About 28 Days Later
Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, 28 Days Later stars Megan Burns, Cillian Murphy, Naomi Harris, and Brendan Gleeson. It was released in the year 2003.
In 28 Days Later a deadly virus is spreading through the world, turning its victims into mindless violent zombie-like creatures. This is what the world looks like twenty-eight days after the outbreak (in England).
Movies like 28 Days Later tend to always follow the same formula of survival horror as the protagonists try to stay one step ahead of a horde of zombies. After a recent re-watch I started to think of all the movies like 28 Days Later and to see if they’re all that different from each other. Turns out they’re not. Not really. But hey, here’s a list, of all the Best Movies like 28 Days Later. Here’s hoping you enjoy the F out of it!
1. Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)
Directed by Matthias Hoene, Cockneys vs Zombies is a horror action comedy starring Harry Treadaway, Rasmus Hardiker, Michelle Ryan, Georgia King, Richard Briers, Honor Blackman and Alan Ford. It was released in 2012.
A British zombie film, Cockneys vs Zombies is about an English retirement home who takes on the entire zombie apocalypse in the East End of London.
2. Juan of the Dead (2010)
Directed and written by Alejandro Brugués, Juan of the Dead (or, Juan de los Muertos) is a zombie comedy starring Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Eliécer Ramírez, Andros Perrugorría, Jorge Molina Enríquez, Jazz Vilá, Andrea Duro, Antonio Dechent, Blanca Rosa Blanco and Susana Pous. It was released in the year 2010.
Juan of the Dead is a spanish-cuban horror film where loser Juan and his lazy sidekick Lazaro are forced to experience the zombie apocalypse in Cuba.
3. Office Uprising (2018)
Directed by Lin Oeding, Office Uprising is a horror comedy starring Brenton Thwaites, Jane Levy, Alan Ritchson, Zachary Levi, Karan Soni and Ian Harding. It was released in the year 2018.
While not strictly about zombies, Office Uprising focuses on Brenton Thwaites character, Desmond Brimble, who works for a leading weapons manufacturer. A weapons manufacturer who creates an energy drink that turns all of Desmond’s work colleagues into homicidal maniacs.
Which fits this movies like 28 Days Later list all too well because 28 Days Later isn’t exactly about zombies either!
4. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
Directed by Christopher Landon, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a zombie comedy starring Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, Sarah Dumont and David Koechner. It was released in the year 2015.
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is about a trio of high school students; Ben, Carter and Augie, who are forced to try and survive a sudden outbreak of zombie and the impending zombie apocalypse.
5. The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
Directed and written by Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don’t Die is an absolute bonkers zombie comedy starring Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Sara Driver, RZA, Carol Kane, Austin Butler, Selena Gomez and Tom Waits. It was released in the year 2019.
The Dead Don’t Die is about an inept police department in a small town who are suddenly forced to face a zombie invasion head-on.
6. Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
Directed by John McPhail, Anna and the Apocalypse is a Christmas zombie musical starring Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Marli Siu, Ben Wiggins, Mark Benton and Paul Kaye. It was released in the year 2017.
Set in Scotland during the holidays, however, when a zombie infection starts to spread, Anna and her friends must do whatever they can to survive. Even if it means breaking out into song and dance.
7. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Simon Pegg, Shaun of the Dead is a comedy starring Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton. It was released in the year 2004.
Shaun of the Dead is about average salesman, Shaun, and his friend Ed, who are caught in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and come up with an average plan to survive it. Throughout the movie there’s plenty of homages to George Romero’s infamous zombie films – done with a bit of English flair.
8. The Incredible Melting Man (1977)
Written and directed by William Sachs, The Incredible Melting Man stars Alex Rebar, Burr DeBenning, and Myron Healey. It was released in the year 1977.
The Incredible Melting Man is a science fiction horror movie and follows an astronaut who body begins to melt when he’s exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. However, he soon realises that if he consumes human flesh then this will keep him alive a little while longer. So, if you’re looking for an astronaut turned radioactive zombie character then you’ve found him in The Incredible Melting Man.
9. Warm Bodies (2013)
Directed and written by Jonathan Levine, Warm Bodies is a paranormal zombie rom-com starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Lio Tipton, Cory Hardrict and John Malkovich. It was released in the year 2013.
Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, Warm Bodies is about Teresa Palmer’s character, Julie, and Nicholas Hoult’s character, R, who eventually fall in love and which causes R to reverse decay back into a human.
10. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Directed and co-written by George A. Romero, Night of the Living Dead is a survival zombie horror movie starring Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley and Keith Wayne. It was released in the year 1968.
Filmed entirely in black and white, Night of the Living Dead is about a group of people trapped on a farm in Pennsylvania which is under seige by a horde of zombies with an appetite for human flesh. Remarkably, Night of the Dead was never copyrighted and so that’s why you can find the entire film on Youtube to this day. Crazy stuff!
11. Aquarium of the Dead (2021)
Directed by Glenn Miller and written by Marc Gottlieb, Aquarium of the Dead is a comedy sci-fi horror starring Vivica A. Fox, Eva Ceja, D. C. Douglas and Erica Duke. It was released in the year 2021.
Aquarium of the Dead is about an aquarium of sea-life that die in a set of bizarre circumstances and reanimate a zombie marine life. It’s ridiculous but lots of fun. Exactly what you’d expect from horror production studio, The Asylum.
12. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Directed and co-written by George A. Romero, Dawn of the Dead is a survival zombie horror movie starring David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger and Gaylen Ross. It was released in the year 1978.
Dawn of the Dead is the second film in George A. Romero’s zombie film series and follows a group of people who try to make a life for themselves in a huge shopping mall during the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately for them, the zombies have other ideas and pretty soon they overwhelm the shopping mall and the people living there. Because of the setting there is the ongoing commentary of consumerism and capitalism having taken over the American way of life – and the west as a whole.
13. World War Z (2013)
Directed by Marc Forster and written by Damon Lindelof, Matthew Michael Carnahan, and Drew Goddard, World War Z stars Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, and Daniella Kertesz. It was released in the year 2013.
World War Z follows the world as it’s filling with zombies and Brad Port’s character Gerry Lane finds himself searching for the origin of the contamination.
14. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Written and directed by Dan O’Bannon, The Return of the Living Dead is a comedy zombie survival horror movie starring Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa. It was released in the year 1985.
The Return of the Living Dead follows a group of teenage punks, a mortician, a warehouse owner, two employees and the accidental release of zombies into their town. The Return of the Living Dead is also the first zombie horror film to popularise the zombie need to eat brains.
15. Fido (2006)
Directed by Andrew Currie, Fido is a zombie comedy starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, K’Sun Ray, Henry Czerny and Tim Blake Nelson. It was released in the year 2006.
Fido is a Canadian horror comedy where an alternate universe trapped in retro conservative 1950s has figured out a way to domesticate the zombie population.
16. Zombieland (2009)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Zombieland is a horror comedy starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. It was released in the year 2009.
Zombieland is set during a zombie apocalypse and focuses on Jesse Eisenberg’s character, Columbus, as he tries to survive the zombie apocalypse. Along the way he picks up a couple of misfits, falls in love and meets Bill Murray.
17. Day of the Dead (1985)
Directed and written by George A. Romero, Day of the Dead is a zombie survival horror movie starring Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joe Pilato, Jarlath Conroy, and Richard Liberty. It was released in the year 1985.
Day of the Dead is the third movie in George A. Romero’s zombie film series and follows a group of survivor stuck in an underground military base desperately searching for a way out and an escape from the hordes of zombies.
18. Life After Beth (2014)
Directed and written by Jeff Baena, Life After Beth is a zombie romantic comedy starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Anna Kendrick. It was released in the year 2014.
Life After Beth follows Zach, a young man devastated by the sudden death of his girlfriend Beth, who is overjoyed when she mysteriously returns from the grave. But his second chance at love quickly turns sour as Beth grows increasingly erratic, violent, and undeniably undead, and Zach soon realises she isn’t the only corpse in town coming back to life.
19. Planet Terror (2007)
Directed and written by Robert Rodriguez, Planet Terror is a zombie action horror movie starring Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Marley Shelton, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, and Naveen Andrews. It was released in the year 2007.
Planet Terror was originally released as one half of the Grindhouse double feature alongside Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof and follows a small Texas town overrun by grotesque, flesh-hungry mutants after a leaked biochemical gas infects its residents. Leading the fight for survival is go-go dancer Cherry Darling, who loses her leg in an attack and replaces it with a machine gun, and her mysterious ex-boyfriend El Wray as they lead a ragtag group of survivors against the horde.
20. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Dave Callaham, Zombieland: Double Tap is a zombie action comedy movie starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Rosario Dawson, and Zoey Deutch. It was released in the year 2019.
