Sign in to your Collider account
Image via Next Entertainment World
Though the word zombie had existed prior to 1968, it was the low-budget cult classic horror movie Night of the Living Dead, released that year, that largely defined the zombie genre as it’s now understood. There’s been something of a push away from zombies being undead, sure, as it’s more common now for a virus to be the explicit cause of a zombie outbreak. Also, zombies have generally gotten faster as the years have gone on, but that’s kind of beside the point. You still know a zombie movie when you see one.
Though the genre can be traced back to the U.S., thanks to George A. Romero’s aforementioned 1968 film, by no means has that been the only place in the world where great zombie movies have been made. The following titles all show how globally appealing zombies as horror creatures have become, with the following films (including a couple in the English language, albeit not from the U.S.) all being great examples of international – or non-American – zombie movies.
15 'The Sadness' (2021)
Directed by Rob Jabbaz
Image Via Raven Banner Entertainment
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the movie called The Sadness ends up being a bit of a bummer, especially as it crawls along toward what might well be a seeming inevitability: an unhappy ending. There’s a level of bloodshed and despair adhered to while depicting the particular outbreak here that is striking, as is the case when those infected seem to want to inflict pain and cruelty, more so than just eat.
So, if you combined the love of causing suffering found in Terrifier’s Art the Clown, and transported that energy into numerous hordes of undead, you’ll know what you're in for with a movie like The Sadness. It’s probably one of the more hardcore and infamous Taiwanese horror movies released recently, so those without strong stomachs might not want to apply here.
The Sadness
Release Date May 12, 2022
Director Rob Jabbaz
Cast Berant Zhu , Regina Lei , Ying-Ru Chen , Tzu-Chiang Wang , Tsai Chang-Hsien , Lan Wei-Hua , Chi-Min Chou , Ralf Chiu , Lueh-Geng Huang , Jacky Liu , Ark Zheng , Kass Tsai
Runtime 99 minutes
14 'Cargo' (2017)
Directed by Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling
Image via Netflix
Some would say, with varying levels of sincerity, that Australia is a dangerous enough place to live in, what with the stereotype surrounding large and/or dangerous animals running all over the place. There was a genuine Emu War, too, for what that’s worth. All that’s to say that the undead being unleashed in Australia is just a whole other series of unfortunate events waiting to happen, and happen it does, in Cargo.
Narratively, you could pin the plot here a little to something seen in the likes of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, with an adult male being forced to take an infant across dangerous terrain, sometimes with just the two of them for company. One has samurai, one has the undead, but all manage to have a plot that barrels forward, stopping only occasionally to bump up the overall tension even more.
Release Date May 18, 2018
Director Yolanda Ramke , Ben Howling
Runtime 105 minutes
Main Genre Drama
13 'I Am a Hero' (2015)
Directed by Shinsuke Sato
Image via Funimation
Since the start of the 2020s, there have been plenty of great Japanese films that have found international success, though by no means can this decade count itself as an outlier. Back in the 2010s, there was I Am a Hero, which focuses on a man in his 30s who doesn’t really feel things are going anywhere for him, but then he’s forced to go places when some kind of zombie outbreak starts.
I Am a Hero handles a familiar premise with a good deal of style and action, and it can also be appreciated for some of the darkly comedic elements it brings to the table, too. It’s an eclectic Japanese zombie movie, and one of the best, not just from that territory, but from any territory that saw its release during a rather saturated 2010s.
Release Date April 23, 2016
Director Shinsuke Sato
Cast Yô Ôizumi , Kasumi Arimura , Masami Nagasawa , Hisashi Yoshizawa , Yoshinori Okada , Nana Katase , Jin Katagiri , Makita Sports
Runtime 126 Minutes
12 'The Night Eats the World' (2018)
Directed by Dominique Rocher
Image via WTFilms
If you have a party that goes wild enough, and causes enough by way of hangovers, waking up and trying to mend as much damage as possible is already a herculean task. The Night Eats the World asks an even more difficult question of its protagonists, though: what if you have to do all that post-party rubbish, but there are also zombies roaming the streets and that makes death now the most lovely of possibilities.
It's a novel enough idea for a zombie movie, with the French film taking things further by not exactly delivering the sorts of thrills and excitement you might expect from a film like this. It is tense, and it is likely to inspire some dread, but there’s also a sense of things being a bit stripped back and even quiet. If not realistic, then it is at least kind of interesting.
Release Date July 13, 2018
Director Dominique Rocher
Runtime 93 Minutes
11 '#Alive' (2020)
Directed by Cho Il
Image via Netflix
There’s been a well-deserved boom in popularity worldwide for South Korean cinema and TV, with #Alive being very popular upon release, thanks in large part to it finding an audience while COVID-19 was still on everyone’s minds. It was a movie filmed during 2019, before any lockdowns, but was released at a time when people were dealing with isolation and quarantining, all the while having a main character dealing with such things because of a zombie outbreak.
