OK, this is late. I originally intended to write this as a companion piece to last month's Zombie-Thon, but in the end the column itself ended up taking up too much of my time to focus on too much else. Still, the idea stuck with me, and now here it is. This is essentially a response to Entertainment Weekly's version of the list, which they ran (on their website, at least...I don't think it appeared in the magazine) around the time Zombieland was released to theaters. Now, I'm all for personal opinions (especially mine, which are usually right), but EW's list was fairly ridiculous. Let's take a look.
25) Planet Terror
24) Diary of the Dead
23) Land of the Dead
22) Zombie Flesh Eaters (Zombi 2)
21) Night of the Living Dead '90
20) Resident Evil: Extinction
19) Pontypool
18) Braindead (Dead Alive)
17) Homecoming (from Masters of Horror)
16) Dead Snow
15) I Walked with a Zombie
14) Undead
13) The Serpent and the Rainbow
12) Dead Set
11) The Omega Man
10) Return of the Living Dead
9) Re-Animator
8) Day of the Dead
7) Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man)
6) [REC]
5) Night of the Living Dead '68
4) Dawn of the Dead '78
3) Shaun of the Dead
2) 28 Days Later
1) Dawn of the Dead 2004
Alright, hopefully you're looking at that list and thinking "huh? I mean....HUH?" To be fair, there are some fairly interesting and deserving choices on there that I never would have expected EW to bring up. But overall, this is pretty shaky. The most obvious problem is the inclusion of a few films that don't belong anywhere near a list of the best zombie movies, like Undead, The Omega Man (not even a zombie film), and Resident Evil: Extinction. And I like Resident Evil: Extinction...but are you serious??
I also think it was odd to give spots of Dead Set and Homecoming, given that they are not even movies. Not to mention, if they were going to include non-movies, where the hell is Thriller? And although I can't believe I'm about to say this, I think the list might be showing a little too much love to George Romero. I know, I know...I love the guy as much as the next living dead fan. How could we not? He is our king. But still, I'd be hard-pressed to find any legitimate reasons to include a film like Diary of the Dead on a list of the Top 25 movies of the genre.
Now, their Top 1o is a pretty good selection...although clearly in the wrong order. I mean, whatever problems I may have with the rest of the list, I don't think I need to point to anything other than their number one. The 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. They think the remake of Dawn of the Dead is the best zombie movie ever. Better than the original Dawn of the Dead, even. Yikes...just, yikes.
So, anyway, I can continue to bitch about their list, or I can just offer up my own. And that's what I'm gonna do. I'm not gonna claim that my list is the end-all-be-all of these sorts of lists, and I won't even claim that it's way better than the EW list. But you go ahead and look at it, compare the two, and judge for yourself.
MY TOP 25 ZOMBIE MOVIES
25) Pontypool - I was a little torn on this one. For one thing, I only saw it for the first time a few weeks ago, so I haven't had enough time to properly sit back and think about where it falls in terms of the overall genre. Plus, I realize I didn't even give it 4 Bubs (my highest score) when I reviewed it for the Zombie-Thon (review here). But, while compiling this list, I realized that it is one of the films from this year's Zombie-Thon that stuck with me the most in the days that followed. Its refreshingly unique take on what causes the zombie virus and how it is spread is one of the more interesting ideas to emerge in the genre in quite some time. So I'm gonna go ahead and give it the 25 spot...but I admit I need a few more months of reflection before I'll feel fully confident about this decision.
24) Planet Terror - I was initially against this film's inclusion in the EW list, but as I thought about it I lightened up a bit. It's certainly a fun movie, and one of the more high profile entries in the list (even if the film bombed, you still don't see stars like Bruce Willis in a zombie movie all that often). I can't in good faith rank it any higher than this, though, given that the zombies in the film sometimes seem like little more than an afterthought.
23) Bio-Zombie - The Asian zombie movie genre tends to take itself far less seriously than its American or European counterparts, almost always preferring wacky comedy to true chills. Although Wild Zero might be better-known around these parts (and is indeed awesome), my personal favorite is Bio-Zombie, a goofy comedy about two slacker video store clerks forced to battle zombies in a mall. No, it's not original, but nor is it trying to be. It is, however, trying to be hilarious, and I think it succeeds. Here's my review.
22) I Walked With a Zombie - Whenever you see a list like this, you'll usually see either this or White Zombie pop up somewhere. It always feels like a token shout-out to the pre-Romero zombie film; a kind of "yeah, we know they existed even before George re-invented them" acknowlegment. I'm not gonna lie and say there isn't at least a little bit of that thinking behind this pick, but it probably is important to pay some tribute to the original classics. And this genuinely eerie thriller is certainly a better film than the often cheesy White Zombie.
