We love zombies, so this week's home video release of About a Zombie (originally titled Portrait of a Zombie) caught our eye. The movie starts in familiar territory -- zombies invade a city -- but quickly distinguishes itself with its central characters and setting: a working-class family in Dublin, Ireland. The tone is grim and dark as the family accepts their zombified son back into their home, much to the consternation of the neighborhood, and things get quite bloody.
There's something wonderfully unsettling and exciting about watching time-tested tropes play out in another language and/or another land. Here are our five favorite foreign zombie movies.
5. France: The Horde
This English-language trailer doesn't quite capture the full-tilt insanity of the movie, which spills a lot of blood in multiple, jolting zombie-attack sequences. The ch
4. Cuba: Juan of the Dead
Boldly mixing social commentary, outlandish action and riotous comedy, the first zombie movie from Cuba is a winner. Juan and his good buddy Lazaro may be slackers, but when opportunity presents itself -- zombies! the end of the world! -- they are perfectly willing to start their own extermination business.
3. U.K.: 28 Days Later
Danny Boyle's nerve-jangling thriller ignited the debate about fast vs. slow zombies, but that shouldn't cloud the fact that the tension is ratcheted up to nearly unbearable levels. Also, the trailer is the most awesome on this list.
2. Spain: [REC]
Firefighters are called to an apartment building, but discover something far more terrifying than they could ever have anticipated. The film takes full advantage of its setting, pushing into shadows, past locked doors, up and down stairs, and deep into the heart of true horror.
1. U.K.: Shaun of the Dead
Our favorite foreign zombie movie is a product of the great partnership between director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The script by Pegg and Wright creates characters who are both specific to Britain yet also universal in their humanity -- or lack thereof! The comedy is fresh, the dangers are real, and the movie rocks from beginning to end.
