Believe us, you will be gripped till the credits roll. The whole flick is kind of unsettling but in a very realistic way. We highly recommend all fans of Romero to watch this.
Demons (1985)
Music student Cheryl gets a complimentary movie ticket at the newly refurbished Metropol, by a strange man donning a mask. She decides to take her friend Kathy along. The free screening has surely attracted a bunch of people; there are college boys George and Ken, a blind man, his guide daughter, a married couple, a pimp with two prostitutes, and a regular couple.
With one of the prostitutes trying on a mask that is showcased in the lobby, she manages to scratch her face. The movie on display is a brutally disturbing horror flick and mysteriously, what is happening in the movie has its countereffects on the viewers.
Eventually, the prostitute who had tried on the mask earlier turns into a demon and starts attacking the rest of the people. Suddenly, there are no theater exits anymore and nothing changes even after smashing the projectors.
With Cheryl and George putting up an intense fight against the ravenous demons just to stay alive, it is soon discovered that the demonic infestation has become more like an outbreak, inhabiting the streets of Berlin.
Lamberto Bava’s Demons was initially meant to be just a part of a three-story horror anthology film written by Dardano Sacchetti. However, with the Italian director engrossing himself more, he along with Sacchetti started making it into an entirely separate feature flick.
A lot of you might not be aware of this but this 1985 Italian horror flick did make it to the list of Bravo’s The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Well, when you have a demon bursting out of a girl’s back amongst many other such gory situations on display and the movie is produced by the master of Italian horror, Dario Argento himself, you do realize the impact of the kind of film we are talking about.
Dead Heat (1988)
Mark Goldblatt’s buddy cop action zombie comedy flick stars Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo as LAPD detectives Roger Mortis and Doug Bigelow. Mortis is more like a maverick who will literally go to any extent to catch hold of criminals.
During one of the investigations at a facility along with his partner Bigelow, the duo comes across a high-tech resurrection room that is capable of bringing people back from the dead or in other words, reviving the undead and making them execute violent armed robberies.
It is here that Mortis meets his untimely death and ends up being an undead himself. However, with Mortis being lucid enough and wanting to exact revenge on the person accountable for his death, he decides to take the help of his former partner to get to the bottom of things.
Mind you, this is not a serious cop versus criminal flick at all, but this might just be the greatest zombie buddy cop movie ever made. Written by Terry Black, the movie is a blend of the cheesiest one-liners, some crazy action scenes, and an amazing work of visual effects by Ernest Farino and Steve Johnson.
Ernest Troost deserves a definite mention for his spectacular work on the background score. Boasting a run time of 86 minutes and shot in just 37 days, this off-beat comedy thriller here certainly deserves a watch.
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)
The timeframe set for Colm McCarthy’s 2016 British post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror flick is a dystopian future, one where humanity has been consumed by a strange parasitic fungal disease. Those infected have transformed into flesh-eating zombies known as ‘hungries’.
The only hope for humanity lies in the hands of a small group of hybrid second-generation children. While they do have a desire for the living flesh, they also have the ability to think rationally at the same time. The children are kept restrained and treated as prisoners by a team of armed soldiers led by Sergeant Eddie Parks.
They also go to this school at an army base where cruel experiments are performed on them by Dr. Caroline Caldwell, one who is bent on finding a cure and saving whatever is left of the human race.
Amidst all this, Helen Justineau, who is accountable for educating and studying the children, develops a rather distinct bond with one of the children called Melanie and grows quite close to her. However, post their base getting ambushed by the hungry, Melanie, Helen, and Dr. Caldwell manage to escape with the help of Sergeant Eddie Parks.
The group sets on a life-threatening journey of survival and during this Melanie realizes who she actually is.
Based on Mike Carey’s 2014 science fiction novel also titled The Girl with All the Gifts, the movie is a blend of arresting visuals, crazy action, and a solid cast. Sennia Nanua steals the show, portraying the role of Melanie in her full-length feature debut, and to top it off she was only 13 years old back then.
McCarthy’s imaginative direction works in favor of the movie and right from the interesting opening sequence till the end credits roll, the film has our attention. The movie is an astoundingly new addition to the zombie genre. The highlight of the film apart from Nanua’s character has to be the climax!
And without giving away further details, all we’d like to say is that it is truly a meaty way to wrap up a movie about zombies, that at the end of the day is not really about them. It goes way beyond than that and we highly recommend that you give The Girl with All the Gifts a shot!
Warm Bodies (2013)
‘He is still dead but he is getting warmer’ – well, when you have a tagline like this, one does get a brief idea about the direction of the script. Jonathan Levine’s 2013 paranormal romantic zombie comedy flick is based on Isaac Marion’s 2010 zombie romance novel, also called Warm Bodies.
It revolves around a zombie called R whose heart beats for the first time in eight years since the apocalypse when he chances upon a human called Julie Grigio. Julie, along with her friends were sent by her father to the zombie territory to restock medical supplies. R saves Julie from the rest of the zombies and even hides her in a place where he dwells. With their mutual romance blossoming, R somehow returns back to his human self.
