Manyhorrormovies center around the zombie apocalypse striking the planet, as it is a terrifying event that would send any human into panic mode. The idea of the undead roaming the Earth in search of any living being they can feed on is disturbing, but it does make for an excellent setting for a movie or TV show. Abandoned cities or towns that hold the threat of flesh-eating creatures lurking around and people in full-on survival mode make for intriguing stories to tell. These stories can be about the lengths humans are willing to go to in order to survive or what desperation will cause a person to do.
They can also lean into the ridiculousness of a situation involving the undead, and become a horror-comedy such asShaun of the Dead. Whichever genres or themes a zombie movie decides to explore, there are certain characteristics about these creatures that are usually the same. Zombies eat flesh, that is the common trait in all zombie media. Zombies are also undead, meaning they no longer breathe or have blood coursing through their veins, but they still have somewhat of a consciousness that allows them to move and attack. Zombie bites can turn living humans into a zombie themselves in many zombie movies. One of the characteristics that is not always the same is the speed of the zombies.
Zombies usually move on the slower side, making them easier creatures to escape than others. Outrunning a zombie is a fairly easy task in zombie media, except in the handful of movies where they move fast. Sometimes, they outright run toward their prey. The thought of a zombie trying to eat you alive is already gruesome enough, but fast-moving zombies are a whole new ball game. Here are ten movies featuring fast-moving zombies.
Update July 16, 2025: This article has been updated with more information about these fast-moving zombie films and where you can stream them just in time for Halloween.
Dawn of the Dead
The sequel toGeorge Romero’s 1968 horror classic,Night of the Living Dead, was released ten years after its predecessor.Dawn of the Deadis set during an ongoing zombie epidemic where a group of locals from Philadelphia seek refuge in a shopping mall. The group consists of two SWAT members, a traffic reporter, and a TV executive who seek survival in this seemingly secure but not zombie-free mall.
These zombies are actually very slow-moving when not actively attacking a person. In fact, they are so slow that they hardly appear to be a threat at all. Once they set their sights on a person, however, their speed changes. They come in hordes to attack and do so with more agility than you would expect from the undead.
Currently unavailable for streaming.
9World War Z (2013)
World War Z
Serving as more of an action-adventure take on the zombie story,World War Zfeatures zombies quite different from most other zombies seen before. When an unknown infection starts spreading across the globe that turns humans into rampaging people eaters, former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is persuaded to go on a mission to investigate the disease, sending him on a perilous journey around the world without his family. From the get-go, these zombies are incredibly fast.
They run at speeds that hardly any other zombies from any other movie or show run. Not only that, but these zombies jump. They jump so far and so high that it looks more as though they are flying rather than jumping. Hundreds of zombies scale cement walls, take down helicopters, trample people, and even jump from buildings. It is actually quite terrifying just how fast and agile this infestation of the undead is.
Stream on Paramount+
8Resident Evil (2002)
Resident Evil
Based on thepopular video game seriesof the same name,Resident Evilblends horror with sci-fi in this zombie invasion story. When a virus escapes a secretive lab facility known as “The Hive”, it turns the working scientists into horrible flesh-eating monsters, and the special lab animals they had been working on are mutated and released. The supercomputer shuts down operations at the base to prevent infection, which forces the Umbrella Corporation into sending a military group to infiltrate the facility to shut down the computer and make it out alive.
Some of these mutated creatures look like a typical human-turned-zombie, while some of them actually look like monsters. Some of them jump from wall-to-wall while some of them come together in crowds to claw at the commandos sent to retain control of the base.
Stream on AMC+
Return of the Living Dead
A mixture of horror and comedy,The Return of the Living Deadfollows two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse who accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, causing the dead to rise again. The horror-comedy is credited to have introduced no well-known characteristics of zombies, such as eating brains specifically rather than just flesh.
It is also responsible for the trait of zombies being invulnerable to a shot to the head. These rather animated zombies go on a rampage throughout Louisville and run full-force at their victims. The movie has the ridiculous gore and campy comedy one would expect out of a horror-comedy, but don’t be fooled. These zombies are fast and will absolutely not hesitate to take down their prey.
Stream on Fubo
6[REC] (2007)
[REC]isa Spanish horror filmshot in the found footage style that has been popular in the genre over the past 25 years or so. It follows a television reporter named Angela (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman as they follow a team of firefighters into an apartment building during an emergency situation, only to discover a vicious infection spreading inside. The building is sealed up to prevent the spread, trapping Angela and Manu inside with something horrifying. The found footage filming style builds the tension masterfully, as the viewer truly has no idea what’s around the next corner.
