Zombie films and the 1990s don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. Despite the decade being an era of diverse subgenres in horror, movies about the dead rising up from the ground or mass infection consuming the human race are few and far between. But those that did come out had a lasting impact on the genre; some were even sequels in a franchise, and others were full of remakes of classics. Here are the 10 best zombie movies to come out of the 1990s.
10 Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)
Waxwork II: Lost in Time is about two lovers who survive a museum fire and uncover a puzzle that opens a portal that sends them across different times and they encounter an evil demonic lord and many undead creatures as well.
Why It Makes the List
Waxwork II: Lost in Time is part creature feature, part time travel, part Evil Dead, part Ready Player One, and partAlice in Wonderland. Despite not going full zombie mode in its plot, there are a lot of great moments of battling walking dead beings, either demonic creatures or a literal undead Loch Ness monster creature. Waxwork II: Lost in Time feels like a time capsule of early 1990s VHS fantasy/horror that goes a little off the rails, but needs to with a plot like that.
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9 The Boneyard (1991)
The Boneyard is a direct-to-video horror film about a psychic and a police officer who become aware of cult-like behavior at a morgue. The work of this cult brings ancient ghoul-like creatures back to life who.
Why It Makes the List
Squeezed in between Pet Sematary and Pet Sematary 2 is The zombies or ghouls are absolutely bonkers in their looks, and frankly, a movie of this stature deserves to be in the realm of schlock, but it is far better than it maybe deserves to be. It's a slow start but has a big payoff with creature effects and highly likable protagonists. The zombies can be just about anyone in The Boneyard—kids and even poodles.
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8 Cemetery Man (1994)
Cemetery Man is a zombie love story starring Rupert Everett about a cemetery groundskeeper who fights off the dead that are rising up through their graves. In the middle of all this, he ends up falling for a woman whose husband had just died, which then sends his battles with the walking dead into a tailspin.
Why It Makes the List
With an initial release in 1994 and a U.S. release in 1996, Cemetery Man has created a cult following for many different reasons. It has scariness, humor, and over-the-top eroticism. Italian horror cinema is loaded with tones like that, so it fits the bill perfectly. Cemetery Man is also based on the graphic novel Dellamorte Dellamore. And hailed as a very accurate adaptation.
7 Pet Sematary Two (1992)
Pet Sematary II
- Release Date
- August 28, 1992
- Director
- Mary Lambert
- Cast
- Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards, Clancy Brown, Jared Rushton, Darlanne Fluegel, Jason McGuire
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 100
- Main Genre
- Horror
Pet Sematary Two takes the same concept we saw in the first film and adds in a new storyline about a son grieving the loss of his mother. Upon learning about the old burial ground, he decides to move his mom's body there, and, as you know, she returns.
Why It Makes the List
The sequel to the hit film from a few years earlier has a great cast that includes Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards, and Clancy Brown. Pet Sematary Two expands on the world built by Stephen King. It's also a film that kept the Edward Furlong success train going post-Terminator 2. A lot of people brushed it off at first, but most horror fans have seemed to start to champion it over the years. It is maybe the quintessential zombie storyline created by King. And lastly, Clancy Brown is utterly terrifying in most of his scenes.
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6 Frankenhooker (1990)
Frankenhooker is about a medical school dropout whose fiancée was maimed to death, and he decides to revive her by piecing together a few other crack-addicted dead prostitute body parts. Yeah, you read that right.
Why It Makes the List
Frankenhooker is pure exploitation, but we're here for it. This horror/comedy is full of outrageous gags and captures the dinginess of the setting in the New York/New Jersey area. It kind of wants to offend you. But in an era when the exploitation film era was starting to not boom like it used to, leave it to director Frank Henenlotter to keep it alive a bit with this take on Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.
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5 Army of Darkness (1992)
Army of Darkness
- Release Date
- October 31, 1992
- Director
- Sam Raimi
- Cast
- Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, Richard Grove, Timothy Patrick Quill
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 81
- Main Genre
- Horror
Army of Darkness is the third installment in the initial Evil Dead trilogy. A film that takes its hero Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) and sends him back to medieval times, where he is held captive by Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert). He is sent out to recover the book of the dead.
