Zombies!
We all knew that it was only a matter of time before the ravenous, flesh-hungry living dead
shambled their way across the Top 5 Scary Videos set in attempt to rip us all to shreds
and eat our brains - but don’t worry guys, our prior-education in the scholarship of
horror has taught us many things about surviving the zombie apocalypse.
And we’ve got a plan in place for when the living dead rise up - as I hope you all do,
too.
Now, listen - the zombie genre is a difficult one - it’s been done to death, pun intended
- and remains to be filled to the brim with some of the best of the best and the worst
of the worst.
Let’s take a look, and see what we can do.
Hello horror fans - what’s going on and once again welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube - Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch - as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Scariest Zombie Horror Movies Of All Time.
Roll the clip.
For
the curious amongst you, that clip was from - of course, Edgar Wright’s 2004 game-changing
horror comedy, Shaun of the Dead - and it leads us to an initial opening point.
If you’re asking me - Shaun of the Dead is one of the greatest zombie movies ever
made - but it’s not scary, and I know that you guys came for the spooks and not the laughs.
Consider this the most honorable of honorable mentions - and put Shaun of the Dead right
next to Zombieland and Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive - because if you want horror comedy,
there’s none better.
Kicking off at Number 5 - The Girl With All The Gifts, 2016
And this one pretty much flew under the radar for most people - but I think it’s important
to note that in an oversaturated genre such as the living dead - you either need to define
or redefine the meaning of zombies to make the grade - and that’s exactly what 2016’s
The Girl With All The Gifts manages to do.
One of the most difficult yet important devices in zombie horror is to make us actually care
for the characters - because as human life diminishes, it becomes more and more valuable
as a narrative concept.
So enter Melanie, played by the awesome young actor Sennia Nanua, who isn’t a survivor
of the zombie apocalypse in the conventional sense - but instead a plague-ridden zombie
herself.
Directed by Colm McCarthy and written by Mike Carey, based on his novel of the same name
- The Girl With All The Gifts paints the picture of a post-apocalyptic Britain, where society
has been ravaged by a fungal infection - similar to that of The Last Of Us video game series
- and a small pocket of survivors are trying their utmost to reignite civilization, whilst
the fungal-living dead roam the wasteland.
The thing is though - Melanie is one of a series of strange zombie/human hybridizations
- and the key to ensuring the survival of humanity may lie within her.
However, what initially seems like a worn-out horror-heroes tale on the surface - quickly
becomes subverted - but of course, no spoilers.
And also, despite it’s weighty narrative - this film never skimps on the gore and the
chilling suspense that we expect in zombie horror - because it delivers it in spades.
Oh - and double also, this film stars frickin’ Glenn Close, alongside the resounding Paddy
Considine and Gemma Arterton.
For a film that largely went ignored - it’s one of the best modern depictions of zombie
horror.
Coming in at Number 4 - Train to Busan, 2016
And we’ve covered this film before in our Top 5 Scariest Korean Horror Movies list - but
let’s face it, it’s just too damn good to pass up when it comes to zombie horror.
Horror aside, Train to Busan is a phenomenal film - and a must see for any fan of cinema
- and also, as a few of our Top 5 Scary fans pointed out on our previous list, you should
also check out the animated prequel, Seoul Station, if you’re in the mood for some
highly stylised blood and gore.
Written by Park Joo-suk and directed by Yeon Sang-ho, Train to Busan is relatively straightforward
in it’s approach.
A high-speed passenger train departs from Seoul Station, just as the zombie apocalypse
begins ravaging its way across the country.
And as soon as the train pulls out of the station - boom, the onslaught begins.
With such a simple premise though, it allows the film to breathe in all the right ways.
And whilst rightfully, Train to Busan really does brings the gore and suspense in spades,
much like our previous entry - it also allows room for us to *care* about these characters.
And that’s an understated importance that many other films in this genre fail to capture.
What use is the end of the world if there’s nothing at stake, right?
Train to Busan tells the tale of a workaholic father and his young daughter, as he reluctantly
journeys to Busan to see her mother - and despite being caught up in a flaming-train
filled to the brim with the living dead, Train to Busan still manages to make us care about
their rocky father/daughter relationship.
I won’t spoil anything, because if you haven’t seen Train to Busan, it’s an experience
that you’ll remember - and in the words of Edgar Wright himself, it’s the best zombie
movie I’ve seen in forever.
Next up at Number 3 - 28 Days Later, 2002
Where do we even begin with the importance of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later?
I mean - some people would even argue that 28 Days Later isn’t a zombie horror - and
yeah, alright - I suppose at a push I could see where they’re coming from.
But as we stated with our opening entry, The Girl With All The Gifts, zombie horror needs
to either define or redefine what the living dead actually *are* to be successful.
So then, enter 28 Days Later - where zombies were eschewed by rage-ridden, terrifying husks
of human hunger - that could sprint.
Forget the shambling, slow-moving, cemetery loving living dead - because these guys are
running across rooftops and jumping through windows.
And that’s a terrifying thought, right?