21) Shock Waves - EW included Dead Snow on their list, and I wish I could do the same. I had heard a lot of great things about that movie, so the disappointment was fairly crushing when I finally watched it and discovered it was nothing special (read more about it in my Dead Snow review). But, oh well...that just means the reigning champion of the Nazi Zombie sub-genre is still the underappreciated Shock Waves, a surprisingly effective film that derives it power from dread and tension more than blood and guts. Oh, and it's also got John Carradine and Peter Cushing (in one of his final roles), so it's got that going for it. Personally, I think this one is just begging for a remake. Read my review here.
20) Dance of the Dead - It's great to see films like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland catch on with mainstream audiences as well as the horror crowd, but it's equally frustrating to watch comparable films not even find the horror audience. Not that this film is completely unknown...it seems to have a decent cult following from what I can tell. But considering it's one of the best zombie comedies ever made, and definitely one of the best of the last few years, it's too bad it's not a bigger deal. Personally, I consider Dance of the Dead to be the great Return of the Living Dead sequel that never really happened. Check out my review here.
19) The Blind Dead - The exclusion of Armando de Ossorio's Blind Dead series - about a sect of sightless Templar Knight zombies who hunt humans by sound - is one of the EW list's biggest faults. Of the four films, I think this and the second, Return of the Blind Dead, are equally good, but I'm giving the spot to the first one for kicking it all off.
18) Land of the Dead - When I first saw this film, my initial belief was that it was even better than Day of the Dead (as you can see if you read my Land review here). With the benefit of time and hindsight, I now realize that not to be true. But Land still deserves a spot in the Top 25. Why? Well, for one thing, Romero's fourth Dead film (and the final one in the original Dead series) certainly has the best performances of the series (a natural by-product of hiring actual professional actors). It was also a nice reminder that Romero still had some chops after a looong absence from the genre. This is essentially the Hollywood-action-movie of the Dead series. Not as deep as the first three, but a lot of fun.
17) [REC] - Romero's Diary of the Dead has its moments, but overall it's just a bit too underwhelming to be considered anything more than a sporadically entertaining disappointment. For a much better example of the first-person-camera zombie film, look no further than this intense Spanish offering. Sure, at times it feels like a video game, but that doesn't diminish its power. Read my review here.
16) Night of the Creeps - Hopefully the recent, long-overdue DVD release of this '80s zombie-comedy will finally bring it the recognition it deserves. Without a doubt the best of the "alien slugs that turn people into zombies" sub-genre (and yes, it is a sub-genre, with other films like Slither and Zombie Town). If nothing else, check it out for Tom Atkin's show-stealing performace as Detective Cameron...for my money right up there with Ash and Shaun as one of the coolest heroes in horror-comedy history. Read my review here.
15) The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue - The EW column called Dellamorte Dellamore "the most tragically underseen film on this list." Maybe that's true, but only because they stupidly neglected to include The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue on their list. This film (also known as Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) is one of those rare zombie films that came out between Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. The genre wouldn't really blow up until the success of Dawn, but this movie shows that even before thatat least some other filmmakers had the right idea about following in Romero's footsteps by mixing complete horror with subtle social commentary. This is begging to be rediscovered in a big way. Read my review here.
14) 28 Days Later - Alright, first of all, enough with the claims that this is not a zombie movie, because the rage infected villains are not the living dead. Hey, guess what, geniuses? Neither were the zombies in I Walked with a Zombie or White Zombie. People have latched onto the "living dead" type of zombie that Romero created so much that they now seem to believe that this is the only kind of zombie allowed. Ugh, I hate that thinking. But that's another rant for another time. Anyway, no matter how you might feel about the zombie-status of this film, there is no denying how important it was for the genre, as it's definitely one of the movies that brought the zombie film back to the forefront of horror in a big way. And yes, it is damn good.
13) The Beyond - EW included every Romero zombie film on their list, but only one film from Lucio Fulci, whose name is second only to Romero when it comes to the genre. This, the middle film of his loosely linked "Gates of Hell" trilogy, is arguably the maestro's masterpiece - a gory, surreal (some would say almost nonsensical) head-trip of terrifying imagery.
12) 28 Weeks Later - "Wait a minute...did you just rank the sequel over the original?" That's right, I did. 28 Weeks is that rare horror sequel that manages to out-do the sequel by elaborating on the ideas of the first film, making them bigger, but still doing so in a way that doesn't completely trip up and piss all over what made the first one so great. Read my review here.