Zombieland: Double Tap is the sequel to 2009’s Zombieland and picks up a decade later with Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock living together in the abandoned White House. When Little Rock runs off with a pacifist hippie, the rest of the group sets out across the country to bring her back, encountering new survivors and a stronger, faster breed of zombie along the way.
21. Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)
Directed and written by Ken Wiederhorn, Return of the Living Dead Part II is a zombie horror comedy movie starring James Karen, Thom Mathews, Michael Kenworthy, Marsha Dietlein, Dana Ashbrook, and Suzanne Snyder. It was released in the year 1988.
Return of the Living Dead Part II is the sequel to 1985’s The Return of the Living Dead and follows a group of kids who stumble upon a lost military canister filled with a toxic gas. When the canister is opened, the gas seeps into a nearby cemetery and reanimates the dead, unleashing a horde of brain-hungry zombies on a quiet suburban neighbourhood and leaving a young boy and a handful of unlikely survivors fighting to stop the outbreak.
22. 28 Weeks Later (2007)
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and written by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Rowan Joffé, Enrique López-Lavigne, and Jesús Olmo, 28 Weeks Later is a post-apocalyptic zombie horror movie starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Imogen Poots, and Idris Elba. It was released in the year 2007.
28 Weeks Later is the sequel to 2002’s 28 Days Later and takes place six months after the Rage virus devastated Britain, as a US-led military force begins repopulating a quarantined section of London. When two siblings sneak out of the safe zone and discover that their mother has survived as a symptomless carrier of the virus, a new outbreak tears through the city, forcing the children and a small group of survivors to flee as the military resorts to increasingly desperate measures to contain the infected.
23. Return of the Living Dead Part 3 (1993)
Directed by Brian Yuzna and written by John Penney, Return of the Living Dead Part 3 is a zombie romance horror movie starring Melinda Clarke, J. Trevor Edmond, Kent McCord, Basil Wallace, and Sarah Douglas. It was released in the year 1993.
Return of the Living Dead Part 3 is the third movie in the Return of the Living Dead series and follows Curt, the son of a military colonel, who sneaks into a top-secret base with his girlfriend Julie and witnesses experiments to reanimate the dead. When Julie is killed in a motorcycle accident, a grief-stricken Curt uses the same chemical to bring her back to life, but her growing hunger for human brains forces her to turn to self-inflicted pain to keep it at bay as the pair go on the run from the military.
24. Diary of the Dead (2007)
Directed and written by George A. Romero, Diary of the Dead is a found footage zombie horror movie starring Michelle Morgan, Joshua Close, Shawn Roberts, Amy Lalonde, Joe Dinicol, and Scott Wentworth. It was released in the year 2007.
Diary of the Dead is the fifth movie in George A. Romero’s zombie film series and follows a group of film students shooting a low-budget horror movie in the woods of Pennsylvania when news breaks that the dead are coming back to life. As they set out on a road trip to reach their loved ones, the students decide to document the unfolding apocalypse on camera, capturing the chaos and their desperate fight for survival along the way.
25. 28 Years Later (2025)
Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, 28 Years Later is a post-apocalyptic zombie horror movie starring Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams, and Jack O’Connell. It was released in the year 2025.
28 Years Later is the third movie in the 28 Days Later series and takes place nearly three decades after the Rage virus first broke out, with Britain still quarantined from the rest of the world. It follows Spike, a 12-year-old boy living in a small community of survivors on an island cut off from the mainland, who crosses over with his father for his first hunt and later returns with his ailing mother in search of a mysterious doctor, discovering just how much the infected and the world around them have changed.
26. Land of the Dead (2005)
Directed and written by George A. Romero, Land of the Dead is a zombie survival horror movie starring Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, and Eugene Clark. It was released in the year 2005.
Land of the Dead is the fourth movie in George A. Romero’s zombie film series and is set in a fortified Pittsburgh where the wealthy elite live in luxury inside a towering skyscraper while the poor struggle to survive in the streets below. When a mercenary steals the armoured vehicle used for supply runs and threatens the city’s ruthless leader, a team is sent to retrieve it, just as the zombies outside the walls begin to think, learn, and organise for an attack on the city.
27. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)
Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a post-apocalyptic zombie horror movie starring Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Chi Lewis-Parry. It was released in the year 2026.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is the fourth movie in the 28 Days Later series and picks up directly after the events of 28 Years Later, with young Spike falling in with Sir Jimmy Crystal and his violent, cult-like gang roaming the infected mainland. Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson forms an unlikely bond with Samson, a hulking Alpha infected, leading to a discovery that could change the fate of the world, as the two storylines head toward a brutal collision.
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