Zombie movie fans are well aware of the debate between fast and slow. While zombies are portrayed as fast-moving hunters in big movies like 28 days later Or the land of zombies, Genre purists firmly believe that slow-moving zombies have been an integral part of the horror these creatures have been causing since the earliest examples in cinema like White Zombie Or I walked with a zombieEven the quintessential filmmaker George Romero spoke out against the use of fast zombies, as his vision was the only model for the modern zombie genre for a long time until the fast-moving undead became popular.

Fast or slow, a good movie can make zombies terrifying or hilarious, or both. Romero-directed classics like the 1968 Night of the Living Dead and the years 1979 Dawn of the Dead are canonical entries that feature slow-moving zombies and have heavily influenced what people have come to expect from the genre ever since. More recently, films like Little monsters buck the current trend of fast zombies and show just how intense a horde of slowly walking corpses can be.

10 Night of the Living Dead created a lasting type of zombie

Night of the Living Dead is the quintessential zombie movie. Directed by George A. Romero, it is often considered the film that defined the modern zombie genre. What causes the zombie outbreak in this film is radiation from a space probe explosion, and the area of ​​Earth’s atmosphere flooded with radiation is located just above the eastern seaboard of the United States. Night of the Living DeadZombies were not a popular theme and were far from being considered a genre. Romero took inspiration from older films that depicted interpretations of zombies in Haitian Voodoo mythology, but made them an invincible horde of the undead. Rather than being a vessel for supernatural mind control, Romero transformed the zombies into flesh-eating corpses reanimated by radiation. And as the director has explained many times throughout his career, the dead are stiff and slow.

The film follows a small group of people trapped on a farm, surrounded by hordes of slow-moving zombies. Despite their slow pace, these zombies evoke a deep sense of dread because they are relentless and difficult to kill, and they outnumber people. Tension builds as the characters realize that no matter what they do, the undead will keep coming. Romero’s original idea of ​​fighting an overwhelming number of slow-moving zombies while stuck somewhere became a formula for the zombie genre until “fast zombie” films became popular.

9 Dawn of the Dead solidified Romero’s legacy

Dawn of the Dead is the second film in Romero’s zombie series after Night of the Living Deadand focuses much more on the collapse of society in the face of a zombie apocalypse while amplifying the terror and gore of the zombies. The story focuses on a group of survivors who take refuge in a shopping mall. Notably, Dawn of the Dead got a remake in 2004 with fast zombies, which most Romero fans disapproved of for that reason.

Dawn of the Dead Zombies, while slow, are terrifying because they are an unstoppable force. The survivors’ attempts to secure their hideout, but their struggle against the unstoppable undead, underscores how the horror of slow zombies is their inevitable approach when you least expect it. Their speed may make it seem like there is an escape route, but they never stop coming.

8 Day of the Dead Makes a Zombie Smart and Cunning

George A. Romero continued his exploration of the zombie apocalypse in the 1985 novel Day of the Deadwhich this time focuses on a group of scientists and military officers living in an underground bunker in Florida. The slow-moving zombies on the surface pose a constant threat that underscores the film’s themes of claustrophobia and the collapse of human civilization. The survivors wonder if it is possible to control the undead or if it is necessary to eliminate them. Dr. Matthew “Frankenstein” Logan, the group’s lead surgeon and scientist, believes he has the key to ending the zombie apocalypse by domesticating the zombies as pets.

In Day of the DeadRomero’s zombies are still slow-moving, but they have evolved from simple monsters into something more complex. Dr. Logan is trying to prove that zombies can be docile, and for a moment, a zombie is indeed more civilized than some of the human characters in the film. But that doesn’t mean zombies aren’t something to be afraid of, especially once the protagonists learn that the seemingly docile zombie remembers things like how to use a gun. The slow, methodical zombie creates a relentless pressure on the already unstable characters, underscoring the director’s message that the true terror of zombies lies not in speed, but in the inevitability of human demise in a fight against the undead.

7 Re-Animator is another 1985 movie with an intelligent zombie

The same year Romero released Day of the DeadDirector Stuart Gordon delivered a very different kind of zombie – but also a slow and intelligent one – in Resuscitator. Based on the 1922 book by HP Lovecraft Herbert West: ResuscitatorThe film follows medical student and mad scientist Herbert West as he successfully brings dead animals and people back to life with his newly discovered injectable. However, the dead return in pain and aggression. And some come back knowing how to lobotomize other zombies to control them.

There are reanimated corpses moving at different rates in the film depending on the state of their bodies, but the real horror of Resuscitator comes from Megan’s utter desperation. Instead of being hunted by the kind of flesh-eating creatures most people recognize as zombies, the character is sucked into the madness brought on by her boyfriend’s strange new roommate, West. He turns several corpses in the morgue, Megan’s father, and a professor into zombies that each prove to be a unique horror show. The film’s most chilling scene involves the creepy professor Dr. Hill, decapitated and reanimated, kidnapping Megan to assault her while her head watches from a tray of blood. Resuscitator are not exactly the same as in Day of the Deadbut they also retain traits and memories from their previous lives – also exemplifying the type of “intelligent” zombie that takes its time to attack and can be far more frightening than any mindless creature.

