Zombies
by Mighty_Emperor | created - 16 Oct 2011 | updated - 1 week ago | PublicI've been trying to dance around this as it'll be a monster list but... ah well, it was inevitable.
This list is based on an earlier list that I compiled which has done the rounds online, which was brought together from various sources, including a number of the books in the references section (the earlier ones obviously, the original list was from 2004-2005). For this list I have also worked through the IMDB "zombie" tag but I have also been much stricter with my inclusion criteria and have left out films I've previously included, focusing this list on the mindless undead (who became cannibalistic following Romero's Night of the Dead). The films I've left out have been shifted over into parallel lists especially the one contagious violence films, like the 28 X Later ones and The Crazies that are often lumped in with zombie films but don't have the dead being reanimated. Plus there is a vengeful dead list for films where the dead only return for revenge, rather than brains. The focus is mainly on live action films but there are some animated films included where I felt that they were important or just amused me. I have watched about a third of these films so far, so there will be quite a bit of chopping and changing as I work through the rest because this is not only subjective but there might be a few that don't belong at all (probably quite a few from the "zombie" tag on IMDB). So bear with me, this is a work in progress.
Sub-lists: if you want a more focused, less sprawling lists: Asian zombie films, British zombie films, period zombie films and zombie Nazi/Nazi zombie films. There is also one for films from the zombie's point-of-view (or at least they present a sympathetic portrayal of zombies). I also thought it'd be interesting to break the films down by title because there are so many of them with a few high-profile movies that set the standard: Night of the Living X, X of the Dead and X vs Zombies, meanwhile someone else has a list for titles of the format X zombies (so I won't start one for that, as I nearly did before finding it, unless it starts getting outdated). As films flagged as porn negatively impacts on a list's visibility, I have started a list for zombie porn.
Numbers: I have made a new spreadsheet and graph based on this list of zombie films, as you can see the first 3 Romero zombie films led to a big spike in zombie films (after a 4-5 year lag) which fell off quickly afterwards. However, the most recent 3 of his Dead series come in a period of sustained growth that started in 2003 (two years before the first of those three, Land of the Dead) making it difficult attribute the films to any upswings. You might be better of looking at the success of 28 Days Later or Shaun of the Dead (which seem to have given British horror films and British zombie movies a boost), but a better explanation might be the lowering of the bar to film production and distribution - zombies not necessarily requiring a lot of cash (but it can help), so lending themselves to low budget films. This can be most easily demonstrated by the fact that there have been nearly as many full-length zombie films released in the seven years between 2006-2012 (567) as there were in all the years before that (582).
See also: mummy movies, Frankenstein films and Chinese hopping vampire films (which, despite the name, are just another class of zombie).
References: The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia (2000), The Dead Walk (2000, new edition 2009), Eaten Alive!: Italian Cannibal and Zombie Movies (2002), Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema (2005), Zombiemania: 80 Movies To Die For (2006), Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide (2008), The G.O.R.E. Score: A Review Guide to All Things Zombie, Volume 1, and Volume 2 (2010 and 2011) and Blood Splatter: A Guide to Cinematic Zombie Violence, Gore and Special Effects (2012).
Further reading: Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth (2006), The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless (2006), Zombie Culture: Autopsies of the Living Dead (2008), Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever (2010), Generation Zombie: Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture (2011), Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human (2011), The Complete History of the Return of the Living Dead (2011), and Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies (2011).
Links: Websites that I found handy in refining this list include: A French zombie review blog, translated (has a similar breakdown to the one I use here, also made me finally look up the word "nanar" - a film so bad it's good, they really do have a word for everything) and Xzombi a zombie movie database (as the ZMDB is down for maintenance).
Comments: As I don't have a Facebook account I cannot interact with the new comments system, so have switched it off. I will start a thread on the message board and link it in here shortly.
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1. White Zombie (1932)
Passed | 69 min | Horror
A young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiancé, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.
Director: Victor Halperin | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Frazer
Votes: 11,663
Perhaps the first zombie film. There is a lot of debate about whether the earlier Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is worth inclusion on such lists because of the character Cesare, who is described as a somnambulist (sleep walker) but the film seems more concerned with mesmerism and he seems to fit more with that theme.
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
2. Chata Purja (1932)
Action
Director: Balwant Bhatt | Stars: Navinchandra, Madhuri, Zaverbhai Kaiser, Rustom
aka The Zombie or The Passing Show
This might also be a contender for first zombie film but very little is actually known about it (including the exact release date) and it appears few people have ever seen it, including most (all?) of those who suggest it might be a zombie film (they seem to be largely going by one of its alternative names). I'm flagging it up here because it might be important, but I suspect we'd need to find an expert on early Indian cinema to confirm this (if even they can - I'm not even sure if there is a print available).