Boasting a screenplay also by Levine, the viewers finally get a movie that shows them life from the perspective of a zombie. The trailer of the movie did drop like a bomb and paved its way to success. It goes without saying that the movie is a pleasant surprise! Mind you, the film can’t be treated just as a comedy, it is a piece of satire and it has heart and depth.
Our leading stars Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer have amazing chemistry, and it shows in their actions. The movie delivered exactly what the trailer had on display. With a run time of 98 minutes and some spectacular music work by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, the flick deserves a special spot on your must-see list.
Little Monsters (2019)
Post a recent, rough separation with his girlfriend, washed-up musician and man-child Dave is left with no other choice but to stay at his sister’s place. One day, while dropping his nephew to school, he chances upon Felix’s kindergarten teacher Miss Caroline and immediately gets smitten by her.
Dave even goes to the extent of chaperoning the students on a field trip just to woo Miss Caroline. However, with an abrupt zombie outbreak thanks to a nearby US testing facility, spreading at full speed, Dave joins hands with Miss Caroline and an alcoholic sex addict to keep the children safe and survive till the military forces arrive with help.
Written and directed by Aby Forsythe, this 2019 zombie comedy flick is living proof of the fact that it is still very much possible to have a fresh take on the zombie genre. Lupita Nyong’o as Miss Caroline is a sheer delight, and us at Marvelous Videos being fans of the Kenyan-Mexican beauty would definitely want her to star in more horror flicks that she is being offered currently.
There’s no denying that she owns this movie. Forsythe also needs a special mention for creating such affable characters and for not letting the element of humor disintegrate, not even for once. To all the zombie movie fans out there, if you wish to see a film that isn’t like the regular end of the world post-apocalyptic feature, you might want to see this one here.
City of the Living Dead (1980)
Inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, Lucio Fulci came up with this 1980 Italian supernatural horror movie that revolves around Father Thomas, a priest residing in Dunwich, who commits suicide by hanging himself in the church cemetery. His death opens the gates of Hell, which implies that his actions have set free the undead into the world of the living.
Now, it is up to New York City journalist Peter Bell who teams up with psychic Mary Woodhouse and the duo travels all the way to Dunwich to discover a way to close the portal before All Saints’ Day. They also cross paths with psychiatrist Gerry and his neurotic patient Sandra, who tag along with them. If the quartet does not succeed, the dead will rise from their graves and take over the whole world.
A real treat for all the gorehounds out there, City of the Living Dead boasts nauseating amounts of graphical gore that are bound to make the regular audience feel queasy. For starters, how does the idea of someone puking all her organs sound to you?
Apart from this, there is the regular rotting flesh, maggot-covered hands, a head impaled through a drilling lathe and the list goes on. This movie here is a masterpiece of pure horror and mind you, not for everyone.
Come on, it is Lucio Fulci we are talking about! – the poet of the macabre, the godfather of gore. You know his movies just cannot be taken lightly. So, if you are ever in a mood for some atmospheric horror, you now know what you have to do!
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
Boasting a screenplay by Glenn Leopold, Doug Lawrence, and William Davies, Jim Stenstrum’s 1998 direct to video animated mystery comedy horror movie is based on Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons.
The flick has the famous five – Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby back in action after a year-long break from Mystery, Inc. They probe deeper into the remote Moonscar island, one that is apparently haunted by the ghost of the pirate Morgan Moonscar.
The movie surprisingly has a much darker tone as compared to the other Scooby-Doo creations and is particularly famous for having real supernatural monsters other than people in silly costumes. We have a storyline that is actually scary, our characters have evolved and hats off to the incredible work of animation.
One would not really address the film as a direct to video release given its impressive look. Next, comes the background score by Steven Bramson – he did elevate the flick with his work. Then come the zombies on display, they looked genuinely terrifying. Boasting a run time of 77 minutes and a current IMDb rating of 7.8, the film is bound to surprise you and in a good way.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
For those of you who are not aware, Zack Snyder’s 2004 action-horror flick is actually a remake of George A. Romero’s 1978 cult classic, Dawn of the Dead. Featuring a run time of 100 minutes, the storyline has Ana Clark coming back home to her husband following a very long shift at the hospital.
She gets the shock of her life when her husband gets attacked by a neighborhood girl, dies, and then within minutes reanimates as a zombie. Ana barely manages to escape in her car and what was scenic, peaceful neighborhood just the day before has now turned into mayhem.
She crosses paths with police sergeant Kenneth Rhodes and a bunch of other survivors and together breaks into a nearby shopping mall. The group decides that the best way to survive the horde of flesh-eating zombies would be by confining themselves inside the mall.
But with them running out of supplies and the thought of other trapped survivors, makes them come to the understanding that they cannot remain stuck in the mall forever. The group plans to escape in search of a place that is free of the undead.
This movie here has everything that one could possibly look for in a horror movie. A solid cast – check! Believable acting – check! A fresh take on scares – check! Gore – double-check! The highlight of this flick here are the zombies; they are fast, they are hungry and they have a limb or two missings.
