After a search through the post-apocalyptic ruins, survivors are found. Below are their stories.

Are you feeling alone? In a post-apocalyptic world, only a handful of people can brave isolation due to global catastrophe. If you’re lucky, you will have someone to ride out the events with you, but be prepared to do what it takes if they fail to do any actual surviving. Below are fifteen movies about those select few survivors like I Am Legend. 

15. The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli Trailer

Eli roams the skeletal wasteland that was once the United States. He carries a book that could change civilization as they know it, but some people will do anything to take it from him. Eli must find a safe-haven for himself and the only object which can restore order. 

Denzel Washington took martial arts lessons from Danny Inosanto for the film, according to his interview with Collider. 

14. Bird Box

Bird Box Official Trailer

Something has taken over, and those who cover their eyes survive. For one woman, getting her children across the river means a chance at a normal life, but the journey requires them to stay blindfolded the entire time­, or face a manifestation of their worst fear. 

The film is based on a book from 2014 of the same name by Josh Malerman.

13. A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place Trailer

Survival depends solely on how quiet you can be. For children, this is especially tough, but this is their new normal. It’s up to the parents to safely navigate their family through a creature infested world. They scavenge for supplies, food, and attempt to make contact with the outside world. It’s just the Abbott family defending their place amongst the creatures.

The cast learned sign language for the film.

12. The Omega Man

The Omega Man Trailer

A military scientist has one chance of saving himself before succumbing to a plague started by war. Alone in a fortified apartment, he injects himself with an untested vaccine and becomes immune to mutation. Now, he must convince the other nocturnal mutants to take the vaccine to restore humanity.

The film is the second adaptation of the novel I Am Legend, written by Richard Matheson.

11. 12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys Trailer

Imagine the chance to go back in time to prevent a catastrophic virus from wiping out the Earth. Set decades in the future, a prisoner is given a chance to save humanity. He isn’t sent back to the correct time and instead sounds like a raving lunatic trying to convince doctors of a potentially deadly outbreak. 

Brad Pitt portrays the extreme activist Jeffrey Goines.

10. 28 Days Later

28 Days Later Trailer

It took less than twenty-eight days for a viral infection to wreak havoc in Great Britain and around the world. A man wakes from a coma to a strange new world, where he must learn how to survive amongst rage-fueled humans infected by some virus. He is lucky enough to have a few survivors to show him the ropes. 

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have talked of a third installment to the film series titles 28 Months Later.

9. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Dawn of the Dead Trailer

Ana is unaware of the chaos surrounding the city. The next morning her husband is killed, but he reanimates into a zombie. She seeks refuge at a shopping mall where she meets other survivors taking shelter. The group secures the mall as long as they can, but they need to escape the hoard of zombies to a more isolated location.

This is a remake of George A. Romero’s 1978 film of the same name.

8. The Girl with All the Gifts

The Girl With All the Gifts Official Trailer

The next generation of children is the future­, and without them, flesh-eating “hungries” would kill every survivor in sight. Melanie is a special flesh-eater who can think and reason like a human unaffected by the infection. Everyone’s lives are in her hands, but she has plans of her own.

The film is an adaptation of the novel written by M.R. Carey.

7. Train to Busan

Train to Busan Trailer

A father and daughter embark on a trip to Busan. The workaholic father agrees to take his daughter to her mom’s house out of guilt for his own selfishness. The train ride turns into a nightmare after an ill woman infects the entire train with a zombie virus. Now, the father must protect his daughter and learn how to lead a group of survivors to safety. 

Peninsula (2020) is set in the same universe and portrays events of the same outbreak four years later.

6. The Night Eats the World

The Night Eats the Worlds Trailer

A man living in Paris attends the party of a lifetime before passing out in an office. The next day, everyone is dead. He is surrounded by zombies and barricades himself in the apartment complex. Here, he lives out the apocalypse before he realizes he needs to search for other survivors. 

In an interview by Rue-Morgue, Dominique Rocher explains he discovered the novel–which he adapts the film–when it was nominated for a literary prize. 

5. Night of the Comet

Night of the Comet Trailer

Two sisters spend the night in various metal containers before a comet renders the rest of the city zombified. A group of scientists saves the sisters, but they soon realize that the scientists know more about the zombies than they’re letting on, and they save the world valley girl style. 

The end of the world comes with a shopping spree.

4. Here Alone

Here Alone Trailer

Ann struggles to survive the aftermath of a zombie infection by fending for herself in the woods. She keeps a positive outlook by hoping for a chance there may still be a shred of civilization left. Then she meets Chris and Olivia, but can she trust them after being alone for so long?

The film won the Tribeca Audience Award.

3. World War Z

World War Z Trailer

Zombies overrun major cities around the world. To assure his family’s safety, Gerry Lane agrees to help search for the origin of a zombie outbreak. He travels abroad and observes zombie behavior in a quarantine zone, and discovers the key to save humanity.

Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B won the bidding for screen rights against Leonardo DiCaprio. 

2. Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Resident Evil: Apocalypse Trailer

A virus has reached Raccoon City, and The Umbrella Corporation puts them under quarantine. Residents ditch their evacuation plans and prepare for survival in their city. To make matters worse, the corporation released a super soldier called Nemesis, who is searching for Alice, the only person who knows their twisted secrets, and how to take them down.

To play the role of Alice, Milla Jovovich endured three hours of intense martial arts training every day for four months.

1. The Last Man on Earth 1964

The Last Man On Earth Trailer

A man is isolated for years due to an outbreak that turns any living thing into a bloodthirsty creature. He has the same mundane routine: in the day he hunts creatures, by night he locks himself away, and so on. He is the only immune being that can save the survivors­– if there are any.

This film is another adaptation of the 1954 novel I Am Legend.

You may also be interested in:

• 10 Zombie Movies You’ll Enjoy If You Liked Dying Light
• The 10 Types of Zombies From Hollywood Movies 
• 10 Scary Things That Can Turn Earth Post-Apocalyptic