9 skin-crawling zombie films to watch after 28 Years Later
Twenty-three years after we first saw the devastating effects of the Rage Virus, 28 Years Later has finally hit cinema screens.
Rumours of a sequel to smash hit zombie films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later have been rumbling following the release of the latter in 2007.
And horror fans' prayers were answered when director Danny Boyle officially announced a third film was on the way with original writer Alex Garland returning.
Not only that, 28 Years Later is part of a trilogy of films, so there's even more terrifying running undead moments to haunt our nightmares on the way.
Released today in cinemas, 28 Years Later is set almost 30 years after the events of the first film (as the title would suggest), in which a group of survivors have found ways to live among the infected.
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jodie Comer, it is undoubtedly one of the biggest horror films hitting the big screen in 2025.
But before you check it out in cinemas, you can get in the mood for some brain-eating action with these nine zombie films streaming right now.
Where to watch: StudioCanal+ via Prime Video
You probably don't expect to end a zombie film in floods of tears, but we can promise that is likely to happen if you decide to watch Train to Busan.
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the 2016 horror film mostly takes place on a KTX train from Seoul to Busan when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in the city.
Two of the passengers on the train are Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) and his daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an), travelling to see Seok-woo's estranged wife and Su-an's mum, Na-young.
Where to watch: Prime Video
The opening scene of 28 Days Later is incredibly eerie, with Cillian Murphy's Jim waking up to find the world ravaged by the Rage Virus.
2018 film The Night Eats The World begins much the same, with musician Sam (Anders Danielsen Lie) waking to find himself the lone survivor in a city hit by a zombie apocalypse.
Trapped in an apartment, he barricades himself in and begins formulating a way to survive.
Where to watch: Available to rent via Prime Video, Apple TV+, and the Sky Store
Following in the footsteps of the 28 Days franchise, The Girl With All the Gifts is a refreshing and bleak take on the zombie film that questions the state of humanity.
The film begins on a military base where children, who harbour a disease caused by a parasitic fungus, are held in the hope of obtaining the cure that turns humans into mindless zombies called 'hungries.'
When the base is attacked, one child, Melanie (Sennia Nanua), escapes with teacher Helen Justineau (Gemma Arterton), Sergeant Eddie Parks (Paddy Considine), Dr. Caroline Caldwell (Glenn Close), and soldier Gallagher (Fisayo Akinade).
Where to watch: Shudder via Prime Video
Released last year, MadS quickly became one of the highest-rated horror films of 2024 according to Rotten Tomatoes, and it's easy to see why.
Directed by David Moreau and told all in one, long take, it follows the story of French club kid Romain (Milton Riche), who wakes up from another night of partying to do it all over again.
While driving, he encounters an escaped patient from a local medical facility who appears to be injured, drastically changing the course of his evening.
Where to watch: Arrow via Prime Video
Found footage films immerse us in the events onscreen, which is absolutely terrifying when you consider the events of REC.
The 2007 film stars Manuela Velasco as reporter Ángela Vidal, who, along with her cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso), accompanies a group of firefighters to an emergency call at an apartment building.
Once inside, she discovers an infection is spreading among the residents, and all occupants must follow a strict quarantine, with the events of the night being captured in full, horrifying detail by Pablo's camera.
Where to watch: JustWatch TV and FOUND for free
Another chilling found footage zombie film is Savageland, which unfolds in one of the most unique ways of any pick on this list.
The mockumentary explores the massacre of a small border town separating Arizona and Mexico, with suspicion falling on the lone survivor.
However, the photographic evidence captured by the man shows the chilling details of what really happened.
Where to watch: Available to rent via Prime Video and Apple TV+
The adage 'til death do us part' is proven very, very false in the 2014 horror comedy Life After Beth.
Loosely based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Life After Beth follows Zach (Dane DeHaan), who is grieving the loss of his girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza).
However, when she is reanimated as a zombie, he is now tasked with preventing her deterioration while giving their relationship another shot at happiness.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Many films on this list take place in limited locations with protagonists defending themselves against flesh-hungry zombies in a contained space.
And 2008 psychological thriller Pontypool, based on the novel Pontypool Changes Everything, is no different.
The film follows radio announcer Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie), who finds himself trapped at his radio station during a live broadcast as a zombie outbreak begins, with Mazzy and the crew inside forced to fight for survival.
