Entertainment
The Best Horror Movies About Virus Outbreaks
There's something in the air, and you definitely don't want to breath it in. Horror movies about viruses and diseases are particularly frightening, because they are among the most plausible situations that could actually happen in real life. This list ranks the scariest movies about virus outbreaks that infect large groups of people.
It can be a bit tricky to distinguish virus outbreak horror movies from zombie films, because often times zombies are birthed from some kind of airborne virus or disease. However, most of the virus horror movies on this list are more about the contagions infecting people than they are the result of the disease. Examples of these films include Viral, Quarantine, and The Happening.
It Follows is probably the best horror movie about a disease. It's kind of tricky to explain the plot if you haven't seen it, so just go ahead and watch the film if it has somehow evaded you up to this point- you definitely won't be disappointed.
Ranked by
- 1Cillian Murphy, Noah Huntley, Naomie Harris
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Danny Boyle
A group of misguided animal rights activists free a caged chimp infected with the "Rage" virus from a medical research lab. When London bike courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma a month ...more - 2Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Breck Eisner
Anarchy reigns when an unknown toxin turns the peaceful citizens of Ogden Marsh into bloodthirsty lunatics. In an effort to contain the spread of the infection, authorities blockade the town and use ...more - 3Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Six months after the original epidemic, the rage virus has all but annihilated the population of the British Isles. Nevertheless the U.S. Army declares the danger past, and American soldiers arrive ...more - 4Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
When Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minnesota from a Hong Kong business trip, she attributes the malaise she feels to jet lag. However, two days later, Beth is dead, and doctors tell her ...more - 5Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
A dangerous airborne virus threatens civilization in this tense thriller. After an African monkey carrying a lethal virus is smuggled into the U.S., an outbreak occurs in a California town. To ...more - 6Manuela Velasco, Javier Botet, Ana Isabel Velásquez
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Paco Plaza, Jaume Balagueró
REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film, co-written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. The film was shot in Barcelona, Spain and the title is an abbreviation of the word "record", as it ...more - 7Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Based on the popular video game, Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez star as the leaders of a commando team who must break into "the hive," a vast underground genetics laboratory operated by the ...more - 8Stephen King, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald
- Released: 1994
- Directed by: Mick Garris
King's epic novel tells a story of a virus that escapes from a top-secret lab causing millions of deaths around the country. - 9Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Marc Forster
When former U.N. investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family get stuck in urban gridlock, he senses that it's no ordinary traffic jam. His suspicions are confirmed when, suddenly, the city ...more - 10Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Robert Neville (Will Smith), a brilliant scientist, is a survivor of a man-made plague that transforms humans into bloodthirsty mutants. He wanders alone through New York City, calling out for other ...more - 11Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Jay Hernandez
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: John Erick Dowdle
Reporter Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman Scott (Steve Harris) are doing a story on night-shift firefighters for a reality-TV program. A late-night distress call takes them to a Los ...more - 12Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Rider Strong
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Eli Roth
Bert (James DeBello), a college student vacationing with friends in the mountains, mistakenly shoots a local man (Arie Verveen) with a skin infection while hunting in the woods. Panicking, he ...more - 13Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: Alexander Witt
A deadly virus from a secret Umbrella Corporation laboratory underneath Raccoon City is exposed to the world. Umbrella seals off the city to contain the virus, creating a ghost town where everyone ...more - 14Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Russell Mulcahy
Captured by the Umbrella Corp., Alice (Milla Jovovich) receives genetic alterations that leave her with superhuman abilities. Hiding out in the Nevada desert, she joins forces with former cohorts ...more - 15Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Wagner
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Toby Wilkins
When their plans for a nature trip go awry, Polly Watt (Jill Wagner) and boyfriend Seth Belzer (Paulo Costanzo) decide to check into a motel. On their way, they're carjacked and kidnapped by low-rent ...more - 16Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Katie Stegeman
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Eric England
Contracted is a 2013 horror thriller film directed and written by Eric England. It was first released on November 23, 2013, in the United States and stars Najarra Townsend as a young woman that finds ...more - 17Rose McGowan, Freddy RodrÃguez, Josh Brolin
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
An ordinary evening in a small Texas town becomes a grisly nightmare when a horde of flesh-eating zombies goes on the prowl. Cherry (Rose McGowan), a go-go dancer, and Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), her ...more - 18Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan
"Dreamcatcher" tells of four young friends who perform a heroic act -- and are changed forever by the uncanny powers they gain in return. Years later the friends, now men, are on a hunting trip in ...more - 19Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Kevin Durand
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
As Umbrella Corp.'s deadly T-virus continues to turn the world's population into legions of flesh-eating zombies, Alice (Milla Jovovich), the human race's last hope, awakes deep within Umbrella's ...more - 20Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash
- Released: 1971
- Directed by: Boris Sagal
Led by a former TV newscaster (Anthony Zerbe), light-sensitive mutants stalk the last normal man (Charlton Heston) on Earth. - 21Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto
- Released: 2014
- Directed by: David Robert Mitchell
After carefree teenager Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with her new boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary), for the first time, she learns that she is the latest recipient of a fatal curse that is passed from ...more - 22Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell, Bob Hoskins
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Neil Marshall
When the first outbreak of the Reaper virus hit Scotland, Eden Sinclair was one of the last to escape containment and had to leave her mother behind. Twenty-five years later, Maj. Eden Sinclair ...more - 23Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
In a world overrun with the walking dead, Alice (Milla Jovovich) continues her battle against Umbrella Corp., rounding up survivors along the way. Joined by an old friend, Alice and her group set out ...more - 24Lou Taylor Pucci, Chris Pine, Piper Perabo
- Released: 2009
- Directed by: Àlex Pastor, David Pastor
When a virus threatens to wipe out humanity, Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci), his brother Brian (Chris Pine), and their friends Bobby (Piper Perabo) and Kate (Emily VanCamp) set out across the desert in the ...more - 25Vincent Price, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Umberto Raho
- Released: 1964
- Directed by: Sidney Salkow, Ubaldo Ragona
The Last Man on Earth is a 1964 science fiction horror film based on the Richard Matheson 1954 novel I Am Legend. The film was directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, and stars Vincent Price. ...more
