Remember when zombies were these slow, lumbering creatures? It made sense; after all, they’re the living dead. They get the most basic of functions, and that doesn’t include running. Well, now they can. And in many movies and video games, they get to. Left 4 Dead epitomizes the “running zombie” in games, at least to me. They also have a fun sense of humor.
Here are some movies you might enjoy if you like the Left 4 Dead games.
28 Days Later
While it may not have been the first movie with fast zombies, 28 Days Later was one of them, and is thought to be the reason that they seem to be more prevalent nowadays than the traditional slower zombies. The film follows a man who wakes up in a hospital, unaware that an infection has broken out. He then needs to find his way to safety. It’s a thrilling movie.
The sequel, 28 Weeks Later, is also worth checking out.
Cooties
For reasons that probably have to do with the sometimes backwards morals society has put upon itself, we don’t kill children in movies very often. Something about doing so is considered worse than killing adults, who die so, so often that it’s almost not even impactful anymore. Cooties is a zombie-like movie where all of the infected are children.
Dead Alive
Many of you probably know that, prior to doing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson wasn’t terribly well-known. He started off his career doing gore-fest horror comedies, one of which is Dead Alive – also known as Braindead. It follows a dweeby guy as his town gets infected with a zombie-like disease caused by a rabid rat-monkey. It’s funny, it’s gory, and it’s got a great use of a lawnmower.
Dead Snow
How do you make zombies even more evil and worth re-killing? Make them Nazi zombies, of course! Such is the premise of Dead Snow, which sees a ski vacation gone wrong when Nazi zombies start attacking. It’s very bloody and has a fun sense of humor. And, I mean, the novelty of Nazi zombies is worth at least one movie, right?
And if you wind up liking it, it got a sequel half a decade later that you can check out.
I Am Legend
I Am Legend follows a man in post-apocalyptia as he tries to create a cure for the virus that has wiped out most of humanity and turned them into zombie-like creatures. Or maybe vampire-like creatures. Or maybe both. The point is, they’re bad creatures caused by an infection and they don’t seem to want to do much beyond eating people. Even if they only come out at night.
Shh.
Planet Terror
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaWPHLZAZbg
Planet Terror is a movie inspired by grindhouse exploitation movies that you’d see a lot in the 1970s. It was released as a double feature with a movie called Death Proof, and while both are worth checking out, Planet Terror is the better one. It’s also the zombie one. It follows a bunch of people during a zombie outbreak, as they try to escape to safety and eventually stop the source of the outbreak. It’s funny, it’s got some over-the-top action, and it does a great job of emulating its grindhouse inspirations.
[REC]/Quarantine
If you will watch foreign-language movies (or speak Spanish), then [REC] is the one of these to check out. If you won’t, then Quarantine is a decent substitute. They’re movies about an infection in a single building, following a news reporter who winds up trapped inside of the building once it’s, well, quarantined. The residents become zombies and start attacking. Fun times.
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead, one of the best horror comedies of all time, and one of the most enjoyable zombie movies we have, should not require any additional explanation. If you haven’t seen it, see it. If you have seen it, you know what I’m talking about and probably want to see it again. It’s about a couple of dudes trying to survive a zombie outbreak. And it’s hilarious. Watch it.
World War Z
World War Z probably should have been released under a different title, given that it barely resembles the book on which it’s based and those comparisons hurt it in the eyes of many viewers. It’s not bad. There are hordes of zombies, there are people trying to escape from and/or kill the zombies, and you don’t really need a ton more than that.
Zombieland
If Shaun of the Dead is going to have a challenger for “best zombie comedy,” Zombieland is probably that challenger. It’s really funny. It follows four people after a zombie apocalypse. One of them has several rules he says and implements in order to have the best risk of survival. It almost never tries to be scary, but it is very entertaining and even gets in a couple of decent action scenes.
