The Scariest Depictions Of Zombies And Undead Ghouls In Movies And TV
- 1219 VOTES
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28 Days Later (Boyle, 2002)
How the Apocalypse Started:
The initial outbreak of what is called the "Rage" virus begins when an infected chimpanzee bites an animal rights activist attempting to free the animal. The blood borne virus spreads very quickly among the population. It is highly contagious through blood and saliva, and within 28 days the entire society where the film takes place has completely broken down.
Characteristics:
The "infected," as they are called in the film, are beyond violent. They are voracious, brutal, and full of a bottomless well of anger, hence the name Rage virus. They also have lightning-quick reflexes and can run very fast. The infected are not quite dead, they are still alive and they don't appear to decay, but they seem to lack intelligence beyond basic motor function. They don't attack victims for food, instead their goal is to spread the virus.
There are instances in the film where we see the infected retain the ability to open doors and windows, so they are not completely mindless. For example, one infected man was able to operate a piece of machinery that was used when he was human. They do not have any super strength, but their adrenal glands are working overtime. Therefore, they are much stronger than the average person. Similar to other fast-moving zombies, the incubation period between a person getting bitten (or coming in contact with an infected's bodily fluid) and the infection taking over is almost immediate, 10 or 20 seconds. So, just a single infected individual can quickly spread the virus in a large group.
How to Kill Them:
An infected can be killed any way you can kill a normal human, not just with a blow to the head. However, it is difficult to kill an infected because they are so relentless and hyped up on adrenaline.
- 2179 VOTES
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Dawn of the Dead (Snyder, 2004)
How the Apocalypse Started:
We never find out who "patient zero" is or the exact source of the zombie plague. However, it is revealed that the plague only spreads when a victim gets bitten by an infected. This is different than the original Romero film, in which every person becomes infected after they die.
Characteristics:
Unlike the original film, the zombies in Snyder's version move very fast, and are actually quite graceful. As with most fast-moving zombies, the incubation period is very short, so victims will reanimate within minutes after death. They are also extremely violent, and behave similarly to the living dead inflicted with the Rage virus from 28 Days Later.
How to Kill Them:
A blow to the brain.
- 3205 VOTES
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World War Z (Forster, 2013)
How the Apocalypse Started:
The exact origin of the epidemic is never really explained. The film's source material hints that it began in China, perhaps as a result of the country experimenting with biological warfare, according to Redditor u/Fellowship_9. The virus is spread by an infected person biting a victim.
Characteristics:
These particular zombies can run fast. Really, really fast. Additionally, the zombie incubation period - the time between getting bitten and turning into a zombie - is typically less than 15 seconds. They have a pack mentality based on animal behavior. For example, in the above clip from the film, the zombies climb on top of each other in order to get over a wall, not unlike some species of ant.
Their entire purpose is to propagate the virus. They don't even eat their victims. In appearance, they look like the traditional Romero-style decaying zombie. The creatures also have an interesting compulsion to only go after healthy people. The gravely ill or seriously injured are completely ignored.
How to Kill Them:
A good ol' shot to the head.
- 4219 VOTES
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The Walking Dead (TV Series 2010 - )
How the Apocalypse Started:
The TV series has not broached this topic, it remains a mystery. In fact, the characters really never discuss the origins of the zombie outbreak. Their primary concern is about survival.
Additionally, every single person who dies becomes a Walker, as along as their head is intact. There have been instances, however, when a person was saved after getting bit. For example in an episode from Season 3, Hershel gets bit in the leg by a walker and Rick is able to save him by quickly amputating his leg before the virus spreads to the rest of the old man's body.
Characteristics:
"The Walkers" as they are typically called by the main group in the series, are slow movers and they follow the standard conventions of the flesh eating Romero zombie. They work best in groups, when the sheer number of them can overtake a victim. They do not talk and are not at all intelligent. It seems to take hours for a human to turn.
How to Kill Them:
The Walkers will only die from a direct blow to the head.
- 5132 VOTES
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The Evil Dead (Raimi, 1981)
How the Apocalypse Started:
A possessed entity can turn a human into a "Deadite" by fusing their demonic essence into a person. A victim can also turn by being hit or touched by a possessed. Once possessed, a human has no control over their own body. However, it should be noted that Ash became a Deadite, but was released from his possession and returned to his normal human state.
Characteristics:
The Deadites from the film are a sort of zombie-hybrid created through supernatural beings. They are entirely driven by the will to possess other beings. When a person is possessed by a Deadite, the entity has total control over their body and even has access to the victim's consciousness and memories.
Once possessed, teeth sharpen, skin color and voice change, and eyes go completely white. A Deadite also has various supernatural abilities, increased stamina, and can even survive gun shot wounds. In time, they can grow into a creator with bat wings, eventually losing their human form completely.
How to Kill Them:
Most zombies are pretty easily killed with a blow to the head, however, it's not that easy to kill a Deadite. It usually takes complete dismemberment of the Deadite to ensure a kill, and total destruction of the head. Even if a Deadite has a small functioning piece of brain, they can still survive.
- 6172 VOTES
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Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
How The Apocalypse Started:
Radiation from a fallen satellite caused the dead to start rising from the grave.
Characteristics:
Romero's ghouls are slow-moving but relentless. The zombies in the film must eat the living in order to survive. Also, every person that dies, as long as their brain remains intact, eventually turns into a zombie, usually within an hour or two. The bite from an infected person results in death. They typically attack in large groups. Night of the Living Dead set the conventions for most zombie films that followed. They are mindless, devoid of reason, and cannot be injured. Their arms and legs can fall off their bodies, but they can still remain "alive."
How To Kill Them:
Romero's ghouls can only be stopped with a blow to the head.
