13 best zombie TV shows

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Horror movies, thrillers, dramas and family comedies about the living dead.

1. The Walking Dead

• Horror, fantasy, thriller.
• USA, 2010.
• Duration: 9 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

The series, based on the comic book series of the same name, tells the story of a group of people who are trying to survive during a zombie apocalypse. This is not so much an action movie as a drama about what a person who is surrounded only by death and suffering can go to.

The Walking Dead has won prestigious awards more than once. In particular, the Saturn Awards. The series has been recognized several times as the best TV show and the best TV series for cable TV.

The actors who took part in the filming were also awarded more than once. For example, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa Suzanne McBride and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The latter was even named the best villain in 2017 by MTV.

2. Valley of Death

• Horror, comedy.
• USA, 2011.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

A black comedy about the working life of the Los Angeles Police Department, fighting the living dead, vampires and werewolves. The series is pseudo-documentary - the events are shown through the camera of the operator, who is dragged everywhere behind the special squad.

Death Valley is worth watching, if only because it is probably the only zombie mocumentari series - and very worthy at the same time. This is confirmed by reviews from critics: the show's rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 75%.

3. At the call of sorrow

• Horror, fantasy, drama.
• France, 2012.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The series takes place in a small alpine town with a dark history: people suddenly return to it, whom everyone considers dead. They do not understand at all what is happening to them, but they try to start a normal life.

The atmosphere of the project, already thick, is complemented by an excellent soundtrack by the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai. "To the Call of Sorrow" was repeatedly recognized as the best series - in particular, it received the "Crystal Globe" award. Critics have noted the strong influence of "Twin Peaks" on him.

Later in the US they tried to make their own remake of "The Returned", but the new version failed to catch up with the original and closed after the first season.

4. In the flesh

• Horror, drama.
• UK, 2012.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

An enthusiastically received by critics and viewers, the series is about how the former dead after an epidemic are rehabilitated and returned to normal society. The protagonist is a teenager who is sent back to his family in a small town. There he has to fight both his own demons and the locals, who believe that there are no former zombies.

In the Flesh awards received include the Royal Television Society Award for Best Lighting, Photography and Cinematography in Drama, the BAFTA Television Award for Best Miniseries, and the Broadcast Awards for Best Screenplay. …

5. Spiral

• Horror, fantasy, thriller.
• USA, Canada, 2014.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

A thriller about a team of scientists who are sent to an advanced research base in the Arctic. Their goal is to stop the spread of an extremely dangerous virus and prevent it from getting out of the laboratory.

Spiral was received warmly by critics, with an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Neil Jenzlinger of The New York Times also praised the acting. Especially - Bill Campbell, who appeared in Coppola's Dracula and the American remake of the series Murder.

6. Nation Z

• Horror, fantasy, thriller.
• USA, 2014.
• Duration: 5 seasons.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

Three years have passed since the dangerous virus spread across America and turned most of its inhabitants into the walking dead. But suddenly there is a person who survived despite the infection.

The team of heroes will have to transport him from New York to California, where the last working virus laboratory is located. After all, antibodies in his blood are the last hope to save humanity.

Nation Z initially looked like a cheap parody of The Walking Dead. But soon the audience realized that it was just here that it was possible to make up for the lack of clashes with zombies, which the original sinned: the living dead are being killed here all the time, and even in all sorts of witty ways.

Therefore, despite the mixed reviews from critics, the audience liked the series. Each episode of the first season was watched by an average of 1.42 million people, and his rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 77%.

7. Ash vs. Evil Dead

• Horror, fantasy, action.
• USA, 2015.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

A dismembered horror comedy from Sam Raimi, author of the original Evil Dead franchise. And in the role of the aged Ash - the same charismatic Bruce Campbell.

The series takes place 30 years after the events of the trilogy. The main character works in a supermarket and diligently avoids everything related to the other world. But after the next awakening of evil, the world is in real danger, and only Ash can save him.

