Random Zombie Movies That Aren't Actually About Zombies (16 items)

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  (#3) 28 Days Later

  • Cillian Murphy, Christopher Eccleston, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Luke Mably, David Schneider, Noah Huntley, Stuart McQuarrie, Megan Burns, Ray Panthaki, Sebastian Knapp, Ricci Harnett, Leo Bill, Marvin Campbell, Alex Palmer, Toby Sedgwick, Paul Kasey, Bindu De Stoppani, Jukka Hiltunen, Nick Ewans, Tristan Matthiae, Junior Laniyan, Terry John, Joelle Simpson, Sanjay Rambaruth, Justin Hackney, Richard Dwyer, Al Stokes, Christopher Dunne, Steen Young, Adrian Christopher, Emma Hitching, Jeffrey Rann, Nicholas James Lewis, Jenni Lush, Alexander Delamere, Kim McGarrity

  One of the movies credited with the cinematic rise of "fast zombies," 28 Days Later plays something like a "greatest hits" mix of George Romero's iconic films. There's just one thing: The "zombies" in 28 Days Later aren't actually zombies at all. They're people who have been infected with the incredibly contagious "rage" virus, which makes them extremely aggressive.

  The virus gets loose when some activists attempt to free infected chimpanzees, and spreads throughout England in a matter of days - 28 of them, as you may have guessed from the name - leading to widespread societal collapse.
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  (#5) Pontypool

  • Stephen McHattie, Daniel Fathers, Boyd Banks, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak, Rick Roberts, Beatriz Yuste, Laura Nordin, Lisa Houle, Tony Burgess

  In most zombie films, the virus - or whatever it is that's turning people into zombies - spreads through being bitten or scratched. In some versions, anyone who perishes comes back as a zombie, no matter what does them in. Pontypool adds an entirely different spin to the idea.

  The film follows a radio DJ during an outbreak of bizarre aggression that seems to be tied to language itself. Director Bruce McDonald stresses that the individuals infected by this linguistic virus are not zombies, however. Instead, he calls them "conversationalists." In an interview, he describes the three stages of the virus:

  The first stage is you might begin to repeat a word. Something gets stuck. And usually it's words that are terms of endearment like sweetheart or honey. The second stage is your language becomes scrambled and you can't express yourself properly. The third stage you become so distraught at your condition that the only way out of the situation you feel, as an infected person, is to try and chew your way through the mouth of another person.
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  (#9) Attack the Block

  • Nick Frost, John Boyega, Luke Treadaway, Jodie Whittaker, Chris Wilson, Adam Buxton, Joey Ansah, Lee Nicholas Harris, David Cann, Franz Drameh, Maggie McCarthy, Flaminia Cinque, Karl Collins, Leeon Jones, Adam Leese, Chris Mansfield, Jumayn Hunter, Terry Notary, Simon Howard, Lee Long, Dylan Charles, Jermaine Smith, Sammy Williams, Philip Harvey, Alex Esmail, Yvonne D'Alpra, Michael Ajao, Danielle Vitalis, Selom Awadzi, Haneen Hammou, Paige Meade, Pascoe Willis, Jacey Sallés, Natasha Jonas, Stephanie Street, Gina Antwi

  Aliens are invading London - or, at least, one London housing block - and it's up to a bunch of inner-city kids to stop them. That's the logline for Joe Cornish's directorial debut, which launched the career of John Boyega and also features future Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker.

  The result is a zombie-style siege movie in which the things doing the sieging are brilliantly conceived low-budget aliens. Essentially Vantablack gorilla suits with glow-in-the-dark teeth, the effect is one of the best simple monster designs of the past decade. It helps that the movie they're in is fast, fun, and full of heart.
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  (#11) Stake Land

