The sounds of moaning and gnashing teeth have become the soundtrack to horror movies for the past few decades. Even when the heyday of The Walking Dead has faded, the social commentary of zombie carnage always remains.
The 2020s have ushered in a new age of the genre, though not as prolific as the last. This has ensured the true gems of the decade to come through even more so. While few, the following zombie films offer the best of the decade.
Evil Dead Rise Is More Horror Than Camp
Defining the terrifying demonic Deadites in Evil Dead as zombies may be controversial, but in the context of this list, an undead entity qualifies. This 2023 continuation of Sam Raimi’s cult classic does not contain as much campiness as the director’s previous breadth of work, but Evil Dead Rise more than makes up for it in terror. As opposed to the typical cabin-in-the-woods narrative, this Evil Dead movie changes things up by placing the terror in an apartment building.
Evil Dead Rise adheres to the beloved lore while furthering the franchise in an interesting way that begs for more additions. The spin-off is only one of the weaker undead features of the decade because of the constraints of being part of a franchise.
We Bury the Dead Pulls Back on Horror In Favor of Grief
The horror of grief is not a new concept, but We Bury the Dead utilizes the social commentary well. While Evil Dead is closer to an escapist slasher flick, the Daisy Ridley drama uses zombies to tell a more compelling character drama. The story follows Ava, who traverses the wilds of Tasmania to find her missing husband during a zombie outbreak.
We Bury the Dead is less about the zombies at play and more about her dealing with the possibility of his death. The undead are not the main antagonists of the story, but instead, Ava’s own guilt over the fractures of her relationship. Using zombies as a backdrop for a stirring performance is a long-honored tradition in horror, which Ridley carries out admirably in one of the best horror narratives of the 2020s.
28 Years Later Breathes Life Back Into a Beloved Franchise
Danny Boyle redefined a genre when he debuted 28 Days Later. Starring Cillian Murphy, the movie depicted a rage virus that turned regular people into mindless monsters. Even before The Walking Dead showed how humanity crumbles under such pressure, the first film in the franchise showed the terrible things people will do when there is no society left.
The third movie came about decades after 28 Weeks Later and showed that Boyle had not lost his touch. In the celebrated zombie movie of the 202s, England is still a wasteland of the dead as young Spike tries to learn from his father how to reach maturity in such a world. 28 Years Later works impressively as a coming-of-age story, but was not the best addition to the franchise.
The Bone Temple Focuses On What Worked So Well in 28 Years Later
28 Years Later was a beautiful film but was unbalanced in some ways. Its direct follow-up, The Bone Temple, took everything that worked about its predecessor and zeroes in on it. Some of the most engaging moments of 28 Years Later are at the end, with the arrival of Jack O’Connell’s Satanic cult. This ending makes it obvious that the movie was just a setup for the real show.
The Bone Temple focuses on Ralph Fiennes’ character, Dr. Ian Kelson, who finds his own code at the end of the world. Spike returns after abandoning his father and joins a cult that is creepily inspired by predator and television personality Jimmy Savile. The story is far more compelling than its predecessor and is entirely unlike any other 2020s zombie movie of its kind. Another fascinating facet of the 28 series: these movies prove to be just getting started.
Zach Cregger Directed the Best Resident Evil Movie Ever Made
Finally, hungry Resident Evil fans were given the gift they had always deserved. After two decades of lackluster content, Weapons director Zach Cregger showed what a real Raccoon City movie should look like. Previous attempts at adapting the video game have veered more into action movie territory, but the 2026 vehicle is a perfect blend of horror and humor.
Austin Abrams steals the show as Bryan, an organ transplant courier who must travel to Raccoon City. This addition to canon is not just the best Resident Evil adaptation ever, but the best zombie movie of the 2020s. It refuses to be constrained by Hollywood tropes and instead delivers a love letter to the genre. The original character of Bryan is an everyman in the best way possible. The practically flawless horror movie is another Cregger achievement that has no notes and a brisk runtime.
