ScreenRant Picks the Scariest Zombie Films of the Last 50 Years. You Need to See Them All

Zombie films come in all shapes and sizes - silly, comedic, gory, over-the-top. But there are those that genuinely send chills down your spine. The kind that make you glance over your shoulder in dark hallways at night and double-check that your door is locked.

These are exactly the films that made it into ScreenRant's July 2025 ranking — and we've added one bonus pick from our zoomboola.com editorial team.

"Night of the Living Dead" (1968), dir. George A. Romero

IMDb Rating: 7.8

The film that started it all. Romero transformed slow, mindless corpses into a genuine threat.

Men in suits and zombie costumes stretching their arms forward — Scene from "Night of the Living Dead"

The main characters are a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse while zombie hordes lurk outside. For the first time in the genre's history, we saw a zombie child and an ending that still packs a punch decades later.

"28 Days Later" (2002), dir. Danny Boyle

IMDb Rating: 7.5

The film that rebooted the genre for the 21st century. Boyle made the infected not just dead, but rabid — they run, scream, and tear apart everything living.

Actor Cillian Murphy standing by a car while zombies run toward him — Scene from "28 Days Later"

Cillian Murphy as Jim wakes up in an empty London — and that's where the real nightmare begins. Strong script, handheld camera work that adds to the immediacy, relentless tension, and the feeling that there's no escape.

"World War Z" (2013), dir. Marc Forster

IMDb Rating: 7.0

Hollywood zombie apocalypse on a global scale. Brad Pitt races across an infected world to find a cure.

Zombie hordes leaping at a flying helicopter against the sky — Scenes from "World War Z"

The most terrifying scene? Zombies swarming a plane like bees. Scary stuff — even with a PG-13 rating.

"Dawn of the Dead" (2004), dir. Zack Snyder

IMDb Rating: 7.2

Zack Snyder's debut turned out to be more than just a remake of Romero's cult classic — it's one of the most energetic versions of zombie horror ever made.

Zombie hordes surrounding a white truck at night — Scene from "Dawn of the Dead" (2004)

A group of survivors barricades themselves in a shopping mall, but outside aren't just zombies — they're running zombies. James Gunn's script adds dark humor, but the laughs quickly turn to horror.

"The Sadness" (2022), dir. Rob Jabbaz

IMDb Rating: 6.5

This Taiwanese film shows no mercy to its audience. It's not just horror — it's an absolute meat grinder.

A man in a gray t-shirt with red eyes holding pruning shears — Frame from "The Sadness"

The protagonists try to find each other in a city that's been ravaged by a mysterious virus outbreak for a year. The hospital sequence stands as one of the darkest and most terrifying scenes in zombie cinema. Brutal, visceral, and genuinely disturbing.

Bonus: "I Am Legend" (2007), dir. Francis Lawrence

IMDb Rating: 7.2

A bald man, on the right actor Will Smith walks through an empty city with a dog — Frames from "I Am Legend"

Sure, technically these aren't "classic" zombies, but the virus that wiped out humanity turned people into creatures that hide during the day and hunt at night.

Will Smith plays the last survivor, and the lonely New York backdrop to his struggle creates one of the most haunting images in cinema. Especially when hints emerge that these "monsters" still retain human emotions.