15 Best Shows Like Resident Evil: A Scary List
Resident Evil is Netflix’s newest zombie TV series as it was based on the best-selling Resident Evil video game franchise, which has sold millions of copies worldwide ever since it was released back in 1996. In that regard, the TV series takes on a different approach to the ones that the Milla Jovovich movies took, as it stays a bit closer to the source material without sacrificing its own originality.
If you’ve already binged your way through the new Resident Evil Netflix series and are looking for something that could feed your desire for a zombie survival action storyline, we have a good list of TV shows that are like Resident Evil and are probably just as scary.
15. The Last of Us (2023)
Yes, we know that The Last of Us hasn’t even been released yet, but we know for a fact that it’s going to be released soon. The reason why we have this show on the list is the fact that we know that it’s going to be one of the best video game adaptations we will ever see. And while we haven’t seen a single episode of this, we are excited to see just how well it stays true to the source material, which is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Aside from the fact that both of these shows are based on best-selling video game titles, they are also very similar in the sense that they follow storylines that focus on survival in the middle of an apocalyptic wasteland that has been destroyed by a virus. The Last of Us doesn’t necessarily include zombies, but the monsters are still infected humans that are zombie-like in nature.
14. The Witcher (2019 – Present)
The Witcher isn’t necessarily a series about the undead, but there are still hideous monsters and creatures that make it one of the best fantasy series you can watch on Netflix. This series focuses on the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher that hunts monsters for a living. However, he ends up getting caught in a larger web of events that could very well affect the fate of the entire world as he is forced to keep his adoptive daughter safe against all of the different evil elements that seek to take advantage of her ancient powers.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Like Resident Evil, The Witcher is a series that also has a video game counterpart (although the show is based on the books). This series has a lot of different hellish and nightmarish creatures that allow it to not only be a fantasy series but a horror one as well. And while it isn’t set in the modern world, it does have horror and action elements similar to Resident Evil.
13. Glitch (2015 – 2019)
Glitch is a popular TV series that’s based in a small town in Australia. The series follows a premise that is similar to The Returned (more on that later) in the sense that people suddenly returned from the dead and are now living, and no one even knows why this has happened. In that regard, a police officer seeks to figure out why these people suddenly came back to life with no memory of who they were and in perfectly good health.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: The thing about Glitch is that it doesn’t necessarily involve bloodthirsty zombies but still incorporates the same kind of mystery factor that Resident Evil also has. But the difference here is that the investigation is in relation to why people have come back. Meanwhile, in Resident Evil, the mystery portion comes in the form of the things that occurred in the past and led to the zombie outbreak that essentially destroyed the world.
12. Helix (2014 – 2015)
Helix was a short-lived series that had the potential to be great but just didn’t see the same kind of publicity that the other zombie movies got. Nevertheless, the series follows the story of a team of scientists working for the CDC as they went on a journey to the Arctic to investigate a viral outbreak. When they got there, they realized that the Arctic had an outbreak that turned people could either kill or turn them into violent zombies. And that is where the story revolved as the scientists have to find a way to cure the disease or prevent it from reaching bigger cities.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Of course, the biggest reason why Helix is similar to Resident Evil is the fact that it revolves around a viral outbreak that causes people to become zombies. In that regard, there are similar elements in the sense that both of these stories focus on survival, although Helix focuses more on learning about this virus so that they could, at the very least, find a cure for it.
11. In The Flesh (2013 – 2014)
In the Flesh is unlike any other zombie series due to the fact that it is a teenage drama. The series follows the story of a teenager who died but was able to return home after getting reanimated. He is part of a group of people that were treated for partially deceased syndrome but struggled to get acceptance because of religious groups that are against these “dead” people. In that regard, the story focuses more on him trying to find his place in a society that has rejected him, as this is more of a coming-of-age story that has supernatural elements in its premise.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Even though In the Flesh is a series that focuses on zombies, it doesn’t have a lot of things in common with Resident Evil except for the fact that they both involve zombies in their stories. Nevertheless, you may still see certain similarities in how the main characters are struggling to survive in a society that has become totally different due to people coming back from the dead as zombies.
