Essentials: 15 Unusual Zombie Movies

The first odd thing about the new zombie movie Maggie: it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Hollywood icon whose living-dead movie pedigree isn’t exactly legend. Although it’s worth noting that first-time director Henry Hobson does, in fact, have a legitimate living-dead cred: he’s the artist responsible for The Walking Dead’s superb opening credits sequence. Which brings up the second weird thing about Maggie: coming from someone who’s involved with AMC’s zombie-packed hit show, it’s curiously light on walkers.

Ultimately, Maggie doesn’t play by the standard Z-word rulebook. And that’s a huge part of why it’s one of the best zombie movies of the last few years.

Unrelated and combative characters fending off zombies while locked inside a house or some other kind of enclosed setting? Been there, seen that hundreds of times. Horror-comedies that so desperately want to be Shaun of the Dead, but, alas, aren’t Shaun of the Dead? Enough is enough already. But a tender, somber, and talky zombie drama about a father and his daughter, and that’s really an allegory for dealing with a loved one’s terminal illness? That’s something special. Maggie, excuse the pun, breathes life into the recently comatose zombie sub-genre, riding Schwarzenegger and Breslin’s powerful acting to exhibit how a little narrative innovation can go a long way for budding George A. Romero disciples.

Not that Maggie is an anomaly, though. Ambitious and original movies of its ilk have been giving horror fans hope for decades. And now, thanks to Maggie, there’s a new reason to honor them. Here are 15 unusual zombie movies that demand to be seen for their uniqueness alone.


Matt Barone is a film-obsessed writer and editor of TribecaFilm.com. When he’s not contributing to outlets like The Dissolve and Birth.Movies.Death, he endlessly weighs in on all things horror on Twitter.

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