Another Zombie Invasion Could Be Coming

There are many zombie movies out there these days, but only one features a group of boy scouts and a cocktail waitress defending a small town from the undead: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. In the film, out Oct. 30, Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller), and Augie (Joey Morgan) are on their last campout as boy scouts when zombies decide to invade their town. Along the way, they meet Denise (Sarah Dumont), the aforementioned cocktail waitress, and together they become a group of heroes who, let's just say, are nothing like Rick Grimes and his ragtag group of zombie killers on The Walking Dead. From the looks of the trailer, the movie will probably gain a cult following, and based on its popular subject matter, this may very well become a zombie franchise. So while it's unclear if there'll be a Scouts Guide sequel just yet, definitely don't rule the possibility out.

Still, no sequels are planned at the moment, meaning it might be awhile before a follow-up hits the screen, if it ever happens. Yet based on the movie's potential box office success and audience reception, audiences have a real possibility of seeing the battle between zombies and boy scouts continue in years to come.

Who knows how it'll go, though. There tend not to be too many sequels to zombie movies, and the ones that do exist usually are not as good as the originals (that goes for the majority of sequels in general). The only person to create a successful and iconic string of zombie movies is the great George A. Romero, who was the first to portray zombies as flesh-eating creatures in 1968's Night of the Living Dead. Remakes and reboots by other directors followed, but Romero directed five sequels to the original: Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead. That is a lot of zombies.

Yet while Romero is one of just a few directors who can truly pull a zombie sequel off, Scouts Guide director/writer, Christopher Landon, has experience with horror franchises, too (he wrote the screenplays for Paranormal Activity 2 through 5). And even if a sequel doesn't end up happening, it might be for the best; the these horror comedies listed below all were fine without having sequels, just like Scouts might be, too.

Zombieland (2009)

There was an Amazon series based on the movie that was never picked up and there is actually a Zombieland 2 in development, but it is moving at a glacial pace. It's so slow that I almost hope it doesn't get made, because the original is just too perfect.

Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

If you only watch one horror comedy in your life, Shaun of the Dead is the one. It's definitely my personal fave of Edgar Wright's Corneto Trilogy.

Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil (2011)

A clever and hilarious riff on horror movies, this comedy is about guys in the backwoods tormenting a bunch of kids on vacation in a cabin.

Warm Bodies (2013)

Warm Bodies is like Twilight, but instead of vampires there are zombies... and it's a lot less angsty and way more tolerable. The movie hits all the right notes when it comes to romance, zombie apocalypse, and of course, comedy.

Cabin In The Woods (2012)

Another spoof on the typical cabin in the woods horror movie (hence the title) — except this one is a little scarier than its peers. Cut from the same cloth as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon did produce it, after all), Cabin in the Woods has moments of comedy that help balance out the awesome terror that flows through its veins. The movie is so good that I'm hoping that the talks of a sequel will just disappear so the film's legacy can stay untarnished.

There is an art to the horror comedy, and many films get it so right the first time that they don't need sequels. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is probably one of them. Then again, there's always room for another zombie movie, so I'm not ruling any possibility out.

Image: Jaimie Trueblood/Paramount Pictures