World War Z is one of a kind when compared to other movies in the “zombie” genre. The 2013 action horror was directed by Marc Forster and starred the man himself, Mr. Brad Pitt, along with Mireille Enos and Daniella Kertesz. The movie was produced by Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Ian Bryce and is based on the novel: World War Z, written by Max Brooks, which was released in 2006.
The plot of World War Z revolves around Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), a former United Nations investigator, who gets trapped alongside his family during an outbreak of a global zombie pandemic. Gerry is then evacuated by his friend from the U.N., who offers to provide safety for his family, should Gerry aid the United Nations in finding out the outbreak’s origin. And thus, Gerry embarks on a life-threatening adventure to find the roots of the pandemic and, hopefully, find a solution to end it.
The movie ends with Gerry returning to his family, who are by now in a secure zone, as the World Health Organisation prepares a temporary measure to pause the spread, with hopes of living to fight another day, and leaving fans of the movie waiting for a sequel ever since. A sequel was announced earlier, but the plans for the sequel were reportedly canceled in 2019 due to some budget issues.
World War Z approached the way a zombie apocalypse movie should be produced in a unique way, which led to various unique reviews being formed for the movie- some people liked the movie, whereas some didn’t. Still, the movie was a commercial success as it collected around $540 million at the box office.
Movies like World War Z
Even though the zombie genre has seen many great movies, World War Z was different in many ways. Primarily, the difference comes from the fact that the origin of the zombies is not known. Another reason, which can be argued, is that the movie doesn’t have a climax, which provides another question to the mind of the viewer, what will happen next?
Here are 20 movies like World War Z that will keep the viewers guessing what comes after this:
I am Legend(2007)
I am Legend was released in 2007 and was somewhat based on the novel: I am Legend by Richard Matheson. The movie was directed by Francis Lawrence, Akiva Goldsman, and Mark Protosevich. Will Smith was the leading member of the cast. The movie is set in New York, where the only human left is Robert Neville (Will Smith). Almost all others have been turned into nocturnal mutants as a side effect of a drug that was originally produced to cure cancer.
The movie was well-received by the critics and provided an overall memorable experience, along with some spine-chilling scenes to keep the audience entertained.
Dawn of the Dead(1978)
Dawn of the Dead was released in 1978 and directed by George A Romero. The zombie horror movie was produced by Richard P Rubinstein. The starlight was shared by David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross. The movie revolves around a group of people who isolate themselves inside a mall to prevent themselves from falling prey to zombies, whose origin is unknown. The zombies are considered to be reanimations of the dead, who prefer human flesh.
The movie is a classic and attracted many viewers to the zombie genre, a must-watch for anyone to experience what CGI looked like back in the day.
Bird Box(2018)
Bird Box was released in 2018 in limited cinemas before becoming well-received on the globally popular streaming giant- Netflix. The movie was based on the novel: Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Bird Box was directed by Susanne Bier and starred some quite popular names like Sandra Bullock, Machine Gun Kelly, Trevante Rhodes, and John Malkovich, among others. The horror thriller was produced by Sandra Bullock, Susanne Bier, Chris Morgan, Dylan Clark, and Clayton Townsend.
The movie follows a similar story; a global disease causes people to turn on each other and kill them. The movie involves Malorie (Sandra Bullock) and her quest to reach a civilization that is unaffected by the disease, and there is hope to survive the world.
Train to Busan(2016)
Train to Busan is a South Korean action horror movie that was released in 2016. The movie was directed by Yeon Sang-ho and starred Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-Seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-Shik, Ahn So-hee, and Kim Eui-sung. Seok-woo(Gong Yoo) is the main protagonist of the movie.
The plot of the movie revolves around Seok-woo and his daughter, Su-an(Kim Su-an), who are traveling from a train to Busan on Su-an’s birthday to meet her mother. But, all hell breaks loose when they realize that they are on the train during a zombie outbreak, and what earlier was planned to be a birthday trip turns into a nightmare, with survival being the utter priority.
28 Days Later(2002)
28 Days Later is a British post-apocalyptic horror movie, which was directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. The movie stars Cillian Murphy, the beloved actor, alongside Naomie Harris, Megan Burns, Christopher Eccleston, and Brendan Gleeson. The movie was released in 2002 and was critically acclaimed to be a very entertaining experience.
The movie involves a group of people who try to cope with the outbreak of an unknown virus and find safety, to survive.
28 Weeks Later(2007)
28 Weeks Later is the sequel to 2002’s 28 Days Later. The movie is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. The movie had a star cast consisting of Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Mackintosh Muggleton, Imogen Poots, and Idris Elba.
The movie is set after the events of the first movie, with soldiers of the U.S. Army helping the needy in the United Kingdom when a carrier of the virus enters the city of London, and the horror scenes are repeated.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials(2015)
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is the second entry in the Maze Runner franchise. The movie was directed by Wes Ball. The movie is based on The Scorch Trials, the second novel from the Maze Runner book series. The star cast of the movie is pretty much unchanged when compared to the first movie(Maze Runner), with Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Alexander Flores, Ki Hong Lee, and Patricia Clarkson retaining their respective roles, along with some new additions of Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Jacob Lofland, Katherine McNamara, Barry Pepper, Rosa Salazar, Lili Taylor, and Alan Tudyk.
