Top 5 Non Romero Zombie Movies
By on Dec 4, 2012
Five Great Non-Romero Zombie Movies
This week’s Chiller TV premiere (Friday, December 7 at 9:00 pm ET in case you missed it) is Dead Snow, a clever Norwegian zombie comedy by director Tommy Wirkola. The only thing we need to say about it is that there are Nazi Zombies. Yes, we said Nazi Zombies. If that’s something you’ve ever wanted to see immortalized on film, it’s your lucky day. Throw in the fact that it’s a really fun flick and you should definitely tune in (December 7 at 9:00 pm ET! Don't ever accuse us of not being obvious). To celebrate the event, we decided to pull together a list of some of the best non-George Romero zombie movies. Because, obviously, George Romero rules so we had to cast the net wide. It is, by no means, a complete list (there are many great ones out there), but it’s a good place to start.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)
This modern British classic from director Edgar Wright, and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, has quickly become one of the best horror-comedies in the genre’s history. Packed with awesome zombie action, true hilarity, and even a little romance, Shaun of the Dead is a shining example of just how awesome modern zombie flicks can be.
ZOMBIELAND (2009)
Another zom-com, Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland takes the concept of the typical zombie film and turns it on its head. Not only is the film very self-aware, but it’s also witty, fast-moving, and often hilarious. Throw in a great cast, including Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin, and some great zombie-attack moments, and you’ve got one of the best zombie films of the past five years.
PET SEMATARY (1989)
Mary Lambert’s 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary might not be the first thing you think of when you’re compiling a list of zombie movies, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a really fun one. Where are all the zombies, you ask? Look a little harder. There’s zombie Church the cat, zombie Timmy Baterman, zombie Gage, and several more. Sure, they might not look like your typical movie zombies, but try and tell me the sight of Timmy Baterman ripping his own flesh off didn’t scare the pants off you as a kid. Yeah, I don’t believe you.
DEAD ALIVE (1992)
Before Peter Jackson decided to spent most of his career roaming around Middle Earth, he was making some of the goriest films in the world. 1992’s Dead Alive (aka Braindead) is a wild ride through zom-com territory that will leave your screen covered in sticky red awesomeness. If you only Jackson from his hobbit films, do yourself a favor and check this one out.
THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988)
Loosely based on Wade Davis’ non-fiction book of the same name, this Wes Craven zombie film stars Bill Pullman as ethnobotanist and anthropologist Dennis Alan who heads to Haiti in search of a new breakthrough drug. If you’re looking for a film that tells the “true story of real zombies,” you’ll probably be disappointed, but if you’re looking for a truly frightening film then you could do a lot worse than The Serpent and the Rainbow.