  • Kevin Kline, Danielle Harris, Kelly McGillis, Connor Paolo, Christina Cole, Larry Fessenden, Sean Nelson, Bonnie Dennison, Michael Cerveris, Dave Eggar, Chance Kelly, Adam Scarimbolo, Marianne Hagan, Stuart Rudin, Nick Damici, Gregory Jones, Heather Robb, Tim House, Laurent Rejto, Jim Mickle, Phyllis Bash, Graham Reznick, Brian Spears, Lou Sumrall, Jean Brassard, Beth Mickle, Eilis Cahill, Lorenza Ponce, Traci Hovel, Vonia Arslanian, Lizz Morhaim, Alexis Molnar, Adam Folk, James Godwin, Lou Lou, Eric Stanze, Peter Phok, Derek Curl, Brent Kunkle, Bryce Burke, Asa Liebmann, Angelique Biasutto, Vlad Iorga, Robert Bishop, Charlie Palmer, Joyce Northacker, Rich Kitchum, Garrett Jester, Rich Baker, Melissa Day, Dennis Michele, Wendy Dillingham, Andrew Adams, Michael Thomas, David Riegel, Richard B. Garcia, Dianne Marshall, Jonathan Spano, Erin Filuprit, Dorothea Swiac, Amanda Williams, Kyle Mieczkowski, Terri Seca, Anastasia Iorga, Corinne Nanghton, Brian Finnegan, Scott H. Thompson, Ethan Kitchum, Jackie Baker, Holli Evans, Lissette Almonte, Dave Strohm, Matthew Witte, Linda Cousin, Zsolt Zilary, Bea Blacksberg, Michael Weidner, Malcolm Haight, Geoff Samuels, John Johnson, Howie Futterman, Bella Reid, Robb McCleary, Skip Dillingham, Steve Witte Jr., Sage Byron, Robert Wenrich Jr., Lisa Hill, Robert Schlueter, Jacques Roy, Peter Molnar, Tanya Stake, Pamela Martin, Maximilian Frey, Mary Small, Carlie Owens, Patrick Cecilian, Dave Hartman, Ryan Owens, Lisa Scalf, Saul Elliott, Charles Freas, James Enfield Ashby, Adam D. Dries, Steven Futterman, Scott Prizier, Joyce Kennedy, Thomas W. Holdener Jr., Daniel Zimmerman, Rosie Simmons, Jofre Romarion, Arthur Kadyshes, Richard Blacksberg, Amber Plaut, Anthony Spina, Jack Walker, Brittany Dauber, Robin Williams, Alicia Caseler, Brandon Spano, Arlene D. Vining, Christine Byron-Steen, Amy Altarelli, Melissa Drexel, Glen Cooper, Sue Witte, Anastasia Neimann, Lisa Kern, Simon Kantola, Danny Mefford, Dominique Biasutto, Robert B. Maxim, Matthias Hickey, Jeremy Zook, Richard J. Treitner, Jeffrey W. Telepu, Lauren Baker, Paul McLain, Harley Shamro, Kimberly Sullivan, Tim Mcgee, Jason Wagner, Chris DeCicco, Henry Hyneman, Jessica Jester, Pamela Banner, Judi Jarvis, Jusin Farrell, Sharon Nichols, Shawn Snow, Austin Paterson, Caitlin Logan, Robin Linzey, Alex Fretz, Beth Marri, Jamis Kruger, Katie Bornhoeft, Carol Molnar, Jennifer Holz, Grant McCord, Mona Lessnick, Triston Daly, James Mickle, Kathleen Anderson, Ann Cover, Greg Kennedy, George Zook, William Palinski, Jeremy Stake, Alison O'Brien, Gregory Forsman, Ally Caselli, Brian Prizer, Dave Prizier, Chris Eddinger, Storm Stanley, Robert Joedicke, Sarah Hagakorz, Shane Delameter, Judy Johnson, Travis Baldwin, William McLain, Rich Deem, Robert Stanley, Dustan Miller, Terry Anderson, B. Beddoe, Michael Murphy, Amber Certain, Genesis Quinones, Richard Elliott, Mike Jensen, Z.Z. Tommsisco, Robert V. Vinning, Daru Oda, Victoria Baker, Bianca Molnar, Christopher Kijeh, Amy Spano, Emily Cain, Juan Pablo, Mike Hill, Kasey Bornhoeft, Josh Baker, Frank Brenkle, Eric Owens, Seamus Boyle, Yu Nagasaka, Joshua Hotz, Carl Steen, Steve Heller, Gary Robertson, Linda Reid, Jackson McCord, Jake Rasmussen, Shaun Keen, Briana Freymoyer, Kyle Fultz, Jack Fessenden, Jeanette Thompson, Gus, Piper, Dakota, Gibson, Carmine Simmons, Joseph Hodges, Frank Brewer, Frank Harris, Sebastian Naskaris, Tim Gehling, Kristi Ganette, Stanley A. Kijeh, Keith Spano, Gaudys Sanford, Aidan Ploutz, Cullan Lafferty, Cynthia Baldwin

  Jim Mickle followed up his 2006 debut Mulberry Street - which is also a zombie movie that isn't really about zombies - with 2010's Stake Land, a post-apocalyptic flick that follows a young man named Martin (Connor Paolo) who joins up with a hunter who just goes by the name of "Mister" (Nick Damici) to survive in the Appalachian Mountains in the wake of an outbreak of vampirism that has slain or turned most of the populace. Think of it as The Walking Dead but with vampires.

  Mickle's blue-collar aesthetic - which he would later put to use adapting Joe R. Lansdale stories to the big and small screens - is on full display here, and the Rust Belt setting provides a very different backdrop from those of most post-apocalyptic films.
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  (#13) Pulse

  • Koyuki, Kōji Yakusho, Kumiko Aso, Haruhiko Katô

  What's scarier than a zombie apocalypse? How about a ghost apocalypse? That's what seems to be going on in this creepy 2001 film, known in Japan as Kairo and remade in the US in 2006 as Pulse.

  The ghosts' point of entry appears to be the internet, and those who encounter them become listless and depressed, and usually take their own lives. The infiltration is insidious and slow in this haunting, hypnotic film from acclaimed director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, with the desperation of your average zombie flick replaced with desolation and despair as ghosts flood back into the world and the living begin to lose the will to live anymore.
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  (#6) Bird Box

  • Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, John Malkovich, Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Rel Howery, David Dastmalchian, Amy Gumenick

  Not every "zombie" movie actually needs zombies - or even zombie stand-ins. Take Bird Box, for example, the 2018 adaptation of Josh Malerman's novel of the same name. In the film, entities that we never see (for obvious reasons) cause anyone who sees them to take their own life. The societal unraveling that follows feels a lot like the kind of gradual apocalypse that you get in just about every zombie movie, but without the slow-moving (or fast-running) masses of the undead.

  Instead, everyone has to navigate their world blindfolded or risk accidentally sneaking a peek at something that they must not see.

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