3. Maniac (1934)
Not Rated | 51 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A former vaudevillian gifted at impersonation assists a mad scientist in reanimating corpses and soon goes mad himself.
Director: Dwain Esper | Stars: Bill Woods, Horace B. Carpenter, Ted Edwards, Phyllis Diller
Votes: 2,706
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
4. The Scotland Yard Mystery (1934)
Approved | 72 min | Mystery, Crime, Drama
A mad scientist devises a formula that puts people into a zombie-like trance to do his bidding.
Director: Thomas Bentley | Stars: Gerald du Maurier, George Curzon, Grete Natzler, Belle Chrystall
Votes: 65
5. The Lost City (I) (1935)
Approved | 80 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
An evil scientist plots to take over the world from his base in Africa, where he has invented a machine that can cause earthquakes.
Director: Harry Revier | Stars: William 'Stage' Boyd, Kane Richmond, Claudia Dell, Josef Swickard
Votes: 321
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive (all 12 episodes combined)
6. The Walking Dead (1936)
Passed | 66 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
After hapless pianist and ex-con John Elman is framed for murder, he is resurrected by a scientist after his execution.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Edmund Gwenn, Marguerite Churchill
Votes: 3,076
7. Revolt of the Zombies (1936)
Approved | 65 min | Adventure, Horror
An international expedition is sent into Cambodia to destroy an ancient formula that turns men into zombies.
Director: Victor Halperin | Stars: Dorothy Stone, Dean Jagger, Roy D'Arcy, Robert Noland
Votes: 1,879
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
8. Ouanga (1936)
Approved | 56 min | Horror
In Haiti, a black female plantation owner enacts a voodoo curse, and revives zombies for revenge on a white male neighbor, who has chosen a white woman over her for marriage.
Director: George Terwilliger | Stars: Fredi Washington, Philip Brandon, Marie Paxton, Sheldon Leonard
Votes: 123
9. The Return of Doctor X (1939)
Passed | 62 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A hotshot reporter and a young doctor team up to investigate a series of grisly murders and a mysterious sample of synthetic blood.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Dennis Morgan
Votes: 2,559
10. Wanli Xingshi (1939)
Horror
Directors: Yin Fok, Toi Wong | Stars: Nancy Wan-Seung Chan, Yik-Chi Tse, Kat Ngan-Tsoi, Ping Yao
"In Fok Yin and Wong Toi’s Wanli Xinghsi (1939) a Chinese zombie roams the Hunan countryside in search of beautiful young women who he can sling over his shoulders, take to his lair, and eat." http://www.apex-magazine.com/women-in-pre-1947-chinese-and-indian-horror-fiction-and-film/
11. The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy
A radio broadcaster, his quaking manservant and an heiress investigate the mystery of a haunted castle in Cuba.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas
Votes: 4,162
12. Four Shall Die (1940)
Approved | 72 min | Crime, Horror
Heiress Helen Fielding has dumped the shady Lew Covey for reporter Bill Summers. Chomping at the bit to get his hands on Helen's inheritance, Covey comes up with a scheme to do just that, ... See full summary »
Directors: Leo C. Popkin, William Beaudine | Stars: Niel Webster, Mantan Moreland, Laurence Criner, Dorothy Dandridge
Votes: 20
13. King of the Zombies (1941)
Passed | 67 min | Adventure, Comedy, Horror
On a spooky island, three stranded travelers find an evil doctor working with foreign spies and in control of zombies.
Director: Jean Yarbrough | Stars: Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury, Mantan Moreland, Henry Victor
Votes: 2,507
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
14. Spooks Run Wild (1941)
Approved | 65 min | Horror, Comedy
The boys are stranded in a small rural town, they hear about a "monster killer" roaming the countryside. At night, they sneak out. Peewee is shot by a grave-digger, and they are forced to seek aid at an old mansion.
Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall
Votes: 1,831
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
15. Bowery at Midnight (1942)
Approved | 61 min | Crime, Thriller
Kindly soup kitchen operator and professor of criminology Bela Lugosi uses his soup kitchen as a front for a criminal gang who commit a series of daring robberies and murders.