"Ash vs. Evil Dead" continues the atmosphere of the original trilogy, combining a dashing action movie with boundless black humor. He was repeatedly recognized as the best television series, and Campbell even won the Saturn Award for Best Actor in a Television Series.

8. I am a zombie

• Horror, drama, comedy.
• USA, 2015.
• Duration: 5 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Comedy-drama about a cheerful medical student who turns into a zombie at a party. And in order to gain free access to human organs, she gets a job in a morgue.

Together with the eaten brains of murder victims, the girl adopts their memories. So she begins to help the police solve crimes.

“I Am a Zombie” is based on the comic book of the same name published by DC Comics Vertigo. The series won the Fan's Choice of the Year award at the MTV Fandom Awards, and was also honored with the Leo Awards for Best Makeup. Its main feature is that almost for the first time in the history of horror, the authors managed to show zombies so cute and charming.

9. Fear the walking dead

• Horror, fantasy, thriller.
• USA, 2015.
• Duration: 5 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

Spin-off "The Walking Dead", which tells about the early days of the epidemic. The action takes place not in Atlanta, as in the original, but in Los Angeles. The central characters are a single mother with her family and a divorced teacher who team up to survive.

The show's directors include Stefan Schwartz, who worked on Dexter, Andrew Bernstein, who had a hand in Mad Men, and Michael E. Satrazemis, who helped create the original TV show.

The spin-off compensates for some of the disadvantages of the original: it is more tense and rigid. Fear the Walking Dead won an E! Online Best. Ever. TV. Awards in the category "New TV series that you are most excited about". And Alicia Debnam-Carey, who played in the series, won the E! Online TV Scoop Awards for Breakthrough Star.

10. Failure

• Science fiction, drama.
• Australia 2015.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

In an American town in the middle of the night a police officer is called to a cemetery. There he discovers seven people who, for some unknown reason, rose from the dead. They feel great, but they don't remember anything. The hero, together with a local doctor, is trying to hide what happened from others, and at the same time explain the resurrection and the strange connection between these seven.

The series won the Australian Film and Television Academy Awards in the TV categories Best Drama, Best Original Soundtrack and Best Director. Also, the judges of the TV Week Logie Awards in 2015 recognized "Failure" as the most outstanding drama series.

11. Horror

• Horror, fantasy.
• USA, 2016.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

In a small American town, an explosion occurs at a chemical plant, which turns the locals into ugly mutants. A group of teenagers take refuge from the consequences of the incident within the walls of the school and are trying to find out what kind of weapons were produced at the factory.

The list of actors who played in the series includes a bunch of Internet stars: Lisa Cauchy, Hayes Grier, Megan Rinks and others. In 2017, Horror was nominated for the Shorty Awards in the Best Web Series category.

In the age of zombie TV series, a lot of Creepy sounds familiar, but each episode is less than half an hour long, so the series looks very light.

Neil Jenzlinger The New York Times

12. Diet from Santa Clarita

• Horror, comedy.
• USA, 2017.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Joel and Sheila are a happy married couple with no worries. But one day Sheila for no apparent reason turns into a zombie and begins to thirst for human flesh. The family is trying to help her cope with such radical changes in her life, and at the same time to find out the reason for them.

"Diet from Santa Clarita" is a comedy with horror elements that delights only the cast: Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant are in the lead roles. In fact, it is very similar to the witty family sitcom, only with the participation of zombies. Critics received the show very warmly, with an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

13. Kingdom

• Horror, action, thriller.
• South Korea, USA, 2019.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

The series takes place around the 15th-16th centuries in the Korean state of Joseon. Its ruler dies after a long illness, but is resurrected as an undead hungry for flesh.

The Crown Prince tries to see his father, but he fails. At the risk of being accused of high treason, he leaves the palace and arrives at the village hospital to meet with the doctor who was treating the ruler. There, the prince discovers many corpses hidden from the sun.

Kingdom is based on the web comic God Land and is the first South Korean TV series to be released by Netflix. It combines the bright surroundings of medieval Korea, bloody brutality and the theme of a zombie apocalypse. The project was so popular with critics and viewers that it was quickly renewed for a second season.