The Best Zombie Movies On Hulu
Move over, suave vampires. Take a seat, charismatic serial killers. Step aside, child-possessing demonic spirits. It's zombie time. Ghouls and goblins are all well and good, but there's something uniquely visceral about a shambling corpse that keeps us coming back for more. The horror genre has always been an affecting and plentiful medium for confronting the indelible, inconvenient truth that we're all going to die someday. Illness, plague, contagions, and the unquiet dead are a surefire way to stare our mortality in the face. And if we happen to get a morbid, gory kick out of it along the way, all the better.
These days zombie films come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and creeds. Some members of the walking dead can speak and reason. Others shamble and stumble with the elegance and grace of a blind-folded ostrich. Some zombies are literally reanimated corpses while others are merely zombie-like, ravaged by mysterious illnesses and starring down the barrel of a violent, bloody death.
If watching the dead rise, raise hell, and sink their teeth into their fellow man gets you going, you are truly spoiled for choice. There are plenty of zombie films out there, but knowing where to direct all that undead enthusiasm can be a bit tricky. Luckily for you, we've combed through Hulu's library to assemble the best zombie movies for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy and remember not to get within biting distance.
Updated on December 22, 2021: If you can't get enough of the living dead, then be sure to check back here each month. As zombie films stagger in and out of Hulu, we'll keep you up to date on all the undead action.
The Crazies
A remake of George A. Romero's 1973 classic of the same name, "The Crazies" drops us into a little Iowa town named Ogden Marsh, where the residents are beginning to act a little strange. And by "strange," we of course mean unthinkingly and violently homicidal. David, the county sheriff, discovers a mysterious military aircraft in the town's river, leading him to believe the cargo may have tainted the town's water supply. But before David can investigate further, Ogden Marsh is cut off from the world, and soldiers arrive to quarantine and contain the infected the residents. Things quickly escalate as David's pregnant wife, Judy, fails to clear the infection test. A tense and eerie remake that ups the budget of Romero's little-seen original, "The Crazies" is an outbreak nightmare well worth your time.
- Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson
- Director: Breck Eisner
- Year: 2010
- Runtime: 101 minutes
- Rating: R
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%
The Cured
A plague known as the "Maze Virus" has swept through Europe, leaving the infected in a homicidal, zombie-like state. Ireland was hit especially hard, and while a cure was discovered, 25% of the stricken population are resistant. Thus, the creation of two stratified groups: the Cured and the Infected, who are held in captivity for fear of another outbreak. An intimate and contagiously passionate look at what happens when the undead return to life, "The Cured" is a performance-driven spin on what it might look like to pick up the pieces after a zombie outbreak.
- Starring: Elliot Page, Sam Keeley, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor
- Director: David Freyne
- Year: 2017
- Runtime: 95 minutes
- Rating: R
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%
The Evil in Us
Six best friends enjoying a Fourth of July holiday end up at the wrong place at the wrong time. Which is to say — smack dab in the thrall of an insidious terrorist attack centered around a drug that transforms users into bloodthirsty cannibals. Vibing in the same space as "Cabin Fever" and "28 Days Later," here's a film with further proof that secluded cabins in the woods and tainted narcotics are a match made in flesh-munching hell.
- Starring: Ian Collins, Kylee Bush, Debs Howard
- Director: Jason William Lee
- Year: 2016
- Runtime: 91 minutes
- Rating: NR
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64% (Audience Score)
Little Monsters
A foul-mouthed, washed-up musician, a children's television personality, and a cheerful kindergarten teacher team up to protect a group of young schoolchildren during an unexpected zombie outbreak. A hilarious, delightful, and contagiously energetic Aussie offering, "Little Monsters" is a newer entry in the ever-growing roster of zombie romantic comedies (zom-rom-coms). As if we needed more proof that elementary school teachers are the best.
- Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Josh Gad, Stephen Peacocke
- Director: Abe Forsythe
- Year: 2019
- Runtime: 94 minutes
- Rating: R
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
World War Z
A big-budget adaption of Max Brooks' 2006 novel of the same name, "World War Z" sees the world plunged into madness when a mysterious infection begins turning the entire human population into rampaging mindless zombies. After narrowly avoiding the chaos, United Nations investigator Gerry Lane is tapped to look into the disease, prompting a globe-trotting trek in which Lane must piece together the puzzle before humanity eats itself alive. A brain-off action flick that could have been titled "Local Man Watches the World Burn," director Marc Forster delivers two things that never go out of style: Brad Pitt and zombie chaos.
- Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale
- Director: Marc Forster
- Year: 2013
- Runtime: 115 minutes
- Rating: PG-13
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%
Resident Evil
Based on the video game of the same name, "Resident Evil" is a nu metal-fueled gorefest that manages to do right by its source material while carving out its own unique storyline. When a virus escapes from a top secret underground facility, an elite military task force is dispatched to contain the outbreak. Unfortunately, the virus mutates the researchers and lab animals into flesh-hungry zombies. Sure, it's a bit goofy, as many critics pointed out. But sometimes, that's exactly what the evil, bioweapon-infected doctor ordered. Packed with thrills, "Resident Evil" is a must-see for horror fans.
- Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius
- Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
- Year: 2002
- Runtime: 100 minutes
- Rating: R
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 36%