30 Asian Zombie Movies That Are Worth Your Time

21. KL Zombi (Ming Jin Woo, Malaysia, 2013)

It would be no surprise to mention that most films around this time-period would be a variation on the Shaun of the Dead formula, however, this time around it’s Malaysia that provides the fun in this lighthearted, enjoyable zombie/comedy. Once again taking a lone slacker who finds that a zombie virus has been unleashed in his hometown and must race to protect his friends in order to get to his loved one stuck in the middle of the horde, there’s a familiar feeling throughout here but manages to contain a rather heartwarming sense of personal duty and responsibility that helps to ground the film. While this isn’t as funny as many of the other entries aping this format, there’s enough heart and zombie action to make for an entertaining effort all around.

22. Miss Zombie (Hiroyuki Tanaka, Japan, 2013)

One of the most unique and yet equally endearing entries on the list, this Japanese arthouse styled entry is as radically different from anything else in the country as it is from the other films listed here. On the surface about the exploits after the war against zombiedom has been completed and a viral contagion has multiple stages of transforming a person into a creature of a family who bring home a zombified slave to run the house, this is instead a far more psychological effort that eschews anything and everything traditionally associated with zombies due to the treatment inflicted about them reflecting back on society at large. Glacially-paced and shot in black-and-white, this is really only for those looking for something outside the norm and want to look at something different; simple-minded traditionalists should steer clear of this one wholly.

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23. Run! (Oudom Touch, Cambodia, 2013)

It’s Cambodia’s turn at the zombie genre, and much like the majority of their cinematic output, this one’s a little rough around the edge but has a lot to recommend about it. Being about a special virus that affects Phenom Penh and forcing a group of survivors to get to safety and solve the mystery about the source of the incidents, it’s pretty obvious there’s not much to the film in terms of originality or even some of the other technical aspects. However, given that the country is still trying to find it’s cinematic voice in general, much less try out a zombie entry, there’s little reason to hold that against the film when, taken on it’s own terms, this is still a fun and somewhat enjoyable effort.

24. Deadman Inferno (Hiroshi Shinagawa, Japan, 2015)

A long-time staple of Japanese cinema, it’s oddly surprising that it took as long as it did to mix together the Yakuza film and the zombie genre. Concerning a former Yakuza soldier who gets freed from jail and learns that his friends’ sister is working on a project on a nearby island that’s become infected with flesh-eating zombies and forcing him to utilize his old skills to save her, this blend of the two genres proves to be a lot more fun than suspected. Mixing together old stand-by tropes of honor and brotherhood with the Japanese penchant for zombie action, this proves to be an engaging is not necessarily important effort in the genre.

25. I Am A Hero (Shinsuke Sato, Japan, 2015)

The influence of Shaun strikes one more time with this Japanese effort that once again features a lone, unsuccessful individual who finds his calling in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Dropping the majority of the comedy aspects found in most adaptations of the story, the laughs are still there but instead replaced with far more dynamic and thrilling action scenes that revel in high-quality gore and graphic special effects work that’s successfully adapted from the original manga version. The length is an issue where it could’ve told this in a slightly shorter time-frame but this is easily overlooked due to its impressive other factors.

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26. Seoul Station (Yeon Sang-ho, South Korea, 2016)

One of the few animated zombie films in the scene, this oddly serves as a prequel to the directors’ later film “Train to Busan”. Concerning the early events of the viral outbreak that affected the characters in that film with several people of varying aspects of society forced into surviving in the midst of a zombie outbreak in Seoul, this effort is far more Westernized than its more well-known live-action feature with pointed social commentary on the aspects of the rich mistreating the more marginalized members of Korean society. Still filled with plenty of brain-chomping madness for those that enjoy it, the film is a bit more restrained in order to make its commentary be known which is the point of this enjoyable entry.

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27. Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, South Korea, 2016)

Not only one of the finest zombie movies ever made, but one that can stand toe-to-toe with the genre epics from the US and Europe. Concerning a man and his daughter attempting to take a train to Busan in order to repair the fractured relationship he has with his wife and daughter but get caught in a rabid zombie outbreak along the way that infects the passengers onboard, this Korean masterpiece captures their modern cinematic viewpoints expertly. Packed with high-stakes emotional interludes due to the need for protecting his young girl and infused with gorgeous, thrilling action set pieces, this is easily one of the top films in the genre and highly recommended to anyone looking to dip their feet into Asian horror cinema.

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28. Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight (Alan Lo, Hong Kong/China, 2017)

Yet one more Shaun of the Dead tale, this time emerging from Hong Kong with an absolutely bizarre twist as is expected from their style. This one features two losers attempting to get by in Shanghai by publishing a comic book together, only for their more adult responsibilities to get in the way of their plans which gets further complicated with a strange zombie outbreak runs throughout the city. Mixing together the bizarre imagery and wackiness that’s typically found in Japanese cinema with some highly emotionally exploits that are found in Korean cinema, this mixture creates a somewhat disjointed but funny and heartwarming journey that really has a lot to like.

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29. One Cut of the Dead (Shinichiro Ueda, Japan, 2017)

As hard as this might be to believe, this is pretty much now the top film in the scene when it comes to zombie/comedies. A truly standout genre effort, this is told in two parts as a near-forty minute one-take shot of a film crew shooting a zombie movie only to suddenly meet up with a real-life zombie outbreak, only to then go back to the start to show that this opening was a live-TV broadcast and then showing how the pre-production went as well as the actual on-set filming of the show. Hilarious from start-to-finish, this meta tale on the making of a film will be even funnier to industry professionals than the regular person but even they will be laughing non-stop here which makes the film one of the greatest comedies in the genre.

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30. Rampant (Kim Sung-hoon, South Korea, 2018)

As the success of Train to Busan was felt on a global scale, the same studio put together a follow-up that takes the zombie plague to a brand-new location, Feudal Korea. Detailing the adventures of a disgraced prince returning from an imprisonment to find his kingdom overtaken by a foreign-based zombie plague, this is certainly fine when it’s focused on the zombie action and gore but gets too caught up in political intrigue and backstabbing for its own good. This could’ve been shaved down somewhat so it’s not as overloaded with these conversations resulting in a bloated running time, but again it scores so well on the zombies that it’s not as detrimental as it could’ve been.

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