All 6 George A. Romero ‘Living Dead’ Zombie Movies, Ranked

Survival of the Dead was Romero’s last swing at the franchise, and unfortunately, it struck out without many redeeming qualities. The film mostly takes place on an isolated island, and Romero tries to pull some of the more human-focused elements from his earlier movies, like Day of the Dead. Unlike that film, the acting falls too flat, and the ideas that the zombies can somewhat return to their human state are even flimsier.

Related: 9 Must-See Zombie Movies from the Last 10 Years

Survival of the Dead’s best qualities were in its gore and its zombie deaths, and while not a lot else is needed for at least an entertaining zombie movie, we’ve come to expect more from the “Father of Zombie Movies.” The lack of an engaging story or any kind of the Romero-esque politicized messages that usually come with his films cemented Survival of the Dead as the worst entry in the franchise.

The fifth film in the series, and a prequel to Land of the Dead, 2007’s Diary of the Dead, is essentially the definition of a mixed bag. It was clearly past the prime of the series, but in its attempts at matching the popularity of the found footage subgenre in the mid-to-late 2000s, the film actually ended up being quite unique. Diary of the Dead features a group of film school students in the middle of making a horror film when the zombie outbreak hits, and their project turns into a documentary diary that follows the group through the carnage.

Romero was inspired by The Blair Witch Project, in the sense that he thought he could take the mistakes that film had, like blurry camera work and glaring plot holes, and improve them with the same success. That wasn’t the case, and while a big part of that issue was weak acting, the film did have some great gore and kills, per usual Romero, and fun, recognizable faces, including Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), Daniel Kash (Aliens), Boyd Banks (Jason X), and Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil franchise).

“Are we worth saving?”

Diary of the Dead would also bring a theme to the franchise that was used time and time again in the Romero-inspired TV phenomenon, The Walking Dead, as it posed the question, “Are we worth saving?”

Land of the Dead may sit firmly in the middle of the pack, but it may be the most fun entry in the series. The film is a much more widespread look at life after the zombie outbreak: this time, taking place in a walled-off city that separates humans from the undead. An entertaining cast of John Leguizamo, Asia Argento, Dennis Hopper, and Simon Baker keeps the film from being too bleak, and it’s much more of an action film than the others, using the biggest budget of the franchise at $15 million.

The zombie makeup, gore, and kills are still fantastic, and Land of the Dead continued Romero’s knack for creating iconic, memorable zombie characters. Eugene Clark played Big Daddy, the poster zombie for the film, who continues Day of the Dead’s idea that the zombies remember patterns and moments from their previous lives. Land of the Dead is a little predictable, but I still consider it a must-watch in the franchise.

Arguably, Romero’s most popular and inspirational film is 1978’s Dawn of the Dead. The movie follows a small group of survivors who are trapped by the undead in a secluded mall. This film marked Tom Savini’s entrance into the Romero zombie scene, and with it, the gore effects improved immensely from Night of the Living Dead. Dawn of the Dead had a ton of memorable zombie characters (Hare Krishna zombie!), fun kills, an extremely silly and entertaining biker invasion scene, and an awesome musical score by Goblin. The film also took a step in creating characters that the audience could relate to and feel for, adding a layer of emotion to the outbreak spread that was previously missing.

Dawn of the Dead’s influence on pop culture has been massive. Italian horror guru Lucio Fulci created an unofficial sequel to it titled Zombi, which was fantastic in its own right. It inspired the massively popular Dead Rising video game series, and in 2004, James Gunn wrote and Zack Snyder remade the film into what is probably the best movie of career.

The importance and influence of Romero’s Night of the Living Dead can’t be argued. It’s simply an amazing film that did more for a horror subgenre than maybe any other movie ever. The small cast of characters fits the movie like a play, and Duane Jones’ role as Ben became one of the first lead Black protagonists, and a major inspiration for Black actors since. The intensity and flesh-eating gore were new for 1968, and they brought viewers to the theater. Night of the Living Dead became one of the highest-earning independent films of all time.

Every actor fills their role perfectly, shifting away from a “movie star” performance and highlighting a group of “everyman” characters stuck together in an isolated farmhouse. So much so, that the incredibly bleak ending regarding Ben’s fate keeps viewers silent and reflective well after the film ends, even after almost 60 years. Night of the Living Dead remains a juggernaut model of inspiration for first-time filmmakers and still holds up perfectly. Tom Savini would remake Night of the Living Dead in 1990 with Tony Todd in the lead role, and it’s considered one of the better horror remakes ever made.

Just recently celebrating its 40^th anniversary, Day of the Dead took everything the previous two films had presented and added bleak, bloody, and anxiety-filled layers to them. Day of the Dead went even further into the aftermath of the outbreak, and a small group of military men and scientists are isolated in a bunker, wondering if there’s even anyone out there to save. The performances are all-around the strongest in the franchise, led by the insufferable Captain Rhodes, played by Joseph Pilato.

Related: ‘Day of the Dead’ at 40: A Celebration of George A. Romero’s Best Horror Film

Tom Savini returned and took the gore effects to the next level. To this day, I’m not sure if another zombie film has better gore. Hanging tongues, ripped vocal cords, and spilling intestines, Day of the Dead fit the boom of 1980s horror like a glove. The film took Romero’s idea further, too, introducing the prospect that the zombies still held memories of their former selves, as evidenced by the Living Dead franchise’s unofficial mascot, Bub.

Day of the Dead may not be the most influential or even the most talked-about film in Romero’s beloved zombie franchise, but it puts all the pieces together perfectly, showing that it’s his best.

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