6) Rec. (2007)
Just barely making the timeline cut is Rec., one of the better zombie films in recent memory.
With so much zombie fandom pouring out during the 2000s, the Romero-original subgenre has become a shadow of its former self thanks to the onslaught of haphazardly made zombie flicks in the past 10-15 years. But thankfully, co-directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza are here to save the day with their found footage gore fest, Rec. Much in the same DIY-vein as Paranormal Activity, this Spanish film works tirelessly to establish its experiential fear, providing viewers with a driver’s seat outlook that up until then, few had successfully implemented.
Unfortunately, within a span of a few years, this found footage formula came to be the mainstream of horror movies. Soon enough, these films became dull, unimaginative and lazy examples of filmmaking, rarely exciting its audiences to new levels that had previously been established by efforts like Rec. With its hand-held techniques and adept direction though, Balagueró and Plaza’s work still manages to be one of the best “shaky-cam” horror films to date.