Why It Makes the List
Let's start with the film tagline: Trapped in time, surrounded by evil, low on gas. Army of Darkness keeps the horror comedy train going from part two. Sam Raimi's unique camera tricks fill audiences with so much joy. And the makeup effect work is top-tier. The film takes us out of the cabin in the woods and adds in a bigger budget with amazing set pieces. A short eighty-one-minute run time with a wild ride from start to finish.
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4 Return of the Living Dead III (1993)
In Return of the Living Dead III, a teenager uses an Army chemical (the same one we see periodically throughout the franchise) to bring his dead girlfriend back to life. He maybe should have just let it be and not done that.
Why It Makes the List
Every installment in the Return of the Living Dead franchise seems to always generate a cult classic. Directed by genre icon Brian Yuzna, Return of the Living Dead III has a lot of zombie fun to it. A perfect midnight movie to see on the big screen. Despite the B-movie feel to it, there is a quirky romance story to keep an audience invested. It's better than part two and makes for a great add-on to what Dan O'Bannon did with the first film in the franchise.
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3 Night of the Living Dead (1990)
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Night of the Living Dead is the Tom Savini-directed remake of the 1968 classic about a group of people hiding out in a farmhouse during a time when the dead are coming up from the ground.
Why It Makes the List
It was only a matter of time until the George Romero classic got a remake. There isn't much new in terms of plot with this updated version, although others would argue it's a fun addition to a new decade of horror. But the blood splatter is a fun addition thanks to the special effects' maestro directing it. And it's fun to see Tony Todd in the lead role. How could this film not be on this list?
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2 Nightbreed (1990)
Nightbreed
- Release Date
- February 16, 1990
- Director
- Clive Barker
- Cast
- Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg, Charles Haid, Hugh Quarshie, Hugh Ross
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 102
- Main Genre
- Fantasy
- Genres
- Fantasy, Action, Documentary, Horror
Based on the novel by Clive Barker called Cabal, Nightbreed is a film about a troubled man who discovers a mystical underground world called Midian. It's a place where many diverse creatures hide from humanity. And all the while this is happening, a sadistic serial killer is in pursuit.
Why It Makes the List
Clive Barker kept it going after Hellraiser with his fantastical horror tale. A film about these creatures has earned its cult status as well as being adopted by the LGBTQ community due to the metaphor that these creatures stand for in the film. It's a movie that makes you so sympathetic towards monsters and has you rooting for them in the thrilling third act. There is a gripping score in it, composed by Danny Elfman. Lastly, iconic genre director David Cronenberg is the movie's antagonist. This may not be an upfront, full-on zombie film, but it is about whom the real monsters are, a theme oftentimes addressed in the subgenre.
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1 Braindead (aka Dead Alive) (1992)
Dead Alive
- Release Date
- August 13, 1992
- Director
- Peter Jackson
- Cast
- Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Brenda Kendall, Stuart Devenie
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 97
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Genres
- Comedy, Horror
Braindead (also known as Dead Alive) is a Peter Jackson-directed film about a woman who gets bit by a rat monkey at the zoo while she spies on her son, whom she is highly overprotective of. The bite turns the woman into a zombie, leaving her son no choice but to lock her in the basement. She eventually escapes, begins to bite many other people in the area, and then all hell basically breaks loose.
Why It Makes the List
A film that is arguably one of the most grotesque, gory horror comedies of all time. Yes, maybe there are some better films on this list in terms of plot and social context, but when it comes down to a gory, bloody, gross-out fest that you would expect from the zombie sub-genre, look no further than Braindead. Peter Jackson would get his foot in the door as a great filmmaker with movies like this and his previous microbudget movie, Bad Taste. With him being an elite filmmaker these days, you often wonder if he ever wanted to go back to his roots and gross us all out with another masterpiece like this one.
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