Exploiting the current popularity of the zombie genre and since Halloween’s just a few months away, I present the best zombie movies to watch over the holidays.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead combines an intelligent and self-conscious script with enough violence and gore to keep any zombie movie enthusiast satisfied. For those thirsty for more Pegg and Wright action check out Spaced, a cult sitcom exhibiting the up-and-coming cream of early 20th century British comedy talent.

Re-animator (1986)

An often overlooked yet highly influential retelling of the H.P Lovecraft short story, Herbert West-Re-animator. In the film, Herbert West, a New England medical student, invents a serum to reanimate dead flesh, unfortunately he is unable to control the effects of the serum and all hell ensues. A highly controversial film on its original release – due largely to the infamous “severed head oral sex scene“. Re-animator is a bona-fide cult classic, if your looking for reckless violence and gore then this film should be right up your alley. It has it all; decapitations, lobotomies, zombie cats and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s stunt man receiving a chest piercing via a surgical drill. Not bad for a film shot in sixteen days with a budget seemingly consisting of spare change.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Illustrating the arbitrary nature of the horror genre, George Romero’s low budget debut offers a departure from the Gothic tendencies of its Hammer Horror contemporaries, bringing the horror universe from 19^th century Mitteleuropean society to 1960’s America. If you like your horror claustrophobic and brooding, this is the film for you. Due to a management issue, the film’s copyright and so is currently available for free online. What are you waiting for? Download it…NOW!

Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

Lucio Fulci’s exploitation classic feature is an under-rated tour de force for the genre. Perhaps not  the best script ever written but any film featuring a sequence in which a zombie wrestles a shark, deserves  at least one viewing. 

Brain Dead (1992)

Before Peter Jackson was messing around with Hobbits or unnecessarily remaking King Kong, he was making gratuitously violent schlock horror movies. After being bitten by a Sumatran Rat-Monkey, Vera Cosgrove is infected with a disease that transforms her into a blood thirsty zombie. It then falls to her inadequate son, Lionel, to keep his zombified mother from the rest of the community while also keeping a semblance of sanity. What Jackson’s film lacks in complexity it makes up for in visual wit and one of the goriest climaxes in cinema history. It really must be seen to be believed. With Brain Dead, Jackson proves that sometimes too much is not enough.

Planet Terror (2007)

A secret military chemical weapon is accidentally unleashed on a small American town, transforming the living into an unstoppable army of the undead. It is then up to a small number of survivors to fight for survival in a film crammed with guns, girls and…groin mutations. Planet Terror is the ultimate pastiche Zombie movie, combining 1980’s exploitation sensibilities with a major studio budget. Released in conjunction with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, as part of the Grind House project, PT was a disappointment at the box-office. Shocking really as Planet Terror is 90 minutes of intense ridiculousness that should not be missed by zombie fan.

Thriller (1982)

Yes, it’s a music video not a film, however, any production featuring Vincent Price narration and break dancing Zombies immediately qualifies it into any Top 10. The video is well shot, well performed and eerily prophetic of Jackson’s future. “I’m not like other Guys” – If we only knew then what we know now. If nothing else, Thriller reassures us that if there was zombie holocaust at least it would be well choreographed.

The Astro Zombies (1969)

Notable as being one of the worst movies ever made, Astro Zombies is cinematic gold. Superhuman monsters built from the remains of innocent murder victims go on a murderous rampage, and why not? The strength of the movie lies in its ridiculousness. Turn off your brain and indulge in a bit of late 1960’s stupidity, there’s no harm in it.

Zombie Holocaust (1980)

A group of New York doctors becomes entangled in a war between cannibals and zombies on a remote East Indies Island. Released during the Italian exploitation craze of the 1980’s, Holocaust is definitely one of the more difficult films to find on DVD. Due in large part to there being little demand for it. The film is awful. The fact that such an audacious “cash-in “ as Zombie Holocaust was ever released guarantees its place on this list.