Top 13 Zombie Comedy Movies
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It’s a zombie apocalypse and I feel fine.
Looking for a good zom-com? Just when it looked like the zombie flick might have no more innovations left, these filmmakers found a way to mix laughs and scares to bring new life to the genre. For this list, we’re ranking 13 of the best funny zombie movies any fan should check out. With a real-life pandemic sweeping the world, this makes for great time to sit back, relax, and laugh with some of the best tales of the undead out there.
What zombie comedies do you think should have made the list? Sound off below!
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Top 13 Zombie Comedy Movies
#13 The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
In this ludicrous horror comedy, something goes wrong in a small town—and the police have deal with a zombie invasion. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch (also responsible for the vampire comedy Only Lovers Left Alive), the amazing cast includes Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Carol Kane, Austin Butler and Selena Gomez.
In the video playlist, you can watch the trailer, see interviews several of the actors (including Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloe Sevigny, and Tilda Swinton), learn about the making of the movie, and even listen to the original song.
Find The Dead Don’t Die on Amazon
More about the movie here: The Dead Don’t Die: The zombie comedy has a gloomy political angle
#12 Cooties (2014)
Elementary-school teachers come under attack from children who have been turned into vicious monsters by contaminated chicken nuggets.
Click through to here to watch the trailer, and also go behind-the-scenes for the making of the movie.
More about the movie here: Cooties (2014): Zombie comedy about teachers vs. kids (and bad chicken nuggets)
#11 Brain Dead AKA Dead Alive (1992)
When a young man’s mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey, she gets sick and dies. But then she, you know, comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.
Click through to this video playlist to watch the trailer, and to hear director Peter Jackson talk about the film…
More about the movie here: Dead Alive AKA Braindead (1992): This zombie comedy is one of the goriest movies ever made
#10 Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)
A bunch of east-easters fight their way out of a zombie infested London, lead by an unlikely gang of amateur banks robbers and foul-mouthed plucky pensioners.
Click through to watch the movie’s trailer, and visit the set of the film.
Buy Cockneys vs Zombies from Amazon
More about the movie here: Cockneys vs Zombies (2012): Bank robbers and old folks vs monsters
#9 Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)
’Tis the season! A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven—at Christmas—forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones.
But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.
Click through to here for the movie trailer, to watch them talk about the songs in the film, watch more behind-the-scenes videos, and even enjoy the gag reel.
Buy Anna and the Apocalypse from Amazon
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#8 Little Monsters (2019)
A washed-up musician teams up with a teacher and a kids show personality to protect young children from a sudden outbreak of zombies.
Click through for a video playlist that includes the film’s trailer, a fun clip (I love this movie), and to watch writer/director Abe Forsythe and stars Lupita Nyong’o, Josh Gad, and Alexander England at the Sundance Film Festival talking about a kindergarten class surviving the zombie apocalypse.
“It’s alarmingly fun (and profane, and gory) and Ms. Nyong’o is a delight.”
—Wall Street Journal“It stands as a film that is both wickedly crude and delightfully sweet, satisfyingly gory and surprisingly heartfelt.”
—VultureHound
Buy Little Monsters from Amazon
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#7 Juan of the Dead AKA Juan de los Muertos (2011)
A group of slackers face an army of zombies. The Cuban government and media claim the living dead are dissidents revolting against the government.
Click through here to watch the trailer and also to see them promoting the film at LA Film Fest…
Buy Juan of the Dead from Amazon
More about the movie here: Juan of the Dead (2011): The zombie comedy that criticized the leaders but raised up the people
#6 Fido (2006)
When a cloud of space dust causes the dead to rise as ravenous zombies, the ZomCon Corp. emerges to conquer the creatures and domesticate them to become menial workers and pets for humans.
Check out this video playlist that includes both the original trailer and also a behind-the-scenes video…
More about the movie here: Fido (2006): Putting zombies to work? This zombie comedy has it figured out.
#5 Warm Bodies (2013)
Based on the novel by Isaac Marion: After a highly unusual zombie saves a still-living girl from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion events that might transform the entire lifeless world. Read our interview with the author here!
In this video playlist, watch the film’s trailer, meet the cast, and go behind the scenes…
More about the movie and books here:
Warm Bodies (2013): How the warmhearted zombie comedy embraces survival
Zombie Q&A—Isaac Marion: “George Romero tried to touch on the humanity of the zombies.”
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#4 The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors causing the dead to rise again as zombies.
In this video playlist, watch the official trailer, and you can also go behind the scenes of the making of the Return of the Living Dead…
Buy or rent Return of the Living Dead!
More about the movie here: The Return of the Living Dead: What idea did the zombie comedy movie invent?
#3 Army of Darkness (1993)
A sarcastic hardware store clerk finds himself transported to 1300 A.D., where he must retrieve the Necronomicon—and battle an army of the dead—before he can return home.
In this video playlist, we’ve got a trailer, a couple of clips, and a feature-length documentary about the making of Army of Darkness…
More about the movie here: Army of Darkness (1993): How the zombie comedy went so far from its origins
#2 Zombieland (2009)
A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting tough guy trying to find the last Twinkie, and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.
In this video playlist, you can watch the original trailer, watch a couple of behind-the-scenes videos, and even see the reunited cast rewatch Zombieland’s best scenes 10 years later…
More about the movie here: Zombieland (2009): How a TV pilot became a blockbuster movie
#1 Shaun of the Dead (2004)
A man’s uneventful life is disrupted by the zombie apocalypse. Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 zombie comedy film written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg—Wright also directed the film, and Pegg starred in it. The film aso stars Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, and Penelope Wilton.
