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This Is the Best Zombie Movie of All Time, According to Data

This Is the Best Zombie Movie of All Time, According to Data

The undead have given life to a successful movie and TV genre that, well, just won’t die. Films about the zombie apocalypse never seem to go out of fashion. And in a world dealing with a very real and lethal outbreak, movies about a rampaging virus threatening Earth have a particular resonance.

To determine the best zombie movies, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of April 2022, weighting all ratings equally. Only movies where zombies are a major plot element were included in the analysis. (See where zombies roam among the 50 best horror movies of all time.)

Zombie movies are generally long on violence, gore, and nudity, and short on plot and character development. Though some are strictly gore fests, many infuse comedy into the mix – and some, such as “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” are mashups of two completely unrelated genres.

These movies appeal to audiences in anxious times, and as a bestselling author in the zombie genre, Max Brooks, says on his website, “A zombie story gives people a fictional lens to see the real problems of the world. You can deal with societal breakdown, famine, disease, chaos in the streets, but as long as the catalyst for all of them is zombies, you can still sleep.” (Luckily, so far the zombie virus hasn’t spawned one of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history.)

Zombie movies have proved their worth at the box office. The most lucrative has been “World War Z,” starring Brad Pitt. Released in 2013 by Paramount, it has racked up more than $540 million in worldwide ticket sales.

George A. Romero is credited with popularizing the genre cinematically with a series of zombie films starting with “Night of the Living Dead” in 1968. Besides its depiction of gore and tension build-up, critics like Romero’s sly political commentary in his movies. Romero has six motion pictures on this list.

Sam Raimi, who helmed the “Evil Dead” franchise, has three movies in the top 10 here, and Brian Yuzna directed three movies on the list and produced a fourth. Paul W.S. Anderson had a hand in all six of the “Resident Evil” films, directing four of them and producing and writing the others. Actress Milla Jovovich starred in all six, with two of them making the list.

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment

45. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
> IMDb user rating: 6.2 out of 10 (191,930 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 60% (408,048 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 19% (134 reviews)
> Director: Alexander Witt

“Resident Evil: Apocalypse” was the second of the original six “Resident Evil” films based on the Japanese video game franchise of the same name. Milla Jovovich stars as a security operative out to contain a virus that has overwhelmed a city and turned it into a ghost town.

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

44. Pet Sematary (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 5.7 out of 10 (87,787 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 32% (3,705 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 57% (279 reviews)
> Director: Kevin Kölsch

Thirty years after the original “Pet Sematary” graced the big screen, Rotten Tomatoes critics felt the reboot was more like “an exhuming.” In the remake, a doctor (Jason Clarke) and his family relocate to rural Maine and discover a mysterious burial ground, setting off a chain of terrifying events.

Source: Courtesy of Screen Gems

43. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 6.2 out of 10 (188,848 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58% (390,643 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 25% (101 reviews)
> Director: Russell Mulcahy

In this, the third “Resident Evil” film, a woman with superhuman powers joins forces with former colleagues and others to battle a zombie-causing virus. Rotten Tomatoes critics dismissed the movie as “more of the same.”

Source: Courtesy of Re-Animator Productions

42. Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
> IMDb user rating: 6.3 out of 10 (15,041 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 45% (7,934 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 37% ( 19 reviews)
> Director: Brian Yuzna

Brian Yuzna mined the “Re-Animator” theme in this sequel to the original 1985 “Re-Animator.” As the title suggests, “Bride of Re-Animator” is an homage to classic horror films. In this movie, two scientists construct a she-monster around the heart of one of their former girlfriends.

Source: Courtesy of Focus Features

41. The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 5.5 out of 10 (69,493 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 38% (1,784 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 54% (308 reviews)
> Director: Jim Jarmusch

A-listers Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and Adam Driver play cops in a small town where a series of peculiar occurrences culminates in the dead arising from their graves to seek the flesh of the living. Jim Jarmusch directed and wrote the film, which Rotten Tomatoes critics said a “sharp wit and a strong cast make this a zom-com with enough brains to consume.”

