If you know George A. Romero for something, it’s probably his zombie movies. The word “zombie” had existed before Romero started directing feature films, but he kind of codified the monster as it’s now understood, with his films differing from earlier ones like 1932’s White Zombie and 1943’s I Walked with a Zombie, which had more to do with voodoo magic than walking corpses. Of course, nowadays, zombies are sometimes created because of a viral outbreak (see 28 Days Later and The Last of Us), but those creatures are still seen as zombies. As cinematic monsters, they’re versatile in origin and ability, and it all depends on the story being told. Indeed, Romero himself used zombies in slightly different ways throughout the six zombie movies he ended up directing, because these films focus on different characters and often vary tonally. Sometimes, the zombies are used to make some kind of satirical point about society, while at other times, there’s less comedy, and the focus feels like it’s more on survival rather than anything else.
Of those six zombie movies, three are classics, and the other three… well, one of them is worth watching, at least. 2005’s Land of the Dead deserves a little more credit than it often gets, but then 2007’s Diary of the Dead and 2009’s Survival of the Dead prove a bit harder to defend. Also, it’s worth noting that George A. Romero did more than just make zombie movies, as his filmography includes a surprisingly good Stephen King adaptation (The Dark Half), an offbeat action/drama film (Knightriders), and some non-zombie-related horror movies, like The Crazies (1973). As for his best movies, or the ones that feel most like classics? They were his first three zombie films, and they’re ranked below as fairly as possible. Though that’s hard to do, considering they’re all great. Maybe the main thing to be stressed is that if you like zombie movies, or just horror generally speaking, and you’re yet to watch these, you really should make doing so a priority.
3
‘Day of the Dead’ (1985)
Starring: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato
Day of the Dead can comfortably be counted among the most uncomfortable and despairing zombie movies ever made. It is still quite entertaining, but you have to have a strong stomach to get through it, owing to how claustrophobic, grimy, and ultimately gory it is. Day of the Dead takes place quite a while into a zombie apocalypse, instantly creating a sense of hopelessness and things being pretty much entirely dead around the world. The core group of survivors here spend much of the film in an underground shelter, with some of them being scientists and others being soldiers, and to say they don’t see eye-to-eye would be a massive understatement. Tensions build throughout Day of the Dead, and it’s hopefully not a spoiler to suggest that, at some point, all hell breaks loose underground, and the zombies are made more horrifying because there are seemingly even fewer places to run to than usual.
George A. Romero went all in on depression, bloodshed, and nihilism for his third main zombie film.
Escape is not an option in more ways than one, throughout Day of the Dead. It’s an intense movie that makes you sit with some troubling feelings, all the while refusing to let up. There’s a potential element of mild camp to Romero’s first zombie movie that could provide some relief, and his second was more bittersweet and even light-hearted in places (more on both of those in a bit), but he went all in on depression, bloodshed, and nihilism for his third main zombie film. Still, if you appreciate a good splatter horror movie, there might be some fun to be had with the gnarlier moments of Day of the Dead, even if you should make sure you’re not eating anything while watching those parts. Also, Day of the Dead might well have the single most memorable zombie character in any Romero film, Bub, who displays alarming intelligence and a greater capacity for emotion than any zombie previously seen.
2
‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968)
Starring: Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman
The one that kind of started it all, as far as the zombie movie in its current form is understood, Night of the Living Dead certainly feels like a B-movie in parts, but not in a way that’s detrimental. Some of the writing and acting can be a little hokier than seen in his later zombie movies, but much of Night of the Living Dead feels closer to timeless. There is something unsettling about it, and the black-and-white visuals probably help. It’s grainy, dark, intimate, and, like Day of the Dead, quite claustrophobic. It takes place mostly inside an isolated farmhouse, which is where the survivors hold up, though that location might not be as unsettling as the underground bunker from that 1985 film is (even if it technically offers less space). But make no mistake, that’s the premise. Night of the Living Dead is simple. There are survivors in a house, there are swarms of zombies outside, and the whole thing is a fight for survival.
The core story here is still an appealing and engaging one, and there’s a reason so many other zombie movies focus on a primary location being defended throughout. It makes for good drama and tension, and provides plenty of opportunities for survivors to clash with each other just as often as they clash with the undead forces. Night of the Living Dead isn’t quite as bleak as Day of the Dead throughout, albeit it certainly has its despairing moments, especially in the back half. It’s still fairly depressing, in the end, and that’s to its benefit. It was shocking and uncompromising for 1968, and though it’s a little less intense nowadays, it still has a certain bite to it because of its willingness to push boundaries. Also, you just have to respect it for helping to define one of the most popular sub-genres in the history of horror movies.
1
‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978)
Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger
A uniquely funny and thought-provoking horror film, Dawn of the Dead (1978) might well be the greatest zombie movie ever made, and that makes it pretty easy to single out as the greatest one George A. Romero directed, too. Outlining the premise here is simple, as was the case with Day of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead, seeing as Dawn of the Dead also follows a group of survivors trying to, you know, survive. What stands out here is the relatively small size of the group, as there are only four main characters in total, meaning they get developed and humanized a little more than your average zombie movie character. Also, they pick a great place (cinematically speaking) to hold out and defend themselves from zombie hordes: a shopping mall, complete with countless stores and objects to use against zombie attackers… and, eventually, maybe some human threats, too.
It’s all extremely entertaining, though not without some darker moments here and there. Everything is extremely well-balanced in Dawn of the Dead, as it hits a ton of different emotional beats while always feeling hard-to-predict and playful, in a way. It’s the breeziest of Romero’s zombie movies (though, again, not exactly a comedy all the way through), and felt like a massive evolution on a filmmaking/technical front, when compared to Night of the Living Dead. Day of the Dead might’ve had even better special effects, sure (Tom Savini worked on both, and really upped his game with the 1985 movie), but Dawn of the Dead is more compelling, and feels like the quintessential zombie movie. If you want to see the birth of the modern zombie movie, Night of the Living Dead is the one to watch. But if you want to see the zombie sub-genre perfected, then Dawn of the Dead is the best bet.