15 Movies Like The Walking Dead (That Are Much Better Than The Walking Dead)
Since its debut in 2010, The Walking Dead has left fans of the show with an unquenchable thirst for post-apocalyptic zombie content. The genre has become oversaturated in a sea of undead, disaster scenarios, but here are fifteen films sure to satisfy those looking to get their Walker fix.
Rick and other central cast members.
15. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
When it comes to exploring the vast world of zombie films, anyone with an ounce of knowledge on the genre will tell you the only place to start is George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. This 1978 bloody epic took zombie horror to the next level. There’s gore, great characters, and a surprising level of social commentary that even today is a rare find in zombie flicks.
A horde of zombies burst through a barricaded doorway, (Dawn of the Dead, 1978)
14. Contagion (2011)
By far the most grounded portrayal of a disease outbreak on this list, 2011’s Contagion is terrifying for two reasons. The first being pandemics are really scary in their own right, but also because of just how plain realistic it is. While watching the disease spread and spread, you can’t help but feel like this is what it would actually look like if such a thing were to happen in the real world. There aren’t any explosions, packs of marauders raping and pillaging, a total government collapse, but rather, a government exhausting every resource to maintain order and find a cure.
It focused on the little things, like no food in the grocery store and a riot breaking out as survivors wait for care packages being given out from the back of military vehicles. In a lot of movies, the riot would lead to an overthrow of the military and a band of apex survivors rounding up the food. But here, the incident is able to be settled down, the starving population able to regain their sense of humanity. That is the root of the terror in this story – if it ever happens, you can bet it’s going to look a lot like this.
Jude law wears a bio-hazard suit to avoid contamination. (Contagion, 2011)
13. 28 Days Later (2002)
Brains! Brains! Brains! The undead’s desire for brains and other human flesh is one of the most famous tropes in all of horror. But in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, the flesh-eating cheese has been cut out for something grimmer and more realistic. After a rage-inducing virus is released on the public, Great Britain finds itself the center of a zombie outbreak. But these aren’t ordinary zombies, no, these are rage-fueled runners that are not so interested in how you taste, but simply want to tear you apart. After a man wakes up in an abandoned and ransacked hospital, he must rely on himself and a small group of survivors to navigate the ruined city and find safety.
A man runs from a flaming zombie. (28 Days Later, 2002)
12. Resident Evil: Extinction (2005)
If you are at all familiar with gaming, then you are no stranger to the Resident Evil series. Beginning with the 1996 PlayStation hit that started it all, Resident Evil grew from a fun survival horror puzzle game to a multi-platform entertainment franchise complete with a litany of sequels, novels, and a film series. Admittedly, the films were less than satisfying for diehard fans of the series, but the third installment, Extinction, brought something a little closer to the video games it was inspired by. As a ragtag convoy wanders the American southwest in search of supplies, it is all but impossible to fight off the endless horde of zombies that have taken over the entire world. This backdrop, combined with the return of series’ star Alice (Milla Jovovich), brings an exciting mixture of horror and the supernatural into the forefront.
Alice prepares to fight a swarm of zombies. (Resident Evil: Extinction, 2005)
11. The Crazies (2010)
George Romero makes another appearance on this list! Well, sort of. The Crazies goes all the way back to 1973, Romero’s fourth feature film; fast forward to 2010 and you have an updated take on the story, one that amps up the carnage and mayhem with a razor-sharp edge. Ogden Marsh, Iowa is a town like many others in the Midwest, but after a military plane carrying a mania-inducing chemical crashes into a local river, the small community finds its water supply contaminated. With the population descending into all out madness, the government locks down Ogden Marsh in an attempt to contain the spread and whitewash the entire incident. It’s up to the town sheriff and his small band of survivors to navigate through hordes of crazed citizens and government death squads if they stand a chance of escaping.
Survivors tend to wounded as they struggle to escape. (The Crazies, 2010)
10. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
It’s become the general consensus amongst horror fans that remakes don’t work the vast majority of the time. Our once fond memories of classic films are permanently tainted with an update that often takes more away from the original than it adds. This couldn’t be less of the case with Zack Snyder’s update of Dawn of the Dead. This is one of the first times we have the updated zombie 2.0, where these gore-laden flesh eaters come at you with everything they’ve got. A band of survivors take refuge in a shopping mall and it’s there they adjust to a life of isolation as opportunities for escape become slimmer and slimmer with the outbreak showing no sign of slowing. It is a genuinely scary horror remake that should not be missed.
Survivors attempt to escape a mass of zombies. (Dawn of the Dead, 2004)
9. Dead Weight (2012)
By far the least known title on this list, it’s clear the people behind 2012’s Dead Weight were inspired by The Walking Dead. A zombie movie that oddly enough features no zombies, Dead Weight tells the story of a man struggling to reunite with his girlfriend as he ventures across the desolate backcountry of a ruined Midwest. It’s a story about survival, when desperation turns the living versus the living when there is plenty of dead to worry about. Dead Weight is low budget, bare bones, and coldly effective as a showcase for the psychological horror of a zombie outbreak.
Survivors take a break from their journey across the Midwest. (Dead Weight, 2012)
8. The Day (2011)
Who says cannibalism is just for the undead? When social order has gone completely in the toilet, looks like picking up some takeout is out of the question. The Day tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world where a band of five survivors roam the countryside in search of food, shelter and any other supplies they can get their hands on. While searching an abandoned farmhouse, the group finds they’ve activated some kind of trap, causing the house to become surrounded by a local tribe hungry for human flesh. The Day asks interesting questions, like: Does morality have a place in a world without order? It’s up for you to decide, but in this world, everyone is a starving animal and starving animals can never be trusted.
