The best zombie movies of all time
The top 3 according to 196 votes from people: Night of the Living Dead · Dawn of the Dead · Shaun of the Dead. (Updated Oct 13, 2025.)
The zombie films at the top of Empire's 25 best, Rotten Tomatoes' 100 essentials and Paste's 50, from Romero's classics to Train to Busan.
Top 12
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1
Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero, 1968. The independent film that invented the modern zombie.
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2
Dawn of the Dead
George A. Romero, 1978. Survivors in a shopping mall; a satire of consumerism.
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3
Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Wright, 2004. Simon Pegg and the Winchester pub; the great zombie comedy.
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4
28 Days Later
Danny Boyle, 2002. Cillian Murphy wakes up in an empty London; third on Empire's list.
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5
Day of the Dead
George A. Romero, 1985. Scientists and soldiers in an underground bunker.
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6
One Cut of the Dead
Shinichiro Ueda, 2017. A low-budget Japanese film with a brilliant structural twist.
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7
Train to Busan
Yeon Sang-ho, 2016. A KTX train from Seoul and an outbreak on board.
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8
Braindead
Peter Jackson, 1992. Splatter comedy famous for its lawnmower finale; seventh for Empire.
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9
The Return of the Living Dead
Dan O'Bannon, 1985. Punk zombies who crave 'brains'.
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10
[REC]
Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, 2007. A quarantined Barcelona building, found-footage style.
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11
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Zack Snyder, 2004. The remake with fast zombies; second in Ranker's fan vote.
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12
Zombieland
Ruben Fleischer, 2009. Rules for surviving the apocalypse and a Bill Murray cameo.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (1)
Shaun of the Dead, the best zom-com ever.