28 Days Later (2003)

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Danny Boyle
Country: UK
Genre: Horror

Zombies had taken a bit of a backseat in the horror genre for awhile just before the 21st century. Their slow antics and lack of personality eventually made them silly, which is why my guess is there are more zombie-comedies than any other horror creature. But around the turn of the century, the infection evolved into humans instilled with rage, ready to not only eat your flesh, but tear it off your body before beating your skull to a bloody pulp. How appropriate that 28 Days Later begins with angry monkeys, as that’s what zombies have become. When this film came out, it scared me senseless. I still get chills when I think about the church scene. Not only did it make zombies hip again, it raised the standards to which all other zombie films would then be compared. Top notch gory suspense.

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Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Kate Ashfield
Director: Edgar Wright
Country: UK
Genre: Comedy, Horror

Shaun of the Dead isn’t the first to mix movie genres, but it certainly is one of the most successful on recent years, especially the horror realm. It’s first and foremost a comedy, setting up jokes rather than scares but it shouldn’t be discredited as a horror film as it has a conclusion equal to that of any of its many influences (Romero obviously and especially.) It brings together a quaint love story, but also a tale of friendship and finding a balance in life… sometimes the only thing that brings balance is the zombie apocalypse. There’s no question why this has reached such high levels of cult status as it’s got more than a handful of hilarious and memorable scenes, including one that will never allow me to hear “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen again without laughing my ass off.

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Zombieland (2009)

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy, Horror

Somebody’s zombie-loving dreams came true. Somewhere out there, a writer so in love with the zombie genre just had a wet dream. Someone beat Left 4 Dead one too many times, got bored, wrote a movie, and it’s called Zombieland. And it’s fuuuuuuun. I doubt everyone’s zombie fantasies can be fulfilled in one film, but this comes close. While it will be compared greatly to Shaun of the Dead, it shouldn’t be. It has its own quick-paced pseudo-grindhouse style that it sets up at the beginning of its short runtime and doesn’t stop with the action or the laughs until the credits roll… and not even then (if you’re someone who stays for all of the credits.) While there is just a hint of something missing to make this film ‘amazing’, it doesn’t leave you time to really consider it because you’ll be too busy cheering the fun zombie killing or laughing your ass off. The entire cast is perfect, and I think this is partly due to them all feeling like they are miscast… two wrongs making a right. You’re not likely to find better entertainment this Halloween.

Children of Men (2006)

Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Clare Hope-Ashitey
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Country: UK, USA
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama

When I first saw Children in the theater a few years ago, it had such a powerful impact on me. I’ve held off on watching it again partly because I didn’t want to relive the feeling of getting kicked in the stomach, and partly because I didn’t want to ruin its effect by watching it too often. I finally made my way to a second go at it.

It definitely didn’t grab ahold of me quite as it did before. I found myself more intrigued by the technicality of the shots, the misc-en-scene than the actual content. When I did pay attention to the dialogue, I found it very contrite, almost forceful: “They’re taking them to refugee camps,” Michael Caine says to his old friend Clive Owen as if he’s been completely oblivious to what’s been happening in the world he’s been living in for eighteen years.

It’s not without its faults, but Cuarón directs the hell out of it. If that final scene doesn’t make you panic or make you cry, you, sir or madam, are probably an android.