#Alive was in the right place at the right time, reflecting that uncanny, sickening, and monotonous time in history well, even if by accident. It’s a modern spin on a well-worn survival narrative, working in some late-2010s technology well and providing zombie movie fans with a decent blend of suspense, action, and scares. It doesn’t redefine the genre by any means, but it’s certainly watchable and a pretty decent time overall.
#Alive
Release Date September 8, 2020
Director Il Cho
Cast Yoo Ah-in , Park Shin-Hye , Jeon Bae-soo , Hyun-Wook Lee
Runtime 98 Minutes
10 'Zombi 2' (1979)
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Image via Variety Film Production
This 1979 Italian zombie film is known by a few different titles, including Zombie Flesh Eaters, Island of the Living Dead, and sometimes just Zombie, but Zombi 2 feels like the most amusing and endearing. It raises the question, is there a Zombi 1? The answer is complicated: the classic 1978 film Dawn of the Dead was released as Zombi in Italy, and so Zombi 2 could well be an unofficial sequel/follow-up, or something intending to capitalize on that film’s success.
It’s not a real sequel, and it also satisfies as something considerably gorier and nastier...
Dawn of the Dead was made by George A. Romero at his peak, so Zombi 2 doesn’t live up to it, but that’s okay. It’s not a real sequel, and it also satisfies as something considerably gorier and nastier, having a reputation for being one of the most violent horror films of its time, and still holding up today as a satisfying bloodbath, even if some of the effects are (naturally) charmingly dated.Watch on AMC+
9 'Dead Snow' (2009)
Directed by Tommy Wirkola
Image via IFC Films.
The late 2000s was a time when the idea of Nazi zombies seemed particularly popular, thanks to a minigame in Call of Duty: World at War (2008) and the crude yet quite entertaining 2009 film Dead Snow. To the latter’s credit, it does also stand out for being one of the coldest and most wintry zombie movies, and the frequent splashes of red against the white of the snow make for a striking contrast (there is a lot of both blood and snow contained within this movie).
The idea of watching a Norwegian zombie movie might already sound novel enough, but having it additionally be very silly, exceedingly gory, and having the undead also be Nazis just adds to the wildness of it all. Dead Snow has its flaws for sure, but it’s worth checking out for anyone who appreciates it when zombie movies don’t take themselves too seriously.
Dead Snow
Release Date January 9, 2009
Director Tommy Wirkola
Cast Vegar Hoel , Stig Frode Henriksen , Charlotte Frogner , Lasse Valdal , Evy Kasseth Røsten , Jeppe Laursen
Runtime 90 minutes
8 '[REC]' (2007)
Directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza
![A crying woman walking down a dark hallway in [REC]](https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/REC.jpg)
Image via Filmax
In the wake of 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, found-footage horror became something of an unstoppable horror sub-genre, with the Spanish film [REC] taking this format and adding zombies to it… kind of. Like a good many zombie films of the 2000s, the zombies here are victims of some kind of infectious disease and, unfortunately for the non-infected, these foes are also pretty speedy and aggressive.
The primary characters in [REC] are a television reporter and her cameraman, with things naturally being shown from their point of view as they cover a dramatic series of events occurring inside an apartment complex from the inside. [REC] builds in intensity throughout, and is pretty short and no-nonsense overall. It’s also very hard to recommend to anyone who has a particularly strong fear of the dark and/or enclosed spaces.
[REC]
Release Date November 23, 2007
Director Jaume Balagueró
Cast Manuela Velasco , Ferran Terraza , Jorge-Yamam Serrano , Pablo Rosso , David Vert , Vicente Gil , Martha Carbonell , Carlos Vicente
Runtime 78 Minutes
7 '28 Days Later' (2002)
Directed by Danny Boyle
Image via Fox Searchlight
28 Days Later might well have the right to call itself one of the grittiest and grimiest science fiction movies in existence, given the whole thing looks and feels so dirty, raw, and overall unpleasant. It does the best it can to showcase the weeks following a zombie (well, zombie-like) outbreak and what it would mean for those humans lucky/unlucky enough to survive the initial waves, in turn battling undead hordes.
It was a key early non-US zombie movie for the new millennium, and 28 Days Later was presented in a way that proved to be a genuine breath of fresh air. Also, the lean toward infected beings over true undead creatures added some spice, as did the fact that this film kicked off something of a long-running series, with sequels including 28 Weeks Later (2007) and 28 Years Later (2025).
Release Date October 31, 2002
Runtime 113
6 'Train to Busan' (2016)
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho
Image via Next World Entertainment
There are plenty of exciting action/thriller/suspense movies that largely take place on trains, with the appropriately named Train to Busan being one of the absolute best in recent memory. Predating #Alive by a few years (and also generally being better), Train to Busan feels like the gold standard for South Korean zombie media, at least for now… and an honorable mention should probably go to the series All of Us Are Dead, too.