- 7123 VOTES
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Pet Sematary (Lambert, 1989)
How the Apocalypse Started:
There isn't an outbreak in the film. A person has to be buried in the cemetery to become an evil, zombie-like creature. There's no contagious disease that can be spread by a bite or through blood and saliva. Pet Sematary is in the same canon of zombie films as White Zombie, "the cursed" sub genre. The graveyard in the film has a kind of voodoo magic/curse in its soil which reanimates the dead.
Characteristics:
When two-year-old Gage is killed after getting hit by a truck, his grieving father buries him in the graveyard in hopes that he will come back from the dead. The young boy does resurrect, but comes back in the zombie form with an intense desire to kill. Gage is pretty badly scarred and a bit pale, but honestly doesn't look too bad for a kid who got run over by a truck and buried.
How to Kill Them:
Gage's father is able to kill his son with a fatal shot of morphine, but not before the sinister boy hangs his mother in the attic.
- 8126 VOTES
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Day of the Dead (Romero, 1985)
How the Apocalypse Started:
Radiation from a fallen satellite caused the dead to start rising from the grave.
Characteristics:
The basic zombie conventions from Romero's original film still apply. However, science plays a very important role in Day of the Dead. One of the scientists in the film, Dr. Logan, AKA Frankenstein, believes that zombies can actually be trained to become submissive. Dr. Logan has dissected a bunch of zombies to this end. He had the ability to research many zombie test subjects at a secret military compound.
He is even able to train one ghoul in particular, "Bub," and turn him into an obedient servant who recalls parts of his human life. Bub is soon able to listen to music and hold a pistol. Bub even has a legit personality and a sense of humor. At the climax of the fim when Bub finds Dr. Logan's dead boy, he actually displays both sadness and anger.
How to Kill Them:
Despite their evolution, Romero's ghouls can still be killed with a blow to the head.
- 9139 VOTES
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Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004)
How the Apocalypse Started:
The exact cause of the zombie apocalypse is not revealed and remains a mystery. We do know that it's some of kind disease which makes its victims vomit and suffer hallucinations.
Characteristics:
The zombies are pale and have a glazed look in their eyes, but still appear to be human-ish. However, many of the zombies are in some stage of decomposition. In one early scene, Shaun is face to face with a zombie and initially just thinks that she is drunk, which you can see in the video above. Shaun of the Dead zombies are modeled after the traditional Romero zombie. They move slowly, with the goal of feeding on a victim, and the disease spreads through the traditional bite.
How to Kill Them:
These zombies are consummate survivors, and can get up even after being impaled. It takes a blow to the head to kill them.
- 1074 VOTES
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White Zombie (Halperin, 1932)
How the Apocalypse Started:
White Zombie is not about hordes of zombies taking over the world. In the film, a couple Madeleine and Neil, are set to be married in Haiti. They are staying at a wealthy plantation owner names Charles's place. Unfortunately, he instantly falls in love with Madeleine.
Charles asks evil voodoo master Murder (the film isn't very subtle in places) to help get Madeleine to marry him. Murder tells him that will only be possible if he turns her into a zombie. Charles, naturally, already has a plantation filled with zombies working for him. Murder whips up a potion, gives it to the bride to be, and it appears to kill her. Murder and Charles dig up her body after her funeral, and Murder is able to resurrect her as a zombie.
Characteristics:
The zombies basically look like one would expect a re-animated corpse to look like (or as close as '30s movie magic could manage), and they move slowly. These Haitian zombies are not exactly dead, but instead victims of a voodoo curse. In the film, after a zombie dies, it is brought back to life by voodoo, and then it become a slave forced to work on Charles's plantation.
How to Kill Them:
This film, actually, doesn't center on humans needing to murder zombies in order to live. All of the zombies in the movie are controlled by Murder. He can even command his zombies to kill another human. However, during one scene, Murder is knocked out, and his mental control over the zombies dissipates. Once he dies, his trance dispels completely and the zombies return to their natural human form. It's your basic "kill the leader" scenario.
- 1189 VOTES
Santa Clarita Diet
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Santa Clarita Diet (TV Series 2017 - )
How the Apocalypse Started:
There isn't really a zombie apocalypse in this Netflix comedy. Throughout the first ten episodes of the first season, it's unclear how Sheila (Drew Barrymore) got the zombie virus. She wonders if it was the clams from Japopo's, but other than that, the suburban mom has no other ideas. In Episode 5 of the series, Sheila does bite a guy named Loki, however. He does become a zombie, so we can assume the virus spreads in the traditional "Romero" via teeth on flesh.
During the final episode of Season 1, an ex-CDC scientist named Dr. Cora Wolf (Portia de Rossi) claims to be working on a way to stop the virus from completely deteriorating the human body. Anyone who is affected with the virus is technically dead, so a cure is not really possible. Dr. Cora thinks that the virus could be a revival of an old plague with origins in Serbia. That 16th century plague infected the entire town of Božica, and all of the people there turned into zombies.
Characteristics:
Initially, Sheila as a zombie looks great. Her long blonde hair looks healthy and her skin glows like a movie star. However, a few episodes into the series, her body starts to decay, a toe comes off, then an eye pops out.
Other than that, Sheila has more energy than ever, and she has an insatiable sex drive. Unfortunately, she also has an exclusive craving for living human flesh. Sheila cannot be sated by raw meat, or even a living animal. She tears through her food, and devours most of a large human man within seconds in the first episode.
Hot to Kill Them:
Loki, the zombie Shelia turns, dies when Shelia stabs a hairbrush through his ear, so it's safe to say brain injuries are fatal to zombies in Santa Clarita Diet.
