Are you a Resident Evil fanatic? As in, have you played all the games and watched all the movies and then played all the games and watched all the movies again, because why not? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Below you’ll find 15 movies to watch if you’re (a) Resident Evil-obsessed, (b) zombie movie-obsessed, or (c) Resident Evil- and zombie movie-obsessed. Dig in!
15. Doomsday
Caption: Doomsday Trailer
Conceived based on the premise of futuristic soldiers battling medieval knights, Doomsday, a 2008 science fiction film written and directed by Neil Marshall, takes place in a future version of Scotland that’s been quarantined because of the deadly Reaper virus. After the virus surfaces in London, a team, led by Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), enter the contaminated zone in search of a cure. Sinclair and her comrades then wage a war against feral survivors in hope of preventing a new, costly dark age.
“Come at me, bro.”
No, you come at me, bro.”
14. The Girl with All the Gifts
The Girl with All the Gifts Trailer
In a near dystopian future, a mysterious fungal disease (a mutation of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis—that’s a mouthful) has transformed nearly everyone into brainless, flesh-eating monsters. Humanity’s only hope is a small band of hybrid, second-generation children who crave living flesh but retain the ability to reason and learn. Among the children is an extraordinary girl named Melanie, and, along with a scientist and a teacher, she sets out on a journey to save humankind.
This is Melanie. This is terrifying.
From left: Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine, and Fisayo Akinade are strapped for survival in 2016’s The Girl with All the Gifts.
13. Pandorum
Pandorum Trailer
From the producers of the Resident Evil film franchise, this terrifying thriller focuses on two crew members who wake up on an abandoned spacecraft with no clue of their identities, how long they’ve been asleep, or what their mission entails. Soon, however, the two astronauts discover they’re not alone. When their horrifying reality comes into view, the realization dawns that their actions will determine the fate of mankind. And yeah, things get weird.
Bower, played by Ben Foster, wakes from hypersleep.
Run!
12. World War Z
World War Z Trailer
When former U.N. investigator Gerry Lane and his family get stuck in Philadelphia gridlock, he senses that it’s no ordinary traffic jam. Turns out, he’s right. The city erupts into chaos as a lethal virus, spread through a single bite, begins turning healthy people into feral, ravenous creatures. As the pandemic threatens to consume humanity, Gerry leads a worldwide search to find the source of the infection and, hopefully, a way to halt its spread.
Brad Pitt, who plays Gerry Lane, stares down a zombie.
Just zombies building a Zombie Wall, nbd.
11. [Rec]
[Rec] Trailer
A late-night TV reporter and her cameraman are doing a routine interview at a local fire station when an emergency call comes in. Accompanying the firefighters to a nearby apartment building, the news team begins recording the bloodcurdling screams coming from inside the room of an elderly woman who’s been infected by a virus. In response, authorities seal off the building to contain the threat. As the situation escalates after some of the building’s occupants show animalistic and murderous behavior, the news crew, firefighters, and apartment residents find themselves trapped inside a lethally dangerous environment.
Ángela, played by Manuela Velasco, reports at a local fire station before shit hits the fan.
Post-collision of shit and fan, a trapped Ángela cowers inside a building overrun with humans turned beasts.
10. Planet Terror
Planet Terror Trailer
The first part of 2007’s Grindhouse, a horror/thriller double feature from Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, Planet Terror takes place in a small Texas town that becomes a macabre nightmare after an experimental bio-weapon is released, turning thousands into a horde of flesh-eating zombies. Cherry (Rose McGowan), a go-go dancer, and Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), her ex-lover, band together with other survivors in a chaotic effort to escape the carnage. The odds shift a bit in the survivors’ favor when Cherry, who loses her leg to one of the voracious creatures, gets a machine-gun appendage and begins firing rounds of bullets. (Yes, that last sentence is accurate.)
This guy’s had better days.
As for that machine-gun appendage…
9. I Am Legend
I Am Legend Trailer
Based on Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name, I Am Legend follows Robert Neville, a brilliant scientist, and survivor of a plague that killed most of humanity and turned the rest into hostile, bloodthirsty mutants. Seemingly the last survivor in New York City, Neville either wanders the streets and searches for other possible survivors or spends his time searching for a cure using his own immune blood. In the meantime, the vampire-like infected are nearby, waiting for Neville to slip up and make a mistake that will render him dinner.
