10 Great Zombie Movies With At Least One Survivor

What makes zombie tales so appealing is just how bleak they can be. No movie in this subgenre comes with the promise that any of the protagonists will actually survive, what with the sheer overwhelming number of the creatures trying to kill our heroes. It's actually sometimes more surprising when a zombie movie ends with more than one character still alive to tell the tale. So I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com and these are 10 Great Zombie Movies With At Least One Survivor. Number 10, Army of the Dead. Now, let's get this out the way straight off the bat. Army of the Dead is decidedly not the zombie equivalent of The Godfather. This outrageously ambitious 2021 effort essentially sees the premise of the film's spiritual predecessor, that being director Zack Snyder's own remake of Dawn of the Dead, meet Ocean's Eleven in a bonafide zombie heist movie. An impressive ensemble cast helmed by Dave Bautista are tasked with breaking into a casino vault to steal $200 million, all housed within a city full of walkers. The movie itself has a lot of Snyder trappings but hey, the man knows how to put together some cracking action set pieces and at the end of the day it is a cracking popcorn movie laden with gore and action which is exactly all it aspires to be. And Snyder even manages to resist killing all of his protagonists this time around, as after escaping the shockwave from a nuclear missile aimed at Vegas, the daughter of Batista's character survives and is left to duly blow her Now, zombified father's head clean off. Number 9, Night of the Living Dead 1990. Thanks to it slipping into the public domain, we've seen plenty of dodgy Night of the Living Dead remakes and re-releases over the years, with a bunch of hacks taking the general premise of George A. Romero's classic original and trying to gimmick it to death for a new audience. Consequently then, with this in mind, you might have written off the 1990 remake of of night entirely, but both Booking trends, this is actually a great movie. Devised by George A. Romero himself, the legendary filmmaker enlisted the efforts of his long-time special effects collaborator Tom Savini, someone who had intimately worked on the dead movies previously, to deliver a version of Night for modern audiences. And what we got, while not perfect, is a bloody good time. Even more interestingly as well, it makes some rather large departures from the source material, this time around giving Barbara, a catatonic victim in the original flick, a more pronounced hero role. In fact, in this version, she's the only character from the original group to make it through the night in one piece, joining up with a roaming posse at film's end. It might not be as iconic as the original, But you shouldn't sleep on this 90s remake. Number 8. Resident Evil. Yes, here we are again, another What Culture Horror List presented by me that shouts out the Resident Evil movies. But the original is Really a fantastic zombie movie featuring a group of memorable heroes facing off against a bunch of people infected and mutated by the experimental T-Virus. What's great about this flick over the sequels in particular though is that the zombies themselves are actually really scary, posing a serious threat and brought to life with some incredible makeup work. Throw in a villainous AI, some laser slicing death scenes and Milla Jovovich kicking zombie dogs in the face and you have a whale of a time. Alvavik's hero Alice who gets lucky and makes it out alive by film's end. Which makes sense considering that she has an entire franchise to headline going forward. But a couple of other characters do also manage to survive the events of the flick, albeit not necessarily in one piece. See most characters do get killed or eventually transform, but Alice's untrustworthy love interest Matt is also saved at the end. Even if his survival doesn't last long, as he's transformed into the monstrous Nemesis Interestingly, that second movie also sees more characters survive its zombie apocalypse, so think of that kind of as a bonus entry here, though that movie is admittedly much harder to argue for as being a great film. Number 7, Warm Bodies. For all intents and purposes, a zombie romantic comedy simply shouldn't work. Also it initially seemed. As drawing traditional inspiration from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in a further bizarre twist, 2013's Warm Bodies was acclaimed as a heartwarming, cleverly written spin on the genre. Unfolding from the perspective of a zombie in a uniquely innovative narrative twist, the movie is helmed by a pair of superb turns from the consistently underrated Nicholas Holtz and Teresa Palmer. Razor sharp in its execution and remarkably self-aware, Jonathan Levine's direction This action produces a triumphant amalgamation of laughs, And for the less hardened viewers among us, this spin on Shakespeare's epic tragedy also has the benefit of not ending in a devastating double suicide. That's because upon meeting Palmer's Julie in the story's early going, Hult's zombie slowly begins to return to life across the course of the film, as his heart starts beating again. Many of the undead eventually begin to mimic his revival, meaning that swaths of zombies return to human form and are left standing. 