9. They Came Back (2004)
Although you have to completely adjust your expectations before walking into They Came Back, your effort will be rewarded with a slow-burn, thought-provoking take on the concept that is unlike anything else out there. When the dead return in this low-key French drama, they arent murderous, decaying nightmares but seemingly restored versions of the people they once were, and the first thing they do is go back home to resume life. If you are looking for gore and heart-stopping thrills, you can skip to the next entry now; they simply arent here. Paced more like a Rod Serling story, Back is all about the effect that a resurrection of the dead would have on their loved ones. Thats not to say that the film is absent of dread. Indeed, theres a palpable unease that begins the moment these lost souls start picking their way from the cemetery back to those people they left behind. A jaw-dropping aerial shot features all the returnees crowding the streets as the living residents look on in shock. From there, director Robin Campillo spends time watching the eventual fall-out, which unfolds with a covert serenity. They Came Back is leading up to something, but it has less to do with those secret groups the undead align themselves in than it does with understanding how we as people deal with those who we failed to make room for, whether it be in our individual lives or in society as a whole. Its not business as usual at the zombie zoo, and thats what sets it apart.