Capcom's Dead Rising video game franchise has been entertaining horror fans since the first game was released in 2006. It went on to expand through several sequels and even two widely-available live-action movies made under the banner, Dead Rising: Watchtower in 2015 and Dead Rising: Endgame from the following year.
As a conventional exploration of the zombie apocalypse format, the Dead Rising franchise quite clearly takes inspiration from the world of movies as well as giving its own inspiration to them in return. Here are 10 gore-filled and action-packed zombie movies that every Dead Rising fan should check out immediately.
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Geroge A. Romero's classic has influenced the genre like nothing else and certainly willed every other movie on this list into existence.
Expanding on his original zombie milestone Night of the Living Dead, Romero adds elements of commercialism via its (at the time) unique location of a shopping mall but you can simply marvel at the ingenuity of Tom Savini's practical effects and makeup for the whole movie if you're not into that. It's essential viewing for a zombie fan of any variety.
Braindead a.k.a. Dead Alive (1992)
Before The Lord of the Rings conquered the world, Peter Jackson's aspirations were much more niche but by no means any less ambitious. Braindead (a.k.a. Dead Alive) is quite simply one of the most entertainingly disgusting times you can have while watching a movie.
If it can be ripped, torn, gouged, punctured, splattered, crushed, or just otherwise destroyed then Jackson depicts the act with great enthusiasm. It's one of the few movies that can live up to the absolute carnage that a player can create for themselves with Dead Rising's endless zombie hordes.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Edgar Wright's romantic zombie comedy played as much a part in rejuvenating the zombie movie as Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake from the same year but did so while also returning a much-missed sense of comedy.
Sweet, smart, funny, and often genuinely scary, Shaun of the Dead is one of the most accessible and enjoyable zombie movies ever made and a Dead Rising fan who hasn't seen it yet is definitely missing out on something special.
Cooties (2014)
This zombie comedy follows a group of elementary school teachers dealing with a school full of undead kids and, while that definitely doesn't sound like the firmest basis for a comedy, the central trio of Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, and Rainn Wilson gives a distinct sitcom vibe to the weary formula.
A great supporting cast, including 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer and Saw writer/Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell, makes Cooties one of the more underrated gems of the genre's conventional side.
Zombieland (2009)
A pretty indisputable modern classic, it's hard to say exactly what makes people latch on so hard to Zombieland. It arrived at a very convenient moment, just as the zombie craze was poised to explode once again into popular culture, but the combined power of its incredible core ensemble and an uncharacteristically laidback feel for the genre just seems to have this perfect storm effect on audience members.
The idea of the modern zombie movie is, of course, to be enjoyable in some way, as Dead Rising illustrates so well, and Zombieland depicts the most pleasant version of the conventional zombie apocalypse yet.
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
One of the weirdest entries into the genre overall, and it's a pretty strange genre, The Return of the Living Dead is the brainchild of Dan O'Bannon, the screenwriter of such sci-fi classics as Total Recall and Alien (amongst many other accomplishments).
More a series of vignettes than one overall story, The Return of the Living Dead should be the next stop after Braindead for anybody looking to get grossed out by a retro zombie movie.
Planet Terror (2007)
Originally the counterpart to Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse segment Death Proof before both movies just went their separate ways and ended up being counted as more their own things, Robert Rodriguez's contribution is much less concerned with coming off as legitimate auteur cinema and just wants to take you on a fun, schlocky, ride.
Planet Terror is bursting with memorable moments, not least of which is a fake trailer for a Danny Trejo vehicle named Machete which materialized into an actual movie three years later with a sequel following three years after that.
Train to Busan (2016)
This South Korean hit has taken the world by storm in a very short period of time with its breakneck pace and intense, claustrophobic, action. The idea of a contained zombie thriller on a moving train seems like such a no-brainer when you see it that you wonder how it hadn't been tried before but Train to Busan doesn't get by on just the strength of its premise alone.
Dead Rising fans will appreciate that, while there's certainly a humorous edge to things, there are emotional stakes motivating its characters and that serves to make the story all the more thrilling.
Warm Bodies (2013)
Continuing the Rom-Zom-Com thread started by Shaun of the Dead, Warm Bodies markets the zombie apocalypse to the teen romance movie crowd to interesting effect.
Zombies still eat people but the conventions of the genre are toyed with when Nicholas Hoult's undead heartthrob, who provides a droll narration to the audience about the mundane existence and inner thoughts of a zombie, falls for a living woman and attempts to win her heart.
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Fred Dekker's odd mish-mash of horror subgenres, from sci-fi to slashers, is ultimately a straight forward zombie movie in the end but the bizarre comedic journey to get there makes it one of the most stand out cult horror movies of the 80s.
With a movie where the last names of the main characters are Romero, Hooper, Cameron, Cronenberg, Landis, and Raimi, you know you're in for a referential treat if you're a horror fan.