After the success of The Walking Dead, zombie media has become more prevalent than ever. However, the zombie craze didn't just start in 2011. Zombies have been walking, moaning, and eating for decades. They have become so prevalent that much of it has become mainstream.
From the original movies of the '60s to the resurgence in popularity of the early 2000s, zombies have proven that they're here to stay and, more often than not, the lower the budget then the better the movie is.
Updated on March 3rd, 2021 by Mark Birrell: Horror fans' love for zombie movies will likely never die but, unfortunately, the run of some of the best examples of the genre on streaming platforms does. Not wanting anyone to miss out on the best undead thrillers, dramas, and comedies available, we've updated this list to make sure that fans can stream the movies mentioned provided that they have a subscription to the service in question and, sometimes, even if they don't. From integral classics of the genre to more recent and underrated gems that fans may never have heard of, these movies should be sought out before the big bluster of the blockbusters.
Night of the Living Dead (1968) on Amazon Prime
The first movie in George A. Romero’s prolific career, Night of the Living Dead cannot be discounted in the culture of the zombie genre. Romero was famous for using social commentary in his horror movies and the zombies were really just a conduit for dissecting much more real and widespread social problems.
There is a reason why an entire genre was built off of one man's career. This movie was just the start of a franchise that still makes waves today.
Shaun of the Dead (2004) on HBO Max
Edgar Wright may not be doing low-budget movies anymore, but, once upon a time, Shaun of the Dead gave birth to the now-infamous Cornetto Trilogy. An obvious nod to Dawn of the Dead, the movie has plenty of its own Romero-esque qualities and commentary on life.
Shaun of the Dead is hugely innovative and arrived at a time when it seemed as if zombie movies had nothing original left to offer, revitalizing the entire genre.
Pet Semetary (1989) on Amazon Prime
The 1989 movie based on Stephen King’s classic horror novel found new ways to explore the zombie genre. Pet Semetary doesn't revolve around escaping a zombie apocalypse but, instead, focuses on the devastation of losing a child with a desperate main character dabbling in raising the dead with horrific consequences.
Though remade in 2019, the 1989 version got Stephen King's stamp of approval and has all the charm of a low-budget movie with all its bloody savagery.
Cargo (2017) on Netflix
No stranger to Edgar Wright's foray into genre movies, Martin Freeman starred in another notable entry into the genre. Cargo had nothing to do with satire but portrayed the lengths that a father would go to in order to save his child.
An Australian independent movie released through Netflix, Cargo creates an unforgiving world full of impossibly difficult decisions as, after being bitten, Martin Freeman's character must search for someone who can care for his daughter before he turns.
Maggie (2015) on Pluto TV and Tubi
Another more subtle movie, Maggie also deals with a father's love for his daughter. Arnold Schwarzenegger gained fame as the emotionless killing machine from James Cameron's The Terminator but his emotional work is just as noteworthy.
An inverse of Cargo, Maggie deals with a father accepting the fact that his daughter is sick and turning into a zombie. These emotional movies are some of the more impactful portrayals in the zombie genre.
Cooties (2014) on Tubi
Cooties is a must-see as it deals with the most terrifying of monsters, children, and its great cast including Elijah Wood and Leigh Whannell. Whannell is best known for his work in the Saw and Insidious franchises with his longtime creative collaborator James Wan and, more recently, 2020's The Invisible Man. Aside from co-starring, Whannel also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie with fellow actor/screenwriter/director Ian Brennan.
In this comedy, the audience sees in real-time just how quickly a virus can spread and just how deadly middle school children can be.
The Battery (2012) on Tubi and Amazon Prime
A very impressive achievement for a budget of $6,000 (and not just for a genre movie), The Battery follows two friends, who are also both former baseball players, as they attempt to make it in the kind of empty wastes of rural society that zombie fans have become so accustomed to in the wake of The Walking Dead's success.
Tapping into the heart of what makes the zombie setup such an effective bang-for-buck concept, the movie spins a much larger story and world than it's able to depict with its budget by only showing and telling what it absolutely has to, and anyone tired of the excesses of blockbuster filmmaking should find it quite refreshing.
The Cured (2017) on Hulu
The alluring main event of a zombie apocalypse is a trap that many low-budget filmmakers often fall into, so many avoid a lot of the large-scale problems that would go with such an idea and instead focus most of their efforts on the aftermath of the event. The Cured is a movie that chooses this route and depicts a contemporary Ireland recovering from a zombie epidemic that actually had a curable version of the inciting virus.
The marginalized status of formerly infected people within this fragile peace upends social norms and presents a fairly unique idea for the genre: people who actually feel a desire to be zombies.
Evil Dead II (1987) 0n Cinemax
Evil Dead has a reputation for being a franchise where the sequel is better than the original. There was no need to watch the first installment as it was retconned to make a far superior movie. Sam Raimi, for a few reasons, had to rewrite the story but it was the best thing for the franchise. It introduced an element of unique humor and an iconic movie hero.
The movie strictly features Deadites instead of zombies, but they were walking dead nonetheless. It was the beginning of a cult phenomenon that none in the genre have quite lived up to since.
Re-Animator (1985) on Tubi
It's impossible to discuss iconic undead movies without considering Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator, though the movie is certainly not for everyone. An ambitious and potentially mad student goes on a maniacal egotrip to reanimate dead flesh with dire consequences.
Its level of camp and gore make it an instant B movie classic and something more memorable and influential than many of the biggest blockbusters of its decade.