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That last one especially is a big favourite of mine. So go on, make it so. Thanks to Paramount Plus for sponsoring us, and now, back to the list. Number 6, World War Z. Despite some regrettable instances of rather questionable CGI across 116 minutes of zombie-centric carnage and, let's face it, a total disregard for the excellent source material, Mark Foster's interpretation of Max Brooks' wildly successful 2006 novel of the same name is regarded as one of the more memorable genre outings of recent years. The sheer scale of World War Z zombies set against the backdrop of some legitimately spectacular set pieces This was a key factor in the film's lasting success. Furthermore, fans and critics alike were full of praise for the efforts of the ensemble cast, with special plaudits reserved for leading man Brad Pitt in particular. It's not the finest example of filmmaking you're ever likely to witness, but what World War Z undeniably brings to the table is a damn fine zombie experience, which is kinda nuts considering just how troubled the production was. And despite the seemingly insurmountable odds posed by the film's plot, Pitt's hero and his family are ultimately left standing in a safe zone by movie's end. End. With a way to camouflage themselves against the zombies to boot. 5. Dawn of the Dead With his original Night of the Living Dead famously killing off every protagonist in the story as we've already mentioned, fans were expecting something similarly downbeat when George A. Romero returned to the subgenre that he helped invent with Dawn of the Dead. Depicting the exploits of four survivors within the confines of a shopping mall, amidst the chaotic backdrop of a zombie apocalypse, the movie absolutely rules, even if it does take a more tongue in cheek approach to the horror at the times, serving as much as a wacky send-up of consumerism as much as it is a straightforward horror. But Romero was a master of tone because he always knew how to ground that horror in real stakes when he needed to, and Dawn is absolutely no different as the body bags start to pile high with our beloved cast of heroes inside. However, after pondering several different soul destroying endings for this effort, Romero ultimately opted for a less devastating approach to the ending. The director later revealed that he wanted a more uplifting ending than the desolate Endgame. Characters Fran and Peter eventually do escape to relative ambiguous safety aboard a stolen helicopter in the film's thunderous conclusion. Regrettably the remaining two survivors are not so fortunate with Roger succumbing to zombie bites and an undead Steven receiving a bullet to the chops. Number 4. Train to Busan The manner in which Train to Busan grabs its viewers' attention is utterly relentless from start to finish, mirroring the rabid nature of the film's undead antagonists and culminating in one of the most adrenaline-infused zombie outings of the 21st century. While lead protagonist Seok-woo meets his heartbreaking end in shocking fashion, throwing himself off the train to his death after being infected in the film's nail-biting penultimate sequence, director Director Yeon Sang-ho fortunately manages to refrain from killing quite literally everybody See, Seok-Woo's daughter Soo-An and the pregnant Seon-Kyung eventually make it to Busan, after being locked in the train's engine room by Seok-Woo moments before his tear-jerking death. In a final nerve-wracking twist, the traumatised duo are nearly mistaken for zombies and gunned down by army snipers as they approach the city, but thankfully for all our hearts, the film avoids delivering a Night of the Living Dead-style ending. Number three, 28 Days Later. 28 Days Later's impact cannot be overstated. The critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic horror is frequently credited for revitalising the zombie genre amidst a period of notable stagnation. And this lofty accolade makes the fact that director Danny Boyle does not actually consider this movie a zombie film at all, all the more deliciously ironic. See, the director's revolutionary concept The concept of terrifyingly quick zombies wasn't sharp contrast to the moaning, shuffling counterparts of productions gone by, and added a jaw-dropping new element of heart-pounding terror to proceedings depicting the outbreak of the Rage Virus. And you all probably know the set-up by now. In this flick, we follow Cillian Murphy's Jim, who wakes up in hospital following the virus transforming London into a post-apocalyptic hellscape. Then he comes across a bunch of survivors trying to find some kind of sanctuary, and eventually, in classic genre fashion, it turns out fellow humans are just as Number 2, Zombieland There is so much to enjoy about Zombieland. There is a gleefully morbid sense of humour to the proceedings capped off by a magnificent quartet of performances from the ensemble cast. Woody Harrelson in particular is superb as Tallahassee, a Stetson wearing bag of one liners on an unwavering search for a Twinkie. Zombieland's most impressive attribute though is that it maintains the standards of an excellent zombie horror film without sacrificing anything in the way of legitimately side-splitting humour Fair and surprisingly touching moments. The movie even He even manages one of the single greatest cameo appearances of all time, when Bill Murray briefly pops up amongst proceedings. However, after mowing down hordes of zombies in an epic climactic showdown at Theme Park Pacific Playland, Jesse Eisenberg's Columbus finally gets together with Emma Stone's Wichita as Tallahassee finds his elusive Twinkie and the new family drive off into the sunset as the raconteurs. So yeah, this is the rare zombie movie where most of the characters, bar Bill Murray, actually You actually kind of get a happy ending, or at least as happy as the cir- 1. Shaun of the Dead It is a delicious stroke of irony that one of the greatest zombie movies of all time is a glorious parody of several other standout genre entries. Shaun of the Dead's effortless blend of side-splitting satirical humour, deftly moving touches and some legitimately scary moments in the third act make for 99 minutes of exemplary filmmaking from start to finish. Director Edgar Wright's 2004 offering was met with a tidal wave of acclaim when it released, gaining a cult following that has stood the test of time and critical re-examination While kickstarting a worldwide debate as to whether dogs actually can look up. Amongst the chaotic audio-visual array consisting of, but not limited to, joy-riding jaguars, accidental darts to the head, and the beating of zombified bartenders to death in Time to Queens Don't Stop Me Now, Shaun's mum, David and Phillip, number amongst the many cast members who fail to make it to the end of the movie. However, Wright's brilliant zombie comedy does see Shaun and his girlfriend Liz is ultimately outlast the events The apocalypse and humanity at large learn to live alongside their zombie companions.