Where to watch: Available to rent via Prime Video, Apple TV+, and the Sky Store More Trending
Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger is in a zombie film, and what's more, it will absolutely devastate you to your core.
It is unique in that it is set after the zombie apocalypse, but society has not completely fallen; rather, it is coming to terms with the devastating effects it has had on society.
In the Midwest United States, Wade (Schwarzenegger) is enjoying his final weeks with his daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin) after she was bitten by a zombie and is slowly turning into one of them.
28 Years Later is in cinemas now.
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Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
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28 Years Later director Danny Boyle reveals unexpected 'nightmare' of filming NAKED zombie scenes for the horror movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes
Director Danny Boyle has admitted that it was a 'nightmare' filming naked zombie scenes for the highly acclaimed movie 28 Years Later due to one challenge. Danny, 68, stepped back into the director's chair to helm the 'terrifying' horror, written by Alex Garland, 23 years after the pair's first film, 28 Days Later, hit cinemas. After the long-awaited film hit screens, Danny reflected on the challenges he faced while filming the movie, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes. He revealed they needed to take extra care not to have 'naked' actors on the set because they had strict rules in place to protect the film's child star, Alfie Williams. Danny told PEOPLE: 'I mean, if you're recently infected [with the zombie virus], you'd have some clothes, but if you've been infected for a long time, the clothes would just disintegrate with the way that you behave 'We never knew [about rules governing nudity on set when there's a child present] going in, it was a nightmare.' In order to still film scenes featuring naked zombies while adhering to the safeguarding rules, Danny revealed the actors had to wear prosthetics. 'Interestingly, because there was a 12-year-old boy on set, you're not allowed for anybody to be naked, not really naked, so they look naked, but it's all prosthetics,' he shared. 'So it's like: ''Oh my God,'' so we had to make everybody prosthetic genitals.' Danny said he was keen to push boundaries with the elements of nudity and gore in the film, and he's glad studio bosses were supportive of his plans. He added to Variety: 'I think one of the wonderful things about horror is that you're expected to maximize the impact of your story. Everybody wants to do that with a drama, with the romance, whatever. 'But with horror, it's obviously gonna be brutal, some of it. What we loved was setting it against an innocence that's represented by the various children in it, and also the landscape, the beauty of the landscape, the nature. 'Having those two forces stretches your story as far as you can go, if you maximize them.' The first-ever movie of the series, 28 Days Later, followed Jim (Cillian Murphy), who awakes from a coma to discover Britain has been plagued by a terrible pandemic known as the Rage Virus, which turns those affected into murderous zombies. Although he didn't star in the second instalment and won't be in the new release, Cillian will make a brief appearance in the upcoming fourth instalment - 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. The fourth film features Danny once again as a producer while Nia DaCosta directed, and it has already been shot ahead of its planned January 2026 release. However, the Trainspotting moviemaker hopes to be back in the directing chair once again if a fifth final movie is given the green light. The series was created by Alex Garland, 55, who wrote the screenplays for all the films except for the second instalment, 28 Weeks Later. Critics have already weighed in on the third zombie horror movie in the franchise, 28 Years Later, and it has received rave reviews. Two decades on from the 2002 original, which saw a deadly virus plague London, the new movie finds a group of survivors living on the secluded island of Lindisfarne. Rotten Tomatoes has handed the movie an impressive 94 per cent critic approval rating after rounding up the thoughts of more than 91 film reviewers. The Daily Mail's Brian Viner was incredibly impressed after watching the series' latest gory instalment, dubbing the movie the 'best post-apocalyptic horror-thriller film I have ever watched'. He wrote: 'With the terrifying and electrifying 28 Years Later, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have delivered the best post-apocalyptic survivalist horror-thriller film I have ever seen. Which sounds like limited praise, yet it's a much more crowded field than you might think.' 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How zombies explain Brexit: the satire of '28 Years Later'
THE ZOMBIES in '28 Days Later' are not actually zombies, as any horror aficionado will tell you. In the film of 2002, the ravenous monsters are simply people who have contracted a 'rage virus' which turns them into homicidal maniacs. True, these swarming fiends are as mindlessly brutal as any zombie, but, as they have not died and been reanimated, they do not meet the traditional criteria.
