What makes a great zombie movie? Is it the scares, or brutal visual effects? Is it the sheer quantity of zombie hordes? Or is it the social commentary about humans being the real monsters of the story? It's hard to pinpoint exactly why the zombie movie has had so much staying power since its inception.

Every list of the greatest zombie films inevitably includes two entries, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and George Romero's Night Of The Living Dead. These two films exist on opposite ends of the zombie spectrum, both in subject matter and era. But which one takes the crown for the greatest zombie movie of all time?

10 28 DAYS LATER: It Re-Energized The Genre


It's safe to say that 28 Days Later is largely responsible for the zombie fever of the past decade. It is the first in the horde of media trying to recapture the success of the genre. It's no wonder why 28 Days Later has had such a big influence, as it received both financial and critical success.

The most notable bit of zombie media that was inspired by Danny Boyle's zombie debut is The Walking Dead. Rick Grimes' origins are eerily similar to Jim's, both waking up from a coma after the collapse of civilization. If it weren't for this film, audiences may have never gotten their beloved never-ending zombie soap opera.

9 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: It Established The Tropes


Although Night Of The Living Dead isn't the first zombie movie (that crown goes to 1932's White Zombie), but it is the first instance of the modern zombie tropes that horror fans have learned to love. Previous incarnations of zombies were essentially hypnotized corpses, stuck between life and death, and forced to be slaves. This is keeping in tune with real occult beliefs (especially Voodoo) about zombies.

Night Of The Living Dead established the now well-known zombie facts. Here, zombies are corpses risen from the grave, their condition is passed on through bites, and they can be defeated by blows to the head or by fire. Night Of The Living Dead also established the trope of a group of survivors banding together and defending their base.

8 28 DAYS LATER: It Has Fast Zombies


If a survivor is careful and aware of their surroundings, they'll have little trouble navigating the zombie wasteland. But how does one handle a zombie horde with the speed of Olympic sprinters? These sprinter zombies never tire, chasing their prey until exhaustion.

28 Days Later popularized the fast zombie and likewise influenced future incarnation of zombies, including those from Zombie Land and World War Z. This sort of zombie lends itself well to zombie films that lean towards action more so than horror, though they are nonetheless terrifying.

7 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: It Introduced The Classic Slow & Steady Zombies


To this day, many pieces of zombie media still rely on Night Of The Living Dead's slow and steady zombies. Their threat is not from their strength, but rather in their numbers. If a survivor isn't careful, they could find themselves entirely overwhelmed by a wall of stumbling ghouls.

The Walking Dead is the best modern example of these slow-moving zombies, perfectly depicting their threat-level. Something about the slow zombie gives them a determined, calculating quality that emphasizes their undead nature. They'll catch up to their target if it takes all day and night.