Fancy a good zombie movie? From George A. Romero's cult feature film "The Day of the Living Dead" to the recent comedy with Lupita Nyong'o, "Little Monsters", here are 5 films to watch on Amazon Prime.
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SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2005)
The horrifying comedy Shaun of the dead follows Shaun (Simon Pegg), a looser who just got dumped by his girlfriend (Kate Ashfield). Helped by his friend Ed (Nick Frost), the latter will try to win her back while dealing with an invasion of zombies. Directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by the filmmaker and his accomplice the actor Simon Pegg (the 2 men met in 1998 and are at the origin of the series Les Allumé with Pegg and Nick Frost) of this romantic comedy against the backdrop of invasion dates from 1999. At that time, Wright directed the series Spaced led by Simon Pegg. In one of the episodes, Pegg finds himself trapped in the video game Resident Evil 2 and fights the undead. Big fans of zombie films and in particular of The Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero (to which Shaun of the Dead pays great tribute), the two friends take so much pleasure to shoot these scenes, that they decide to make a feature film with zombies. A few years later Shaun of the Dead hit theaters and it was a critical and public success.
Packed with references to horror cinema, this short film (with a budget of 4 million pounds) obtains an unexpected worldwide success, even earning the filmmaker the praise of George A. Romero, who decides to make them appear zombified, him and Simon Pegg, in Land of the dead. In 2005, Shaun of the dead received the Saturn Award for Best Film, a major distinction in the field of fantasy cinema. A cult horror comedy that is part of the "Cornetto Trilogy" with Hot Fuzz (2007) and The Last Pub before the end of the world (2013).
THE DAY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1986)
Third part of the "zombie saga" started in 1968 by George A. Romero with The Night of the Living Dead, The Day of the Living Dead takes place in a world invaded by zombies. Only a group of humans survive in a missile silo. There are two solutions: flee or try to control the zombies. This dark camera in which flowery soldiers and scientists live together depicts a real war of territory between the living and the dead.
George A. Romero raises the question of human animality here. Who is the most animal between zombies and humans? As Boubou the zombie regains human habits, the group of survivors disintegrates and becomes more and more violent. Between the dead and humans, it is difficult for the spectator to choose sides. As Logan - the scientist - says in the film, "Social behavior is what distinguishes us from lower beings." And this is the message that Romero wants to get across in his film (as well as in Zombies released 2 years earlier) since it deals with the alienation of men by the consumer society and criticizes the Cold War.
THE ARMY OF THE DEAD (2004)
Undisputed master of the genre, George A. Romero has revolutionized horror films with his zombie feature films. So much so that the horrific post 70's cinema was greatly inspired by his work. If some pay tribute to him (like Shaun of the dead), others remake his films. And like Tom Savini (actor on Zombie), who in 1990 signed the remake of The Night of the Living Dead, Zack Snyder produced in 2003 the remake of Zombie: The Army of the Dead.
First feature film of the one who was to stage Watchmen, 300, Man of Steel or Justice League, The Army of the Dead is written by James Gunn (director of the Guardians of the Galaxy). Worn by Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber and Mekhi Phifer, the film follows a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse, in a shopping center.
The social criticism present in Romero's work is slightly erased to focus on the visual experience. It is an action-packed horror film with hemoglobin. We will also note a big difference with Romero's films in which the zombies walk slowly, since here the undead appear as real furies in the line of zombies 28 days later. A desire of the director and the team to bring a certain modernity to the story. An experience that seems to have pleased Zack Snyder since the latter has just finished the production of the movie Netflix, Army of the Dead in which Dave Bautista and his group of mercenaries organize a robbery during a zombie invasion in Las Vegas ...
LITTLE MONSTERS (2019)
Having enjoyed a limited theatrical release, the horrifying comedy Little Monsters will surely appeal to fans of Shaun of the dead. Skilfully mixing humor and horror, this crazy feature film follows a teacher, interpreted by Lupita Nyong'o, who organizes a school trip with her class. Accompanied by Dave (Alexander England), the irresponsible uncle of one of the students and a star of children's show (Josh Gad), she will have to fight a horde of zombies while making toddlers to believe that it is is an educational game ... Which will give rise to some pretty funny scenes, especially musical sequences that will (re) put the rhymes of your childhood in mind (but also Shake it Off by Taylor Swift and Mmmbop Hanson).
Kind of Life is beautiful with zombies, the idea for this film germinated in the mind of director Abe Forsythe in 2016 when he accompanied his son's class on an excursion. Note that Little Monsters is the first zombie film by Lupita Nyong'o who admits having been frightened by them at the start of filming. But nothing can resist the interpreter of Nakia (Black Panther).
RESIDENT EVIL (2002)
Big fan of the video game, Paul W.S. Anderson adapted Resident Evil for cinema in 2002. We will follow 5 other films, still with Milla Jovovich, and a reboot currently in preparation. In the first part, a deadly virus created in a laboratory spreads and ends all human life. At the same time, Alice (Jovovich) wakes up in a mansion, unaware of how she could have landed there. It was then that a military intervention group disembarked and forced him to follow them in order to neutralize the Red Queen, the supercomputer held to be responsible for the disaster. This action film where the population is transformed into zombies is very effective, even 18 years after its theatrical release. Very involved, Milla Jovovich does most of the stunts herself. The scene during which Alice realizes her capacities (she jumps and leans on a wall to knock out a zombie dog) required 3 months of training for the actress.
A famous video game, action, a heroine who has her grip, a virus that resuscitates the dead ... All the elements were there to make Resident Evil a success in horror cinema: the film therefore reaped more of $ 100 million at the international box office. Even today, Resident Evil is the most lucrative video game license adaptation (with $ 1.2 billion in revenue.). And the presence of Milla Jovovich - who literally carried the films on her shoulders - is not completely foreign to this success either.