28 Days Later

Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain.

Danny Boyle's post-apocalyptic horror landed as something critics found genuinely difficult to categorize — zombie film, political allegory, and humanist drama all at once — and it has only grown in stature over two decades of retrospective lists. Contemporary reviews were broadly favorable, though not ecstatic across the board, with the film's DV aesthetic and fast-moving infected drawing the most pointed discussion. Its reputation among horror audiences has substantially outpaced its initial critical consensus.