Are you a fan of movies like World War Z looking for a different kind of experience other than supernatural-related horrific?
You are in luck because we offer a lineup that includes movies like World War Z to help ignite your ‘ end-of-the-world survival experience.’
It is unique when comparing World War Z to other “zombie” films. In this Marc Forster-helmed action/horror film from 2013, Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator, and his family become stranded during the spread of a global zombie plague.
Hence, Gerry sets off on a perilous quest to discover the cause of the outbreak and, ideally, find a cure.
1. Train to Busan (2016)
- Cast: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, Kim Eui-sung.
- Runtime: 118 minutes
This supernatural thriller is first on our list of movies like World War Z, it is a classic example of the zombie horror subgenre and a delightfully exciting disaster film.
The set elements are skillfully coordinated, and the performance is flawless.
During a zombie apocalypse in South Korea, Seok-woo gets stuck on a moving train with his daughter and other passengers.
An employee’s call to him unveils that Busan is secure and sheds light on one of their project’s potential roles in the outbreak. Seok-woo must figure out a way around the situation while fighting to stay alive.
2. Contagion (2011)
- Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston.
- Runtime: 106 minutes
Contagion is another film on our list of movies like World War Z. The focus is identifying the source and a potential treatment for a viral outbreak.
The Stephen Soderbergh-directed film also deals with the challenges of attaining balance while the global social order crumbles.
The story starts with the death of a woman due to unknown causes, and soon her son dies mysteriously.
Investigations show that they are dying due to a biological hazard, and plans are set in place to attempt to check the widespread deaths.
3. Doomsday (2008)
- Cast: Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Adrian Lester, David O’Hara, Malcolm McDowell.
- Runtime: 108 minutes
Check out this 2008 film among our “movies like World War Z” considerations for folks who wish to see a world where an outbreak triggered the complete breakdown of civilization. Scotland is the setting for this movie, directed by Neil Marshall.
Being among the last to escape confinement, Eden Sinclair is forced to leave her mother behind when the Reaper virus first breaks out in Scotland.
To combat the virus, which has returned to London after 25 years, Maj. Eden Sinclair takes a team back into the reaction chamber.
She and her companions must fight ferocious creatures in a hopeless struggle for survival.
4. Dawn of the Dead(1978)
- Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross.
- Runtime: 126 minutes
This is a staple that introduced many fans to the zombie genre experience. The film focuses on a group of creatures known as zombies, who prefer to eat human flesh and are thought to be the reanimated dead.
Ana flees a zombie attack on her husband, only to discover that the undead has taken over her entire Milwaukee neighborhood.
In search of protection, a small group of people, including Ana, head to the neighborhood mall.
Using the mall as a base, the group bands together to fight the undead hordes to survive.
5. Daylight’s End (2016)
- Cast: Johnny Strong, Lance Henriksen, Louis Mandylor, Hakeem Kae-Kazim.
- Runtime: 105 minutes
This is another one of those movies like World War Z that turns on the thriller factor.
With its fierce lead character, quick pacing, and original script, Daylight’s End delivers the goods in action.
The story begins years after an unidentified global disease transformed most people into roughly vampire-like creatures.
The only person with any chance of surviving is a vagrant, who grudgingly offers to assist a small group that hasn’t been hit by the disease yet.
6. Bird Box(2018)
- Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Sarah Paulson.
- Runtime: 124 minutes
Based on the Josh Malerman novel Bird Box, the movie was released in 2018. It premiered in a few theatres before finding success on Netflix, the world’s most well-known streaming service.
The film’s plot is similar to World War Z, where a widespread disease makes people turn against each other.
The only way for the survivors to stay alive is to avoid eye contact with a monster resembling their deepest nightmares.
To survive, a woman and her children risk their lives as they go through the woods and down a river while wearing blindfolds.
7. Snowpiercer (2013)
- Cast: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, Ed Harris.
- Runtime: 126 minutes
Snowpiercer is one of the movies like World War Z. It is a post-apocalyptic thriller that isn’t well known but provides enough of the edge.
It combines social critique and moral debate in a visually stunning and wildly entertaining package thanks to immersive locations and a multi-layered narrative.
In the future depicted in the film, all life has been wiped out by a botched climate change experiment. The only survivors are the people on board the Snowpiercer.
The remaining days are spent on a luxury train in freezing weather as the survivors endure their ordeal.
However, the poorest passengers on the train, who reside in the filthy region, intend to overtake the engine room to better their lives.
8. The Impossible (2012)
- Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland.
