JP Nunez
If you ask a roomful of horror fans to name the first thing that comes to mind when you mention the phrase “zombie film,” a bunch of them are going to say George Romero, and for good reason. The guy’s 1968 debut Night of the Living Dead literally invented the modern zombie lore we all know and love, so he’s pretty much synonymous with these movies.
However, as large as he may loom in the world of the undead, Romero didn’t have a monopoly on the subgenre. Both before and after he burst onto the scene, other filmmakers tried their hand at this brand of terror, and many of them knocked it out of the park. Their movies simply don’t get as much recognition as Romero’s zombie masterpieces, so you have to do a bit more digging to find them.
But they’re out there, and if you’re looking for some of these lesser-known gems, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve compiled a list of five of my favorite classic zombie movies not made by George Romero, so without further ado, let’s dive right in and see what diamonds in the undead rough we can find.
White Zombie
We’re going to start at the beginning, and I mean that literally. White Zombie is generally considered the first zombie film ever made, so it deserves a spot on this list for its historical importance alone. But don’t worry, this isn’t one of those old landmark movies that fall flat to modern eyes. It’s just as gripping today as it was back in 1932, and that’s almost entirely due to a single captivating performance by the best horror actor of his generation.
White Zombie stars Bela Lugosi as Murder Legendre, a Vodou master who captures a young woman on her wedding night and turns her into a zombie, and he single-handedly saves this film from the historical trash heap of mediocrity. The plot is decent at best, and the rest of this cast is equally uninspired, but Lugosi is absolutely spellbinding. He utterly commands every frame he’s in, and when he opens his mouth to speak, he nearly forces you to hang on his every word.
It’s an acting masterclass that turns an otherwise middle-of-the-road flick into one of the greatest zombie movies of all time, so if you’re a fan of these creatures but haven’t seen White Zombie, you need to remedy that as soon as possible. This film is a genre milestone that still holds up more than 90 years later, and it more than deserves a spot on any list of must-see undead cinema.
I Walked with a Zombie
Next up, we have I Walked with a Zombie, one of the rare movies that’s more associated with its producer than its director. It was the second of nine horror films produced by the legendary Val Lewton, and much like White Zombie, it’s about a North American woman who travels to a Caribbean island. She’s a nurse helping to care for a patient, but when medical science seems to fail, the woman turns to the island’s Vodou culture for help.
It’s a very different story than we usually get from zombie movies today, and depending on how you interpret it, this might not even be a zombie film at all. See, in typical Val Lewton fashion, it’s not entirely clear if these Vodou practitioners can really raise the dead. I Walked with a Zombie is ambiguous right to the very end, and that’s probably going to rub some viewers the wrong way.
But for my money, it makes this one of the most intriguing zombie movies of all time. The uncertainty surrounding these allegedly undead creatures has a tragic bent that will haunt you long after the credits begin to roll, so even though I Walked with a Zombie lacks the extreme gore we often associate with this subgenre, it’s just as effective in its own way. It gets under your skin and stubbornly refuses to leave, so once you watch this film, you almost certainly won’t be able to forget it.
The Plague of the Zombies
When you think of classic Hammer horror from the 1950s and 1960s, what comes to mind? For most genre fans, it’s probably gothic atmosphere, bright red blood, and remakes of the Universal monster movies from the 1930s. But unbeknownst to many horror aficionados, Hammer also made a zombie flick, and it’s one of the subgenre’s best.
The Plague of the Zombies is set in a Cornish village where the residents seem to be suffering from a mysterious plague (hence the title), so the local doctor asks his old mentor for help. The man agrees and travels to the place to investigate, and soon enough, he discovers that one of the villagers is a Vodou practitioner who’s been turning his neighbors into the living dead.
It’s a relatively simple plot, but it’s executed with all the gothic flair you’d expect from an old-school Hammer film. The sets and wardrobes are beautifully designed and often quite eerie, the atmosphere is spine-tinglingly creepy, and yes, the blood is always a gorgeous shade of red.
On top of all that, the monsters look more decomposed than anything you’ll see in the previous two movies on this list, so The Plague of the Zombies just might be the scariest zombie film of the pre-Romero era. But even if it doesn’t quite attain that status, it’s definitely one of the best zombie movies of any era, so if you’re a fan of this time-honored subgenre, you need to check out Hammer’s foray into the living dead.
Tombs of the Blind Dead
A list like this wouldn’t be complete without at least one non-English-language entry, and for that, I’ve chosen the 1972 Spanish flick Tombs of the Blind Dead. In the film, a group of medieval knights had their eyes pecked out by birds and were later buried near the border of Spain and Portugal, and every night these revenants rise from their graves and viciously attack anybody who comes near them. Unsurprisingly, the locals mostly avoid the place, but when some outsiders decide to vacation in the area, they learn just how dangerous the dead can be.
It’s a fairly straightforward story, so like a lot of zombie movies, this one isn’t exactly an intellectual powerhouse. It’s very much an exercise in style over substance, but what a style it is! Even before the titular blind knights rise again, the ruins where they’re buried feel like a gothic house of horrors, and when these revenants finally appear, that effect multiplies exponentially. Just seeing them crawl out of the ground is enough to send a chill or two down your spine, so you can imagine what it’s like to behold them in all their undead glory.
They’re pretty much everything zombie fans want, so it should come as no surprise that Tombs of the Blind Dead spawned an entire franchise. Writer/director Amando de Ossorio made three more Blind Dead films in the next three years, and while they all suffer from a bad case of sequelitis, they’re a testament to the appeal of this unique take on the living dead. It’s different from both the subgenre’s traditional Vodou roots and George Romero’s more apocalyptic approach, so if you’re looking for something a bit off the beaten path, you can’t go wrong with Tombs of the Blind Dead.
The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue
Last but not least, we have The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (AKA Let Sleeping Corpses Lie), a movie about a town with a zombie problem. Unbeknownst to the residents, the dead have started rising from their graves, and as these ghouls typically do, they go around killing their living neighbors. But somehow, the monsters manage to evade almost all notice, so the local police inspector pins these murders on a pair of young outsiders who’ve just arrived.
Once again, that story is an interesting departure from both the modern Romero blueprint and its Vodou forerunners, but unlike Tombs of the Blind Dead, this film actually has something to say. See, the inspector is an elderly man, so his baseless mistrust of the town’s young visitors is a not-so-subtle commentary on the way older generations often disdain and disparage the youth.
There are even a couple of scenes where the movie just about shoves that message down your throat, but as is usually the case in this subgenre, it’s not the film’s main selling point. Instead, the real draw here is the undead mayhem, and on that count, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue is just as good as anything else on this list.
When these zombies make their presence known, the movie becomes genuinely tense and chillingly atmospheric, and the gore is brought to life with top-notch practical effects. Most notably, there’s a disembowelment scene that predates the famous shot in Dawn of the Dead by several years, so much like White Zombie, this film is a must-see for its historical importance alone.
But beyond that, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue is just a damn good time. The awesome horror and relatable social commentary make it one of the best zombie movies way too many people have never seen (or even heard of!), so if you’ve yet to experience this underappreciated gem, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. You’ll be glad you did.
