Happy Tuesday, dear readers! Each week, we’ll rank the top 10 films in a specific category. While we aim to tie these lists to big releases, that won’t always be the case. Our goal? For you to enjoy, share your own lists, and join in on a lively, friendly debate. This is an interactive space to build community here at The Contending.
No fancy intros, no long essays – just a category and a list. Sound good?
This week’s big release is 28 Years Later, the third entry in the rage virus trilogy. It all began in 2002 with 28 Days Later, a harrowing, low-budget thriller directed by Danny Boyle and penned by Alex Garland, starring a then-rising Cillian Murphy alongside Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson. In 2007, 28 Weeks Later followed under the direction of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, introducing audiences to a cast that included Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Idris Elba, Imogen Poots, Robert Carlyle, and Harold Perrineau. Now, nearly two decades later, Boyle and Garland reunite for the long-awaited third installment, featuring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Ralph Fiennes, and Jodie Comer.
To celebrate the occasion, we’re digging up the best the zombie genre has to offer. Since 1932’s White Zombie – directed by Victor Halperin and starring Bela Lugosi – filmmakers have been obsessed with the undead, and audiences have kept coming back for more.
From Romero’s slow, shuffling flesh-eaters in Night of the Living Dead to the frenzied, infected hordes of the modern rage zombie, the genre has mutated into countless terrifying forms. We’ve seen parasitic invaders, demonic reanimations, weaponized viruses, and even zombies played for laughs in horror-comedies that poke fun at the genre’s own clichés.
Whether they’re shambling or sprinting, decomposing or mutated, brain-dead or surprisingly clever, zombies remain one of horror’s most versatile – and viscerally entertaining – monsters.
10. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
9. World War Z (2013)
8. REC (2007)
7. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
6. Train to Busan (2016)
5. Zombieland (2009)
4. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
3. 28 Days Later (2002)
2. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
1. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