It would not really be wrong to say that the movie is as good as its original and the best part is it does not waste time at all. Five minutes into the movie and it has taken off. There is tension, there is drama, there is gore and then there is the good old zombie. If you are someone who still hasn’t seen the movie, you sure as hell are missing out big time!
28 Days Later (2002)
Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, this British post-apocalyptic horror drama is often given credits for turning out to be a movie that actually gave this genre a much-needed boost.
The storyline has a group of animal liberal activists breaking into a research facility and setting free a chimpanzee in spite of warnings that the animal is infected by an exceedingly contagious, aggression-inducing virus called ‘rage’.
As a result, the virus spreads like a forest fire, wreaking unthinkable havoc across Great Britain and infecting an interminable number of people. It has been twenty-eight days post the outbreak when Jim, who slipped into a coma after a bicycle accident, has finally woken up. He finds himself at the deserted St Thomas Hospital.
No points for guessing that he gets attacked by the infected humans and in the process gets saved by survivors. They come across a few more survivors and learn about the military offering survivors protection and aid from the infected, at some blockade in Manchester. However, they have no clue of the real horror that waits for them there.
Many of you might be surprised to know that the DVD movie also featured three alternative endings and all three of them have Jim dying. Anyway, coming back to the movie, the grainy effect gives the film a documentary look and makes the whole flick look a bit too real.
Boyle received major acclaim for his direction and so did Garland for his tight-gripping screenplay, one that goes way beyond expectations. There’s no denying that the film is visually intriguing, moves at a fast pace, and has this sincere display of terror and tension.
The movie also has on display some great characters played by an unknown cast, who have put up quite the show. In short, 28 Days Later truly deserves your attention and if you fancy this genre, the movie is bound to be a riveting experience for you.
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)
Kiah Roache-Turner’s directorial debut follows the story of mechanic Barry, whose life turns upside down when he is forced to kill his wife and daughter post them becoming infected and turning into zombies. His plight does not end here; to make things worse, his sister Brooke gets kidnapped by a paramilitary group to have experiments conducted on her by a deranged scientist called Doc.
As a result of the experiment, Brooke is now able to telepathically control the zombies. She plans her own escape and Barry on the other hand, embarks on a journey to rescue his sister amidst a mass of soldiers with nefarious intentions and the voracious zombies.
Also known as Wyrmwood, this Australian action-horror film deserves a definite mention for having on display an atmosphere that you will rarely find in movies these days. The zombies featured here are the inevitable stars of the film and right from the way they looked to their costumes and props, they owned the movie.
When such minute yet significant details are taken care of, it shows the dedication of the team for the movie to be good. Kiah Roache-Turner as the director and co-writer knew exactly what he wanted out of the movie and he did things accordingly.
The viewers got to see an original movie or let’s say a rather interesting take on the genre; one that’s highly entertaining, thrilling, and yes funny too. No reason not to recommend this.
Overlord (2018)
Directed by Julius Avery and boasting a screenplay by Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith, this American action horror movie has a paratrooper squad on a mission to demolish a German radio-jamming tower inside an old church on the very eve of D-Day. Their plane gets shot and it crashes lands before reaching its target destination. Only four survivors manage to make it out of the plane alive – Corporal Lewis Ford, Private First Class Edward Boyce, Private First Class Lyle Tibbet and Private Morton Chase.
The group chances upon a young French woman from the village and takes shelter in her house. That’s where they learn about her aunt who has been defaced because of the vicious Nazi experiments carried in the church. Tibbet and Chase leave to inspect the meeting site, the remaining two hide when German soldiers arrive at the house for their routine inspection.
However, when Captain Wagner tries to rape Chloe by intimidating her, telling her that her brother would be else sent to the church to be ‘fixed’, Boyce attacks the Nazi officer along with Ford and incapacitates him. It does not take the paratroopers much time to realize that the Germans have been developing some kind of a serum that alters people into invincible super soldiers. But here comes the twist; the group recognizes that they are up against the soldiers as well as the terrifying results of the experiments.
A recipient of two Toronto After Dark Film Festival awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Design, this movie here sets the mood right from its intense opening sequence. When you have a film that has Nazis, their secret experiments and the undead all clubbed together, you know you are in for a treat. The movie’s got crazy action, a hell of a lot of gore, and known faces. In short, this flick is bound to have a major fan following. Mark our words!
Planet Terror (2007)
Robert Rodriguez’s action horror film was initially released as part of the double feature, Grindhouse, blending it along with Quentin Tarantino’s slasher flick, Death Proof. But because Grindhouse did not perform as expected, Planet Terror got its standalone release, and thank God it did.
As far as the storyline is concerned, a dangerous government experiment goes awry and releases a deadly biochemical gas. This gas mutates almost the entire townspeople of Texas into deformed zombies.
A group of people that includes go-go dancer Cherry Darling, her ex-boyfriend El Wray, Anaesthesiologist Dr. Dakota Block as well as a few law enforcers, join hands to survive the night battling zombies and a military unit that has gone rogue.
