Best in Show: Outbreak Movies (Part II of II)



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5. Flesh-eating Virus (Cabin Fever)
Cabin Fever and the later sequels each made my stomach legitimately turn. With gross-out effects and gore and a flesh eating bacteria that makes viewers skin feel weird, this is probably the most difficult endeavor to swallow on this list. This movie serves no other purpose than to make its viewers cringe. And, thanks to the disgusting sickness at the center of it, it works; what starts off as a trip to a cabin quickly spirals out into a gore fest of torn up legs and decomposing bodies. Cabin Fever is a pandemic classic and a must see.

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4. Trixie Virus (The Crazies) The Crazies is the type of movie that is less concerned with the logistics of its virus and more with the need to terrify its viewers. It's an effective horror movie regardless of how the outbreak spreads and is definitely scary. One of the best things this movie has going for it is laid out steps made quarantining the sick. With the ability to place you in the shoes of the characters, The Crazies offers a suspenseful and insane trip. The added dimensions of infected water supplies and the hopelessness the victims of this movie face, all work well together,

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3. Flu-like Virus (Contagion)

By and large the most realistic on the list, the virus outbreak of Contagion feels like a real-life telling of a pandemic. Well-executed and scientific, Contagion feeds into the fear of its audiences through grounded realism. The virus at the center of this movie, spread like any typical sickness, is one that holds similar symptoms to the flu, but with the potency of something far more dangerous. Contagion is dark and even when the cure is discovered; viewers will be sufficiently freaked out. Washing your hands matters, people.



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2. Mutant Parasites (The Bay)

While unsure if the found-footage style of this film or the way the parasite makes its victims succumbs to its symptoms, but the nasty sickness at the center of The Bay felt way too close to home. From the smaller seashore town to the everyday people who were exposed, this outbreak should be reserved to those with strong stomachs and a heart that doesn't easily attach to idyllic opening scenes. Like a superior The Happening, The Bay tosses around the impact of humans on the environment and doles out plenty of punishments for the small village that comes face-to-face with a deadly outbreak. The parasites caused by a bird plant leaking heavy levels of waste into the bay, quickly become a decimating problem as the creatures eat away at the families who call the area home.

1. Rage Virus (28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later)

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Like the sicknesses of Quarantine, The Crazies, I Am Legend and World War Z, the zombie-like super rabies virus at the center of 28 Days Later and its sequel is horrifically aggressive in that it turns its victims into hungry monstrosities. But unlike those films, there is something innately troubling about the rage virus. The way it transforms those exposed and the lightning quick nature of the creatures it creates is truly nightmare-inducing. Between bloodshot eyes and the type of viciousness usually reserved for wild animals, the crazed hosts of this violent disease provide enough stamina and scares to warrant this number one spot. Pair that with the sheer scale and lack of containment prospects and the rage virus quickly becomes one of the most effective pandemics on this list.