10. The Returned (2012 – 2015)
The Returned is a French supernatural series that is similar to Glitch in the sense that the premise follows a small town where the dead suddenly started reappearing and acting like nothing ever happened to them. They attempt to get back to their old lives as the people of the town have to face the fact that there is something bizarre going on around them. And this is a very spooky and scary series that tends to provoke your thought and make you wonder what’s going to happen next in its compelling storyline.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: The Returned is a lot less gory compared to Resident Evil and certainly lacks action. But the thing about it is that it has a similar air of mystery to Resident Evil despite the fact that they both have storylines that tend to be quite different when compared to one another. The Returned focuses more on the people trying to make sense of the mysterious events happening around them, while Resident Evil follows protagonists that are trying to make sense of what happened in the past and what led to the events that destroyed the world.
9. iZombie (2015 – 2019)
The thing about iZombie is that this is a unique series that takes on the zombie genre in a manner that’s not as spooky or as scary as the other titles on this list but is still able to give a compelling storyline. This series follows the story of a medical examiner who ended up turning into a zombie. However, to keep her zombie tendencies at bay, she has to eat the brains of the dead so that she can help solve murder cases after temporarily taking on the memories and personalities of the brains of those she ate. In that regard, it is an entertaining and funny series that lacks scary parts, even though it might still be quite gory.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: There probably aren’t a lot of similarities between iZombie and Resident Evil except for the fact that the series involves zombies. Nevertheless, we follow two powerful female leads in these stories as they have their own lives and issues with living in a world where zombies actually exist.
8. Z Nation (2014 – 2018)
Z Nation is SyFy’s answer to The Walking Dead when it comes to the zombie apocalypse genre. However, the series is actually a lot more different in terms of its overall premise because of the fact that it goes into the heart of solving the entire zombie apocalypse problem. As such, the heroes in this series are tasked to escort a survivor of the zombie virus across the country so that they can find a cure using her blood sample and DNA. It’s actually a lot campier and humorous than most zombie apocalypse shows, but the best part about it is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, as the characters are still able to find something to laugh about in the middle of a plague.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Of course, the main thing that makes Z Nation similar to Resident Evil is the fact that they both have survival at the very premise of their storylines. Z Nation may be quite campy and hilarious, but that doesn’t take away the fact that the main purpose of the characters here is to survive a zombie apocalypse and find a way to prevent the plague that has destroyed the entire world.
7. Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015 – 2018)
Ash vs. Evil Dead is set in the same universe as the Sam Raimi Evil Dead movies. This series takes place 30 years after the original trilogy as Ash ends up getting mixed up into another Deadite plague mess that threatens to destroy the world. As such, we get to see the iconic Bruce Campbell taking on his most popular role as he now has to deal with another zombie apocalypse with his sidekicks. And while it got canceled, it still is one of the most entertaining zombie apocalypse shows released during the 2010s.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Probably the biggest reason why Ash vs. Evil Dead is similar to Resident Evil is the fact that they both include zombie-killing action. But the thing about Ash vs. Evil Dead is that it takes on the same kind of campy and somewhat hilarious atmosphere that was quite prevalent in the original Evil Dead movies. In that regard, expect it to be more lighthearted compared to the serious note that Resident Evil tends to take.
6. Fear The Walking Dead (2015 – Present)
Fear the Walking Dead is a spin-off series to The Walking Dead as it is a prequel show that allows you to see how a family was able to navigate its way through the beginning of the zombie apocalypse when the entire world was yet to become a hellish nightmare. There are plenty of people who actually enjoy this series more than the original one because of the fact that it doesn’t seem to follow the same repeating formula that The Walking Dead has. Of course, like the original, it follows a group of survivors that have to fight their way through a world that has begun to become hell.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Fear the Walking Dead is a lot like Resident Evil because of the fact that the world has already become hell. They both have characters that need to fight their way through a zombie apocalypse. The only difference here is that Resident Evil follows only a few characters, while Fear the Walking Dead is more of an ensemble cast of different characters that have to work and stay together to survive.