These zombies screech when they attack and are hardly slow. The body count rises quickly as these creatures continue to pick off each crew member rapidly. They drag these people to the floor and throughout the halls of this dark apartment complex without a second thought. The film has received critical and commercial acclaim, and is considered to be one of the best found footage films as well as one of the best horror films.
Stream on Prime Video
The Best Zombie Genre Mashup Films, Ranked
Zombie films don’t always have to be strictly horror films. Here are some of the best zombie films that combine different genres together.
5I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend
Loosely based on the 1954 novel of the same name,I Am Legendis set after a virus that was originally created to cure cancer, ends up wiping out most of the human race and turning them into nocturnal monsters. Years after this plague began, the sole survivor of New York City struggles to find a cure. These zombies, called the Infected, come out in the dark, making the nighttime hours a fight to survive.
With only one human remaining in the ruins of what was once bustling New York City, the Infected seek Robert Neville (Will Smith) out ferociously. The Infected chase after him through the streets and tunnels of the city, with no other living being to possibly detract attention from him. They hunt him like animals in the wild, causing Neville to constantly be on the lookout as he desperately tries to use his own immune blood to find a cure.
Buy/Rent on Amazon Prime
4The Descent (2005)
The Descent
Perhaps one of the most terrifying horror films put to screen,The Descentis a British horror film about a group of six women who go on a caving expedition that goes horribly wrong. Following the death of her husband and daughter a year prior, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) joins her friends on a trip to the Appalachian Mountains in the U.S. to explore a new cave system. However, their friend Juno (Natalie Mendoza) fails to tell them that these caves have never actually been explored, so there isn’t a guaranteed way out. Nothing goes right after descending into the cave, andthe feeling of claustrophobiais at an all-time high for anyone who doesn’t like tight spaces.
Not only is the possibility of being trapped in this dark cave system forever a very real possibility for the friends, but they are not alone down there. Disgusting, human-like creatures wait for them in the deepest crevices of the cave. These zombies are called Crawlers, and they are ferociously agile. They jump from the ceiling of the cave and pounce on the women, fiercely tearing right through them. Sarah and the remaining women viciously fight off the ultra-fast Crawlers as they rapidly pick off the group one by one in awfully brutal ways.
Stream on Max
3Zombieland (2009)
Zombielandis one of the funniest, goriest zombie movies out there. It features a stellar cast including Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, and Abigail Breslin, and all four leads have excellent chemistry with each other and near-perfect comedic timing. Only referring to each other by the cities they were heading to, the four of them team up to head cross-country to an amusement park that is supposedly zombie-free.
Columbus (Eisenberg) uses a set of made-up rules to survive Zombieland, and each rule gets a visual demonstration when these fast-moving zombies launch themselves at him or his friends. The zombies run wildly and climb up or down objects in relentless yet hysterical attempts to eat the brains of this ragtag group of survivors.
2Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan
Train to Busanis anincredible zombie invasion filmfrom South Korea that features zombies who run. Set mostly on a singular train, the film follows Sook-woo and his daughter Soo-ahn as they prepare to board a KTX train heading from Seoul to Busan. During their travels, the apocalypse occurs, turning most of the population into flesh-craving beings. As the KTX hurdles toward Busan, the passengers must fight to survive and protect their families.
These zombies race toward their human prey with incredible speed and, similar to some of the other zombies on this list, jump off buildings and other objects to eat the remaining people alive. They sprint through the train and attach themselves to the back of the train in a seemingly unstoppable manner. Their vicious attacks force the passengers on board to match their speed and fight back as quickly as humanly possible.
128 Days Later (2002)
28 Days Later
Four weeks after animal activists ignore the pleas of laboratory scientists and release chimpanzees who are infected with a rage-causing virus into the world, Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes from a coma. He discovers that London is deserted, and something horrible happened. After encountering a group of infected people at a church, Jim joins a group of fellow survivors to find sanctuary outside London.
28 Days Later: Does it Deserve the Crown for Best Zombie Movie?
After all these years, what makes 28 Days Later unforgettable is that it forces us to reflect on who we are running to and what we are running from.
28 Days Lateris a harrowing tale about survival and desperation and how human beings can still be horrible to each other even at the end of the world. The zombies in this film are referred to as the Infected, and they sprint toward the protagonists with intent. They are nearly impossible to outrun and rather athletic for undead creatures. Their speedy way of getting around makes them formidable opponents for Jim and his new friends and adds action to the already tense story.
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