Oh yeah, Neville has a beautiful German shepherd named Samantha, who accompanies him on his oft-dangerous outings around the city.
One of the mutants, aka Darkseekers, in I Am Legend.
8. Train to Busan
Train to Busan Trailer
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, this 2016 South Korean thriller has garnered a ton of buzz. It follows a father, his estranged daughter, and other passengers who become trapped on a speeding train following the outbreak of a virus that transforms people into zombies. Between Seoul and Busan, the passengers have nowhere to run and must face the outbreak head-on.
Those blood stains aren’t lifting, sorry.
Father carries daughter away from swarming pack of South Korean zombies.
7. Dead Alive
The IMDb synopsis is too good to not share: “A young man’s mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.”
What we have here is a case of a son trying to keep his infected mother locked safe and sound in the basement, only to have her repeatedly escape and turn neighbors into zombies. Then all those zombies crash a high-society party thrown by the aforementioned young man’s uncle.
Thank you, Peter Jackson.
Actor Timothy Balme, who plays Lionel Cosgrove, deals with the mayhem brought on by his zombified “Mum.”
There’s no shortage of gore in Dead Alive.
6. Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead Trailer
The third installment in George A. Romero’s “Living Dead” series, Day of the Dead tells the story of a small group of military officers and scientists who dwell in an underground bunker because of a zombie outbreak. In spite of their desperate attempts to ensure the survival of the human race, tensions inside the bunker boil over. Also, the zombies are gathering en masse outside….
This new Pusha-T album bumps!
RIP
5. 28 Days Later
Danny Boyle’s stamp on the zombie subgenre, 28 Days Later, as the title implies, takes place four weeks after a mysterious and incurable virus (dubbed the Rage virus) spreads throughout the UK. When London bike courier Jim wakes from a coma, he finds the city all but deserted—save for the zombie-like victims of the virus, from whom he’s forced to run. It’s here where Jim stumbles upon a group of survivors and, joining them, attempts to find refuge.
Jim, played by Cillian Murphy, runs for the hills in his post-coma wear. Hey, that zombie’s on fire!
4. 28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later Trailer
Sequel!
Six months after the Rage virus ravaged the British Isles, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start anew. Declaring the danger gone, American soldiers arrive to restore order and begin reconstruction. Refugees are safe to return to British soil. Yet there’s a secret just waiting to get out: the virus still lingers, and now it’s more dangerous than ever.
Don, played by Robert Carlyle, runs away from some Ragers.
Rose Byrne and Jeremy Renner star in 28 Weeks Later.
3. Shaun of the Dead
Another comedy/horror hybrid, Shaun of the Dead is near perfect. The first installment in the Cornetto trilogy (see also Hot Fuzz and The World’s End) from the minds of director Edgard Wright and stars Simon Pegg, who also helped write the script with Wright, and Nick Frost.
In short, a man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.
This one’s a riot, so yeah, definitely check it out.
When the zombie outbreak goes down, I, too, will be turning to the umbrella handle as my go-to means of self-defense.
2. Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead Trailer
Romero’s second installment in his “Living Dead” series is a strong addition. As hordes of zombies take over the U.S., a petrified populace desperately tries to avoid contamination. Unfortunately, though, neither urban nor rural landscapes prove safe. In response, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a radio-station employee, and his girlfriend retreat via helicopter to the haven of an enclosed mall to make what could be humanity’s final stand against total annihilation.
Posted up in a mall, fighting zombies.
1. Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero’s opus, the one that launched his revered “Living Dead” series, centers on a group of individuals who take refuge in an abandoned farmhouse when corpses begin surfacing from a graveyard in search of fresh human bodies to feast upon. Despite the group’s best efforts to keep the living dead at bay, the bodies surround the house, causing the survivors to panic. Order dissipates eventually and the zombies push their ways inside. One by one, the living become the prey of the blood-crazed deceased.
The black and white eeriness of George A. Romero’s horror masterpiece.
Ever had someone, or something, stare into your soul? Now you have.
You may also be interested in this:
