You can't talk about the end of the world without acknowledging the possibility of a zombie apocalypse. George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" planted a seed in pop culture that recently exploded into everything from "Zombieland" to "The Walking Dead." But Romero himself still has the gold standard: 1978's "Dawn of the Dead." By setting the zombie showdown in a suburban shopping mall, Romero delivered one of the most pointed social commentaries in the history of horror, and the film's gross out effects are still unforgettably unsettling (especially in the uncut version). Zack Snyder's 2004 remake is also a lot of fun, but Romero's pioneering efforts blazed a trail that's still burning today.

-Geoff Berkshire