10 Best Recent Zombie Movies You Haven’t Seen Yet

Zombie movies have been trendy for nearly a decade. White Zombie (released in 1932) and I Walked with a Zombie (released in 1943) are considered some of the earliest examples of films belonging to the horror subgenre. However, movies about flesh-eating human-monster hybrids truly became popular when George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead premiered in 1968. Blending gore and social commentary, the movie inspired many others of its kind.

In recent years, the subgenre has grown even more. On television, the Walking Dead franchise has become one of the biggest success stories, while on the big screen, movies like World War Z and Army of the Dead proved that the audience’s appetite was quite high. Unfortunately, plenty of great recent zombie flicks have also come and gone without much fanfare. But it’s never too late for anything, is it?

Here are some underrated recent zombie gems you should look for if you are a fan.

10

‘Final Cut’ (2022)

Based on the 2017 Japanese film One Cut of the Dead, Final Cut follows struggling French director, Rémi (Romain Duris), as he makes a groundbreaking, live-streamed, one-take zombie short film for a new horror-only streaming service. As filming goes on, real zombies infiltrate the production, turning most of the crew members into living undead. How will the chaos end?

Bad Day on the Job

This charming zombie flick benefits from a sly, funny screenplay that ensures audiences are never left disgusted by what’s going on. Like the original, it sometimes blurs the lines between the real attacks and the film-related attacks, but plenty of explanation is given later. Even though it borrows heavily from the Japanese film, Final Cut isn’t a take-for-take remake, so give it a chance if you are doubtful. You’ll be highly rewarded.

9

‘Friend of the World’ (2020)

Friend of the World

Release Date

December 11, 2020

Runtime

50 minutes

Director

Brian Patrick Butler

Producers

Kerry Rossall

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  Michael C. Burgess

  Berenger

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Friend of the World kicks off during the aftermath of a devastating global war. A young woman named Diane (Alexandra Slade) awakens in a bunker surrounded by dead bodies. She then encounters General Gore (Nick Young), who tells her they are among the last survivors and claims he knows a way out. They thus attempt to flee, only to encounter several zombies.

Post-War Horror

Top-notch casting greatly boosts this zombie flick, with Slade and Young both stand-outs. Much credit also goes to the production flick for making the bunker’s claustrophobic atmosphere quite realistic. Casual viewers needn’t squawk about Friend of the World. Even though it’s scary enough to qualify as one of the best war horror movies, it has enough light moments to appeal to everyone.

8

‘Outside’ (2024)

Outside

Release Date

October 11, 2024

Runtime

141 Minutes

Director

Carlo Ledesma

Writers

Carlo Ledesma

Zombies have taken over major Philippine cities in Outside. To avoid harm, Francis (Sid Lucero) transfers his family from their city home to his parents’ mansion on a sugarcane plantation. There, Francis finds several people dead (including his father), and his mother reanimated. After killing her, he and his family settle in the house, but even though he initially seems patient and equable, events soon cause him to crash out.

A Gripping “Barricade Horror” Flick

Sensitive, humane, and scary, but never over-the-top, this touching portrait of a family’s fight for survival avoids all the clichés one expects in depictions of attacks by the dead. Sid Lucero is a marvel, playing the protagonist as a resourceful, compassionate family man whose awareness levels are higher than those of anyone else. Beyond that, the cinematography is a thing to behold.

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7

‘#Alive’ (2020)

#Alive

Release Date

September 8, 2020

Runtime

98 Minutes

Director

Il Cho

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Video‑game streamer Oh Joon‑woo has a routine existence that mostly involves him staying in his room. However, his life is soon disrupted when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in Seoul, causing him to become a homebuddy involuntarily. Oh-Joon thus gets busy, making survival vlogs and trading supplies with a neighbor using zip lines. Will he be alive at the end of #Alive?

Desperate and Isolated

With its wry, delicate observation of a gamer in crisis, #Alive will stealthily win your heart without overly relying on endless zombie attacks. There are plenty of emotionally gripping moments, such as when he resorts to drinking alcohol to survive, only for him to start hallucinating about his family due to extreme hunger and thirst. At some point, he gets so angry that he steps out and tries to do a one-man army on the zombies. Watch to see how that unfolds.

6

‘Wyrmwood: Apocalypse’ (2021)

Wyrmwood: Apocalypse

Release Date

February 10, 2022

Runtime

1hr 28min

Director

Kiah Roache-Turner

Writers

Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner

Wyrmwood: Apocalypse takes us to a zombie‑infested Australian wasteland where rogue soldier Rhys (Luke McKenzie) makes a living by capturing human survivors. After seizing a half‑zombie hybrid, prompting her sister Maxi (Shantae Barnes-Cowan) to pursue him. Soon, he learns the regime’s real intentions and teams up with Maxi to stop them.

