Walking nightmares aren’t so bad when they’re safely relegated to your screen.

Don’t get bit: Here are the 8 best zombie movies on Netflix

Walking nightmares aren't so bad when they're safely relegated to your screen.

By Declan Gallagher

and Ilana Gordon

Ilana Gordon is an entertainment, culture, and comedy writer originally from Connecticut. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

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January 19, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

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A zombie in 'Night of the Living Dead'; Cillian Murphy as Jim in '28 Days Later'; Bill Murray as Officer Cliff Robertson in 'The Dead Don't Die'. Credit:

Pictorial Parade/Getty; Peter Mountain/FOX; Abbot Genser/Focus Features

Who knows how all this scrolling and screen time will affect the human brain, but the impact doesn’t seem to influence the taste. Tech be damned, zombies still want to eat brains.

Don’t sweat it, though, because first the zombies have to get through the brave and determined living protagonists on this list, and these characters aren’t giving up without a fight. From straight-up horror movies to light-hearted zom-coms, here are the 9 best zombie movies Netflix has to offer.

28 Days Later (2003)

Cillian Murphy as Jim in '28 Days Later'.

Peter Mountain/Fox Searchlight

Twenty-eight days after the country is ravaged by a "rage virus," Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens in an abandoned hospital and stumbles into a postapocalyptic London. He soon joins up with fellow survivors Selena (Naomie Harris, electric in her film debut) as well as Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), with whom he prepares to navigate their dangerous new world.

One of the most influential horror movies of the 21st century, *28 Days Later** *pre-figured the zombie craze kicked off by Zack Snyder's *Dawn of the Dead *remake and *The Walking Dead*. Danny Boyle's film is both a nightmarish vision of terror and a humanist drama. *—Declan Gallagher*

Where to watch *28 Days Later: *Netflix

**Director: **Danny Boyle

**Cast: **Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson

28 Years Later (2025)

Ralph Fiennes as Dr. Ian Kelson in '28 Years Later'.

Miya Mizuno/Columbia

Danny Boyle's *28 Years Later *proves the franchise still has a lot to say. Released 18 years after *28 Weeks Later* (2007), the third installment in the postapocalyptic horror series is set on one of the British Isles, where a community has flourished, isolated from the more evolved versions of the infected that still terrorize the region. The film follows 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), who must contend with his mother’s growing illness and his father’s inability to help her.

Writer Alex Garland and director Boyle reunite for the first time since *28 Days Later*, and their collaboration meditates on British culture and isolationism in a post-Brexit, COVID-impacted world. An additional sequel, *28 Years Later: The Bone Temple*, premiered on Jan. 16, 2026. *—Ilana Gordon*

Where to watch *28 Years Later*: Netflix

**EW grade: **A–

**Director: **Danny Boyle

**Cast: **Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Undead zombies in 'Night of the Living Dead'.

Pictorial Parade/Getty

George Romero thought *Night of the Living Dead* would be a “one-off,” but his seminal zombie flick has persevered to fundamentally shape the modern horror landscape. The *Dead* franchise spawned numerous entries and imitators, most notably *Dawn of the Dead* (1978) and its well-regarded 2004 remake, and one of the most successful TV series of this century — *The Walking Dead* — wouldn’t exist without this low-budget lark.

Named one of EW’s scariest movies of all time, Romero’s slow-burn, documentary-like approach to the apocalypse is as mundane as it is violent; the end comes not with an explosion, but the slow encroachment of our dead loved ones. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Night of the Living Dead*: Netflix

**EW grade: **A+

**Director: **George Romero

**Cast: **Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley

Train to Busan (2016)

Gong Yoo as Seok-Woo in 'Train to Busan'. Well Go USA

The only thing faster than a bullet train is the zombie infection overtaking its passengers. In the South Korean action horror film *Train to Busan*, Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is a work-obsessed hedge fund manager and absentee father who agrees to accompany his young daughter Soo-an (Kim Su-an) on a bullet train from Seoul to Busan so she can spend her birthday with her mother. As the train departs, a sick woman begins transitioning into a zombie — and infecting everyone around her.

These zombies seem to have studied at the *World War Z* School of Swarming; they move at the same frenetic speed, infecting the entire country during the course of the movie's under two-hour run time. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Train to Busan*: Netflix

**EW grade: **B+

**Director:** Yeon Sang-ho

**Cast:** Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik

#Alive (2020)

Yoo Ah-in as Oh Joon-woo in '#Alive'.

A man confined to his apartment during a zombie outbreak must figure out how to fend for himself with a lack of technology as the undead close in. This stylish genre mashup from South Korea is one of the country's best zombie exports (which is saying a lot). *—D.G.*

Where to watch #*Alive*: Netflix

**Director:** Cho Il-hyung

**Cast:** Yoo Ah-in, Park Shin-hye, Jeon Bae-soo

Cargo (2017)

Martin Freeman as Andy in 'Cargo'. Netflix

Martin Freeman gives “a performance in turns stoic and heartbreakingly desperate,” says EW’s critic, in this story about a father and his daughter in the Australian outback struggling for survival after a zombie outbreak. It’s more of a character drama than a horror film, and admittedly is not a ton of fun, but it’s a strong movie and a brave take on the zombie mythos. If you’re a fan of the genre, *Cargo* will offer you something with more emotional weight than you’re used to. *—D.G.*

Where to watch *Cargo*: Netflix

**EW grade:** B

**Directors:** Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke

**Cast:** Martin Freeman, Simone Landers, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter

The Dead Don’t Die (2019)

Adam Driver as Officer Ronald Peterson in 'The Dead Don't Die'.

Frederick Elmes/Focus Features

*The Dead Don’t Die* defies explanation. A zombie flick that dabbles in absurdist comedy, sci-fi, and horror — and delights in breaking the fourth wall — the movie is never what you expect, but that doesn’t detract from the viewing experience. As EW’s critic notes, the film isn’t particularly scary or gory, so if those are your zombie priorities, you’ve come to the wrong place. However, if your goal is to watch a “genre-tweaking experiment” laden with director Jim Jarmusch’s favorite acting collaborators, then *The Dead Don’t Die* is the deadpan zom-com for you. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *The Dead Don't Die*: Netflix

**Director: **Jim Jarmusch

**Cast: **Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi

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Army of the Dead (2021)

Raúl Castillo as Mikey Guzman, Samantha Win as Chambers, Dave Bautista as Scott Ward, and Ana de la Reguera as Maria Cruz in 'Army of the Dead'.

Clay Enos/Netflix

Zack Snyder’s cheeky subversion of genre hits a sweet spot that’s part *Ocean’s Eleven*, part his remake of *Dawn of the Dead*. Snyder is clearly back in his comfort zone, unburdened by superhero mythology and uncommitted actors, and that assurance shows in the final product. While his *Dawn* remake remains his best movie, *Army of the Dead** *comes close to tapping into its predecessor’s grimy, gristle-splattered aesthetic. Plus: Tig Notaro, flying a helicopter. *—D.G.*

Where to watch *Army of the Dead*: Netflix

**Director: **Zack Snyder

**Cast: **Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick, Garret Dillahunt

- Horror Movies

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Horror”