Rodriguez’s Planet Terror is a movie that’s more like him paying homage to the exploitation films of the 70s. With a plotline that is deliberately kept simple, a terrific cast, unrestrained cinematography, a pulsating score and packed with action, Rodriguez as the director and writer knows exactly how to please his audience.
The highlight of the movie is and will always be Rose McGowan and for obvious reasons. To those oblivious, it’s got something to do with those legs of hers. Fans of the genre are bound to relish the film; it is a guilty pleasure that still boasts an IMDb rating of 7.0.
Quarantine (2008)
To those of you who don’t know, John Erick Dowdle’s American found footage horror film is a remake of Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s 2007 Spanish movie, REC. The plotline has news reporter Angela Vidal and her cameraman Scott Percival filming the nightshift in the Los Angeles Fire Department.
After the fire station receives a distress call from an apartment building, the duo decides to accompany the firefighters. They realize that a deadly mutated strain of rabies is spreading amongst the residents of the building. Things get worse when the government authorities quarantine the building, not permitting anyone to leave.
With a screenplay by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, the 2008 flick easily manages to keep its audience on the edge of their seats. The opening sequence has deliberately been kept relaxed to gear you up for what’s about to follow. Things take a 180 degree turn when they reach the apartment.
The atmosphere is tense, the mood is set and we have actors putting their best foot forward. Also, as unusual as it may seem, this movie here does not have a background score. We highly recommend Quarantine to fans of the genre and our only request to you is to watch the movie without making the mistake of comparing it with the original.
Pontypool (2008)
Radio announcer Grant Mazzy thinks it’s going to be yet another regular day at work. Grant is busy amusing his technical assistant, Laurel-Ann, and irritating his station manager, Sydney, when he hears reports of a possible outbreak of a deadly virus in the small town of Pontypool, Ontario.
The virus-infected people are transforming into zombies. Grant barricades himself inside the radio booth and attempts to figure out a way to warn his listeners about the infected, also known as ‘conversationalists’. Its exclusive means of transmission – the English language.
Based on Tony Burgess’ second novel in the Pontypool Trilogy called Pontypool Changes Everything, Bruce McDonald’s 2008 Canadian horror movie is an intellectual horror flick, one that is designed to make you think as you watch. Pontypool is a movie that takes a rather refreshing dig into the genre.
A major chunk of the movie has its audience listen to the radio broadcast which implies that the viewers get to imagine their own world of horror. The film is anything but predictable and shows how the actions of a solid cast can go above and beyond in terms of sets, special effects, action sequences, and fancy props.
Evidently, Stephen McHattie as Grant Mazzy simply steals the show. Please do consider yourself lucky if you ever get the chance to lay your hands on the movie and when you do, you know what you have to do.
Zombie 2 (1979)
In spite of the title Zombie 2, please note that the movie isn’t a sequel to anything. It is a different thing that Lucio Fulci’s 1979 movie was revised from Dardano Sacchetti’s original script to be more like a part two project to Romero’s 1978 Dawn of the Dead that was released in Italy as Zombie.
Having said that, Fulci’s movie was immediately changed to Zombie 2 to make money on the success of Romero’s flick. Mind you, all of this was done without Fulci’s knowledge.
As far as the plot is concerned, the film shows Anna Bowles in search of her father who is apparently conducting some kind of research in the Caribbean Island of Matul. When her father’s boat comes back without him, Anna decides to probe deeper into the matter and goes to the island herself.
She is joined by British journalist, Peter West, and together they hire a boat as well as guides to reach the island. It is only after they reach the island that they learn about the place being cursed by voodoo, which has the dead reanimating as zombies to attack the living and devour their flesh.
Please note that the concerned movie was written way before Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was even released. In fact, it had no connection to Romero’s movie. However, the opening, as well as the closing sequence of this movie, were added later in the script by Elisa Briganti and Dardano Sacchetti for obvious reasons.
Can’t deny that Dawn of the Dead was a huge hit back then. Also back in 1979, the usage of CGI was not a very common thing and because the production did not have a high budget for extravagant stuff, a real tiger shark was used. We are talking about the famous scene that has a shark and a zombie attacking each other. No wonder, the scene is conclusively one of the highlights of the movie.
Train to Busan (2016)
A divorced father and workaholic, Seok-woo hardly has time to spend with his daughter. So, when Su-an wishes to see her mother in Busan for her birthday, Seok-woo decides to fulfill his daughter’s wish and takes an early KTX 101 train from Seoul.
But unbeknownst to the duo and the other passengers on board, an infected woman manages to board the train seconds before the doors of the train close and it departs.
This disturbing zombie thriller follows a group of absolutely terrified passengers trapped in a train infested with growing mindless flesh-eaters, fighting and trying to make it out of there without turning into one.
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho and written by Park Joo-suk, this South Korean action horror film actually made a record for being the first Korean movie of 2016 with a footfall of more than 11 million.
