In honour of the release of Quarantine, Movies.ie takes a look at some of the greatest zombie flicks ever to hit the silver screen.
(1) Night of the Living Dead
George Romero’s genre-defining film is the benchmark to which all other zombie flicks should compare themselves. Placing the zombie squarely in middle America, “Night”, the first in his series, was a low budget indie pic that according to Romero, was heavily influenced by Richard Matheson’s vampire novel I Am Legend. “Night” itself would prove to be immensely influential itself on everything from modern high-profile “zombie” pic to countless low-budget cheapie rip-offs and many videogame (Resident Evil anyone?)
(2) Zombie Flesh Eaters
A
Italian spaghetti-zombie classic from Lucio Fulci. On a voodoo island
the living dead massacre everyone before turning their attention on New
York City. Particularly remembered for its ultra-gore (including a skewered
eyeball and a graphic throat slit) it’s also notable for it’s bizarre
underwater fight scene with a topless female diver, a zombie and a
shark (yep, a shark!)
(3) The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue
Yet another movie to borrow heavily from Romero’s Dead series, this ‘filmed in lake District’ zombie flick from the mid ’70s is both nightmarishly bleak and sinister in intent. Arthur Kennedy is the American-English policeman investigating experimental pesticides which seem to be having unexpected effects at the local cemetery. A genuinely creepy tale with an unrelenting tension…
(4) Return of the Living Dead
“Alien” scribe Dan O’Bannon breaks the rules of the traditional slow, shuffling zombie, instead giving the undead a boost of speed and a punk soundtrack in this 1986 gory horror comedy spoof of the classic dead trilogy, featuring supercool victims/heroes Bert’n’Ernie. Deliciously vicious, but more importantly gut-munchingly funny. “MORE BRAINS!”
(5) Re-Animator
Two great straight turns from Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West (who creates a serum capable of bringing the dead back to life – well sort of), and the late David Gale as the maniacal Dr Carl Hill lift this film with the help of director Stuart Gordon to cult classic comedy gorefest. Try and get hold of the uncut version, the scene with the severed head will have you in stitches…