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate

40. Maggie (2015)
> IMDb user rating: 5.6 out of 10 (43,279 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 32% (11,629 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 60% (135 reviews)
> Director: Henry Hobson

“Maggie” is among the biggest box-office successes in the zombie genre, grossing $457.3 million. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a father who tries to save his daughter from a virus that has turned her into a zombie. Rotten Tomatoes critics felt the movie was “redeemed by strong performances and an unexpectedly thoughtful tone.”

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

39. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 5.8 out of 10 (54,058 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 45% (28,279 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 46% (195 reviews)
> Director: Burr Steers

Jane Austen might recoil in horror over “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” a mashup of period movies and zombie flicks. In 19th-century England, a female martial arts expert and an arrogant but prolific zombie-killing gentleman join forces to fight the undead. Rotten Tomatoes critics said the film “manages to wring a few fun moments out of its premise, but never delivers the thoroughly kooky mashup its title suggests.”

Source: Melanie Leigh Wilbur / Contributor / Getty Images

38. Zombies Of Mass Destruction (2009)
> IMDb user rating: 5.0 out of 10 (4,121 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 34% (2,588 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 67% ( 06 reviews)
> Director: Kevin Hamedani

Also known simply as “ZMD,” “Zombies Of Mass Destruction” is a nod to post-9/11 political satire that pleased critics. The plot concerns an Iranian college student and a gay businessman who unite to battle zombie hordes.

Source: Courtesy of Home Entertainment Corporation PLC

37. Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
> IMDb user rating: 5.8 out of 10 (11,637 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 39% (9,608 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 55% ( 11 reviews)
> Director: Brian Yuzna

Another Brian Yuzna entry on the list, “Beyond Re-Animator” didn’t receive the same level of critical acclaim as the Yuzna-produced “Re-Animator” from 1985. In this one, a doctor, who as a boy, had seen his sister killed by a reanimated corpse, looks into the research of the doctor who performed the gruesome experiments.

Source: Courtesy of Trimark Pictures

36. Return of the Living Dead III (1993)
> IMDb user rating: 5.9 out of 10 (14,642 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 40% (15,499 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 55% ( 11 reviews)
> Director: Brian Yuzna

Brian Yuzna, who produced the well-received zombie flick “Re-Animator” in 1985, directed “Return of the Living Dead III.” In the film, a teen uses a chemical developed by the army to bring his dead girlfriend back to life after she was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

35. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
> IMDb user rating: 6.3 out of 10 (48,333 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 48% (9,625 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 44% ( 97 reviews)
> Director: Christopher Landon

Rotten Tomatoes critics felt “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” failed to live up to its zany title and said it was a routine zombie comedy-thriller. In the film, bullied Boy Scouts put their outdoors skills to use in battling the undead.

Source: Jamie McCarthy / Staff / Getty Image

34. Zombie Honeymoon (2004)
> IMDb user rating: 4.6 out of 10 (2,455 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 32% (4,702 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% ( 11 reviews)
> Director: David Gebroe

David Gebroe directed, wrote, and co-produced this horror rom-com. Things go wrong for honeymooners at the Jersey Shore when the husband is attacked on the beach by a creature emerging from the ocean. His body starts deteriorating and he desires human flesh. Critics liked its combination of horror and romance and Rotten Tomatoes awarded it a score of 82%.

Source: Courtesy of Third Rail Releasing

33. Diary of the Dead (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 5.6 out of 10 (46,858 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 41% (27,252 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 62% (130 reviews)
> Director: George A. Romero

Another entry in George A. Romero’s zombie résumé, “Diary of the Dead” is about college students traveling across Pennsylvania to a friend’s house to avoid the zombie onslaught with their journey documented by a film student. Like in previous “Dead” films, Romero’s movie doesn’t stint on social and political commentary.

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

32. Little Monsters (1989)
> IMDb user rating: 6.1 out of 10 (12,310 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 62% (48,956 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 44% ( 09 reviews)
> Director: Richard Greenberg

In “Little Monsters,” a boy (Fred Savage) befriends the creature under his bed (Howie Mandel), who takes the young man to his world of monsters. At first amused by their hijinks, the boy becomes concerned when he starts turning into a monster himself.