6 Shaun of the Dead is hilarious but the zombies are scary

As any fan of the genre knows well, Shaun of the Dead is one of the funniest zombie movies of all time. It cleverly uses slow-moving zombies to blend horror and comedy, but that doesn’t diminish the menace of the creatures depicted. Especially since their creepiness is enhanced by the film’s exploration of the characters’ complacency and denial during the apocalyptic situation.

The zombies’ slow pace mirrors Shaun’s lethargy, as he doesn’t even notice the outbreak at first. It creates a darkly comedic effect but presents a chilling vision of how people are so disconnected and uncaring these days that slow zombies move fast enough to take over a society with short attention spans and no will to fight. As many slow zombie movies do, Shaun of the Dead follows characters who inevitably find themselves trapped as the creatures slowly creep up around them. Unfortunately, they’re far too distracted to come up with a decent defense plan.

5 Little Monsters pits kids against zombies

Little monsters is a 2019 horror comedy film about a kindergarten teacher and a student’s uncle as they try to protect a group of children from a horde of zombies that invade the zoo they are visiting on a school field trip. The slowness at which zombies move is why they are able to survive, but that doesn’t make these ugly creatures any less scary—especially considering how slowly small children can run. The film even references the existence of fast zombies when a soldier asks his superior whether he will shoot slow or fast zombies, which also makes it clear that the military has dealt with both fast and slow zombies many times in the story.

The soldiers in Little monsters Fast zombies are worse than the rest, but they have to be slow for this movie’s message to work. Just as adulthood slowly rots the innocence of childhood, undead monsters invade a small child’s school trip and the situation demands courage and patience. As a good teacher, Miss Caroline, played by Lupita Nyong’o, does everything in her power to protect their innocence. Movies with slow zombies like this one often feature a group of characters hidden and trapped, because what’s scary isn’t how fast they can move, but the fact that they never stop while people have needs. In the case of children, they not only need to sleep and eat, but to continue to see the world through their pure eyes.

4 Cockneys vs Zombies is like little monsters with old people

It is possible that Little monsters was inspired by the 2012 British horror comedy Cockneys vs Zombieswhich features old people instead of children. Just like the 2019 American film and Shaun of the Dead, Cockneys vs Zombies The film is more funny than scary. Yet it introduces the unique premise of wondering if your grandfather and his friends from the nursing home are still alive – which is truly horrifying for anyone who loves their grandparents.

While zombies are true to their slow nature, they catch up with anyone who lets their guard down. People with limited mobility in particular would be instantly killed by fast zombies, but with slower creatures, filmmakers are able to imagine a different scenario in which their horror is prolonged. This kind of film also highlights the role of luck in survival, another frightening idea.

3 Braindead has the most disgusting slow zombies

Peter Jackson Brain death (Or Undead) takes the slow zombie archetype to the extreme, using its grotesque and over-the-top nature to create sheer absurdity. An extremely gory and over-the-top film, the extreme nature of its zombies is both funny and frightening. The result of a bite from an infected monkey, the disease spreads to culminate in a horrific showdown of blood and guts.

The slow pace of the zombies allows the film to build to increasingly grotesque and outrageous scenes, where the horror lies not just in the threat of being attacked, but in the disgust. Brain death are embodiments of decadence and corruption, both physical and moral. Their slow and relentless nature, combined with the theme of infectious disease, allows the film to explore the boundaries of horror and comedy while leaving an aftertaste of pessimism.

2 Let the sleeping corpses rest References Environmental crisis

The Italian-Spanish horror film Let the sleeping corpses rest is also known as The Undead at Manchester Morgue Or Don’t open the windowThe film is a notable example of the zombie genre, particularly because of the way it uses slow but deliberate zombies to create a deeply unsettling atmosphere. They are slow and numb, but quickly adapt and are able to defend themselves, surprising victims with their physical flexibility despite their pace.

Slow zombies in Let the sleeping corpses rest Zombies are a symbol of environmental disaster and decay, as the dead are brought back to life after the use of chemical pesticides on local farms. This connection adds a layer of psychological horror, as zombies represent the sins of humanity coming back to haunt them. Considering that environmental destruction is a slow but effective path to apocalypse, the scourge of adaptable, human-eating monsters works as a perfect allegory.

1 Zombie and Lucio Fulci’s series contain incredible scenes

Creepy, well-designed zombies attack people and animals in every way imaginable in Lucio Fulci’s film. Zombie series. In the 1979 film Zombie — also known as Zombi 2, the flesh-eating zombies and other titles – a zombie literally and slowly bites the flesh of a shark living underwater. This scene and other equally disturbing scenes make Fulci’s version a sequel to Dawn of the Dead (released in Europe under the title Zombies) one of the biggest proofs that slow zombies are scariest when they look like what they look like and do what they do in movies like this.

The film is set on a Caribbean island under a curse where the dead inhabitants rise up to attack the living. While not unlike Romero’s zombies in appearance, Fulci’s zombies are a bit more creative in their killings. One zombie notably kills a character named Paola by shoving her eye into a large splinter of wood. But while they act more like people than mindless creatures, Fulci doesn’t mock their intelligence as Day of the Dead And Resuscitator Instead, the curse that reanimates the dead functions as a straightforward anti-colonialist message that adds a dark element of long-overdue vengeance and restitution.