Watch this video playlist to see the official trailer, a clip of Pegg’s character being oblivious to the zombies, plus an assortment of glimpses at the process behind making of the film.
More about the movie here:
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Bonus #1: Phineas and Ferb episode “Night of the Living Pharmacists” (2014)
OK, we cheated a bit to include this gem. On the animated series Phineas and Ferb, the two-part episode “Night of the Living Pharmacists” is a hilarious riff on zombies as one of Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s evil schemes goes horribly awry. Bonus points for cameo appearances from guests Simon Pegg and Nick Frost!
Watch this video playlist for an episode promo, plus to see the clip with Pegg and Frost—who seem to be playing their characters from Shaun of the Dead…
Bonus #2: Community episode “Epidemiology” (2010)
Another zombie comedy entry from an unusual source, the sitcom Community revolved around the weird adventures of a study group at a community college. While few of the episodes deal with fantasy or horror, this was one of the exceptions. And it was great.
Episode 2.6, “Epidemiology” featured a campus Halloween party where the party food—bought from an army surplus store—made anyone who ate sick. The hazardous stuff turned them into, well, mindless zombies that went around biting (and infecting) everyone else at the party. When the Dean calls to complain, he’s instructed by the U.S. Army Special Operations to lock the doors and leave all the infected trapped inside.
(I don’t want to give away how it turns out. But it’s great.)
Watch this video playlist that includes a discussion of the episode, plus several action-packed and/or hilarious clips.
Bonus #3: Eat, Brains, Love (2020)
Formerly an item on our main list, Eat, Brains, Love is a 2019 American romantic comedy horror film based on the 2013 book by Jeff Hart. Directed by Rodman Flender, the film stars Jake Cannavale, Angelique Rivera, Sarah Yarkin, Jim Titus, and Patrick Fabian.
In this video playlist, watch the official trailer, and also watch an interview with the director…
Watch Eat, Brains, Love on Amazon here!
More about the movie here: Eat, Brains, Love (2019): Zombie comedy won Best Picture at 2019 Screamfest Horror Film Festival
The history of zombie stories
Unlike lots of monsters, zombies are (generally) seen as reanimated dead that rarely have individual personalities. A zombie is a walking corpse, which can be caused by different things, like an infection or magic. And they often eat the living.
An early example of zombie-inspiring fiction comes from Henry Francis Downing’s 1914 stage play Voodoo. The story did not actually include zombies, but the play was set in the Caribbean and featured voodoo magic.
A few years later, movies started touching on voodoo ideas—like the 1932 film White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi. There were a few more examples dancing around the idea, although they didn’t yet embrace what we now think of with zombie movies. In the 1940s came the comedies Ghost Breakers and Zombies on Broadway, plus the drama I Walked with a Zombie.
The big breakthrough came in 1968 from George Romero. His movie Night of the Living Dead—which was partly inspired by Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend—provided a new approach to stories about the undead.
Romero’s undead creatures—which he called “ghouls” instead of “zombies”—were fully reanimated dead corpses that ate the flesh of the living. With Night of the Living Dead, the new approach to zombies swept aside the prejudices and the cultural blame. Instead of magic, the zombie problem was caused by infections.
While zombie movies are usually part of the horror genre, many of them also cross over into other categories, including sci-fi, romance, comedy, or action. In recent years, zombie fiction has exploded to pretty much all media:
There are notable novels like the zombie-romance series Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, the urban fantasy series My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland, and the novel Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall, a book which crosses into two different fandoms.
There’s the iZombie comic book series created by writer Chris Roberson and artist Michael Allred (and which inspired the iZombie TV show) and the Walking Dead comics series created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore (that launched a major Walking Dead TV brand).
There’s the Kiss: Zombies comic book collection that stars—yes—the rock band Kiss.
Speaking of music—in addition to Anna and the Apocalypse, there are more zombie musical examples, like the stage production Alive! The Zombie Musical and the Disney Channel high school musical Zombies (which had sequels).
Want to see more examples of zombie fiction? Click on our Zombies category to find articles about living-dead books, movies, TV shows, comic books, and more!
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More Zombie Comedy Articles
10 Funniest Zombie Movies (ReelRundown)
Is There Any (After)Life Left in the Zombie Comedy Movie? (Gizmodo)
How The Zombie-Comedy Became The Ultimate Genre For Our Times (KQED)
100+ Best Zombie Comedies (Ranker)
Zombie Comedies Ranked (Den of Geek)
10 Funniest Zombie Movies (IFC)
10 Zombie Movies That Will Make You Die (Laughing) (Screen Rant)
8 Great Zombie Comedies (That Aren’t The Dead Don’t Die) (Vulture)
Why More Zombie Movies Should Be Comedies (AMC Theatres)
9 terrifyingly underrated zombie romcoms (SYFY Wire)
Indie Focus: The mournful zombie comedy of ‘The Dead Don’t Die’ (LA Times)
'Little Monsters': The sneaky, heart-wrenching zombie comedy where parenting is the scariest part (Mashable)
How Hulu’s zombie-comedy ‘Little Monsters’ scored big with Lupita Nyong’o, Taylor Swift, and Star Wars (Fast Company)
Little Monsters review: Lupita Nyong’o wins this school-trip Aussie zombie comedy (BFI)