Source: Maury Phillips Archive / Contributor / Getty Images

31. Flight of the Living Dead (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 5.1 out of 10 (9,147 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 34% (6,080 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% ( 09 reviews)
> Director: Scott Thomas

In the age of COVID-19, the plot of “Flight of the Living Dead” – a virus unleashed on passengers about a 747 – has special resonance. The film earned an 89% score among Rotten Tomatoes critics.

Source: Courtesy of Cambist Films

30. The Crazies (1973)
> IMDb user rating: 6.1 out of 10 (12,559 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 43% (10,001 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 69% ( 26 reviews)
> Director: George A. Romero

One of the early zombie films in George A. Romero’s oeuvre, “The Crazies” is about a nurse and her husband trying to escape from a town overrun with zombies . Rotten Tomatoes critics didn’t think the movie was “top-shelf Romero,” but added that “its blend of genre thrills and social subtext should still be enough to satisfy discerning horror fans.”

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

29. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5 out of 10 (24,283 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 56% (15,417 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 65% ( 34 reviews)
> Director: Wes Craven

“The Serpent and the Rainbow” starred Bill Pullman as an anthropologist who goes to Haiti to study a drug used in religious ceremonies that turns people into zombies. His research runs afoul of Haiti authorities who regard him as a threat. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes said that although the film is “occasionally overwhelmed by excessive special effects, ‘The Serpent and the Rainbow’ draws on a chilling atmosphere to deliver an intelligent, politically informed story.”

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

28. Land of the Dead (2005)
> IMDb user rating: 6.2 out of 10 (94,462 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 51% (137,520 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 74% (179 reviews)
> Director: George A. Romero

George A. Romero reinvigorated the zombie genre with “Land of the Dead” in 1985. The movie starred Dennis Hopper as the ruthless ruler of a feudal society of humans who are the minority in a zombie-dominated world.

Source: Courtesy of Troma Entertainment

27. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)
> IMDb user rating: 6.1 out of 10 (8,239 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 64% (4,025 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 64% ( 25 reviews)
> Director: Lloyd Kaufman

The movie title is no deception. “Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead” is a sci-fi send-up about fast-food slingers who discover that their restaurant is built on an ancient burial site and that the chickens they are cooking are out to get them. Rotten Tomatoes critics said the movie may “be relentlessly tasteless and juvenile, but it’s also a lively slice of schlocky fun.”

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

26. Evil Dead (2013)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5 out of 10 (162,715 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 63% (77,430 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 63% (203 reviews)
> Director: Fede Alvarez

Rotten Tomatoes critics found absurd humor lacking in the reboot of “Evil Dead,” but but noted that it made up for it with gore and terror. Sam Raimi, who directed and wrote the original, produced the reboot.

Source: Courtesy of Atlantic Releasing

25. Night of the Comet (1984)
> IMDb user rating: 6.4 out of 10 (19,746 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58% (9,291 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% ( 33 reviews)
> Director: Thom Eberhardt

“Night of the Comet” spoofs sci-fi and Valley Girl culture. Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney play sisters who, following a comet sighting, are among the few survivors of a zombie invasion. They must evade both the undead and scientists who want to do experiments on them to try to develop an antidote. The sci-fi sendup earned it a 79% score among Rotten Tomatoes critics.

Source: Courtesy of AVCO Embassy Pictures

24. Dead & Buried (1981)
> IMDb user rating: 6.6 out of 10 (11,370 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 59% (5,136 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% ( 17 reviews)
> Director: Gary Sherman

In “Dead & Buried,” a sheriff and his wife discover that the town coroner has been creating a zombie army. The film benefited from familiar television faces James Farentino as the sheriff and Jack Albertson as the town coroner, as well as an appearance by Robert Englund, who played the serial killer Freddy Krueger in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” film series.

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

23. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 out of 10 (40,511 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 68% (64,217 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 66% ( 32 reviews)
> Director: Tom Savini

This remake of the George A. Romero classic benefits from better effects than the original. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes called the reboot a “worthy horror showcase.”