11) Braindead (Dead Alive) - Wow, I've obviously made this much more competetive in my head than I ever intended to, because it kinda kills me not to have this one in the Top 10. Before helming the epic instant classic Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson cut his teeth on over-the-top horror comedies like this one, still often referred to as the goriest fright film ever (and probably rightfully so). The first act is a little slow, but you get past that and you're into one of the all-time best party movies the horror genre has ever delivered. Seriously...stick this baby on in a room full of people who have never seen it, and just watch as they experience the unrelenting carnage of the film's final act. It's quite the experience.
10) Zombieland - Yeah, it's pretty early in this film's shelf life, but what can I say? It's really that good. Essentially a comedic road movie trapped inside a zombie film, but it delivers more than enough of the genre's typical trappings to itself be considered a great zombie movie. Bring on the sequel. Read my review here.
9) Dawn of the Dead 2004 - Well, yeah, it deserves to be in the Top 10...not #1, but it belongs here. Really, the only problem with this film is its title. Since it's not exactly a true remake of Romero's original (it takes the basic idea of "survivors in a mall," and nothing else), it's unfair to have to hold it up to that standard. If you can look past that, it's actually one of the most viscerally exciting zombie actions films ever made. Plus, it has one of the best opening 10 minutes in horror movie history.
8) Return of the Living Dead - The punk rock zombie movie. That's something of an oversimplification, and yet an oddly appropriate way to sum it up. While the music and fashion of some the characters feels slightly dated today, the humor and the general awesomeness still holds up. This is another great one for party viewing, as it pretty much never lets up once it gets going (and that happens fairly quickly).
7) Zombi 2 (Zombie Flesh Eaters) - I said The Beyond was arguably Fulci's masterpiece, and I meant it. But this film, a sort of unofficial "sequel" to Romero's Dawn of the Dead, is without a doubt his most important contribution to the zombie genre. You could complain about how this film perhaps sent the genre in the direction of caring more about extreme gore than Romero's social commentary, but ehhh...it's hard to care when the film is such disgusting fun. And hey, I can sum up why it belongs on this list with three simple words: zombie vs. shark.
6) Day of the Dead - Romero's personal favorite of his Dead films, which I think might surprise people. It seems like a lot of people are initially disappointed with this film when they watch it for the first time. That's somewhat understandable - it's quite a jarring change in tone from the near comic-book-ish action/violence of Dawn of the Dead. But Day is definitely a film that ages well and gets better and better with subsequent viewings. It's too bad Romero wasn't able to film his much more elaborate original script, but I'm still pretty happy with what we got here. After all, this is the film that brought us Bub, still cinema's best zombie.
5) Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) - This stylish black comedy represents the peak of the Italian zombie cycle. In fact, the cycle all but ended with this one, and what a fitting end it was. At times beautiful, at times violent, and at times head-scratchingly odd, Dellamorte Dellamore is one of the strangest zombies films ever made, but also one of the best.
4) Re-Animator - Another ridiculously over-the-top zombie comedy. Horror fans will always be grateful to this one for bringing us Jeffrey Combs' unforgettable performance as the obsessed Herbest West, one of the genre's great anti-heroes. And hey, let's face it - if you've ever wanted to see a re-animated severed head attempt to perform oral sex on a young woman, your options are pretty limited. It's pretty much just this and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
3) Shaun of the Dead - Shaun of the Dead is so great, you almost want to consider it an honorary George Romero movie. It just does everything right. It honors the genre, but in a way that is still acessible to non-genre fans. It pays tribute to the Romero films, but is never bogged down by reverance to them. Perhaps most importantly, it effectively mixes humor and horror in a way few other films have. Sure, it's mostly laughs, but the final act actually gets pretty damn emotional (especially considering the fate of certain characters), and it just nails that balance.
2) Dawn of the Dead 1978- What can I say about this one that hasn't been said thousands of times before. I actually think it's THE best zombie movie ever made (I'll explain why it's not my #1, then, in the next blurb). Pretty much everything that is great about the genre is present in this film. With Night, Romero re-invented the zombie film. With Dawn, he officially became its king.
1) Night of the Living Dead (1968) - OK, I think Dawn is technically a better film. But this is MY list of the Top 25 Zombie Movies, and there is no film more important to ME than this one. This was the film that made me a horror fan, let alone a zombie fan. Heck, I might even argue that it made me a movie fan, as it's certainly the first movie I can remember that really had an effect on me. It is still m favorite movie of all time. I have watched it too many times to count, and I will continue to do so. But, putting aside my own personal wacking-off over it for a moment, it is also the most significant zombie film in history, as it turned the idea of zombies in a completely new direction. The genre never looked back. "Hugely influential" is an understatement. Thank you, George.
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