Zombies! We all knew that it was only a matter of time
before the ravenous, flesh-hungry living dead shambled their way across the Top 5 Scary
Videos set in attempt to rip us all to shreds and eat our brains - but don’t worry guys,
our prior-education in the scholarship of horror has taught us many things about surviving
the zombie apocalypse. And we’ve got a plan in place for when the
living dead rise up - as I hope you all do, too. Now, listen - the zombie genre is a difficult
one - it’s been done to death, pun intended - and remains to be filled to the brim with
some of the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Let’s take a look, and see what we can do. Hello horror fans - what’s going on and
once again welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube - Top 5 Scary Videos. As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack
Finch - as today, we curiously take a look at the Top 5 Scariest Zombie Horror Movies
Of All Time. Roll the clip. For the curious amongst you, that clip was from
- of course, Edgar Wright’s 2004 game-changing horror comedy, Shaun of the Dead - and it
leads us to an initial opening point. If you’re asking me - Shaun of the Dead
is one of the greatest zombie movies ever made - but it’s not scary, and I know that
you guys came for the spooks and not the laughs. Consider this the most honorable of honorable
mentions - and put Shaun of the Dead right next to Zombieland and Peter Jackson’s Dead
Alive - because if you want horror comedy, there’s none better. Kicking off at Number 5 - The Girl With All
The Gifts, 2016 And this one pretty much flew under the radar
for most people - but I think it’s important to note that in an oversaturated genre such
as the living dead - you either need to define or redefine the meaning of zombies to make
the grade - and that’s exactly what 2016’s The Girl With All The Gifts manages to do. One of the most difficult yet important devices
in zombie horror is to make us actually care for the characters - because as human life
diminishes, it becomes more and more valuable as a narrative concept. So enter Melanie, played by the awesome young
actor Sennia Nanua, who isn’t a survivor of the zombie apocalypse in the conventional
sense - but instead a plague-ridden zombie herself. Directed by Colm McCarthy and written by Mike
Carey, based on his novel of the same name - The Girl With All The Gifts paints the picture
of a post-apocalyptic Britain, where society has been ravaged by a fungal infection - similar
to that of The Last Of Us video game series - and a small pocket of survivors are trying
their utmost to reignite civilization, whilst the fungal-living dead roam the wasteland. The thing is though - Melanie is one of a
series of strange zombie/human hybridizations - and the key to ensuring the survival of
humanity may lie within her. However, what initially seems like a worn-out
horror-heroes tale on the surface - quickly becomes subverted - but of course, no spoilers. And also, despite it’s weighty narrative
- this film never skimps on the gore and the chilling suspense that we expect in zombie
horror - because it delivers it in spades. Oh - and double also, this film stars frickin’
Glenn Close, alongside the resounding Paddy Considine and Gemma Arterton. For a film that largely went ignored - it’s
one of the best modern depictions of zombie horror. Coming in at Number 4 - Train to Busan, 2016 And we’ve covered this film before in our
Top 5 Scariest Korean Horror Movies list - but let’s face it, it’s just too damn good
to pass up when it comes to zombie horror. Horror aside, Train to Busan is a phenomenal
film - and a must see for any fan of cinema - and also, as a few of our Top 5 Scary fans
pointed out on our previous list, you should also check out the animated prequel, Seoul
Station, if you’re in the mood for some highly stylised blood and gore. Written by Park Joo-suk and directed by Yeon
Sang-ho, Train to Busan is relatively straightforward in it’s approach. A high-speed passenger train departs from
Seoul Station, just as the zombie apocalypse begins ravaging its way across the country. And as soon as the train pulls out of the
station - boom, the onslaught begins. With such a simple premise though, it allows
the film to breathe in all the right ways. And whilst rightfully, Train to Busan really
does brings the gore and suspense in spades, much like our previous entry - it also allows
room for us to *care* about these characters. And that’s an understated importance that
many other films in this genre fail to capture. What use is the end of the world if there’s
nothing at stake, right? Train to Busan tells the tale of a workaholic
father and his young daughter, as he reluctantly journeys to Busan to see her mother - and
despite being caught up in a flaming-train filled to the brim with the living dead, Train
to Busan still manages to make us care about their rocky father/daughter relationship. I won’t spoil anything, because if you haven’t
seen Train to Busan, it’s an experience that you’ll remember - and in the words
of Edgar Wright himself, it’s the best zombie movie I’ve seen in forever. Next up at Number 3 - 28 Days Later, 2002 Where do we even begin with the importance
of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later? I mean - some people would even argue that
28 Days Later isn’t a zombie horror - and yeah, alright - I suppose at a push I could
see where they’re coming from. But as we stated with our opening entry, The
Girl With All The Gifts, zombie horror needs to either define or redefine what the living
dead actually *are* to be successful. So then, enter 28 Days Later - where zombies
were eschewed by rage-ridden, terrifying husks of human hunger - that could sprint. Forget the shambling, slow-moving, cemetery
loving living dead - because these guys are running across rooftops and jumping through
windows. And that’s a terrifying thought, right? Written by Alex Garland, and directed by the