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

22. White Zombie (1932)
> IMDb user rating: 6.3 out of 10 (9,933 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58% (6,837 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% ( 21 reviews)
> Director: Victor Halperin

The oldest film about the undead on this list starred Bela Lugosi as the master of zombies in Haiti. He’s hired by a man who, angry at a woman who spurned his marriage request, plans to kill her and have Lugosi bring her back as a zombie who will be his bride forever. The movie resonated more with critics on Rotten Tomatoes than with fans.

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

21. World War Z (2013)
> IMDb user rating: 7.0 out of 10 (625,834 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (305,338 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 66% (279 reviews)
> Director: Marc Forster

Brad Pitt starred in this zombiefest as a UN investigator who sees a city descend into chaos as a fast-moving virus turns people into brain-dead zombies. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes found the film uneven, though they liked Pitt’s performance.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

20. I Am Legend (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2 out of 10 (712,870 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 68% (1,130,096 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 68% (215 reviews)
> Director: Francis Lawrence

Will Smith burnished his big-screen credentials in this horror flick about a scientist – one of the last survivors of a zombie apocalypse – who is searching for a serum to cure the plague that created the zombie mutants.

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate

19. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.2 out of 10 (67,787 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (8,248 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 78% (232 reviews)
> Director: André Øvredal

The scary stories of the title are told by Sarah Bellows, the daughter of an influential family, and the tales become real for the unfortunate teens who visit Sarah’s mansion. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes liked the plot twists and “ingeniously designed set of monsters.”

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

18. Creepshow (1982)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 out of 10 (44,794 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 68% (39,762 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 74% ( 38 reviews)
> Director: George A. Romero

Rotten Tomatoes critics called “Creepshow” an uneven anthology of the macabre, directed by gore master George A. Romero. It boasted a strong cast that included Hal Holbrook, E.G. Marshall, and Fritz Weaver.

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

17. Overlord (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 6.6 out of 10 (92,909 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 67% (4,314 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (227 reviews)
> Director: Julius Avery

“Overlord” was the operational name of the D-Day invasion, and this film does have a World War II theme. American paratroopers drop behind German lines to destroy a radio transmitter. However, they happen upon an evil experiment that soon pits the outnumbered group in battle against the undead.

Source: Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

16. Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 out of 10 (23,779 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 69% (5,883 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% ( 31 reviews)
> Director: Tommy Wirkola

‘Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead” combines zombies with Nazis. In this gruesome tale, a guy axes his girlfriend to death, cuts off his arm with a chainsaw, and watches his friends get munched on by undead Nazis. In its rating, Rotten Tomatoes warns of “strong bloody horror violence.”

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate

15. Warm Bodies (2013)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8 out of 10 (224,580 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (131,644 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (209 reviews)
> Director: Jonathan Levine

Joseph Levine’s different take on walking-dead genre – a zombie rom-com – is about a zombie who rescues a living girl from the undead who becomes more human as their bond strengthens.

Source: Courtesy of CatchPlay

14. Planet Terror (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 7.0 out of 10 (204,876 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (181,797 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% ( 29 reviews)
> Director: Robert Rodriguez

Nudity, gore, drug use, and graphic bloody violence are the hallmarks of “Planet Terror.” Rose McGowan plays a go-go dancer who has lost a leg to zombies. It’s replaced by a machine gun and McGowan shows no reluctance in using the lethal appendage. Rotten Tomatoes critics called it an “unpredictable thrillride.”

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

13. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.7 out of 10 (158,135 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (11,205 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 69% (251 reviews)
> Director: Ruben Fleischer

“Zombieland: Double Tap” returns the cast of the original 2009 “Zombieland” – Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin – to the front lines of the war with the undead. In the sequel, they meet up with survivors in a commune on their way to Graceland in Memphis.

Source: Courtesy of Universal Studios

12. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 out of 10 (245,727 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (404,207 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% (193 reviews)
> Director: Zack Snyder

This remake of George A. Romero’s horror classic pays homage to the original with Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames playing human survivors looking to fend off reanimated corpses in Milwaukee.