The movie continues immediately after the ending of the previous installment, with the Gladers having to safeguard themselves from both the WCKD (World Catastrophe Killzone Department) and a new enemy in the face of “the Scorch.” All in all, the movie is an indulging experience and will have the audience biting their nails as to what will happen next.
Go Goa Gone(2013)
Go Goa Gone is a Hindi movie that was released in the year 2013. The movie was directed by Raj and D.K. The starred Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Puja Gupta, and Anand Tiwari. The plot of the movie revolves around three roommates Hardik(Kunal Khemu), Bunny(Anand Tiwari), and Luv(Vir Das), when their getaway trip to a remote island in Goa turns into a survival task as hordes of zombies become bloodthirsty.
The trio meets a Russian mafia boss Boris(Saif Ali Khan), who joins forces with them to live through the spread and have a better chance of surviving. The movie ends by hinting to the audience for a sequel, but fans are still waiting to get the sequel.
Doomsday(2008)
The movie was released in 2008 and directed by Neil Marshal. The movie had a rather big lineup of stars, with Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Malcolm McDowell, Alexander Siddig, Adrian Lester, Craig Conway, Lee-Anne Liebenberg, and Hennie Bosman, alongside others.
The protagonist of the movie, Eden Sinclair(Rhona Mitra), is sent to Scotland with her team of operators to get the cure for a virus that has been causing a decline in humanity, with multiple failed attempts to contain the virus in various containment zones.
Resident Evil Franchise(2002-2016)
It would be unfair to the Resident Evil franchise if its name is not mentioned whenever someone talks zombies. The original movie of the franchise was released in 2002, directed by Paul W.S.Anderson. The film stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, and Colin Salmon. The movie franchise is based on the globally renowned game franchise Resident Evil.
With Milla Jovovich starring as the fan favorite Alice, the movie involves the spread of a virus that converts numerous humans and animals inside a research center into zombies; and a team of special operators trying to take them down. This movie kicks off an incredible movie franchise, which has many good zombie apocalypse movies and the iconic Alice.
There are a total of six movies in the franchise, released over a span of 14 years. All six movies are leaded by Milla Jovovich as Alice and the climax of the original six-movie series is a thing that every Resident Evil fan enjoys. The movies in the franchise are Resident Evil(2002), Resident Evil: Apocalypse(2004), Resident Evil: Extinction(2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife(2010), Resident Evil: Retribution(2012), and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter(2016).
A reboot series of the original has also been kickstarted. With the release of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in 2021, Martin Moszkowicz announced that the original six-movie franchise would get a reboot which received praise from all the Resident Evil fans.
#Alive(2020)
This popular zombie movie was directed by Cho II-Hyung and was released in 2020 globally on the streaming giant Netflix after some success in South Korea. The cast of the film included prominent South Korean actors Yoo Ah-in and Park Shin-Hye. The movie is based on the script of Alone by Matt Naylor, which was released in the year 2019.
The movie is centered around a video game streamer, Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-in), as he struggles to survive a zombie outbreak in the Seoul region. The movie enjoyed good feedback from the critics as there is not a single moment in the movie where one would feel bored.
Little Monsters (2019)
This movie approached the zombie genre in a different way, as it is a zombie comedy. Written and directed by Abe Forsythe, the movie was released in 2019. The movie starred Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, Josh Gad, and Kat Stewart.
The movie revolves around Dave(Alexander England), a musician who is recovering from a breakup. Dave starts falling for his nephew’s teacher, Caroline(Lupita Nyong’o), but his wishes are swept aside as he needs to survive an invasion of zombies.
Warm Bodies (2013)
Warm Bodies was released in 2013 and are quite unique when compared to other movies in the zombie genre. The movie was directed by Jonathan Levine and was based on the 2010 novel by Isaac Marion: Warm Bodies. The movie starred Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Lio Tipton, Cory Hardrict, and John Malkovich.
The film was a romantic zombie comedy that involved R(Nicholas Hoult), a zombie who fell in love with Julie(Teresa Palmer), a human. R starts to gain his humanity back, but he faces a challenge while loving Julie due to the difference between their species.
Planet Terror (2007)
This movie was released in 2007 and was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The movie had a cast consisting of Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Josh Brolin, and Marley Shelton.
The movie follows a group of individuals who race against time to reach a helicopter to escape the outbreak of a zombie apocalypse caused by a gas that was accidentally released due to a failed government experiment.
Zombieland (2009)
Zombieland is a fan favorite and was released in the year 2009; the movie was directed by Ruben Fleischer and is a zombie comedy film. The list of actors starring in the movie includes Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Bill Murray, and Amber Heard.
The movie’s plot revolves around Columbus(Jesse Eisenberg), a college student who joins three strangers to fight together through a zombie apocalypse and reach a safe place in the USA.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
This movie is a zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright. The movie stars Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, and Penelope Wilton. The movie was released in 2004 and received decent feedback from the audience. The movie is set in the city of London.
The movie’s plot revolves around Shaun(Simon Pegg), a salesman, and his quest to survive a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed(Nick Frost). The movie offers an enjoyable experience and delivers well, keeping in mind everyone stays entertained.
