Zombie movies have had a fascinating path to the mainstream.
That all changed when pioneering filmmakerGeorge A. Romerocame along.
At the same time, an entire genre sprung up around Romero’s works, spanning the globe.
Then, as quickly as it exploded, the zombie went out of fashion.
FirstDanny Boyle’s genre-evolving28 Days Laterset the stage, then came theResident Eviladaption, andZack Snyder’sDawn of the Deadremake.
All were big-budget studio films with nationwide theatrical rollouts.
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It was officially official.
If the godfather of zombies was back, Zombies were definitely back.
What was even more amazing was how many of them were worth watching.
Image via Universal Pictures
In the years since, the production on zombie movies has drastically slowed, especially at the studio level.
There’s still a lot of, ahem, hunger for the genre in indie cinema.
Is it genre burnout?
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Did audiences tire of the undead the way they tired of Westerns?
Or maybe, it’s cultural.
Is another cinematic age of the undead upon us?
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Hang out at the mall, but of course.
Does the wealth-fueled naivete of the average white teenager survive in a vacuum?
Does it go away when they are being hunted for sustenance?
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And if were being honest, it belongs on this list for its soundtrack alone.
The rest of this is just whip cream and cherries.
Enter Wirkolas decidedly skewed take on zombies in this horror-comedy with plenty of guts.
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And why wouldnt he?
The living are assholes and they keep spreading rumors hes impotent.
Theres just one catch – the dead wont stay burried in his graveyard.
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Thats just the start of things getting weird.
Most live-action movies cant even achieve that much.
Because they cant communicate, theyre set upon by an angry mob.
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As a bonus, its a zombie movie you might watch with the kids!
The ensemble comedic performers has a blast doling out verbal beatdowns in between actually beating down the undead.
You wont find any of that inPlanet Terror.
Image via Laika
Flesh-hungry humanoid mutants tear through the Texas countryside, leaving a gooey trail of body parts in their wake.
It’s a blast and it triumphs because it leans in so hard.
And that’sPlanet Terrorin a nutshell; audacious, goofy and always going right for the guts.
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