Source: Courtesy of RKO Radio Pictures

11. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 out of 10 (11,707 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (5,040 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% ( 34 reviews)
> Director: Jacques Tourneur

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes called “I Walked With a Zombie” a “sultry sleeper that’s simultaneously smarmy, eloquent and fascinating.” One of the oldest zombie-themed films on the list, it was directed by France’s macabre master, Jacques Tourneur,

Source: Courtesy of United Film Distribution Company

10. Day of the Dead (1985)
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 out of 10 (66,129 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (64,596 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% ( 40 reviews)
> Director: George A. Romero

George A. Romero, who virtually invented the modern zombie movie genre, returned with “Day of the Dead” in 1985. After the world is overtaken by zombies, scientists and military personnel hunker down in an underground bunker in Florida to figure out if they should educate, destroy, or run from the undead. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes didn’t think it was Romero’s best effort, but there was enough gore to get the job done.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

9. Corpse Bride (2005)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 out of 10 (254,567 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (553,528 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (196 reviews)
> Director: Tim Burton

From the fertile imagination of Tim Burton sprang “Corpse Bride,” an animated film about love among the undead. The movie delighted Rotten Tomatoes critics who called it “whimsically macabre, visually imaginative, and emotionally bittersweet.”

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

8. Army of Darkness (1992)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 out of 10 (168,204 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (218,708 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 73% ( 48 reviews)
> Director: Sam Raimi

The third Evil Dead movie directed and co-written by Sam Raimi to star scene-chewing Ash Williams finds him caught in the medieval period searching for a book that will return him to his time. However, he unleashes evil upon opening the book. The third of three Evil Dead films scored the lowest of the trio.

Source: Courtesy of Orion Pictures

7. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 out of 10 (57,600 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (55,385 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% ( 44 reviews)
> Director: Dan O’Bannon

Two oafish employees in a warehouse inadvertently release a gas that reanimates corpses and turns them into zombies. The two klutzes, their boss, and a mortician fight to survive the onslaught. The combination of horror, gore, and comedy earned “The Return of the Living Dead” a score of 91% among Rotten Tomatoes critics.

Source: Courtesy of Empire Pictures

6. Re-Animator (1985)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2 out of 10 (60,101 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (37,271 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% ( 61 reviews)
> Director: Stuart Gordon

In “Re-Animator,” medical student (Jeffrey Combs) brings his headless professor back from the dead via a special serum, with horrifying consequences. The movie puts the “dead” in deadpan humor, and Rotten Tomatoes critics awarded the film a score of 94%.

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

5. Zombieland (2009)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6 out of 10 (541,908 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (643,581 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (257 reviews)
> Director: Ruben Fleischer

In “Zombieland,” four humans untouched by the virus that turns people into zombies have to fight off ravenous hordes of the undead. Starring a post-“Cheers” Woody Harrelson, the film’s combination of comedy and horror earned it a score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Source: Courtesy of New Line Cinema

4. The Evil Dead (1981)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 out of 10 (194,931 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (202,972 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (61 reviews)
> Director: Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi wrote and directed “The Evil Dead,” which introduced Ash Williams as a young man horrified to see his friends become possessed by evil spirits in a cabin in the woods. “The right amount of gore and black humor” are why Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a score of 95%.

Source: Courtesy of Rosebud Releasing Corporation

3. Evil Dead II (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 out of 10 (154,088 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (148,534 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% ( 60 reviews)
> Director: Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi wrote and directed the second of the three Evil Dead films in which hero Ash Williams fights demons in a secluded cabin that have possessed his girlfriend. Rotten Tomatoes critics appreciated the amped up special effects that they said made the sequel at least as good as the original.

Source: Courtesy of Continental Distributing

2. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9 out of 10 (121,700 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (130,710 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% ( 74 reviews)
> Director: George A. Romero

George A. Romero, the godfather of gore, set the standard for zombie flicks with this black-and-white masterpiece filmed in documentary style. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes hailed the movie for its “tight editing, realistic gore, and a sly political undercurrent.”

Source: Courtesy of Focus Features

1. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9 out of 10 (530,779 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (498,702 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (213 reviews)
> Director: Edgar Wright

Mixing comedy and horror, “Shaun of the Dead” is about a going-nowhere 30-something living on the fringes of London who has to defend his girlfriend and mother from zombies who’ve taken over the city. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes said the film had “loads of wit.”

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