While the premise of the movie has been kept purposely simple – zombies in a train, it is still engrossing and very, very exciting. Boasting a run time of 118 minutes and a current IMDb rating of 7.6, Train to Busan became a recipient of 35 wins and 39 very interesting award nominations. No wonder, the movie won the Blue Dragon Film Awards for Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Film. Given its budget of 8.5 million dollars, it earned about 98.5 million dollars worldwide.
Wild Zero (1999)
Shown at the 2000 Toronto International Film festival, Tetsuro Takeuchi’s Japanese comedy horror flick has Masashi Endō starring as Ace. This punk rock enthusiast intervenes and saves the Japanese garage rock power trio, Guitar Wolf, who was being held at gunpoint by their manager.
Impressed by Ace’s action, Guitar Wolf makes him his blood brother, gives him a whistle, and asks him to blow it if he ever found himself caught up in danger. After finding himself in the midst of a zombie outbreak, Ace blows the whistle that was given to him and seeks the aid of his favorite rock band.
Written by Satoshi Takagi, Wild Zero is a movie that is just impossible to not like. Those who have not watched it yet can see the movie for themselves and try hating it too! We’d still stick to the part where we said you won’t be able to hate it.
We get it, a lot of you might say that the movie hardly has any explanation for the outbreak and that there isn’t really a story as such to explain why things are happening in the first place. While all that is true, the movie is still a hit today amongst its fans.
The film is insane, you have a zombie who is literally shooting explosive beams from his eyes – what more can you want? For the ones in favor of some action, there’s plenty involving rocket and grenade launchers too. The fact that making this movie was a hell of a lot of fun simply shows. Please do give this flick a shot and tell us your thoughts about it in the comments section.
The Return of the Evil Dead (1973)
Also known as Return of the Blind Dead, this 1973 Spanish horror flick directed and written by Amando de Ossorio happens to be the second movie in the director’s Blind Dead series. It has been 500 years since the Templars have been torched to death for witchcraft and murder.
With the Portuguese village of Bolzano celebrating 500 years of the Templars’ death anniversary, a blood sacrifice by the village idiot awakens the Knights Templar from their very graves to exact revenge and wreak havoc once again.
And, because the eyes of the knights were torched to make sure that they never find their way back to the village, the Templars now pursue their victims via sound, especially their screams. A small group of survivors fortify themselves against the undead inside a church and think of ways to escape from the Templars.
You will be surprised to know that this movie here features plenty of cuts. For starters, the uncut Spanish version titled El Ataque de Los Muertos sin Ojos happens to be longer than the English version by four minutes and has on display way more explicit, grisly scenes.
For example, in the sequence that has Murdo getting decapitated by the Templars, the Spanish version has his headless shot with blood spurting out of his neck on display, unlike the English version. The Spanish version also has this particular scene where the Templars are removing the heart of a virgin and then devouring it.
To all the gorehounds and fans of the genre out there, give this movie a shot, it’s worth your time. With a background score by Antón García Abril, the flick will have your eyes glued to the screen throughout the whole run time.
Land of the Dead (2005)
Also addressed as George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, this 2005 post-apocalyptic horror flick happens to be the fourth installment of the Night of the Living Dead franchise. The storyline has the zombies taking over the world and the survivors constructing a walled city to safeguard themselves against the undead.
But let’s not forget that the zombies are also evolving and are far more advanced in terms of having their own plans to overthrow the city leadership. With the survival of the city at stake, a group of hardened mercenaries has been called into action to guard the living against the undead.
With an interesting cast on display and more blood spilled here than any of the other films in the franchise, Romero’s Land of the Dead brags a brilliant work of cinematography by Miroslaw Baszak, an effective musical score by Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek, along with some incredible action sequences.
The special effects featured here might not be as great as the 1985 Day of the Dead but they are decent. Romero even had Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, the screenwriters of the 2004 horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead make an appearance in this movie, having been impressed by their incredible work.
If you are trying to figure out when they made their cameo, well, the duo appeared as the photo-booth zombies in the carnival scene. As for Romero’s daughter, Tina, she also appeared in the movie as the soldier firing at the zombie on the electrified fence.
Many fans have already called the fourth installment Romero’s best work in the franchise and while that can be a matter of debate, why don’t you give it a shot and be the judge yourself? The fourth flick is followed by the 2007 Diary of the Dead and the 2009 Survival of the Dead.
Zombie Holocaust (1980)
Dr. Peter Chandler leads a small group of people on an expedition to the remote Maluku Islands. The group comprises of anthropology expert Lori Ridgeway, Dr. Chandler’s assistant George Harper and his journalist girlfriend Susan Kelly. The crew upon reaching there is ambushed by both violent cannibals as well as zombies.
They also encounter the crazy Doctor Obrero, who unbeknownst to them has been carrying out his own bizarre experiments on both the living as well as the dead in his very laboratory. FYI, he also happens to be the creator of the zombies.
Marino Girolami’s 1980 Italian horror flick was re-edited and released in the US as Doctor Butcher M.D in 1982. It boasted some new footage, a whole new musical score and if reports are to be believed, the movie halls had apparently given disposable paper bags to the viewers.
