I am 49 years old and cannot recall a time when there was a worldwide concern that has led to multiple shutdowns. Concert venues, sporting events, flights, schools, amusement parks are all taking precautions to prevent the rampant spread of the coronavirus. Many times over the past few days I have heard (and thought to myself), “this is like something out of a movie. . .” And, indeed, Hollywood has provided many scenarios of what a viral outbreak might look like. Tour our photo gallery featuring our choices for the Top 20 pandemic movies while holed up in front of your television or computer.
Of course, in the movie world, viral outbreaks manifest themselves in a variety of ways, with the most popular having the infected mutating into some sort of violent, murderous, often zombie-like, creature. Societies collapse as governments and militaries attempt to contain the spread of the virus. Quarantined people, driven mad by seclusion, turn on one another. Survivors struggle to find sanctuaries and grapple with deciding who can be trusted.
Outbreaks in these films originate from a variety of sources – an alien pathogen, a chemical being developed for biological warfare, an animal, and sometimes an unknown, unidentifiable source. This is all scary stuff, and that’s why these films usually fall into the sci fi and/or horror categories. However, in the end, good usually triumphs. And while the thought of being locked up in our houses for a short period of time to keep us safe from a bigger coronavirus outbreak is also scary stuff, maybe some of the following films, including “Contagion,” “28 Days Later,” “World War Z” and “Outbreak,” will at least keep us entertained.
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20. DAYBREAKERS (2009)
Image Credit: Lionsgate/Kobal/Shutterstock Ten years ago, an infected bat caused a virus that turned most of the human population into vampires. True humans are becoming rare, which affects the pure blood supply, causing the hungry vampires to become savages. Hematologist and vampire Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is struggling to find a synthetic blood substitute before the world dissolves into chaos and all true humans are extinct. Edward finds other sympathetic vampires as well as human survivors, and together they seek to find a cure for the virus; however, some vampires are enjoying their immortal status and are not eager to end their superior state.
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19. CARRIERS (2009)
Image Credit: Paramount Vantage/Kobal/Shutterstock A survivalist film in which two brothers (Chris Pine and Lou Taylor Pucci) and two of their friends (Piper Perabo and Emily VanCamp) attempt to evade a worldwide infectious virus which has killed most of the population. In their journey to a secluded beach hotel they hope will provide sanctuary, the group encounters other survivalists as well as infected people, all of whom are willing to do what it takes to win against the deadly outbreak. But as the group fights to survive, they discover that danger is even closer than they realized.
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18. BLINDNESS (2008)
Image Credit: Rhombus Media/Kobal/Shutterstock A young man suddenly and unexplainably goes blind, his vision turning white. When a visit to an ophthalmologist results in the doctor’s blindness, as well as blindness in other people who came into contact with the man, it is recognized that it’s caused by a communicable disease. The government organizes a quarantine; however, as more and more people rapidly contract the “white sickness,” living conditions at the site become hostile and dangerous, and in the outside world, panic and confusion caused by the strange phenomenon has led to a collapse in society.
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17. DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock A decade after a small group of people fights to stay alive during a zombie apocalypse in “Night of the Living Dead,” the United States is again fighting to retain order after recently-deceased people are being mysteriously reanimated. As most of the population swiftly succumbs to the zombie virus, a small group of survivors sequester themselves in an abandoned mall. However, as society breaks down and mayhem ensues, the group can only stay safe for so long before their haven becomes infested.
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16. OUTBREAK (1995)
Image Credit: Peter Sorel/Warner Bros/Punch Prods/Kopelson/Kobal/Shutterstock An African monkey is smuggled into the U.S., with the culprits unaware that she is host to a deadly and extremely contagious virus. As the smuggler attempts to sell her, he becomes infected and the monkey escapes, causing a possible deadly epidemic. Meanwhile, some members of the government and military work to contain the spread and develop a cure, while others work to keep the incident secret and to create a serum from the virus that can be used as a biological weapon.
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15. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
Image Credit: Aip/Kobal/Shutterstock The master of horror Vincent Price plays Dr. Robert Morgan, a scientist who is the last true man after the world has been infected by a plague that turns humans into vampire-like creatures. He hunts and kills the creatures by day and locks himself in his house at night, hoping to discover an antidote. It is possible that he is immune due to a vampire bat bite years ago, and that his blood contains properties that holds the disease at bay. However, when his overwhelming loneliness prompts him to open his home to a possibly infected woman, his fight to save the human race is jeopardized.
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14. CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
Image Credit: Jaap Buitendijk/Universal/Uip/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock In the year 2027, an unidentified epidemic has caused worldwide infertility, the last child having been born 18 years before. As the world has descended into chaos due to paranoia and uncertainty, England has become the sole civilized society, and the government is diligent in keeping immigrants out in order to maintain control. However, immigrant-rights activist Julian (Julianne Moore) convinces her ex-husband Theo (Clive Owen), a bureaucrat, to provide papers for an immigrant woman, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey). Theo soon discovers that Kee is pregnant, and he and Julian risk their lives to get her to safety.
