Aahana Swrup
Directed by Marc Forster and starring Brad Pitt, this action horror is based on a novel of the same name. It follows the story of a world overrun by a sudden and mysterious lethal zombie outbreak. A simple bite from an infected turns any individual violent and feral. Desperate for a way to stop this outbreak, a virologist realizes the only way to develop a vaccine against the zombie virus is to understand where it comes from. Now in order to ensure his family’s safety, our protagonist Gerry Lane — an ex-UN Investigator — must go on a search for the virus’s origin and come out alive on the other side.
Though often criticized for its lack of accuracy with the source material, upon its release in 2013, the movie became a huge commercial success and emerged as one of the highest-grossing zombie movies of all time. It has since secured a fan base in its own right. The action-filled movie is packed with stunning visuals and a terrifying approach to the classic zombie apocalypse genre, keeping the audience thoroughly entertained and engaged. If you’re looking for similar survival action movies revolving around a dangerous outbreak, then you might like the following movies.
10. Love And Monsters (2020)
Directed by Michael Matthews and starring Dylan O’Brien, ‘Love And Monsters’ is an action comedy set in a post-apocalyptic monster-infested world. The story picks up a few years after the initial collapse of modern society and follows the story of Joel. Joel is a man with scant few survival skills who lives in an underground bunker with other survivors.
After reconnecting with his old girlfriend over the radio, he decides to reunite with her and goes on a journey through the dangerous monster ruled outdoors. If you were a fan of the adventurous post-apocalyptic setting from ‘World War Z’ and enjoyed the gory zombies, you’ll find similar themes explored in depth in a light-hearted manner in this movie.
9. The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch, ‘The Dead Don’t Die’ is a comedy horror movie featuring an ensemble cast of Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray, among others. This movie follows a group of characters as they try and survive a sudden zombie insurgence in their small town. Utilizing absurdist humor, this film provides a unique and entertaining take on a zombie apocalypse. After watching ‘World War Z,’ if you’re looking for a similar story with zombies and horror but one that doesn’t take itself seriously at all, then this is the movie for you.
8. ParaNorman (2012)
‘ParaNorman’ is a stop-motion animated film that blends two different mediums of the undead— ghosts and zombies— in an interesting way. It’s a horror comedy directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler that follows the story of an 11-year-old boy named Norman Babcock. Norman has the peculiar ability to talk to the dead, but no one in his town believes him, thus making Norman a social outcast.
As the plot progresses, an old town curse resurfaces with no one around to stop it, and the townspeople face an uprising against zombies. Now Norman, with his unique paranormal abilities, is the only one who can save his town. Like ‘World War Z’ ‘ParaNorman’ makes for a visually entertaining watch and tells the story of characters that embark on a quest to save their respective worlds.
7. Zombieland (2009)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer, ‘Zombieland’ is a post-apocalyptic comedy that cemented itself as a zombie cult classic shortly after its release. The movie follows the story of four survivors— Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock as they try to survive in a zombie-infested world, and along the way, learn the importance of community and family. Though both ‘World War Z’ and ‘Zombieland’ are zombie movies, ‘Zombieland’ brings a much more comedic and playful attitude to them while still delivering on the post-apocalyptic survivalist front.
6. Patient Zero (2018)
Starring Matt Smith, Natalie Dormer, and Stanley Tucci — among others — ‘Patient Zero’ is a horror sci-fi directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. When a rabies mutation breaks out, subduing the humanity of the infected, more than half of the human population is turned into violent beings. Morgan, after getting bit, somehow manages to escape that fate and is instead left with the ability to communicate with the infected. Now he must find a cure while surviving in this post-apocalyptic world. Morgan from ‘Patient Zero’ and Gerry from ‘World War Z’ have similar motivations and missions. While ‘Patient Zero’ is not as high-budget as the latter, it still makes for a fun watch for fans of the genre.
5. Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
The third installation in a series of movies, based on a book of the same name, ‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ is a sci-fi dystopian, post-apocalyptic story. It is directed by Wes Ball. With an established background of zombie-like infected humans called Cranks, and an evil organization named WCKD, the movie follows Thomas and his friends on their latest adventure.
‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’, similar to ‘World War Z,’ is a hero’s journey towards finding a cure for all of humanity. Filled with action and zombies, and tense plotlines ‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ is a great movie for younger audiences that enjoyed ‘World War Z.’
4. Resident Evil (2002)
‘Resident Evil’ is the first movie in the Resident Evil Franchise, a series of movies loosely based on a video game series with the same name. Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, this action horror employs horror visuals and an everpresent sense of disaster to keep the audience hooked. Following a corporation’s immoral actions, a deadly virus gets released in its laboratory. The virus kills and then brings people back as mindless, violent zombies. Now an amnesiac Alice, with a group of other characters, has to face the infected staff in order to prevent the virus from escaping out into the world.
Like ‘World War Z’ ‘Resident Evil’ is also a zombie apocalypse movie with a focus on securing a cure and putting an end to the virus. For people who enjoyed the base storyline and action sequences in ‘World War Z’ and want to see more of it, they might enjoy the ‘Resident Evil’ series as a whole.
3. Night of The Living Dead (1968)
‘Night of The Living Dead’ is an indie horror movie directed by George A. Romero. It is one of the first movies that brought zombies to mainstream pop culture and went on to evolve into a franchise of its own. The movie is centered around a band of characters in Pennsylvania as they try to survive against an army of reanimated corpses referred to as ghouls. Much like ‘World War Z’ this movie provides horrifying gory visuals all the while maintaining an intentional commentary on society.
If you’re a zombie enthusiast and found that aspect of ‘World War Z’ interesting, you should definitely give ‘Night of The Living Dead’ a watch to take a peek into one of the first building blocks of the modern horror zombie genre.
2. Train to Busan (2016)
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, ‘Train to Busan’ is a South Korean horror action movie that revolves around the story of Seok-woo and Su-an— a father-daughter duo, trapped inside a train from Seoul to Busan as a zombie apocalypse breaks out around them. The plot follows Seok-woo and Su-an alongside other characters as they try to survive and reach a quarantine zone established near Busan.
‘Train to Busan’ keeps viewers on the edge of their seats and brings an emotional depth to a classic zombie apocalypse story. The main character in this movie, mirrors Gerry from ‘World War Z’ as both the characters’ main driving motives lie within their love for their families.
1. I Am Legend (2007)
Based on the novel of the same name, ‘I Am Legend’ is an action thriller directed by Francis Lawrence. After an attempt to cure cancer using the measles virus goes wrong, people start getting infected and mutate into bloodthirsty cannibals resembling vampires. The movie revolves around Robert Neville, a lone survivalist who is working on a cure and trying to find other non-infected people like him. Themes of hope and a need for human survival are found in both ‘I Am Legend’ and ‘World War Z’ with both protagonists overtaking the responsibility of finding a cure against virus outbreaks.
Read More: Where Was World War Z Filmed?