Mayhem in the Outback

One of director Kiah Roache-Turner’s most enjoyable meditations on chaos and teamwork, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is hoisted by the presence of Shantae Barnes-Cowan, a charming and assured actress who makes us root for her character all the way. Roache-Turner takes his time observing his main characters and lets us in on both their good and bad traits, a tactic that works brilliantly in his bloody world of both human and zombie villains. You’ll love the battles.

5

‘Valley of the Dead’ (2020)

Set during the Spanish Civil War, Valley of the Dead follows Jan (Miki Esparbé), a Nationalist soldier, who is captured by Republicans while attempting to deliver a message to a frontline unit. As he is being taken to a detainment camp, hordes of zombies attack, unleashed by a Nazi experiment gone wrong. Nationalists and Republicans are thus forced to unite against the new enemy.

Enemies Uniting Against a Greater Force

Patriotism, human foibles, and distrust are the thematic materials that the directing duo of Javier Ruiz Caldera and Alberto de Toro work with on this occasion, all of which enmesh our characters in chaos. Watch out for a tense scene where two soldiers get surrounded by zombies while inside a truck. The film is aesthetically pleasing and was justifiably nominated for Best Special Effects and Best Costume Design at the Goya Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars).

4

‘Black Friday’ (2021)

Black Friday

Release Date

November 19, 2021

Runtime

84 Minutes

Director

Casey Tebo

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It’s yet another annual Black Friday sale in Black Friday, and the underpaid employees at a toy store are being forced to clock in dozens of hours yet again. Unknown to them, an alien parasite has crashed onto Earth and is turning people into zombies. The employees soon find themselves trapped and forced to use toys and anything else they can find to fight off the mutated shoppers.

Bites Are Higher Than Sales This Time

Black Friday stands out as a virtual masterpiece of gore-ish horror, with actor Devon Saw, creepy and blood-soaked in the title role. There’s good support too from Bruce Campbell and Michael Jai White. Beyond that, the inspired camera work puts audiences uncomfortably close to the proceedings, making them feel like they are about to get the bite. Watch it if you haven’t. It’s a subtly perverse and slightly hilarious treat for horror and action devotees.

3

‘We Are Zombies’ (2023)

We Are Zombies

Release Date

August 13, 2024

Runtime

80 Minutes

Director

Yoann-Karl Whissell, François Simard, Anouk Whissell

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  Alexandre Nachi

  Karl Neard

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  Derek Johns

  Freddy Mercks

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We Are Zombies where zombies coexist peacefully with humans, though they are considered second-class citizens and are dubbed the “living-impaired.” In this new reality, a group of slackers opts to make a living by intercepting the Retirement Service’s calls to collect undesirable zombies and then trading them on the black market. Predictably, it all goes wrong for them sooner rather than later.

Dangerous Business

It’s always great when an adaptation captures the spirit of the source material. We Are Zombies is guaranteed to please all fans of the comic series The Zombies That Ate the World, since some of the actors even look like comic book characters. The film thrives more on the schemes than on the scares, so be prepared for a story that stimulates your mind.

2

‘Brain Freeze’ (2021)

Brain Freeze takes to a gated community in Montreal where experimental fertilizer used to nourish the grass at a golf course has begun seeping into the water supply. Soon, residents start transforming into green-tinged zombies. It’s now up to teenager André (Iani Bédard), who hates water and only drinks soda, to save the world.

Teen to the Rescue

Short but deeply rewarding, Brain Freeze is a film about a bleak situation and human reliance that gradually manages to rise above despair. Iani Bédard is terrific as the teenager given ‘hero’ responsibilities, giving a performance that is at once hilarious and crushingly overwhelming to the senses. Most importantly, the film excels by sufficiently addressing the themes of class warfare and environmental conservation.

1

‘Peninsula’ (2020)

Peninsula

Release Date

July 15, 2020

Runtime

115 minutes

Director

Yeon Sang-ho

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  Gang Dong-won

  Han Jung-seok

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Peninsula is the little-known standalone sequel to the popular South Korean zombie flick, Train to Busan. Events begin four years later when the country is overrun by zombies. Desperate for money, former Marine Corps Captain Jung-Seok (Gang Dong-won) accepts a job to head back to the now-ruined peninsula and retrieve a truck packed with $20 million. How will that go?

A Worthy Sequel

Yeon Sang-ho’s gripping action zombie flick might not be as flawless as the previous installment, but it is hella entertaining. Here, the grim realities of apocalypse life are magnificently depicted, following the tightly-knit relationship between survivors with honesty, boldness, and heart-wrenching verisimilitude. Be prepared for a wild finale that will leave you sweating and biting your nails.