Written by Alex Garland, and directed by the legendary British auter, Danny Boyle - 28
Days Later, much like it’s predecessors, ripped out the page for the zombie genre and
subsequently covered it in rage riddled blood.
It tells the tale of Jim, played by the remarkable Cillian Murphy - who awakens from a coma in
an abandoned hospital, to find that the country has fallen into a post-apocalyptic wasteland
- after a highly contagious, rage-inducing virus was unleashed in Great Britain following
the intervention of a group of animal rights activists at a chemical weapons laboratory.
Now - I’d be surprised if many of you haven’t yet seen 28 Days Later - but that’s all
I’ll say in fear of spoilers - but this film really is as good as it’s heralded.
It’s incredibly British - it’s suspenseful in all the right places, but it also manages
to produce a new kind of fear - running zombies.
Let’s just hope if the zombie apocalypse ever does happen - that we don’t get Danny
Boyle’s version of events - because we’d be doubly screwed.
Swinging in at Number 2 - Night of the Living Dead, 1968
They’re coming to get you, Barbara.
And you guys were just waiting for this one to rear its ugly head, weren’t you?
And although he didn’t exactly invent the zombie genre, George A Romero is the man responsible
for defining what the living dead *could* be in the world of horror cinema - and is
without a doubt the most influential horror filmmaker when it comes to flesh-hungry ghouls
and zombies.
Of course the top of this list has to be reserved for the main man himself - because truth be
told, zombie horror wouldn’t be what it is today without Romero.
So thank you, George.
The origins of horror cinema owe so many tropes to 1968’s Night of the Living Dead that
we could probably make an entire video on it’s significance alone.
Isolated farmhouse in the countryside.
Check.
Rag-tag group of survivors.
Check.
Society falling to ruin.
Check.
In fact, before Night of the Living Dead - the term zombie was wrapped up in the mystical
realm of voodoo, an exotic concept encapsulated in the likes of 1932’s White Zombie - that
was less hordes of the living dead and more evil voodoo priests.
Romero brought the concept of the zombie and dropped in smack-bang in the middle of rural
America, where he highlighted the fragility of society - and more importantly, showed
us just how easily fear can spread itself across a community.
Night of the Living Dead still holds up to this day - and rightfully so.
However, there is one entry that remains to take the zombie-cake.
Because finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot - Dawn of the Dead, 1978
And this list would not be complete unless we gave George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead
the credit that it deserves - because ten years after he defined the genre in Night
of the Living Dead - he somehow managed to do it all over again with 1978’s Dawn of
the Dead.
This time - by taking the themes encapsulated in his first foray into zombie horror, and
reapplying them to a world that had been shaped and forever changed by the fear of the living
dead.
Dawn of the Dead is *the* quintessential zombie horror - and it paved the way for the rest
of the genre like the blood-spattered floor of a mall infested by zombies, and we pretty
much owe the modern concept of post-apocalyptic fiction to the vivid portrayal of society
that Romero painted in Dawn of the Dead.
Again - just like with Night of the Living Dead, this film manages to cram in so many
themes synonymous with the genre, and yet still manages to perfectly thread them without
being overbearing - because after all, the reason Dawn of the Dead resonates the way
that it does - is because it’s terrifying.
And no, I’m not talking about the ashen-faced zombie ghouls that are albeit dated and a
little cringe - I’m talking about the small side-stories that Dawn of the Dead manages
to thread and weave throughout its narrative.
The rural community that hunt zombies for sport - the nihilistic bikers that roam the
wasteland for opportunity - the corruption that comes with greed when our group of survivors
find themselves an abundance of resources.
This stuff was *so* ahead of its time for horror cinema - and it was a stark insight
into the reason why zombie cinema resonates with so many people.
Horror is a simulation of fear - and the zombie genre is nothing unless it makes the viewer
ask the question - what would you do if the living dead had risen?
Because - as we know, when there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.
Well, there we have it horror fans - our list for the Top 5 Scariest Zombie Horror Movies
Of All Time.
What did you guys think?
I know for certain that they’ll be more added on to this list - and we know we can’t
please everybody - so please, let us know your thoughts - as well as your own Top 5
list down in the comment section below.
Before we depart from today’s video though - let’s first take a quick look at some
of your more creative comments from over the past few days.
First up, Boris the Cat says --
Hey Jack!
Question for you: do you have any pets?
Are you more of a cat person or a dog person?
-- Hey Boris the Cat!
Great question - and yes I do, I have a cat named Mango and a dog named Ruby - both of
which I love very much, and they’re back in the UK living it up in style.
I really don’t want to choose between being a cat person and a dog person, both of them
bring so much joy in their own unique way.
In a zombie apocalypse though - hands down I choose dogs.
Obviously.
Well, on that note horror fans - that’s unfortunately all we’ve got time for in
today’s video - cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video, or just Top 5 Scary Videos in general - then please, be
a dear and hit that thumbs up button - as well as that subscribe bell, and I’ll be
seeing you in the next one.
As always, I’ve been your horror host Jack Finch - you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary
Videos - and until next time, you take it easy.