- Runtime: 113 minutes
In this movie, victims of natural disasters are seen in all their misery, anguish, and hope. It is based on a factual account of the catastrophe that claimed more than 230,000 lives.
When a deadly tsunami destroys a beach resort in Thailand, a British family spending the holidays there is ripped apart.
Even though Maria and her family are in the worst possible situation, surprising acts of generosity and bravery helped to lessen their fear, inspiring hope in the slightest of chances.
9. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
- Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Ki Hong Lee.
- Runtime: 131 minutes
The Scorch Trials, the second book in the Maze Runner series, inspired this film.
Compared to the first film, the lead cast of this one remains primarily unchanged, maintaining the film’s originality.
Thomas and his fellow young Gladers are sent to a secluded and heavily guarded outpost where they discover a sinister plot by the shadowy and deadly WCKD.
In an attempt to locate the Right Hand, a band of guerrilla fighters who can help them in combating WCKD, the Gladers make a clean getaway into the Scorch.
10. Outbreak (1995)
- Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Donald Sutherland, Cuba Gooding Jr, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Spacey.
- Runtime: 128 minutes
This is one of the contagion movies like World War Z with its A-list cast and was released in 1995.
The nonfiction book The Hot Zone, published in 1994, inspired the motion picture.
The book covered various topics, including the history of the Ebola virus and its outbreaks.
A California town experiences an outbreak following the smuggling of an African monkey carrying a deadly virus into the country.
A team of specialists is assembled, including a contagious disease specialist and his ex-wife, to stop the disease’s spread. Can they prevent the harmful airborne virus that is endangering civilization?
11. Sightseers (2012)
- Cast: Alice Lowe, Kenneth Hadley, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies, Roger Michael.
- Runtime: 85 minutes
Sightseers is a very dark comedy that borders on horror. Despite being one of the movies like World War Z, you will find it very humorous because it contains many aspects of rich British culture.
The movie follows two teenage lovers on a bloody rampage through the countryside in a violent, hallucinating narrative.
All Chris ever wanted was to introduce Tina to some romantic places. Still, soon enough, things work against the couple, and their ideal caravan trip goes wrong.
12. Intruders (2011)
- Cast: Clive Owen, Carice van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Pilar López de Ayala, Ella Purnell, Izan Corchero, Kerry Fox, Héctor Alterio.
- Runtime: 100 minutes
The movie tells two parallel tales of two kids who experience the “Hollow Face” paranormal presence in their dreams.
A hooded, faceless ghost terrorizing two kids who live in Spain and England seems to have materialized from the pages of the horror stories they co-wrote.
On the one hand, the “Hollow Face” figure hovers above young Juan’s bed every night, prompting his mother to ask a priest for assistance.
On the other hand, it emerges from Mia’s closet and attacks her. At the same time, she watches helplessly as her father cannot protect her. Will they ever be free?
13. Mulberrye Street (2006)
- Cast: Nick Damici, Kim Blair, Ron Brice, Bo Corre, Tim House, Larry Fleischman, Larry Medich, Javier Picayo.
- Runtime: 85 minutes
American horror movie Mulberry Street was released in 2006 and was written by Jim Mickle and Nick Damici.
Like other movies like World War Z, it follows a breakout of a poisonous rat infestation of an apartment building.
On a scorching hot day in New York City, while rats attack people, ex-boxer Clutch is getting ready to be ejected from his residence in a dilapidated tenement building.
As victims of the rat bites start dying, fear sweeps all across the city, and Clutch is bitten by a mutant rat zombie.
The unbitten folks resort to locking down their buildings, their only hope to survive the spreading rat-borne plague.
14. Resident Evil Franchise(2002-2016)
- Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ali Larter, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen, Shawn Roberts, Wentworth Miller.
- Runtime: 1h 40m
When zombie flicks are mentioned, the Resident Evil franchise comes to mind. The franchise’s first film, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, came out in 2002.
A squad of special ops is tasked with eliminating zombies as they try to spread a virus inside a research facility that turns many people and animals into ‘undead’ killers. The franchise consists of six films that were distributed over 14 years.
15. Warm Bodies (2013)
- Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Lio Tipton, Cory Hardrict, John Malkovich.
- Runtime: 98 minutes
This addition to movies like World War Z was released in 2013. Unlike other zombie movies, it is, instead, very distinctive.
The movie was star-studded with actors like; Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, etc.
Due to a horrible pandemic, a split is formed between the human and zombie populations on Earth.
A series of events develop the formation of a bond between Julie, a young woman, and R, a zombie.
As their friendship deepens and R becomes more and more like humans, this can change the planet’s entire lifeless population.