legendary British auter, Danny Boyle - 28 Days Later, much like it’s predecessors,
ripped out the page for the zombie genre and subsequently covered it in rage riddled blood. It tells the tale of Jim, played by the remarkable
Cillian Murphy - who awakens from a coma in an abandoned hospital, to find that the country
has fallen into a post-apocalyptic wasteland - after a highly contagious, rage-inducing
virus was unleashed in Great Britain following the intervention of a group of animal rights
activists at a chemical weapons laboratory. Now - I’d be surprised if many of you haven’t
yet seen 28 Days Later - but that’s all I’ll say in fear of spoilers - but this
film really is as good as it’s heralded. It’s incredibly British - it’s suspenseful
in all the right places, but it also manages to produce a new kind of fear - running zombies. Let’s just hope if the zombie apocalypse
ever does happen - that we don’t get Danny Boyle’s version of events - because we’d
be doubly screwed. Swinging in at Number 2 - Night of the Living
Dead, 1968 They’re coming to get you, Barbara. And you guys were just waiting for this one
to rear its ugly head, weren’t you? And although he didn’t exactly invent the
zombie genre, George A Romero is the man responsible for defining what the living dead *could*
be in the world of horror cinema - and is without a doubt the most influential horror
filmmaker when it comes to flesh-hungry ghouls and zombies. Of course the top of this list has to be reserved
for the main man himself - because truth be told, zombie horror wouldn’t be what it
is today without Romero. So thank you, George. The origins of horror cinema owe so many tropes
to 1968’s Night of the Living Dead that we could probably make an entire video on
it’s significance alone. Isolated farmhouse in the countryside. Check. Rag-tag group of survivors. Check. Society falling to ruin. Check. In fact, before Night of the Living Dead - the
term zombie was wrapped up in the mystical realm of voodoo, an exotic concept encapsulated
in the likes of 1932’s White Zombie - that was less hordes of the living dead and more
evil voodoo priests. Romero brought the concept of the zombie and
dropped in smack-bang in the middle of rural America, where he highlighted the fragility
of society - and more importantly, showed us just how easily fear can spread itself
across a community. Night of the Living Dead still holds up to
this day - and rightfully so. However, there is one entry that remains to
take the zombie-cake. Because finally, coming in at our Number 1
spot - Dawn of the Dead, 1978 And this list would not be complete unless
we gave George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead the credit that it deserves - because ten
years after he defined the genre in Night of the Living Dead - he somehow managed to
do it all over again with 1978’s Dawn of the Dead. This time - by taking the themes encapsulated
in his first foray into zombie horror, and reapplying them to a world that had been shaped
and forever changed by the fear of the living dead. Dawn of the Dead is *the* quintessential zombie
horror - and it paved the way for the rest of the genre like the blood-spattered floor
of a mall infested by zombies, and we pretty much owe the modern concept of post-apocalyptic
fiction to the vivid portrayal of society that Romero painted in Dawn of the Dead. Again - just like with Night of the Living
Dead, this film manages to cram in so many themes synonymous with the genre, and yet
still manages to perfectly thread them without being overbearing - because after all, the
reason Dawn of the Dead resonates the way that it does - is because it’s terrifying. And no, I’m not talking about the ashen-faced
zombie ghouls that are albeit dated and a little cringe - I’m talking about the small
side-stories that Dawn of the Dead manages to thread and weave throughout its narrative. The rural community that hunt zombies for
sport - the nihilistic bikers that roam the wasteland for opportunity - the corruption
that comes with greed when our group of survivors find themselves an abundance of resources. This stuff was *so* ahead of its time for
horror cinema - and it was a stark insight into the reason why zombie cinema resonates
with so many people. Horror is a simulation of fear - and the zombie
genre is nothing unless it makes the viewer ask the question - what would you do if the
living dead had risen? Because - as we know, when there’s no more
room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth. Well, there we have it horror fans - our list
for the Top 5 Scariest Zombie Horror Movies Of All Time. What did you guys think? I know for certain that they’ll be more
added on to this list - and we know we can’t please everybody - so please, let us know
your thoughts - as well as your own Top 5 list down in the comment section below. Before we depart from today’s video though
- let’s first take a quick look at some of your more creative comments from over the
past few days. First up, Boris the Cat says -- Hey Jack! Question for you: do you have any pets? Are you more of a cat person or a dog person? -- Hey Boris the Cat! Great question - and yes I do, I have a cat
named Mango and a dog named Ruby - both of which I love very much, and they’re back
in the UK living it up in style. I really don’t want to choose between being
a cat person and a dog person, both of them bring so much joy in their own unique way. In a zombie apocalypse though - hands down
I choose dogs. Obviously. Well, on that note horror fans - that’s
unfortunately all we’ve got time for in today’s video - cheers for sticking around
all the way until the end. If you were a fan of this video, or just Top
5 Scary Videos in general - then please, be a dear and hit that thumbs up button - as
well as that subscribe bell, and I’ll be seeing you in the next one. As always, I’ve been your horror host Jack
Finch - you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary Videos - and until next time, you take it
easy.