Director: Wallace Fox | Stars: Bela Lugosi, John Archer, Wanda McKay, Tom Neal
Votes: 1,233
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
16. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Passed | 69 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Frances Dee, Tom Conway, James Ellison, Edith Barrett
Votes: 13,669
17. Revenge of the Zombies (1943)
Approved | 61 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
After the death of Max's spouse, Lila, Max holds a funeral for her, but he has also reanimates her as a zombie. He is amazed when Lila show signs of free will and challenges him for control.
Director: Steve Sekely | Stars: John Carradine, Gale Storm, Robert Lowery, Bob Steele
Votes: 826
aka Revenge of the Zombies
18. Batman (1943)
Approved | 260 min | Action, Crime, Family
The very first serial to adapt the comic book character of the Batman. In it, the Batman is a secret U.S. government agent, attempting to defeat the schemes of Japanese agent Dr. Daka operating in Los Angeles at the height of World War II.
Director: Lambert Hillyer | Stars: Lewis Wilson, Douglas Croft, J. Carrol Naish, Shirley Patterson
Votes: 2,474
19. Voodoo Man (1944)
Approved | 62 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Dr. Richard Marlowe uses a combination of voodoo and hypnosis in an attempt to revive his dead wife by transferring the life essences of several hapless young girls he has kidnapped and imprisoned in the dungeon beneath his mansion.
Director: William Beaudine | Stars: Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, George Zucco, Wanda McKay
Votes: 1,187
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
20. Zombies on Broadway (1945)
Approved | 69 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Two bumbling press agents must search for a zombie to fulfill a commitment to their ex-gangster boss's new nightclub or face the consequences.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Bela Lugosi, Anne Jeffreys
Votes: 877
21. The Caribbean Mystery (1945)
Passed | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Smith (James Dunn), a Brooklyn police detective, arrives on a Caribbean island chasing a murderer ... and wades his way through quicksand, swamps, alligators, corpses, clues, unusual ... See full summary »
Director: Robert D. Webb | Stars: James Dunn, Sheila Ryan, Edward Ryan, Jackie Paley
Votes: 94
aka Zombies of the Swamp
I'm not sure about this. It is a remake of Murder in Trinidad and Murder in Trinidad, neither of which have zombies in (that I know of), so is in largely on the basis of the working title Zombies of the Swamp until I can find out more about this.
22. The Face of Marble (1946)
Approved | 72 min | Horror
Dr. Randolph is so obsessed with re-animating the dead in his isolated old dark house and lab that he doesn't realize his wife is in love with his younger assistant.
Director: William Beaudine | Stars: John Carradine, Claudia Drake, Robert Shayne, Maris Wrixon
Votes: 381
23. The Man from Planet X (1951)
Approved | 71 min | Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi
As a mysterious planet hurls itself toward Earth, an enigmatic extraterrestrial scout arrives on a remote Scottish island with unknown intentions.
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer | Stars: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert
Votes: 3,096
24. Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952)
Passed | 167 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The invaders come to Earth to create an H-bomb to blast Earth out of orbit so that Mars can take its place.
Director: Fred C. Brannon | Stars: Judd Holdren, Aline Towne, Wilson Wood, Lane Bradford
Votes: 481
25. Scared Stiff (1953)
Approved | 108 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
Fleeing a murder charge, a busboy and a nightclub singer wind up on a spooky Caribbean island inherited by a young woman.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott, Carmen Miranda
Votes: 2,094
26. El Monstruo Resucitado (1953)
TV-14 | 85 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The first major medical sci/fi movie in Mexico, loosely based on the Frankenstein story but injecting gory surgical motifs into it, laying the foundations of the genres that came to ... See full summary »
Director: Chano Urueta | Stars: Miroslava, Carlos Navarro, José María Linares-Rivas, Fernando Wagner
Votes: 144
27. Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)
Approved | 69 min | Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi
An ex-Nazi mad scientist uses radio-controlled atomic-powered zombies in his quest to help an exiled American gangster return to power.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Richard Denning, Angela Stevens, S. John Launer, Michael Granger
Votes: 1,754
28. Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)
Passed | 70 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Zombie-like, dead crewmen of a sunken ship have always prevented salvagers from claiming the wreck's legendary box of diamonds, but will a new group of treasure hunters succeed?
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Gregg Palmer, Allison Hayes, Autumn Russell, Joel Ashley
Votes: 1,216
29. Voodoo Island (1957)
Approved | 76 min | Horror
A scholarly type is asked to investigate the possible island site for a large resort hotel--an island rumored to be infested with zombies.
Director: Reginald Le Borg | Stars: Boris Karloff, Beverly Tyler, Murvyn Vye, Elisha Cook Jr.
