22 Best Zombie Movies of All Time

By Vlad Zakh · June 19, 2026

A zombie film is really a stress test: what do people do when society falls apart? George Romero set the template with Night of the Living Dead, then used a shopping mall to poke at consumerism in Dawn of the Dead. Shaun of the Dead’s whole survival plan is going to the pub, and 28 Days Later wakes a man from a coma to a Britain emptied out by a rage virus. Quirkier picks like Pontypool and Warm Bodies show how far the idea will stretch.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

01

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

IMDb ★ 7.8 RT 95% Metacritic 89

A group of strangers barricade themselves in a farmhouse against a growing horde of the reanimated dead.

Directed by George A. Romero · 1h 36m · Rated NR

7 wins

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, HBO Max Amazon Channel, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Peacock Premium, Philo, Brew · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Brew, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Brew, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

02

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.8 RT 92% Metacritic 71

The original mall-siege zombie classic, using consumerism as its own kind of horror.

Directed by George A. Romero · 2h 07m · Rated NR

3 wins & 2 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

03

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

IMDb ★ 7.8 RT 92% Metacritic 76

A slacker's zombie-apocalypse survival plan is mostly just going to his regular pub.

Directed by Edgar Wright · 1h 39m · Rated R

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards14 wins & 20 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

04

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

IMDb ★ 7.2 RT 77% Metacritic 59

Survivors barricade themselves in a shopping mall during a fast-spreading zombie outbreak.

Directed by Zack Snyder · 1h 41m · Rated R

1 win & 17 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, Starz Amazon Channel, Starz, Starz Apple TV channel, Starz Roku Premium Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

28 Days Later (2002)

05

28 Days Later (2002)

IMDb ★ 7.5 RT 87% Metacritic 73

A man wakes from a coma to find Britain emptied out by a rage-fuelled virus.

Directed by Danny Boyle · 1h 53m · Rated R

10 wins & 32 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Apple TV, Apple TV Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Dead Alive (1992)

06

Dead Alive (1992)

IMDb ★ 7.4 RT 89% Metacritic 54

A man's mother is bitten by a cursed monkey and the resulting outbreak escalates into absurd gore.

Directed by Peter Jackson · 1h 43m · Rated R

14 wins & 7 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Re-Animator (1985)

07

Re-Animator (1985)

IMDb ★ 7.1 RT 88% Metacritic 73

A medical student's reanimation serum brings the dead back violently, imperfectly alive.

Directed by Stuart Gordon · 1h 26m · Rated NR

4 wins & 5 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Day of the Dead (1985)

08

Day of the Dead (1985)

IMDb ★ 7.1 RT 61% Metacritic 60

Scientists and soldiers holed up underground study the undead while their own alliance falls apart.

Directed by George A. Romero · 1h 41m · Rated NR

2 wins

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Philo, Shudder, Night Flight Plus, FlixFling · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

09

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

IMDb ★ 7.3 RT 71% Metacritic 66

A chemical leak reanimates corpses at a medical supply warehouse, with brain-eating consequences.

Directed by Dan O'Bannon · 1h 31m · Rated R

4 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Pontypool (2008)

10

Pontypool (2008)

IMDb ★ 6.5 RT 83% Metacritic 54

A radio DJ realises a strange virus is spreading through the English language itself.

Directed by Bruce McDonald · 1h 36m · Rated NR

1 win & 11 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Philo

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Life After Beth (2014)

11

Life After Beth (2014)

IMDb ★ 5.7 RT 46% Metacritic 50

A grieving boyfriend's dead girlfriend inexplicably comes back, and not entirely herself.

Directed by Jeff Baena · 1h 29m · Rated R

6 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Warm Bodies (2013)

12

Warm Bodies (2013)

IMDb ★ 6.8 RT 81% Metacritic 60

A young zombie's feelings for a human survivor slowly start reversing his own decay.

Directed by Jonathan Levine · 1h 38m · Rated PG-13

2 wins & 10 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

13

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

IMDb ★ 6.6 RT 86% Metacritic 67

A special school for infected but still-sentient children holds the key to a possible cure.

Directed by Colm McCarthy · 1h 51m · Rated R

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award8 wins & 12 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Cargo (2017)

14

Cargo (2017)

IMDb ★ 6.3 Metacritic 65

An infected father races against his own transformation to find someone to protect his baby daughter.

Directed by Yolanda Ramke & Ben Howling · 1h 45m · Rated NR

1 win & 17 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Train to Busan: Peninsula (2020)

15

Train to Busan: Peninsula (2020)

IMDb ★ 5.5 RT 55% Metacritic 51

A follow-up that trades the original's train setting for a wasteland four years after the outbreak.

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho · 1h 56m · Rated NR

8 wins & 20 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Rakuten Viki · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Train to Busan (2016)

16

Train to Busan (2016)

IMDb ★ 7.6 RT 95% Metacritic 73

A zombie outbreak confined to a moving train, and somehow it never runs out of tension.

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho · 1h 58m · Rated NR

36 wins & 42 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

I Am Legend (2007)

17

I Am Legend (2007)

IMDb ★ 7.2 RT 68% Metacritic 65

A scientist believes he's the last uninfected man in a New York overrun by mutated survivors.

Directed by Francis Lawrence · 1h 41m · Rated PG-13

9 wins & 23 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: VIX , ViX Premium Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

28 Weeks Later (2007)

18

28 Weeks Later (2007)

IMDb ★ 6.8 RT 73% Metacritic 78

The rage virus breaks out again just as Britain's survivors start to rebuild.

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo · 1h 39m · Rated R

3 wins & 16 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Peacock Premium, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Peacock Premium Plus · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

World War Z (2013)

19

World War Z (2013)

IMDb ★ 7.0 RT 67% Metacritic 63

A former UN investigator races the globe to find the origin of a fast-spreading zombie pandemic.

Directed by Marc Forster · 1h 56m · Rated PG-13

3 wins & 25 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Peacock Premium, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, MGM Plus · Rent: JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

20

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

IMDb ★ 6.7 RT 68% Metacritic 55

The same survivors face tougher, evolved zombies a decade into the outbreak.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer · 1h 39m · Rated R

6 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Zombieland (2009)

21

Zombieland (2009)

IMDb ★ 7.5 RT 89% Metacritic 73

A germaphobic survivor's rules for staying alive in a zombie-overrun America.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer · 1h 28m · Rated R

10 wins & 29 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Resident Evil (2002)

22

Resident Evil (2002)

IMDb ★ 6.6 RT 36% Metacritic 35

A team investigates a secret underground lab overrun by its own escaped zombie experiments.

Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson · 1h 40m · Rated R

7 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.