MRQE Ranks: Cinema's Deadliest Virus Movies

1

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Jon Seda

Director: Terry Gilliam

Synopsis: An intense film about time travel, this sci-fi entry was directed by Terry Gilliam, a member of the comedy troupe Monty Python. The film stars Bruc... [MORE]

2

[Rec] (2007)

Cast: Carlos Lasarte, David Vert, Jorge Yaman, Manuela Velasco

Director: Jaume Balaguer, Paco Plaza

3

Pontypool (2008)

Cast: Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak, Rick Roberts

Director: Bruce McDonald

Synopsis: Bruce McDonald, critically acclaimed director of The Tracey Fragments, teams with author Tony Burgess to adapt Burgess' own novel about a small tow... [MORE]

4

Zombieland (2009)

Cast: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Synopsis: A cowardly shut-in named Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is forced to join up with a seasoned zombie slayer named Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) in order... [MORE]

5

Planet Terror (2007)

Cast: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Jeff Fahey

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Synopsis: Maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez details the violent struggle between a ravenous army of zombie-like humanoids who have taken control of the pla... [MORE]

6

28 Days Later... (2002)

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Christopher Eccleston

Director: Danny Boyle

Synopsis: Animal rights activists free a group of infected chimpanzees to horrifying results in this speculative sci-fi horror effort from Trainspotting dire... [MORE]

7

I Am Legend (2007)

Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Charlie Tahan

Director: Francis Lawrence

Synopsis: Adapted from acclaimed author Richard Matheson's influential novelette of the same name, Constantine director Francis Lawrence's I Am Legend follow... [MORE]

8

The Signal (2007/I)

Cast: AJ Bowen, Anessa Ramsey, Justin Welborn, Scott Poythress, Cheri Christian

Director: David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush

Synopsis: As glasses are raised for a New Year's Eve toast, the denizens of the city of Terminus fall prey to a mysterious transmission that pulses through a... [MORE]

9

28 Weeks Later (2007)

Cast: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack

Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Synopsis: The devastating rage virus that annihilated the British Isles mysteriously resurfaces in Goya Award-winning director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's sequ... [MORE]

10

Black Death (2010)

Cast: Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Carice van Houten, John Lynch, Tim McInnerny

Director: Christopher Smith

Synopsis: As the Black Death sweeps through Medieval England, young monk Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) sends his girlfriend, Averill (Kimberley Nixon), to the safe... [MORE]

11

Splinter (2008/I)

Cast: Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Wagner, Rachel Kerbs

Director: Toby Wilkins

Synopsis: CGI effects wizard and versatile cinema Renaissance man Toby Wilkins directed this shocker, which is set in and around a remote gas station, where ... [MORE]

12

The Crazies (2010)

Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker, Christie Lynn Smith

Director: Breck Eisner

Synopsis: Sahara director Breck Eisner teams with screenwriters Ray Wright (Pulse) and Scott Kosar (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) to give George A. Romero's u... [MORE]

13

Right at Your Door (2006)

Cast: Mary McCormack, Rory Cochrane, Tony Perez, Scotty Noyd Jr., Jon Huertas

Director: Chris Gorak

Synopsis: A dirty bomb detonates in Los Angeles and a terrified husband decides to seal himself up in his suburban home and await the return of his working w... [MORE]

14

Cabin Fever (2002)

Cast: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, Joey Kern, Cerina Vincent, James DeBello

Director: Eli Roth

Synopsis: Five college buddies retreat to the woods for a little R & R and end up getting a horrific lesson in infectious disease in this low-budget shocker.... [MORE]

15

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames, Richard Roxburgh

Director: John Woo

Synopsis: Director John Woo brings Hong Kong-style martial arts action to this comic book-flavored sequel that eschews the complicated plot and political man... [MORE]

16

Outbreak (1995)

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland

Director: Wolfgang Petersen

17

Carriers (2009)

Cast: Lou Taylor Pucci, Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, Emily VanCamp, Christopher Meloni

Director: David Pastor, Alex Pastor

Synopsis: Piper Perabo, Chris Pine, Emily VanCamp, and Josh Berry star in this apocalyptic tale of a viral pandemic that sweeps across the United States, and... [MORE]

18

Osmosis Jones (2001)

Cast: Bill Murray

Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Piet Kroon, Tom Sito

Synopsis: Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, the impish impresarios of gross-out comedy, take their body function-inspired humor to new extremes in this mixt... [MORE]

19

The Ruins (2008)

Cast: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore, Joe Anderson

Director: Carter Smith

20

The Omega Man (1971)

Cast: Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash, Paul Koslo

Director: Boris Sagal

Synopsis: This second film adaptation of Richard Matheson's science-fiction novel I Am Legend (the first version being The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Pri... [MORE]

21

Blindness (2008)

Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Yusuke Iseya, Yoshino Kimura

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Synopsis: Fernando Meirelles' adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago's novel Blindness begins when an epidemic of blindness strikes the world... [MORE]

22

Quarantine (2008)

Cast: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Jay Hernandez, Johnathon Schaech, Columbus Short

Director: John Erick Dowdle

Synopsis: Jay Hernandez, Jennifer Carpenter, and Johnathon Schaech star in this remake of Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza's successful, Spanish-language horro... [MORE]

23

Doomsday (2008)

Cast: Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Adrian Lester, Alexander Siddig, Malcolm McDowell

Director: Neil Marshall

Synopsis: Three decades after a major country is quarantined in hopes of containing a lethal and highly contagious virus nicknamed "Reaper," signs that the s... [MORE]

24

Resident Evil (2002)

Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Writer: Paul W.S. Anderson

Synopsis: The director of Mortal Kombat (1995) adapts another popular video game for the big screen with this gory action thriller. Milla Jovovich and Michel... [MORE]

25

The Happening (2008)

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, Betty Buckley

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Synopsis: Lady in the Water director M. Night Shyamalan puts PG-13 suspense on pause to tell this grim apocalyptic tale about a family fleeing a natural disa... [MORE]

26

Shivers (1975)

Cast: Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Allan Magicovsky, Susan Petrie

Director: David Cronenberg

27

The Crazies (1973)

Cast: Lane Carroll, W.G. McMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar, Richard Liberty

Director: George Romero

Synopsis: George Romero's The Crazies involves a biochemical warfare virus code-named "Trixie" that gets into the water supply of Evans City, PA. It has two ... [MORE]

30

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Cast: Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly

Director: Robert Wise

Synopsis: The "Andromeda Strain" is a deadly extraterrestrial virus. It is brought to Earth when a research satellite crashes near a tiny Arizona town. Every... [MORE]