5. Black Summer (2019 – Present)
Black Summer is a Netflix original series that takes place in the same world as Z Nation. That means that the main focus of the series is survival as a mother and daughter got separated during the start of the apocalypse and are now desperate to reunite with one another. As such, they joined forces with different groups of people so that they could navigate the hellish new world. And the biggest difference between it and Black Summer is that, while they take place in the same world, this series tends to be a lot more serious in terms of its overall atmosphere.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Black Summer is a lot like Resident Evil because of the fact that we follow a group of people who just want to navigate their way through the zombie apocalypse in an attempt to survive. Survival is at the forefront of Black Summer as this Netflix original has the same kind of theme that Resident Evil carries, except for the fact that it doesn’t take a look at what led to the events that caused the apocalypse.
4. All Of Us Are Dead (2022 – Present)
One of the most popular Netflix originals of 2022 is All of Us are Dead, which is a South Korean production that had a lot of different zombie genre fans glued to their seats in anticipation of what the series has in store for them. The story follows a group of students that got trapped in a school as a zombie outbreak that began in the school lab and infected an entire city. As such, the students must find a way to not only survive the apocalypse but each other as well, as this is a series that also follows how each of the high school students matures and learns more about themselves while trying to survive.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: The biggest reason why All of Us are Dead is similar to Resident Evil is the fact that the characters are all in survival mode and are forced to fight for their lives in the middle of a zombie outbreak that has taken over the entire city. And like Resident Evil, All of Us are Dead allows us to see what led to the spread of the zombie virus.
3. Kingdom (2019 – Present)
After the success of South Korea’s Train to Busan film, a wave of different Korean zombie movies and series started surfacing, but Kingdom was one of the most successful out of all of them. Unlike most of the zombie apocalypse series on this list, Kingdom takes place hundreds of years in the past of South Korea when monarchs still ruled a more primitive country. However, a zombie outbreak started reanimating the dead back to life as a prince sought to protect his people while finding a way to prevent the outbreak from taking over the entire nation.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Kingdom is one of the most unique zombie apocalypse series of all time because of the setting. It is like Resident Evil in the sense that the characters have to survive a zombie outbreak but what makes Kingdom unique is that, instead of using guns and modern weapons, they have to use swords, bows, and primitive weapons. In that regard, expect it to be like Resident Evil in terms of how action-packed it is.
2. The Walking Dead (2010 – 2022)
The Walking Dead is arguably the most successful zombie series of all time because of how it was around for more than a decade. While the series may have lost a lot of fans due to how repetitive the themes were, the main focus of the characters in this series has always been about survival. They try to navigate their way through a world that has already gotten overrun by zombies. But the worst part, as they discovered, was the fact that the other survivors were far more dangerous than the zombies.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: The Walking dead is like Resident Evil in the sense that they both follow an action-survival storyline that allows us to see characters simply trying to survive through the apocalypse. However, the biggest difference between the two is that The Walking Dead seems to focus more on a human vs. human approach as opposed to a human vs. zombie storyline.
1. Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021)
Of course, there is nothing more similar to Resident Evil than a Resident Evil series. Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness follows the story of Leon and Claire, the protagonists of the hit Resident Evil 2 video game that was released back in the late 90s. The duo has to work together one more time to solve a zombie outbreak that occurred during a time when the United States had seemingly already gotten the virus under control. Of course, it would be best if you played Resident Evil 2 to understand more about the characters.
Why It’s like Resident Evil: Again, there is no other series that’s similar to Resident Evil than another Resident Evil series. The difference, however, is that this is an animated series that’s based on the events of the video games themselves. Meanwhile, the new live-action Resident Evil series follows an entirely original storyline that may not be connected to the games at all. Nevertheless, they both stay true to the horror-survival aspect that has always made the Resident Evil franchise so popular.