Train to Busan is fast-paced and continually exciting from start to finish, following a group of characters effectively trying to outrun a viral outbreak, with the titular Busan being a place that’s successfully cut itself off from the outbreak in question. It’s a super action-packed movie by zombie film standards, and so long as one doesn’t mind a little blood and guts, it’s hard to imagine anyone not getting some level of enjoyment out of a movie like Train to Busan.
Train to Busan
Release Date July 1, 2016
Director Yeon Sang-ho
Cast Gong Yoo
Runtime 118minutes
5 'The Beyond' (1981)
Directed by Lucio Fulci
While the aforementioned Lucio Fulci film Zombi 2 is probably more of a zombie movie than The Beyond, it’s The Beyond that’s the better film overall. Maybe that’s a hot take, but it just has more to offer beyond a splattery smattering of blood and guts… but for what it’s worth, The Beyond totally has that stuff too, for anyone who likes their horror movies particularly gory.
It’s a winning supernatural horror film, with its premise involving a woman inheriting a strange old hotel that happens to be built over an entrance to Hell itself. This leads to all sorts of different horror situations playing out, and zombies do eventually make an appearance, with the kind of carnage you’d expect to see out of a Fulci-directed horror movie (the guy had a knack for crafting gory horror; that can’t be denied).Watch on Peacock
4 'Braindead' (1992)
Directed by Peter Jackson
Image via Trimark Pictures
You know a movie must be pretty bloody if it was banned in several territories for violence alone, which is something that can be said about Braindead (sometimes known as Dead Alive). This might be the most well-known pre-Middle Earth Peter Jackson movie, with its notoriety as a comedic and over-the-top bloodbath of a film being the primary reason why it has such a devoted cult following.
It’s also hard to think of a better zombie movie that’s come out of New Zealand, because Braindead really delivers the gory goods, having a simple premise (a small town’s inhabitants slowly falling victim to a strange virus) that’s bolstered immensely by excessive gore and a twisted sense of humor. It’s one of the most anarchic zombie movies ever made, and also up there with the most enjoyable of all time, too.
Release Date August 13, 1992
Cast Timothy Balme , Diana Peñalver , Elizabeth Moody , Ian Watkin , Brenda Kendall , Stuart Devenie
Runtime 104 Minutes
3 'Versus' (2000)
Directed by Ryûhei Kitamura
Ryûhei Kitamura has an eclectic body of work and specializes in making wild genre movies, having been behind perhaps the wildest Godzilla film to date and also dabbling in samurai spectacle, as seen in 2003’s Azumi. But before either of those two movies, Kitamura made perhaps his masterpiece, known simply as Versus, which kind of feels like a combination of every conceivable genre under the sun, wrapped up in one chaotic two-hour film.
Essentially, it’s about a bunch of skilled fighters/gangsters who have to battle forces in a forest, with their enemies including zombies, and the action sequences blending martial arts, gunfights, and swordplay to dizzying effect. Versus is undeniably zany and perhaps even overwhelming, but it’s one of the best zombie movies to ever come out of Japan (and, even better, is more than “just” a zombie film, owing to how ambitious it ends up feeling).Rent on Apple TV
2 'Shaun of the Dead' (2004)
Directed by Edgar Wright
Image via Rogue Pictures
The UK’s birthed some fairly strong zombie movies, especially since the beginning of the 2000s, with the aforementioned 28 Days Later having a massive influence on the genre, helping to popularize fast zombies and furthering the prevalence of zombie hordes being infected. But still, if one were only able to watch one UK zombie movie, it's best to stick to the best of the bunch: Shaun of the Dead.
This operates as both a great zombie movie and an effective (yet loving) parody of zombie movies, following one man trying to turn his life around during the middle of what seems to be the end of the world. It’s funny, has a good heart, and feels genuinely suspenseful in its final act, undeniably being one of the smartest and most well-balanced zombie horror/comedy films of all time.
Shaun of the Dead
Release Date September 24, 2004
Director Edgar Wright
Runtime 99 minutes
1 'One Cut of the Dead' (2017)
Directed by Shinichiro Ueda
Image via Shudder
One Cut of the Dead is more than just a zombie movie, but to elaborate on that statement would be doing a massive disservice to anyone who’s yet to see it. What can be said is that the film initially delivers on its title in a big way, being made up of a single take that tells an odd yet charming zombie-focused story and then, at a point, the entire movie pivots to something else.
It’s the “something else” that ultimately makes One Cut of the Dead go from an ambitious and strange low-budget zombie film to something of a modern classic, but you also have to take that journey yourself. It’s a wonderful and super creative movie, and might well even be up there with the very best Japanese films – zombie-related or otherwise – released in the 21st century so far.
Release Date November 4, 2017
Director Shin'ichirô Ueda
Cast Takayuki Hamatsu , Yuzuki Akiyama , Harumi Shuhama , Kazuaki Nagaya , Hiroshi Ichihara , Mao
Runtime 96 minutes
English (US) ·