All 5 Zombie Movies of 2026, Ranked

Who doesn’t love a good zombie movie? The genre has been around for decades and experienced a rebirth in the 2000s; now, it remains among the most successful in cinema, with every year producing at least one bona fide hit with both critics and audiences. 2026 is no exception, and the zombie genre has already given us a few gems that rank among the best horror offerings out there.

Indeed, this year, we’ve already seen successful video game adaptations, Korean nightmares, solid indies, and a major sequel that scored with critics but not with audiences. What all these movies have in common, besides the walking dead stalking the protagonists, is a love for sheer horror and a commitment to proving that the zombie genre can be far more than blood or gore. Here is every zombie movie of 2026 ranked based on their quality, scares, and how they represent these fan-favorite flesh-eating monsters.

5

‘We Bury the Dead’

Image via Vertical

Zak Hilditch‘s We Bury the Dead might very well be the most underrated entry in this list. The film is set in Australia following a nuclear attack that leaves countless dead and many brain dead. It stars Daisy Ridley as Ava Newman, a physiotherapist who volunteers with a group aimed at recovering the bodies, with the goal of looking for her missing husband. Things get complicated when the brain dead recover their motor functions and become violent, attacking the group.

We Bury the Dead is mainly concerned with Ava’s emotional journey as she looks for her missing husband. Ridley rises to the task, doing her best to take what is a somewhat one-note character and breathe more life into it. Alas, the film is too low on the zombie action to rise above the limitations of its execution. We Bury the Dead is by no means bad—quite the opposite, in fact. It’s a perfectly solid entry into the genre that should entertain all those who seek it. However, it’s more middle-of-the-road than genuinely impressive. A noble but ultimately average effort.

4

‘Colony’

Image via Well Go USA Entertainment

Few countries make horror movies as entertaining, brutal, or terrifying as South Korea. This year, their newest entry into the zombie genre, Colony, cemented their reputation as the leading producers of quality horror. Written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the film is a claustrophobic nightmare about a group of survivors trapped in a building amid an unidentified outbreak of violent infected.

What Colony does so effectively is capture the paranoia and dread that inherently come with the zombie genre. That it also manages to tie it into our collective growing mistrust of technology is nothing short of impressive, even if it doesn’t do nearly as much with the premise as it could. Yeon is, of course, well known for another stellar zombie movie, Train to Busan, and with Colony, he recaptures the same thrills and gore, even if he can’t quite replicate the human element that made his 2016 masterpiece a timeless hit. Still, Colony is an entertaining and scary effort that should satisfy all those looking for some zombie frights.

3

‘Cold Storage’

Image via Samuel Goldwyn Films

Horror and comedy go together great, and so do zombies and comedy. This year, David Koepp adapted his 2019 book, Cold Storage, into a film of the same name, directed by Johnny Campbell and starring Georgina Campbell, Joe Keery, and Liam Neeson. Cold Storage follows two employees at a self-storage company who encounter a deadly, brain-controlling, parasitic fungus that has been unleashed at the facility.

Cold Storage is a B-movie to the core, and it’s all the better for it. The comedy lands, the zombie action is just good enough to leave an impression, and the performances are great, with the main trio fully committed to the wacky premise and ably supported by a cast that also includes titans like Vanessa Redgrave and Lesley Manville. Indeed, if there’s a word to describe Cold Storage, it would be “goofy,” and that’s very much by design. It never takes itself too seriously, and neither should you. Just sit back, enjoy, laugh, and occasionally squirm at the fungus action.

2

‘Resident Evil’

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

Zach Cregger‘s follow-up to the success of Weapons was a reboot of the long-running franchise Resident Evil, which has conquered the realm of video games but has never replicated that success on the big screen. And yet, against all odds, Cregger worked out a way to make a great movie out of the IP, with Austin Abrams starring as a hapless medical courier who becomes trapped in Raccoon City as it quickly descends into chaos following an outbreak of infected creatures.

As evidenced by his previous two directorial efforts, Cregger is quite good at balancing comedy and humor, and Resident Evil is further proof. The film is probably his goriest and ickiest, perfectly living up to the source material’s penchant for blood and violence. Yet, it never forgets the human element necessary to make the action compelling, supported by a game Abrams, who delivers a sympathetic star-making performance in the lead role. Resident Evil might not be strictly faithful to the games, but it doesn’t need to be to excel as a zombie movie. It’s action-packed, atmospheric, darkly funny, and often genuinely scary; in short, it’s everything a great zombie movie should be.

1

’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

The sequel to 28 Years Later, itself a sequel to the seminal zombie—ehem, infected—classic 28 Days Later, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is probably the year’s most misunderstood horror offering. Ralph Fiennes reprises his role as Dr. Ian Kelson, who develops an unexpected bond with the infected Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Meanwhile, Soike (Alfie Williams) falls into the hands of Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), a Satanic cult leader who puts him through a truly nightmarish ordeal.

Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland, The Bone Temple is perhaps the best entry into this blossoming franchise since the 2002 original. It’s far gorier and extremely bleak, perhaps the most harrowing zombie movie we’ve had this century. Much of that has to do with the performances, especially a truly horrifying Jack O’Connell as Crystal, one of the most chilling and unforgettable villains in modern horror. It’s angry, wild, and bloody, but it’s also remarkably humane, just like all the best horror movies are. Sadly, it was a box office flop, meaning the planned sequel, featuring the long-promised return of Cillian Murphy, is not coming out any time soon, but Danny Boyle remains hopeful that it will happen.