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Horror movies reached an apex in the 1980s with the "video nasties." These movies mostly survived on the splatter of blood and the gory after effects of demons and victims in movies. Ti West is a filmmaker who has based his career on paying homage to these nasties, and his 2022 horror movie X is a movie that did exactly that, with some horrific and gory practical effects.

Next up is the prequel to that movie, Pearl, which hits later this year. However, for people who want to get more of the blood and gore of those horror movies, there are so many great zombie movies from the past to choose from. Whether looking for slow-moving zombies or the more crazed versions, there is no lack of gore in these movies.

Braindead (1992)

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10 Zombie Movies That Will Make You Die (Laughing)

It seems almost hard to believe that before he made his Lord of the Rings movies, Peter Jackson made low-budget gore-splattered horror comedies. Of these, his first minor masterpiece was the 1992 horror movie Braindead, which was renamed Dead Alive in the United States. The movie's horrors started when a Sumatran rat monkey bit someone, and they died and became a bloodthirsty zombie.

This led to a man fighting for his life while a zombie-hunting preacher arrived to fight the evil dead as well. The movie was full of gore, possibly more than almost any other movie. It ended up going over the line when a zombie died via a lawnmower — from the lawnmower's point of view.

Rabid (2019)

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Rose with her bandaged face in Rabid

When looking at gore in movies, David Cronenberg has released some of the most iconic movies of the sort — horror or otherwise. What makes his gory spectacles different is they are not like other video nasties, and critics often see them as masterpieces. One of his earliest gore-fests was the movie Rabid.

While the movie details a "vampire contagion," it is more of a zombie outbreak than anything. Cronenberg also pushed the boundaries of decency when he mixed his gore with sexual situations and cast adult film star Marilyn Chambers in the lead role. With Cronenberg's iconic body horror sensibilities, this is a gory movie that is often hard to watch.

Day Of The Dead (1985)

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day of the dead 10 zombies great personalities

When looking at George Romero's Dead movies, the first — Night of the Living Dead — is a landmark in zombie cinema. Dawn of the Dead remains his best. However, while the third movie, Day of the Dead, doesn't get as much praise, it is the goriest of the original trilogy.

While Day of the Dead doesn't have the satire of the first two, it makes up for it with the excessive gore and emotional trauma. The humans barricade themselves in a military compound and turn on one another. The gore here, especially when the military scientists cut open the still-moving zombies, is top-quality practical effects.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

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Group of zombies running at something off camera in Dawn of the Dead

The first movie that really showed how gory zombie movies could be was the first Dawn of the Dead. While there was some gore in the original Night of the Living Dead, it was when Tom Savini came on board as the makeup maestro that the zombie movies really took off. However, the Zack Snyder remake from 2004 took things up a notch.

This movie had fast-moving zombies, and these were just as horrific as anything in the original movie. The entire movie is soaked with gore, and a scene toward the end didn't hold back. When a baby is born a zombie, and the survivors have to put it down, the gore was just the tip of the iceberg.

Dead Snow (2009)

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Nazi zombies in Dead Snow

Dead Zone is a Norwegian zombie movie that plays out like a black comedy that pays homage to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. However, instead of college kids releasing demons on the world, vacationers release a hoard of Nazi zombies straight from the Third Reich. After this, things get crazy with the gore.

The movie is a throwback to the splatterfest movies of the 1980s. Nothing might be as great as seeing the hikers kill the zombie Nazis, but the results come close. There is even one scene where a hiker is on the run from a hoard of zombies and uses the still-attached intestines of another zombie to repel down a mountain.

Re-Animator (1985)

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A still from Re-Animator

Based on HP Lovecraft's story, Stuart Gordon released his masterpiece Re-Animator in 1985. In this movie, Jeffrey Combs stars as a scientist named Herbert West who believes he can bring the dead back to life using science. However, this is never a good thing.

These dead people return more like Frankenstein creations, and then they kill. This movie is a splatter gore lover's dream and throws in some risqué situations as well. The absurdist humor adds to the gore and makes this a movie that fit in perfectly with the video nasties of its era.

Zombie Holocaust (1980)

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Zombie Holocaust is one of the most over-the-top zombie horror movies ever made. This is an Italian zombie movie from director Marino Girolami, and he started his movie with the desecration of corpses in New York City hospitals. The corpses had their organs pulled out and eaten, which sends two medical professionals to the Maluku Islands to investigate.

The movie mixes the old-school zombie movies with men bringing the dead back to life, and it mixes it with the gore and disgusting effects of the Romero-era zombies. While the story was completely ridiculous, the amount of excessive gore made this an underground hit in the 80s and a true cult classic.

Yummy (2019)

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Shudder Original 2020 Yummy

One of the lesser-known gory zombie movies hit in 2019 as a Shudder-exclusive movie called Yummy. The plot of this absurdly named zombie movie had a man going to a hospital in Eastern Europe, so his wife could get breast reduction surgery and his mother-in-law could have another face job. When the man mistakenly releases "patient zero" of a zombie disease, the outbreak starts.

The zombie outbreak tears through the hospital, which opens up the opportunity for the movie to show some disgusting gore when different patients in various conditions end up zombified. Yummy brought something fresh to a worn genre, but didn't hold back on the fan-favorite gore effects.

Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

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A horde of the undead in Zombie Flesh Eaters

Released in 1979, Zombie Flesh Eaters continued what George Romero did with his Dawn of the Dead movie. While Romero created the modern-day zombies that fans love in movies, this movie allowed Italian giallo filmmaker Lucio Fulci a chance to work in his playground. What resulted was disgusting gore, with one of the most iconic scenes in zombie movie history.

Fulci took the new ideas of zombies that Romero created and mixed it with the original zombie mythos from the Caribbean voodoo scene. His zombies were disgustingly falling apart, and their gory design alone made this a video nasty. There was also one of the most iconic zombie scenes that made this movie a classic when a zombie walking along the bottom of the ocean battled a shark.

Wyrmwood (2014)

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Released in 2014, Wyrmwood created a new form of zombie movie. Taking place in the Australian outback, a mechanic finds himself in a battle with hordes of zombies. However, things really take a sharp turn when one survivor learns she can telepathically control the zombies and uses them to escape the clutches of a mad scientist.

The movie doesn't hold back with releasing the unrelenting gore effects. After years of zombie movies slipping into obscurity outside the comedy efforts, Wyrmwood marked a return to style in 2014. The gore and relentless over-the-top action made this a zombie favorite.

NEXT: 15 Scariest Zombie Movies To Never Watch Alone, Ranked