Netflix doesn’t make it easy on horror movie fans in October, as its streaming selection leaves a lot to be desired. Though they do have access to classics like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and more modern horror movies like The Strangers, Netflix’s horror section is also full of films like 2018’s Slender Man, which carries an impressive 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, or even 2014’s Ouija, an even lower 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. Suffice to say, there’s a lot of junk, but some diamonds can absolutely be found in that rough if you know where to look.
One of the best horror movies that’s on Netflix was actually just added to the streaming service, and even though it’s 57 years old at this point, it’s still a fantastic watch. George A. Romero’s 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead can now be found on Netflix. Even better for fans, the version on Netflix is one of the best possible versions of the movie to watch on streaming (though home video would be the peak). The Night of the Living Dead found on the platform is actually the remaster by the Criterion Collection and The Museum of Modern Art, which has the best picture quality of any release of the film (and there have been many, as the movie is public domain).
George A. Romero’s movie is a classic because it was the blueprint for the larger zombie subgenre as we now know it. Before the film, zombies in movies were limited exclusively to reductive takes on Haitian voodoo, including films like 1932’s White Zombie and 1943’s I Walked with a Zombie. With Night of the Living Dead, Romero took inspiration from another seminal genre piece, Richard Matheson’s novel, I Am Legend. Though that book tells the tale of a man stuck in a world overrun by vampires, Romero liked the idea and shifted his monsters into flesh-eating ghouls instead.
That said, there are also elements of Romero’s movie that the zombie subgenre has left behind, though. The zombies in the film often use rudimentary tools, like rocks or spades, to attack their victims, which has largely been abandoned, even by Romero. Furthermore, Romero’s film established that the undead, which he never actually calls “zombies,” consume flesh, not brains. A different movie coined that bit of lore.
Romero’s movie stands the test of time not only because of its contributions to the larger horror genre, but at its core, it remains a perfectly constructed movie. The film unfolds in front of the audience with a perfect structure, revealing new characters and details about the problem in front of them in a way that always keeps you engaged and curious about what could happen next. The answer is always, it can get worse, which makes the movie harrowing to watch, and its final moments hit like an uppercut.
Luckily for horror fans, Night of the Living Dead isn’t the only great zombie movie that can be found on the platform. In addition to Romero’s classic, Netflix is also streaming both 28 Days Later and 2025’s 28 Years Later, plus the hit 2016 South Korean zombie movie Train to Busan (its not-as-good sequel, Peninsula, can also be found).
There are even more great zombie movies, too, though, including #Alive, another South Korean take on the subgenre, plus the Australian zombie movie Cargo (featuring Martin Freeman). In short, zombie movie fans may have better options to pick from on Netflix than any other horror subgenre.
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