Votes: 912
30. Quatermass 2 (1957)
Approved | 85 min | Sci-Fi, Horror
Professor Quatermass, trying to gather support for his Lunar colonisation project, is intrigued by mysterious traces that have been showing up.
Director: Val Guest | Stars: Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Sidney James, Bryan Forbes
Votes: 4,658
31. Outer Space Jitters (1957)
17 min | Short, Comedy, Sci-Fi
The Stooges accompany Professor Jones on an expedition to Venus, where they discover that the Venusians are planning to conquer Earth with an army of zombies. When the boys learn that ... See full summary »
Director: Jules White | Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, Emil Sitka
Votes: 316
32. I Bury the Living (1958)
Approved | 77 min | Horror
Cemetery director Robert Kraft discovers that by arbitrarily changing the status of plots from empty to occupied on the planogram causes the death of the plots' owners.
Director: Albert Band | Stars: Richard Boone, Theodore Bikel, Peggy Maurer, Howard Smith
Votes: 3,195
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
33. The Woman Eater (1958)
Not Rated | 70 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A mad scientist captures women and feeds them to a flesh-eating tree, which in turn gives him a serum that helps bring the dead back to life.
Director: Charles Saunders | Stars: George Coulouris, Vera Day, Peter Forbes-Robertson, Joyce Gregg
Votes: 666
34. The Crawling Eye (1958)
Not Rated | 84 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A series of decapitations on a Swiss mountainside appear to be connected to a mysterious radioactive cloud.
Director: Quentin Lawrence | Stars: Forrest Tucker, Laurence Payne, Jennifer Jayne, Janet Munro
Votes: 4,822
35. The Vampire's Coffin (1958)
80 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Graverobbers stumble upon the tomb of a vampire, who turns them into zombies to do his bidding, which is to stalk and capture beautiful women.
Director: Fernando Méndez | Stars: Abel Salazar, Ariadne Welter, Germán Robles, Yerye Beirute
Votes: 639
36. Mysteries of Black Magic (1958)
86 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The stage magician Eglé Elohim offers a show that is causing a sensation in an old archaeology professor who comes to see her in the theater, who is also a great specialist in the history of magic, witchcraft and ancient rituals.
Director: Miguel M. Delgado | Stars: Nadia Haro Oliva, Carlos Riquelme, Aldo Monti, Lulú Parga
Votes: 85
37. Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
Not Rated | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Evil aliens attack Earth and set their terrible "Plan 9" into action. As the aliens resurrect the dead of the Earth, the lives of the living are in danger.
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr. | Stars: Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore
Votes: 40,452
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
38. Teenage Zombies (1959)
Approved | 73 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A crazed female scientist uses nerve gas to turn local teenagers into her unquestioning slaves.
Director: Jerry Warren | Stars: Don Sullivan, Katherine Victor, Steve Conte, J.L.D. Morrison
Votes: 1,261
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
39. Night of the Ghouls (1959)
Unrated | 69 min | Horror
A phony spiritualist raises the dead.
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr. | Stars: Kenne Duncan, Duke Moore, Tor Johnson, Valda Hansen
Votes: 2,660
40. The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
Approved | 70 min | Horror, Mystery
Anthropologist Jonathan Drake believes that the men of his family have been cursed for generations by the native South American tribe he studies. Shortly after his brother, discovers one of the tribe's shrunken heads, he's found murdered.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Eduard Franz, Valerie French, Grant Richards, Henry Daniell
Votes: 1,247
#spoilers# Dr Zurich is a "living dead thing" - a Frankenstein-like combination of two 2000-year-old dead people. #/spoilers#
41. Invisible Invaders (1959)
Approved | 67 min | Sci-Fi, Horror
Invisible aliens from the Moon invade the Earth by occupying the bodies of recently deceased humans but a scientist, his daughter and an army Major, try to fight them.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: John Agar, Jean Byron, Philip Tonge, Robert Hutton
Votes: 1,960
aka Zombie in a Haunted House
43. Black Sunday (1960)
Approved | 87 min | Horror
A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.
Director: Mario Bava | Stars: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani
Votes: 17,613
44. The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 69 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
When a couple are killed in an auto accident their bodies are immediately inhabited by extraterrestrial beings. Taking refuge in an underground cave, the aliens attempt to sabotage the U. S. space program.
Director: Phil Tucker | Stars: Scott Peters, Linda Connell, Jason Johnson, Katherine Victor
Votes: 450
45. The Dead One (1961)
Not Rated | 68 min | Horror
A voodoo priestess sends out zombies to bring back live victims for her sacrificial rituals.