So, one can literally imagine the amount of blood and violence that was on display. The film works mostly in favor of fans who fancy Italian horror. They are way more intrigued by the gore than the story and believe us, the concerned movie has plenty of such scenes to offer. Zombie Holocaust specifically falls under it is so bad it is good horror movie category and you don’t want to miss it.
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
They are back from the grave and ready to party! – Imagine a movie that has a tagline like this. Well, Dan O’Bannon’s comedy horror film has an employee of a medical supply warehouse release toxic gas contained in a military barrel, while trying to make an impression on a new employee. This reanimates the dead, and panic flares up between them.
Just then, their boss makes an entry and has the zombie set on fire at a nearby mortuary. But doing this causes the toxic gas to pollute the air and succeeding a toxic rainfall, the corpses in the cemetery get reanimated. What follows next is a mass of zombies on the lookout for their favorite food, brains to be specific. They go on a literal rampage, satisfying their hunger in the most ludicrous ways.
With a hilarious and clever screenplay also by Bannon, the movie was a critical success; receiving positive acclaim, generating four sequels, and in due course, evolving into a cult classic.
Conclusively the best-looking film in the whole series, Jules Brenner deserves a positive mention for his fantastic cinematography work here. We have Bannon to thank for creating quite the atmosphere and Matt Clifford along with Francis Haines for their musical score.
We urge you to listen to the background score and tell us if it does remind you of the 80s. We are quite sure that it will! Do not miss out on this incredible little gem of work here.
Fido (2006)
The timeframe of Andrew Currie’s 2006 Canadian zombie comedy flick is set in an alternate universe in the 1950s. Space radiation has been transforming the dead into zombies. This has led to zombie wars, and the humans have fought against the undead and proven themselves victorious.
However, the radiation has managed to persist somehow and those who die continue to turn into zombies. This is where the governing corporation called ZomCon appears.
someone starts playing a vital role by giving out collars and complementing remote controls, to keep the zombies in check and also have them carry out household tasks. Things take a different turn when the Robinsons buy a zombie and their young son Timmy befriends him.
Written by Currie, Dennis Heaton, and Robert Chomiak, this zombie movie has humans using them for chores. Would you believe that? It’s precisely one of the reasons why this flick stands out from the crowd.
We have to give it to Currie and Dennis Heaton for their imagination; to churn out a zombie flick like this and grip our attention throughout the run time of 91 minutes. The movie boasts a cast that puts up a solid performance. It isn’t a horror movie but it does have its share of gore.
True, it’s not any masterpiece or a classic flick for that matter but it’s actually nice; one that deserves a much wider audience for that matter. We highly recommend Fido, a winner of 13 awards and 15 nominations.
Return of the Living Dead III (1993)
The military has been reanimating dead bodies into zombies in the hopes of using them for fighting purposes. Curt Reynolds, the son of Colonel John Reynolds, who is a part of the military experiments, sneaks into the base along with his girlfriend Julie looking for thrill and stumbles upon the fact that the dead can come back to life.
Later, Curt has an argument with his father and takes off his bike with his girlfriend, but Julie gets killed when Curt loses control of his motorcycle. Heartbroken and drowning in the feeling of an irreparable loss; Curt goes to the extent of bringing his dead girlfriend back to life by taking her body to the facility. Nevertheless, Julie reanimates as a zombie, one with a rather special appetite for human brains.
Directed by Brian Yuzna and written by John Penney, this 1993 romantic horror film happens to be the third installment of the Return of the Living Dead film franchise. The movie deserves credits for being fabulously shot; you have an atmosphere that sets just the right tone.
You also have zombies that look pretty scary. The background score by Barry Goldberg is bang on point and we have decent special effects on display. It is a love story, and you will be surprised to see how practical Yuzna has kept the movie in terms of the love quotient. This shows the amount of thought that has been put into the movie. To all the fans of the genre, do not miss this out!
Resident Evil (2002)
Based on the video game series also known as Resident Evil, Paul W. S. Anderson’s action-horror flick happens to be the first movie in the Resident Evil film franchise. The storyline has a virus turning the staff of a genetic research facility into ravenous zombies, as well as releasing the mutated lab animals that they had been studying. The base is shut down to prevent further contagion.
A special military unit is sent out by the parent corporation that locates the amnesiac, Alice. Together, they not only have to shut down the facility’s artificial intelligence and get out, but also fight zombies, Lickers, and the Red Queen. The group also has limited time before the virus infects the rest of the world.
You will be surprised to know that the movie was initially titled Resident Evil: Ground Zero but was changed to Resident Evil post the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. Milla Jovovich as the leading heroine, Alice, did most of the stunts by herself and it goes without saying that she is spectacularly good when it comes to kicking some ass.
She does it in style and so does Michelle Rodriguez. Full credits to the energetic female lead lighting up the screen with their feisty presence. The flick also boasts Marco Beltrami and Marilyn Manson’s musical score, giving an edge to the amount of action on display. Boasting a run time of 100 minutes, Resident Evil generated five sequels, each with a gripping storyline and about surviving the horror.
