Best Zombie Films of '08

So 2008 to say the least has been pretty lackluster on the zombie front. A lot of low budget schlock has made its way out of the undead ooze but unfortunately there hasn't been much that has stuck out.

Thankfully, there have been a few and well - I think they deserve some credit don't you?

Now these films aren't necessarily from 2008 per say but released in 2008 in the U.S. as that's where I live and most of my readers may live so it only makes sense - I will however put the correct release date next to a title if that happens to be the case.

Up first we have, THE ZOMBIE DIARIES. Originally released in the U.K. in 2006 - where they actually release films no longer than a year after they are made, go figure - this zombie opus premiered in the U.S. a mere month ago trailing behind George A. Romero's recent disaster; DIARY OF THE DEAD.

THE ZOMBIE DIARIES follows several groups of survivors as they record their plight during a zombie outbreak with video cameras with no set reason other than just to document what's going on. Unlike DIARY the film feels more like the recording of a real zombie outbreak, not a bunch on whiny college students reading cue cards off the screen. The zombies look awesome, the acting is really above average for a film with such a low budget and if there is any CGI it does not stick out as it painfully did in Romero's film. Thankfully someone out there did the P.O.V. style right with a zombie film and hopefully we'll see these guys in action again as the plans for a sequel are currently in talks.

Next came as quite a surprise to me as I wasn't expecting much from this but alas it showed me that the geeks and freaks from high school can be heroes too thus DANCE OF THE DEAD easily became one of my favorites of this year. Granted it's not a perfect film by any means - it's got some really stupid dialogue and the most ridiculous way to stop a zombie I've ever seen/heard but in all honesty - it all works.

The film tells the story of a group of misfits who have decided to skip their senior prom - or just don't have the option of going - for one reason or another and find out their home town is being invaded by flesh-eating zombies. Instead of spending 15 minutes running around trying to figure out just what these "things" are, the characters all know they are zombies and know how to stop them right off the bat and, oh yes there's more, know if you get bit - you'll turn into one of them!

Well slap my wrist and call me Shirley, someone made a zombie film where the characters have actually heard of zombies! Go figure! And it's not because of some previous outbreak, oh no, it's because zombies are a staple in pop-culture and people know what they are in real life so in a movie it just makes sense. I really had a lot of fun with this flick, it's a hoot and it has its tongue planted firmly on its rotten cheek. However that's not to say its not without its faults but what zombie film isn't?

Third also came as a surprise to me being it was a remake of what I still believe to be an already damn near perfect film but I'm allowed to be surprised and QUARANTINE did just that. As most people know, QUARANTINE is a remake of the Spanish zombie film [REC] which was only released last year and that left many horror fans scratching their heads wondering why they just didn't release that film as opposed to remaking it. After seeing both I can honestly say I still can't figure it out as QUARANTINE is literally a shot for shot remake but then again, it also added to the story and fixed some technical errors [REC] had - like rewinding the tape and playing the footage back wouldn't happen on a video camera unless you were watching it on a television, not a huge deal but still, fixed.

I can also see the problem the studio would have had trying to market a horror film in Spanish and even though there is an English version - that dub is beyond ridiculous and makes the film more funny than anything - so in some ways I can agree with them remaking it especially since they added more to the story.

The film follows a duo shooting a reality show that focuses on the men and women who work at night while the rest of us sleep safely in our beds. Tonight Angela and her camera man Scott are following around the Los Angeles fire department in hopes of getting something worth while of primetime. Unfortunately they get what they want but it doesn't come in a fiery blaze as expected, it comes when they are locked into an apartment building after a call to help an old woman turns deadly when she attacks the police at the scene and the firemen. Soon the group realizes that there is not only no escape, but an attempt to results in a bullet to the skull and now they are trapped with the building's tenants. The questions as to why they are forced to stay inside soon come clear when we find out what Grandma had is catching on with the neighbors and its spreading like wildfire.

It's hard to say this was any worse than [REC], which I insidentally dug a lot, because it's literally the exact same thing with nothing more than adding some bulk to the story and as I said fixing some technological errors. So with that being said, it's hard not to include this in the list because really - it's not much different from the already well made film.

Next is a low budget film that I had high expectations for and thankfully, it met and surpassed those expectations by a mile. ZOMBIES ANONYMOUS, a.k.a. LAST RITES OF THE DEAD is a welcome breath of fresh air, instead of the Romero-esque zombies, we get a rather rare breed of living dead; the ones who die and just get up as if nothing happened.

In the film we follow a young girl after she has been brutally murdered by her psycho ex-boyfriend, I think the relationship really came to an end when he put a bullet in her, and her new life as a walking corpse. She deals with many issues including finding a job as a zombie, the strange and new appetite for raw meat - there's a very subtle scene where she snacks on a pound of hamburger like one would eat a bag of potato chips - and extreme groups of folks who either want to kill all of the living dead or the living dead who have found solace in eating human flesh.

The film really takes on many tones incorporating racism as a political subtext, not to mention discrimination, and does it very well. If you're the type of zombie fan that's been looking for something different, this may be the one to check out. It's definitely worth the watch.

Last up we have DAYS OF DARKNESS. Okay so granted this one isn't great by any means, hell it's pretty boring and silly at times but damn it I really dug it. It was interesting to see characters that weren't stereotypes, meaning the gay character wasn't some sissy with a pink bow - he was actually someone who kicked some ass, and a rather different way to bring upon the zombie outbreak. Okay so it's not THAT different, the idea of aliens invading people's bodies and turning them into zombies has been around since the 50s but never have the aliens mutated or come flying out of woman's vagina's with tenticles and all kinds of sharp teeth have they? That's one to rival FATAL ATTRACTION for a reason to be afraid of women.

Anyways, the film follows a group of survivors holding up in an old military radio tower while a plague sweeps across the world turning people into flesh-eating zombies. This motley crew includes a young couple, the token black guy, the aformentioned gay character, a religious fanatic, a movie producer and her daughter, an actor, and a car salesman with his partner.

The film allows enough screen time to develop each character enough for you to at least give a shit as to whether or not they die and spends a bit more time than most zombie films do focusing on the characters dealing with the situation they've been thrusted into and trying to figure out a way to stop it. It features surprisingly good acting with a fair amount of witty and smart dialogue not to mention some really cool effects that don't feature the benefit of CGI.

That's all folks. There are a few other films I left off this list intentionally because as I said before, this list focuses on the films that were released in the U.S. ONLY. Films like [REC] and the Big Brother horror show DEAD SET have yet to see the light of day here in the U.S. but hopefully will get released over here soon. But until then, this is the best 2008 had to offer us for the zombie craze.

Here's the list for all you lazy bums!

1. THE ZOMBIE DIARIES
2. DANCE OF THE DEAD
3. QUARANTINE
4. ZOMBIES ANONYMOUS a.k.a. LAST RITES OF THE DEAD
5. DAYS OF DARKNESS