Director: Barry Mahon | Stars: John McKay, Linda Ormond, Monica Davis, Clyde Kelly
Votes: 270
46. Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)
Unrated | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
People are mysteriously disappearing near a remote Cornish village, where a scientist is experimenting; reviving the dead.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Kieron Moore, Hazel Court, Ian Hunter, Kenneth J. Warren
Votes: 1,064
47. Muñecos infernales (1961)
Approved | 81 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Four men are cursed by a voodoo priest for stealing a sacred idol from his temple. Soon a band of murderous "doll men" are after the men and their families.
Director: Benito Alazraki | Stars: Elvira Quintana, Ramón Gay, Roberto G. Rivera, Quintín Bulnes
Votes: 363
48. Goliath and the Vampires (1961)
Approved | 91 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
Goliath must save the kidnapped women of his village from an evil zombie leader who needs their blood to feed his soldiers.
Directors: Sergio Corbucci, Giacomo Gentilomo | Stars: Gordon Scott, Leonora Ruffo, Jacques Sernas, Gianna Maria Canale
Votes: 423
Luchadore film.
49. Carnival of Souls (1962)
Approved | 78 min | Horror, Mystery
After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.
Director: Herk Harvey | Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison
Votes: 27,837
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
50. Tales of Terror (1962)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Three tales of terror involve a grieving widower and the daughter he abandoned; a drunkard and his wife's black cat; and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man's death.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Maggie Pierce, Leona Gage, Peter Lorre
Votes: 8,387
51. Santo vs. the Zombies (1962)
Not Rated | 85 min | Adventure, Horror, Action
Wrestling superhero Santo battles an evil scientist who has created a race of zombies.
Director: Benito Alazraki | Stars: Santo, Armando Silvestre, Jaime Fernández, Dagoberto Rodríguez
Votes: 240
Luchadore film.
52. Los autómatas de la muerte (1962)
80 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The evil scientist Dr. Caronte plots to revive the brains of three dead scientists and use them to obtain the formula for the super-powerful neutron bomb. The resulting creation needs blood... See full summary »
Director: Federico Curiel | Stars: Wolf Ruvinskis, Julio Alemán, Armando Silvestre, Roberto Ramírez Garza
Votes: 216
Luchadore film.
53. Neutrón, el enmascarado negro (1960)
72 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Neutron, a masked wrestler/superhero, battles a gang of crooks who are plotting to steal a secret formula.
Director: Federico Curiel | Stars: Wolf Ruvinskis, Julio Alemán, Armando Silvestre, Roberto Ramírez Garza
Votes: 66
Luchadore film.
54. Monstrosity (1963)
Unrated | 65 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A rich but unscrupulous old woman plots with a scientist to have her brain implanted in the skull of a sexy young woman.
Directors: Joseph V. Mascelli, Jack Pollexfen | Stars: Marjorie Eaton, Frank Gerstle, Frank Fowler, Erika Peters
Votes: 2,971
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
55. I Eat Your Skin (1971)
GP | 92 min | Horror
A playboy adventure novelist joins his publisher on an expedition to Voodoo Island in the Caribbean, where a cancer researcher is being forced to turn the tribes-people into zombies.
Director: Del Tenney | Stars: William Joyce, Heather Hewitt, Walter Coy, Dan Stapleton
Votes: 1,661
56. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964)
Not Rated | 82 min | Horror
Jerry falls in love with a stripper he meets at a carnival. Little does he know that she is the sister of a gypsy fortune teller whose predictions he had scoffed at earlier. The gypsy turns him into a zombie and he goes on a killing spree.
Director: Ray Dennis Steckler | Stars: Ray Dennis Steckler, Brett O'Hara, Atlas King, Sharon Walsh
Votes: 5,305
57. The Castle of the Living Dead (1964)
90 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Count Drago invites entertainers to his castle, but what the people don't know is that Drago mummifies animals and humans.
Directors: Warren Kiefer, Luciano Ricci | Stars: Christopher Lee, Gaia Germani, Philippe Leroy, Mirko Valentin
Votes: 1,160
aka Castle of the Living Dead
58. The Horror of Party Beach (1964)
Approved | 78 min | Horror, Musical
Sea creatures created from radioactive sludge terrorize a beach community.
Director: Del Tenney | Stars: John Lyon, Alice Lyon, Allan Laurel, Eulabelle Moore
Votes: 3,194
59. The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll (1964)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A mad scientist creates a hideous monster to carry out his murderous plans.