Evil Dead (2013)
Fede Álvarez’s feature directorial debut happens to be the fourth installment in the Evil Dead film franchise. Based on Sam Raimi’s 1981 The Evil Dead, this 2013 movie co-written by Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues serves more like a soft reboot or let’s say an extension of the original film series.
The storyline is very simple; it is the re-imagination of the original classic. It revolves around a group of five at a remote cabin in the woods, awakening a malevolent force after reading an incantation from the ancient book, Naturom Demento. The dormant demon starts possessing the group one after the other, devising sinister plans for each one of them.
There’s no denying that Raimi’s movie was a classic but one can’t really disregard the fact that the makers of the 2013 movie did put in a lot of hard work as well as time to come up with a movie that compensates in terms of terror, scares and violence. The movie might not be inventive but it’s loyal to the spirit and that’s what matters.
The flick features a cast that is believable, a musical score that is effective and special effects that are phenomenal. Amusingly, even the initial letters of the characters – David, Eric, Mia, Olivia, and Natalie form the term, Demon. A recipient of 6 wins and 19 nominations, we highly recommend this one here, with sincere moments of dread on display!
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
In 1968, George A. Romero took you to the edge of terror. In 1993 he is about to push you over – well, that is the tagline of the 1990 film poster which was released in the UK. Tom Savini directed the movie and Romero re-wrote the 1968 script that he had co-written with John A. Russo.
It should not surprise you at all when we tell you that the 1990 flick eventually garnered a cult following just the way the original did. As far as the plotline is concerned, the film begins with brother and sister Johnny and Barbara visiting their mother’s grave in a desolate graveyard in Pennsylvania. That’s when the duo gets attacked by a zombie and Barbara somehow manages to escape.
She discovers an abandoned farmhouse and together with another survivor called Ben, secures the place. They are startled to find more survivors hiding in the cellar. With each survivor having a difference in opinion and the zombies outside growing in numbers, the chances of survival look pretty thin for the survivors inside.
The sole fact that George A. Romero is the creator of zombies and its movies is something that isn’t a secret at all. With the 1990 movie, he did make a few changes here and there in the script, although one wishes he’d have made more. The cast is solid, especially Patricia Tallman portraying the role of Barbara Todd.
Many of you might not know this but Savini knew Tallman from college and one of the key reasons why he wanted to cast her was simply because of her determined nature. No wonder Savini pushed John A. Russo as well as Russell Streiner real hard to have the character of Barbara as a survivor and an active female lead.
We at Marvelous Videos are really glad to see that her character got a nice update, as compared to the original movie. Two more people from the cast who certainly deserve a mention would be Tony Todd playing Ben and Tom Towles essaying the character of Harry Cooper. Fans of the genre have every reason to give the directorial debut of Tom Savini a shot.
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror movie is a sequel to Danny Boyle’s 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror drama, 28 Days Later. The events of the 2007 film follow as a continuation to the first flick. It has been six months post the outbreak of the exceedingly contagious, aggression-inducing virus Rage, annihilating the whole of London in the process.
NATO has taken control of Britain, with the US Army being able to secure back the city and restore order. They have even started repopulating the city, bringing in settlers. But after an unsuspecting carrier of the virus manages to enter the city, the infection gets re-ignited and the nightmare begins yet again, only this time, it is way more death-defying than before.
Bragging a script also by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo along with Rowan Joffé, E. L. Lavigne, and Jesus Olmo, 28 Weeks Later is often considered as the superior sequel, one that is absolutely barbaric and uncompromising.
Hats off to the Spanish director, Fresnadillo, for his brilliant work of direction and for creating a pulse-pounding atmosphere. Robert Carlyle as Don is remarkable but so are Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton as the brother and sister – Tammy and Andy.
Next, comes the infected; their makeup absolutely petrifying, and let’s not even talk about their blood-red lenses. It’s beyond creepy and the movie easily makes it to the list of the most unsettling and effective horror films out there. Highly recommend this movie to fans of the genre and also the first film.
Cemetery Man (1994)
Based on Tiziano Sclavi’s novel titled ‘Dellamorte Dellamore’, Michele Soavi’s Cemetery Man happens to be a comedy-horror movie, one that is an international co-production between France, Italy, and Germany. The storyline revolves around Francesco Dellamorte, the cemetery caretaker residing in the small Italian town of Buffalo.
Given that he literally lives on the premises of the graveyard, he is persistently surrounded by death and his only friend happens to be his mentally retarded assistant, Gandhi. The cemetery has its specialty; the dead reanimate as zombies by the seventh night and it is up to Dellamorte to shoot them so that the undead don’t flood the town.
He has tried complaining but his concerns are hardly ever paid heed to. Amidst all this, Dellamorte does not stop looking out for love and he continues killing the dead people who keep rising from their very graves.
