Zombies have dominated the landscape of the horror genre for decades now, of course ever since George A. Romero gave rise to the new breed of movie monster in the classic film Night of the Living Dead. But for the most part, zombies are background characters, blending together into massive hordes and rarely having any distinct personality traits.
There are, however, a handful of cinema zombies over the years who have dared to be special. Standing out from the pack, these rare zombies were as interested in being movie stars as they were in feasting on brains and ripping apart intestines, and in their respective movies they’re as memorable – sometimes more so – than any of the human characters.
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In celebration of Day of the Dead‘s 30th anniversary, today here on Dread we shine the spotlight on 10 of those movie zombies who stood head and shoulders above the rest. We thought it was a fitting movie to pay tribute to with such a list, and you better believe Bub is going to be on it. So read on for the full list, fiends!
In no particular order…
1) NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – CEMETERY ZOMBIE
It was in 1968 that George Romero turned zombies from mindless slaves into genuinely terrifying movie monsters, and the late William Hinzman was the very first modern day movie zombie to shamble across the screen. Known to fans as “Cemetery Zombie,” Hinzman’s ghoul terrorized Barbra and her brother, Johnny, on a trip to the graveyard, the actor immortalizing himself in the annals of horror history in just a few short minutes of screen time. Zombies don’t get any more iconic than this one.
2) NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – KAREN COOPER
Of course, the word “iconic” also goes hand-in-hand with another zombie seen in the original Night of the Living Dead – young Karen Cooper (played by Kyra Schon), who rises from the dead and kills her own mother with a trowel. The image of an undead Karen is ingrained into the minds of horror fans the world over, used on various posters and home video releases of the film. In fact, if there’s any single image that is most synonymous with Night of the Living Dead, it’s the one seen above.
3) DAY OF THE DEAD – BUB
In both Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead, George Romero played around with the idea of humanizing the monsters he created, and there’s no better example of a domesticated zombie than Day of the Dead‘s Bub (Howard Sherman). Quite unlike any other zombie to come before him, Bub is incredibly lovable and surprisingly human, and in the end he ends up becoming the hero rather than the villain. We salute you, sir. This year and every year.
MORE ZOMBIES ON NEXT PAGE!
4) DAWN OF THE DEAD – FLYBOY
Out of all the zombies George Romero has featured in his movies, he’s stated on the record that his all-time favorite is Dawn of the Dead‘s “Flyboy.” I’m not sure there’s any actor who has ever played a zombie more effectively than David Emge, and the image of an undead Stephen Andrews exiting one of the mall’s elevators is so memorable that the scene was turned into an action figure and Flyboy was even paid tribute to on “The Walking Dead.” Simply the best.
5) RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD – TARMAN
Previously used words like iconic, memorable, and lovable all fit this next zombie like a glove, though where Return of the Living Dead‘s Tarman really shines is in being the most unique zombie we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. With black, melted flesh dripping off his body, Tarman looks like a living, breathing oil slick, and his insatiable desire for brains is legendary. We tip our hats to actor Allan Trautman, who is one of the finest zombie actors of them all.
6) LAND OF THE DEAD – BIG DADDY
George Romero’s long-awaited sequel to Day of the Dead came in the form of Land of the Dead, which was released a full 20 years after Day. Played by Eugene Clark, the gas-pumping “Big Daddy” is in many ways an extension of Day of the Dead‘s Bub, an intelligent zombie who knows how to use weapons and shows a very human-like compassion for his undead friends. Like Bub, Big Daddy is one of Romero’s most empathetic and endearing ghouls.
7) DEAD ALIVE – MUM
In Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive (aka Braindead), protagonist Lionel Cosgrove’s mother, Vera (Elizabeth Moody), is no walk in the park even as a normal human being, though she becomes a much more monstrous menace after she’s bitten by an infected rat monkey. Towards the end of the film she transforms into a Kaiju-sized zombie, intent on putting her beloved son back into her massive womb. Honorable mention goes to the film’s much smaller baby Selwyn, who is just as memorable.
MORE ZOMBIES ON NEXT PAGE!
8) LUCIO FULCI’S ZOMBIE – MAGGOT-EYED ZOMBIE
Sometimes a zombie need not have all that much screen time in order to become truly iconic, and Zombie‘s “Maggot-Eyed Zombie” is precisely one of those monsters. Seen on most of the promotional and advertising materials for Lucio Fulci’s gore-soaked classic, this zombie (played by Ottaviano Dell’acqua) rises from the dirt in one particularly memorable scene, feasting on the neck meat of a beautiful woman. Ole maggot-eye is the quintessential Fulci zombie.
9) CREEPSHOW – NATHAN GRANTHAM
There’s a lot to love about Creepshow‘s Stephen King-penned segment “Father’s Day,” including an Ed Harris dance scene that I admit to watching on an endless loop quite frequently. But the most memorable image is of course that of the undead Nathan Grantham, who digs out of his grave and begs his murderous daughter for the Father’s Day cake he never received. Now that’s what I call revenge served sweet.
10) RE-ANIMATOR – DR. HILL
Re-Animator is home to one of horror’s most unforgettable scenes, wherein the zombified Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale) grabs hold of his own severed head and uses it to perform oral sex on a helpless young woman (played of course by genre icon Barbara Crampton). Zombies don’t often have sex drives, or the desire to do much other than eat brains, but that’s just what makes Dr. Hill so darn special – and totally creepy.
Which zombie on this list is your favorite? And can you think of any others who belong on here? Comment below and let us know!