Director: Jesús Franco | Stars: Hugo Blanco, Agnès Spaak, Perla Cristal, Magda Maldonado
Votes: 639
60. No Survivors, Please (1964)
93 min | Crime, Sci-Fi
Aliens attempt to take over the Earth by taking over the bodies of humans at the moment of their death, and using them as tools for their invasion plans.
Directors: Hans Albin, Peter Berneis | Stars: Maria Perschy, Uwe Friedrichsen, Robert Cunningham, Karen Blanguernon
Votes: 71
61. War of the Zombies (1964)
98 min | Action, Drama, Adventure
A fantastic yarn about a plot to conquer the world with an army of zombies!
Director: Giuseppe Vari | Stars: John Drew Barrymore, Susy Andersen, Ettore Manni, Ida Galli
Votes: 192
62. Orgy of the Dead (1965)
Unrated | 92 min | Fantasy, Horror
A couple driving to a cemetery looking for inspiration for a horror story encounters the dancing dead.
Director: Stephen C. Apostolof | Stars: Criswell, Fawn Silver, Pat Barrington, William Bates
Votes: 3,323
63. Terror-Creatures from the Grave (1965)
Unrated | 85 min | Horror
A lawyer arrives at a castle to fix the estate of its recently deceased owner. The owner's wife and daughter reveal that his spirit is wandering around the castle with evil intentions.
Director: Massimo Pupillo | Stars: Barbara Steele, Walter Brandi, Mirella Maravidi, Alfredo Rizzo
Votes: 1,186
aka Terror Creatures from the Grave
64. The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Approved | 90 min | Horror
During a mysterious epidemic in a small Cornish village, the local doctor summons his professor friend for help.
Director: John Gilling | Stars: André Morell, Diane Clare, Brook Williams, Jacqueline Pearce
Votes: 5,648
65. Mad Monster Party? (1967)
Unrated | 94 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
On the Isle of Evil, Baron Boris von Frankenstein reveals his imminent retirement and that he has refined the secret of total destruction, only to be upset when the other monsters try to steal the secret and kill his nephew, Felix Flanken.
Director: Jules Bass | Stars: Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, Phyllis Diller
Votes: 3,563
66. Placer sangriento (1967)
R | 78 min | Horror
A masked killer prowls the beaches of Argentina, injecting beautiful girls with heroin, and then using weird organ music to make them his zombie slaves.
Director: Emilio Vieyra | Stars: Alberto Candeau, Eduardo Muñoz, Ricardo Bauleo, Mauricio De Ferraris
Votes: 191
67. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,222 | Gross: $0.09M
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
Where it all began to really take off, with Romero reinventing the zombie and taking inspiration from The Last Man on Earth (1964) (on my contagious violence list).
68. Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968)
M/PG | 89 min | Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
A man who loves to travel, travels to an island where a mad doctor is creating zombies.
Directors: Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero | Stars: John Ashley, Angelique Pettyjohn, Ronald Remy, Alicia Alonzo
Votes: 911
69. Blue Demon contra cerebros infernales (1968)
TV-14 | 85 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A wrestling hero helps the police in their battle against a mad doctor and his army of female zombies.
Director: Chano Urueta | Stars: David Reynoso, Ana Martín, Noé Murayama, Dagoberto Rodríguez
Votes: 50
Luchadore film
70. Autopsia de un fantasma (1968)
106 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Satan offers a weary ghost a chance for redemption through true love.
Director: Ismael Rodríguez | Stars: Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, Amadee Chabot, Cameron Mitchell
Votes: 152
71. Dr. Satán y la magia negra (1968)
TV-PG | 97 min | Horror
In the hell, the King demon orders Dr. Satan to return to earth to destroy Yei Lin, a powerful Wizard of black magic, and steal the formula that transforms all metals into gold in order to become the master of the world.
Director: Rogelio A. González | Stars: Joaquín Cordero, Sonia Furió, Noé Murayama, Aurora Clavel
Votes: 64
72. The Living Skeleton (1968)
80 min | Horror
About a young woman living in a seaside town haunted by the ghosts of a ship's crew murdered by modern-day pirates.
Director: Hiroki Matsuno | Stars: Kikko Matsuoka, Yasunori Irikawa, Masumi Okada, Asao Uchida
Votes: 828
73. The Oblong Box (1969)
R | 96 min | Horror
Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Sir Edward occasionally escapes and causes havoc around the town.
Director: Gordon Hessler | Stars: Vincent Price, Alister Williamson, Christopher Lee, Rupert Davies
Votes: 3,931
74. Nightmare in Wax (1969)
M | 96 min | Horror
The disfigured curator of a wax museum murders his enemies and then uses their bodies as exhibits in his museum.