Mind you, this film here is highly capable of annoying the audience on the lookout for a story that maintains its consistency. Cemetery Man can be conflicting and yet it is precisely the surreal blend of horror and comedy that has managed to please most of the B-movie fans out there.
In fact, the movie has also been called one of the best Italian flicks of the 90s by the veteran director, Martin Scorsese. You will be startled to know that most of the cemetery sets in the movie were constructed over real-life abandoned cemetery grounds in Italy.
Even the ossuary that the movie has on display is real. Mauro Marchetti’s work of cinematography, Sergio Stivaletti’s fine work on special effects along Manuel De Sica’s work on the background score make it an intriguing watch. Do not miss this one, it only requires 100 minutes from your busy schedule.
The Beyond (1981)
New Yorker Liza Merill inherits a hotel in Louisiana and moves in to redecorate and reopen it. While she is at it, Merill receives quite a few warnings about the hotel, how reopening it would be a blunder and that she should go back to New York.
In spite of the warnings and a few inexplicable deaths taking place, she continues on with the project not realizing that the hotel was once the location of a dreadful murder and also happens to be a gateway to Hell.
The 1981 Italian Southern Gothic supernatural horror flick directed by Lucio Fulci happens to be the second movie in Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy. It is often regarded as one of the most celebrated films of Fulci with a colossal cult following.
Sergio Salvati’s work of cinematography sets the right atmospheric tone and so does Fabio Frizzi’s musical score. The fact that Fulci was a genius shows in the movie, and mind you, his graphical visuals are not for the squeamish. Fans of Italian horror and Lucio Fulci, take out an hour and a half from your day and do check out this movie.
Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
The sequel to Stuart Gordon’s 1985 comedy horror movie, Re-Animator, Brian Yuzna’s Bride of Re-Animator is based on H. P. Lovecraft’s horror short story, Herbert West – Reanimator. The 1990 movie roughly follows the fifth episode, The Horror from the Shadows, and the sixth episode, The Tomb-Legions. The storyline takes place eight months post the very events of the first film.
Herbert West and Dan Cain are back to continuing West’s research and experimenting with the re-animation reagent. Only this time, they have plans of creating a perfect woman from dead tissue, post discovering the secret to creating human life.
Boasting a screenplay by Woody Keith and Rick Fry, the film moves at a brisk pace. It’s a sheer treat to witness Jeffrey Combs and Bruce Abbott sharing the screen space together. In terms of the gore factor, the movie has plenty of it.
In fact, it almost has the same level as the first one, which means it should be a delightful experience for gorehounds. Bride of Re-Animator is a good blend of sublime humor that is mixed with dark humor and naturally, Brian Yuzna did a decent job directing the sequel, one that is definitely worth viewing. So, what are you waiting for?
Rammbock: Berlin Undead aka Siege of the Dead (2010)
Recently having broken up with his girlfriend, Michael comes to her place to return back the apartment keys. He does not find Gabi there; instead; there are two mechanics in her apartment. While trying to contact Gabi, Michael suddenly gets attacked by the older repairman who seems to have been infected by a rage virus.
Michael and the younger repairman are able to barricade themselves against the rising mass of infected people but they can’t remain holed up in the apartment forever. The survivors not only plan to make their way out of the apartment complex but also escape the chaotic city of Berlin.
Also known as Rammbock, this 2010 German horror movie is directed by Marvin Kren and boasts a screenplay by Benjamin Hessler. Kren goes back to the basics with the direction; he plays around a single location, has a few people trapped within, and gets them surrounded by a horde of bloodthirsty cannibals. He shows how a flick does not require a gimmick to be effective.
The director slowly builds up the level of tension. He keeps the element of horror very real and of course, there’s gore, quite a lot of it. Next comes the cast and the dialogue deliveries. The movie does not beat around the bush, it delivers what it was meant to, and what you have in front is 63 minutes of compact zombie entertainment till the end credits roll.
Dead & Buried (1981)
When tourists start getting mysteriously killed in the coastal town of Potters Bluff, Sheriff Dan Gillis begins probing deeper into the matter. He is at times assisted by the elderly, eccentric coroner-mortician, William G. Dobbs.
In the wake of the dead reanimating, he grows a little doubtful of Dobbs and has a background check done on him. It is soon revealed that Dobbs has been reanimating the dead all this while and almost all of the townspeople happen to be resurrected corpses under his very control.
Undeniably, Gary Sherman’s Dead & Buried, boasting a fascinating screenplay by Dan O’ Bannon and Ronald Shusett emerged as a cult movie in due course. Right from having a compelling storyline, Sherman effortlessly manages to keep it atmospheric, creepy as well as gory – all in the right proportions.
The graphical murders have surprisingly been kept sadistic and for that we have Stan Winston’s spectacular work of special effects to give full credits to. The movie is further uplifted by Steven Poster’s enhancing work of cinematography along with Joe Renzetti’s work on the background score.
Nonetheless, the highlight of the movie categorically has to be the ending, one that we are just not going to disclose. So, if you are someone who has missed out on this buried treasure here, do make sure that you give this a shot. We highly recommend it!