20 Horror Movies From The 21st Century That Didn't Actually Suck

17. Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

This shouldn't have worked. It was the remake of a classic, much-loved zombie film and was directed by music video director Zack Snyder. To top it all it had, eurgh, fast zombies. Somehow though, and against all the odds, this worked (certainly far better than any of the other Romero remakes) and, with its worldwide gross of over $100 million, can be credited for the zombie revolution which now sees Brad Pitt and Peter Capaldi's Who Doctor take on worldwide epidemics while still looking gorgeous.

The film follows a very similar structure to the 1978 original but focuses this time on Sarah Polley's nurse Ana as she makes her way to safety in an abandoned shopping mall with a motley crew of survivors. They clear the mall of the undead but then, inevitably, the real monsters are the ones living and breathing around the opulence of all the mall can give. Very quickly, their little world comes crashing down around them and the zombies are there to eat up the pieces.

From the opening strains of Johnny Cash singing When the Man Comes Around over images of a world on the brink of apocalypse to the final camcorder shots on an isolated island, Snyder brings a freshness to the zombie genre and manages to both pay tribute to, and freely adapt, the original. Of course, he's helped by a cast that includes Polly, Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer and cameos from many of the original cast members. Forget the Snyder of recent years and watch this film when he was an exciting, emerging Hollywood talent.