Director: Bud Townsend | Stars: Cameron Mitchell, Anne Helm, Scott Brady, Berry Kroeger
Votes: 880
75. Dream No Evil (1970)
R | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A young orphan girl obsessed with finding her father gets adopted by a traveling church. She grows up and gets engaged, but her obsession with locating her father is about to turn deadly.
Director: John Hayes | Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Brooke Mills, Marc Lawrence, Michael Pataki
Votes: 660
76. The Wizard of Gore (1970)
Not Rated | 95 min | Horror
A TV talk-show hostess and her boyfriend investigate a shady magician who has the ability to hypnotize and control the thoughts of people in order to stage gory on-stage illusions using his powers of mind bending.
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis | Stars: Ray Sager, Judy Cler, Wayne Ratay, Phil Laurenson
Votes: 4,020 | Gross: $0.02M
77. Night Slaves (1970 TV Movie)
72 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man and his wife find themselves stranded in a small western town. He discovers that a strange force has turned the residents into zombies, and runs into a beautiful woman who he believes is the key to the mystery.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: James Franciscus, Lee Grant, Scott Marlowe, Andrew Prine
Votes: 378
78. Isle of the Snake People (1971)
Unrated | 90 min | Horror, Mystery
Evil scientist runs a veritable army of LSD crazed zombies.
Directors: Juan Ibáñez, Jack Hill | Stars: Boris Karloff, Julissa, Carlos East, Rafael Bertrand
Votes: 1,062
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
79. Beast of Blood (1970)
GP | 90 min | Adventure, Horror
A mad scientist creates a monster, but after its head is cut off, he keeps it alive in a serum he has invented.
Director: Eddie Romero | Stars: John Ashley, Celeste Yarnall, Eddie Garcia, Liza Belmonte
Votes: 634
80. Horror Express (1972)
R | 88 min | Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
While on the Trans-Siberian Express, an anthropologist and his rival must contain the threat posed by the former's cargo: a prehistoric ape which is the host for a parasitic life-form.
Director: Eugenio Martín | Stars: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza, Telly Savalas
Votes: 12,773
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
81. Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)
PG | 101 min | Horror
Medieval knights executed for their black magic rituals come back as zombies to torment a group of vacationing college kids.
Director: Amando de Ossorio | Stars: Lone Fleming, César Burner, María Elena Arpón, José Thelman
Votes: 6,413
First of the Blind Dead series - it has a nice boxset too.
82. The Dead Are Alive! (1972)
R | 105 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A photographer on an archaeological expedition digging up Etruscan ruins in Italy begins to suspect that not all the Etruscans buried there are actually dead.
Director: Armando Crispino | Stars: Alex Cord, Samantha Eggar, John Marley, Nadja Tiller
Votes: 1,060 | Gross: $0.11M
83. Tales from the Crypt (1972)
PG | 92 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Five strangers get lost in a crypt and, after meeting the mysterious Crypt Keeper, receive visions of how they will die.
Director: Freddie Francis | Stars: Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Ralph Richardson, Geoffrey Bayldon
Votes: 13,027 | Gross: $1.70M
84. The Exorcism of Hugh (1972)
R | 110 min | Fantasy, Horror, Romance
This movie takes place on the Isle of Jersey where a troubled wife has come to sort out the tumult of her life. She encounters a pilot there and they quickly become lovers. Together they ... See full summary »
Director: Fred Burnley | Stars: Susan Hampshire, Frank Finlay, Michael Petrovitch, Michael Craze
Votes: 407
85. Asylum of Satan (1972)
PG | 80 min | Horror
A young woman is brought to an asylum to receive special treatment from a mysterious doctor. Dr. Spector does more than just run the hospital -- he offers his patients as sacrifices to Satan.
Director: William Girdler | Stars: Charles Kissinger, Carla Borelli, Nick Jolley, Louis Bandy
Votes: 503
86. Garden of the Dead (1972)
PG | 59 min | Sci-Fi, Horror
Convicts on a chain gang sniff experimental formaldehyde fumes to get high. They attempt a prison break, are shot down by the guards and buried in the prison garden. Soon, they rise from ... See full summary »
Director: John Hayes | Stars: Philip Kenneally, Duncan McLeod, John Dullaghan, John Dennis
Votes: 610
87. Night of the Devils (1972)
Not Rated | 91 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The patriarch of a wealthy family fears that he will show up one day in vampire form. Should this happen, he warns his family to not let him back into his house, no matter how much he begs them.