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13. THE CRAZIES (2010)
Image Credit: Overture Films/Kobal/Shutterstock After a military plane crashes into a river, local residents begin to act violently. Local sheriff David (Timothy Olyphant) figures out that the plane was carrying a biological weapon and infected the town’s water supply. The military takes over, creating quarantines and ultimately killing infected people to contain the outbreak, while David tries to escape with a group including his pregnant wife.
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12. 12 MONKEYS (1995)
Image Credit: Phillip Caruso/Polygram/Kobal/Shutterstock In the year 2035, most of the human population has been wiped out due to a mysterious virus, and convict James Cole (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to discover its origins. When he is sent back, he is considered delusional, causing him to be sent to a mental institution, where he meets both people who can help him and people who may be involved, including Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), who appears to be a raving lunatic, but may be more than meets the eye.
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11. THE OMEGA MAN (1971)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Biological warfare has wiped out much of the earth’s population, leaving behind a small group of severely affected zombie-like people called the “Family.” Dr. Robert Neville (Charlton Heston) has created a vaccine that protects him from the plague, and he works to hunt and kill members of the cult-like “Family.” As the family seeks to destroy Neville, he finds a small group of survivors and they work together to fight the Family and not succumb to the plague.
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10. THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock After a U.S. military satellite crashes near a small town in New Mexico, most of the residents die quickly. It is discovered that an alien organism was on the satellite; the military deploys a team of scientists to investigate. As the four doctors investigate the specimen and try to contain it, they realize it is extremely virulent and capable of mutating, and have to figure out how to destroy it before it makes its way into the population.
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9. PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock A coroner is suspicious about bacteria in the body of a John Doe found on the docks in New Orleans. Lieutenant Commander Clinton Reed (Richard Widmark), a doctor with the U.S. Public Health Services, diagnoses the man with pneumonic plague. He convinces skeptical city officials that they have 48 hours to save New Orleans from the plague. As he tries to avoid publicity to avert a public panic, he races against time to find the infected killers and stop a potential epidemic.
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8. TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016)
Image Credit: Next Entertainment World A virus causes a zombie outbreak in South Korea. At the beginning of the epidemic, an infected person jumps onto a train and terror and panic ensues among the passengers. As some passengers are infected, survivors realize that zombies have taken over the city, and they fight their way to Busan, where there is a quarantine zone.
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7. RESIDENT EVIL (2002)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock In a secret underground testing facility, a virus is unleashed, turning staff members into zombies and causing the complex computer system to shut everything down to prevent the virus from spreading. A military unit joins forces with an amnesiac named Alice, who is trying to figure out her connection to the facility. The group must override the computer as well as fight the crazed staff members to keep the virus contained.
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6. [REC] (2007)
Image Credit: Filmax/Kobal/Shutterstock A reporter and cameraman follow a pair of firefighters to a call at an apartment building, where an elderly woman has become aggressive. After they arrive, the news team continues to record the nightmarish events that follow, as apartment residents are attacked and infected with a rabies-like virus. The police soon seal off the building, trapping them inside, with the survivors discovering a terrifying origin to the deadly virus.
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5. WORLD WAR Z (2013)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), a former United Nations investigator now leading a peaceful family life, is thrust back into action to track down the source of a virus that is turning humans into zombies. Lane is promised safety for his family if he will help, prompting him to travel throughout the world, fighting his way through zombie-infested territories to finally find the point of origin for the infection. At a World Health Organization facility in Wales, Lane finds a weakness in the infected that leads to a cure, but he has to continue to fight the infected, and get the lifesaving serum to survivors.
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4. I AM LEGEND (2007)
Image Credit: Barry Wetcher/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock A manmade virus has killed the majority of the earth’s population and turned most of the rest into mutant cannibals called “Darkseekers.” A small portion of the population is immune to the virus, including former Army medical doctor Robert Neville (Will Smith). Neville spends his time hunting and killing Darkseekers, while also searching for a cure and sending out radio broadcasts looking for other people who are immune. He is finally connected to a couple of other survivors, but the Darkseekers are as intent on destroying him as he is on destroying them.
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3. 28 DAYS LATER (2003)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock An animal-rights group attempts to release virus-infected chimpanzees in Great Britain, causing the extremely contagious virus to spread among the people. The plague spreads rapidly over 28 days, turning humans into zombie-like creatures. As the virus spirals throughout the United Kingdom, four survivors join forces to find a safe haven, but quickly learn that there are forces that are taking advantage of the chaos and the virus isn’t the only thing to fear.
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2. VIRUS (2019)
Image Credit: OPM Cinemas The film chronicles a 2018 outbreak of the Nipah virus in Kerala, India, which killed 17 people. A man suffering from an unknown virus dies a short time after being brought to a hospital. Several people who came into contact with the man become ill, and it is soon confirmed that it’s the Nipah virus. Over a five-week period, medical personnel risk their own lives as they search for a cure, struggle to contain the spread, and battle public paranoia caused by fear.
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1. CONTAGION (2011)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minneapolis from a trip to Hong Kong and falls ill. A mysterious illness soon claims her life, as well as that of her son. The CDC investigates, realizing it must be a virus, but scientists are working against time to find the origin so they can create a vaccine. As more cases pop up, conspiracy theories and fear cause panic, leading to looting and violence. As the death toll rises, with fear that it will wipe out populations, a possible vaccine leads to not only more hope, but more chaos as people fight to survive.
