20 Best Survival Movies Of All Time

When 28 Days Later came out in 2002, it re-shaped the image of the zombie genre entirely. No longer were the undead slow and lurching. Here, they were fast, frenzied and truly shocking. Directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later isn't simply a brilliant survival movie, it's a revolutionary piece of genre cinema that is as tense and harsh today as it was nearly 20 years ago.

Following Jim (Cillian Murphy), who has woken from a coma to find the UK overtaken by a devastating, blood-thirsty virus, as he comes face to face with some other lucky survivors, the plot - like all good zombie flicks - is incredibly simple. Jim and his new allies (including Naomi Harris) eventually come across a place of safety with a horrifying secret.

And that's it, on paper. On the screen, though, you're left with an atmospheric and powerful acted indie horror which has as much heart as it does pure horror. The infected are terrifying; the direction is brilliant; and the soundtrack, courtesy of John Murphy, is phenomenal. This is not a film to be missed.

As a quick note, its sequel 28 Weeks Later was also an effective picture. Though bigger in scale and changing the cast (including a pre-Marvel Jeremy Renner), it remains a tightly plotted and masterfully explosive survival horror well worth your time.