Director: Giorgio Ferroni | Stars: Gianni Garko, Agostina Belli, Roberto Maldera, Cinzia De Carolis
Votes: 1,617
88. Tai yin zhi (1972)
92 min | Action, Horror
Two swordsmen search for their missing brother. What is the connection between his disappearsnce and the evil Chang and his hunchback assistant? Who are the mysterious sisters being carried... See full summary »
Director: Hsueh-Li Pao | Stars: Han Chin, Ivy Ling Po, Chih Hsien Po, Li Tung
Votes: 102
89. Vengeance of the Zombies (1973)
Not Rated | 89 min | Horror
An Indian mystic uses magical chants to raise women from the dead, then sends them out to perform revenge killings for him.
Director: León Klimovsky | Stars: Paul Naschy, Romy, Mirta Miller, María Kosty
Votes: 905
The film is public domain. Get it from the Internet Archive
90. Return of the Evil Dead (1973)
Not Rated | 91 min | Horror
In this second startling film in the BLIND DEAD series, writer/director Amando de Ossorio returns to the horrific origin of the depraved Templar:
Director: Amando de Ossorio | Stars: Tony Kendall, Fernando Sancho, Esperanza Roy, Frank Braña
Votes: 2,954
Second of the Blind Dead series.
91. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)
PG | 87 min | Comedy, Horror
Six friends in a theatrical troupe dig up a corpse on an abandoned island to use in a mock Satanic rite. It backfires with deadly consequences.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Alan Ormsby, Valerie Mamches, Jeff Gillen, Anya Ormsby
Votes: 5,027
92. The Hanging Woman (1973)
R | 98 min | Horror
A man discovers the corpse of a young woman hanging in a cemetery.
Director: José Luis Merino | Stars: Stelvio Rosi, Maria Pia Conte, Dyanik Zurakowska, Pasquale Basile
Votes: 935 | Gross: $0.17M
93. Horror Hospital (1973)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Two British companions who met on a train heading to the rural countryside stay with a bizarre host of characters in a secluded, curious mansion. Unknown to them, there is a sinister secret behind closed doors.
Director: Antony Balch | Stars: Michael Gough, Robin Askwith, Vanessa Shaw, Ellen Pollock
Votes: 1,837
94. Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)
R | 95 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Baron Frankenstein creates two "zombies" - one male, one female - planning to mate them in order to create a master race.
Directors: Paul Morrissey, Antonio Margheriti | Stars: Joe Dallesandro, Udo Kier, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Monique van Vooren
Votes: 6,934 | Gross: $10.25M
95. The Night of the Sorcerers (1974)
Not Rated | 80 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
An African expedition encounters vampires at the site of an ancient sacrificial altar.
Director: Amando de Ossorio | Stars: Simón Andreu, Kali Hansa, María Kosty, Loreta Tovar
Votes: 710
96. The Hidan of Maukbeiangjow (1973)
Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
1970s spoof of American New Wave films, featuring a criminal couple on the run encountering a UFO cult.
Director: Lee S. Jones Jr. | Stars: Elizabeth Rush, Ele Grigsby, David Roster, Paul Lenzi
Votes: 124
97. The Invasion of the Dead (1973)
85 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
Professor Bruno Volpi spots some strange paintings on a cliff. He sends for Professor Zovek to help him discover its meaning. Zovek uses his powers to figure the writings are a warning that... See full summary »
Director: René Cardona | Stars: Zovek, Alejandro Moreno, Christa Linder, Raúl Ramírez
Votes: 109
98. Supergirl (1973)
Action, Fantasy, Horror
A magic ring from the goddess of the sea transforms a pure-hearted country lass into a superheroine. She must save her town from a female mad scientist, a kaiju frog, and a zombie outbreak.
Director: Howard Petersen | Stars: Pinky Montilla, Walter Navarro, Barbara Perez, Liza Lorena
Votes: 44
Not the big box office movie adaptation.
99. El misterio del castillo rojo (1973)
80 min | Sci-Fi
Mad mastermind lives in the Red Castle and plans to dominate the world by turning people into robots. Hero hot on the trail, mastermind tries to foil him and make him an automaton: stolen diamonds, warships, a complicated bizzare plot.
Director: Jesús Franco | Stars: Luis Barboo, Alberto Dalbés, Jesús Franco, Kali Hansa
Votes: 21
100. Kung bakit dugo ang kulay ng gabi (1973)
Horror
Director: Celso Ad. Castillo | Stars: Rita Gomez, Celia Rodriguez, George Estregan, Liza Lorena
Votes: 12
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