Mary looks on as the cannibals close in. (The Day, 2011)
7. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Originally based off a spec-script known as The Cellar, 10 Cloverfield Lane was picked up by JJ Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, who opted to incorporate this chamber play into the Cloverfield universe. Focusing on the psychological claustrophobia of three people taking refuge from unknown attackers, this story focuses on the struggle for power when all the rules off society get thrown out the window. The terror doesn’t come from the creatures beyond the secured door of the safe house, but from behind the eyes of its inhabitants, never knowing if an act of kindness was done to save a life or to make prisoners out of those trapped inside.
Man scolds young survivor for breaking his strict rules. (10 Cloverfield Lane, 2016)
6. Land of the Dead (2005)
After a very long hiatus, twenty years to be exact, George Romero surprised everyone by writing and directing the fourth entry into his so-called Dead Series; this latest installment lovingly dubbed Land of the Dead. It’s been years after the zombie apocalypse has consumed the entire United States, but in the city of Pittsburgh, there has been an attempt to restore some sense of humanity and fight off the ever-encroaching undead. Protected on both sides by water and electric fences, this new order keeps the dead out, but corruption reigns supreme on the inside. Romero, no stranger to injecting social commentary into his zombie flicks, tells the story of rich and poor, those rich and powerful enough to find refuge on the inside, while the poor and desperate fight for survival on the outside. This is a story about adaption, how humanity has found away to prevent annihilation; but their undead enemies are adapting as well, and no amount of water or electric fences will be enough to stave off flesh-eaters with guns, knives and a plan of their own.
An intelligent horde of zombies close in on a human stronghold. (Land of the Dead, 2005)
5. Zombieland (2009)
This has been a heavy list; I think a little levity is in order to prevent a total bleakness overdose. Zombieland has the same setup as most zombie films: the outbreak, the collapse, the struggle to survive. What makes this movie standout is its outrageously hilarious take on a typically gloomy story. When four survivors, known only as the cities they originate from, make their way across America, fighting bands of zombies at nearly every turn, they survive by adhering to a strict set of rules, ones that comically pop up on the screen throughout. The main thing to take away from the blood-splattered carnage of Zombieland is the importance of enjoying the little things and taking a minute to laugh before giving the latest zombie you shot down a double tap.
The ragtag group of travelers discuss their next move, (Zombieland, 2009)
4. The Battery (2012)
When The Battery premiered at the Telluride Horror Show in 2012, audiences were relieved to be watching a horror flick that focused on humanity rather than the undead. Brainless zombie carnage has become the norm in horror, but I think The Walking Dead struck a chord with people and soon new zombie films were hitting the scene with a little more on their minds than blood and guts. When a zombie apocalypse takes over all of the New England area, two former baseball players are forced to wander the countryside in search of any means of survival. One is adapting to this newfound apocalypse, but the other just wants a normal life. In many ways, The Battery is a metaphor for choosing to live or die. In this new world, batteries are the last artifact of how things used to be, of the normal life. Once they are gone, back to the Stone Age. It’s this reality that separates the living from the dead, choosing to go on with a life of hardship or fading out with the old world you once knew. The Battery is top-notch indy horror that really has something to say and is sure to satisfy those in search of something different.
Two Survivors find themselves stuck in their car by a zombie horde. (The Battery, 2012)
3. Wyrmwood (2014)
These Aussies are mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore! Wyrmwood is high octane zombie carnage and it is truly a sight to behold. When a meteor shower causes the Australian outback to become overrun with zombies, a local mechanic uses everything he has to fend off the infected and protect his family. When even that isn’t enough to save his wife and daughter, the mechanic discovers zombie blood is not only extremely flammable, but can also be used to power vehicles. This is Mad Max meets The Walking Dead. We have trucks pumping with undead blood, armored suits worn into battle with an endless horde of flesh-eaters, everything you need to get your heart pulsing in an epic battle of man versus zombie.
An armored Barry prepares to go to battle with a horde of zombies. (Wyrmwood, 2014)
2. The Road (2009)
Bring on the bleakness! If you are looking for truly the most devastating, least hopeful post-apocalyptic film available, look no further. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Road only knows one word: survive. A father and his young son make the harrowing journey towards the coast, the best option they’ve come up with since the total collapse of society. Along the way they meet bands of marauders, cannibals, and thieves, any shred of goodness or humanity a long blown out candle. It’s a story that asks uncomfortable questions that many end-of-the-world scenarios often don’t: It’s not can we survive, but why should we survive?
Man and Boy walk down a desolate road in a destroyed world. (The Road, 2009)
1. Stake Land (2010)
In Stake Land, it isn’t zombies you should be worried about, this time around you are on the lookout for vampires. These vampires aren’t the suave, debonair, knock-on-your-window types, no, these are feral beasts that have overtaken the United States like a crazed swarm of bees. Families are slaughtered by the thousands, leaving a young boy in the protection of a proven vampire killer known only as Mister. Mister takes the boy under his wing, using his knack for vampire killing to keep them both alive. But that isn’t enough when they come into contact with a ragtag, religious cult known as The Brotherhood; it is here the true horror lies. Believing the vampire pandemic to be the will of God, the fanatics facilitate the spread of the blood suckers by
A feral vampire attempts to attack the survivors. (Stake Land, 2010)
