I love zombies.
When done right, they have the ability to blow away every other style of horror movies. Unfortunately, most zombie movies S-U-C-K. There are dozens of lame, cash grabbing movies featuring our darling dead.
A good zombie movie is rare. A great one is like a, for lack of clever analogy, something that cannot be missed. It receives an instantaneous cult-following and is remembered and cherished long after academy award winners and box offices smashes fade away from the the public’s eye.
Count my motives as sinister, but I would love nothing more than to add a few cultists to some great zombie movies and that is my purpose with the list.
Below, you will read the top ten zombie movies of all time. Some of you might be asking how I, your humble host, can lay claim to the penultimate top-ten list? There are already dozens of such offerings all over the net with self proclaimed experts regurgitating there own personal favorites and telling us why they are the “best ever.”
Friends, this is not me. I am a critic, and am able to push my own interests aside and look at these movies for there merit, not my taste. But, I am not a critic’s kind of critic. You will not find my slobbering over every film in subtitles or arguing that Citizen Kane is superior to the Godfather (are you fucking kidding me AFI?). Besides, this is a zombie list after all, how serious can you really take me?
The movies are rated in by there merit and message. Blood, guts, and nudity are not awarded for there presence but how they play out within the movie. Overall message of the film has some bearing (even if the message is that there is no message). Entertainment is important, but when it’s all said and done having mainstream appeal doesn’t mean that it is a great film.
I will unveil two movies a day, 10-9, 9-7, and so forth until 2-1. I suppose I will combine the whole article into one big, giant, blog in the end.
Enjoy!
10. White Zombie
The very first zombie movie has long since been forgotten by all but the most ravenous of horror movies buffs and that is sad indeed. This movie is more than 70 years old but it’s creepiness is undeniable. It has been described as featuring a near dream-like quality and I can’t think of any better description than that.
The legendary Bela Lugosi plays a unnamed character who is referred to simply as “murder” (how fucking cool is that?!) who has the ability to turn the living into his zombie servants. The overt theme of sexual domination still manages to raise eyebrows today, so can you image what is was like back in the 30’s?
While, the voo-doo based zombie has long since fallen out of fashion this is still one of the greats. Bela truly is at the top of his game with White Zombie and while he may be more remembered for staring in Dracula, it is this film that cemented his as one of the greatest horror actors, well, ever. Oh, and did I mention that he directed the second half of the film after the director quit? Yeah, suck on that Karloff.
9. Land of the Dead
This is the first of Romero’s film to make it unto this list and while it might feel somewhat weak when compared to his earlier works, it is still superior to Oh, let’s say all but 8 zombie films.
The remnants of humanity live in huge walled up cities while the dead amass outside the gates ever hungry for what is left of mankind. The best thing about this movie is how it makes the zombie epidemic feel, well, epic. We really get the scope of a world taken over by the dead and if that isn’t an ingredient for a great zombie film then you don’t know what the fuck your talking about.
Oh ya, don’t be surprised to find yourself rooting for the zombie horde when you see the peckers who inhabit the city. Give this one a few years and it will have developed much more of a following that it already has.
Numbers 8-7 Coming Soon!
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