Contagion
Contagion came out in 2011 and immediately scared audiences with how realistic it seemed. The movie starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Bryan Cranston, and Laurence Fishburne, to name a few big names.
The origin of the disease in this movie is eerily similar to the Coronavirus we are seeing these days - originating in China from an animal, and transferred from person to person with devastating results.
28 Days Later
This post-apocalyptic horror film came out in 2002 and scared the living daylights out of audiences. The storyline follows a disease that catches like wildfire, infecting people and turning them into hungry and violent versions of themselves.
While we know zombies aren't a real thing, the way this virus spread between people is easily a reflection of how any virus can spread.
Outbreak
Categorized as a medical disaster movie, Outbreak stars huge names like Cuba Gooding Jr. Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, and Kevin Spacey. The movie's about an Ebola-like virus that finds its way to the United States.
The movie is set in both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. It's all about trying to contain this virus and how far people will go to make that happen.
World War Z
Brad Pitt is the star of the show in this medical horror movie. The movie was shot all over the world, with a virus turning people into zombies unless they are already sick with something else. The spread of this virus is done from one small speck of blood.
Who can forget the moment Brad was stuck in a medical building along with this interesting looking doctor?
28 Weeks Later
Years after 28 Days Later scared audiences into movie theaters, 28 Weeks Later came out. This time around, the original virus was behind them (or so they thought) as the zombies all starved to death. Somehow, of course, the virus lives.
28 Weeks Later is more about how the body can handle the virus and not always take someone over completely.
12 Monkeys
Technically a science fiction film that garnered critical acclaim for Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis, this movie is all about a lethal virus that was released and nearly wiped out all of the people in the world.
This movie is also about time travel and the attempt to stop the virus, so it adds another layer to this already all over the place storyline.
The Crazies
The Crazies is about a military virus that takes ordinary people and turns them into violent ones, hence the name of the movies. The name of the virus is Trixie disease and makes people look veiny and terrifying.
It took three hours in the makeup chair to get the actors looking like the infected versions of themselves. That could not have been pleasant.
I Am Legend
Will Smith stars in I Am Legend as the seemingly last man on earth. A virus has made men and women into these creatures you see here with no recollection of the life they had before.
What all of these disease movies have in common is how lethal they can be, which is a metaphor for any real disease.
Dawn of the Dead
Horror films with zombies in them, like Dawn of the Dead, are obviously not realistic, but they do try to show us just how fast things can go south. Dawn of the Dead is about a groups of human survivors who live in a shopping mall as they are surrounded by zombies.
The movie came out in 2004 and was a huge success with audiences everywhere. The movie was made for $26 million and earned more than $102 million.
The Andromeda Strain
This thriller came out in 1971 and is based on a book from 1969. The stars of the movie are a team of scientists who are investigating a lethal organism that's not from earth.
The name of the film and book come from the entity that is reeking such havoc on the world, Andromeda.
The Stand
The Stand is a 1994 tv miniseries actually, and is based on Stephen King's novel. This time around, the virus is question is a weaponized version of the flu that they called Project Blue.
It is accidentally released when a soldier tries to get to his family in East Texas, unknowingly spreading it as he travels.
Children of Men
In Children of Men, the disease in question is not like the rest of this list, but rather women's inability to have children, as well as children dying, thus leaving the world childless and in total chaos.
One woman somehow gets pregnant and it is one man's job to get her to safety before she gives birth as well as keeps the baby's identity a secret or else all will break loose.
Resident Evil
Milla Jovovich made the Resident Evil film franchise the cult hit that it is today. The movies are based off of a successful video game, but take it a step up with effects that only Hollywood can make happen.
The T-virus is the culprit in this movie's disaster, being a virus that is trying to be contained by Alice and a team of other Umbrella Corporation soldiers. The movie got five sequels, the last of which was released in 2016.
Quarantine
Quarantine is a 2008 indie horror film that was shot in the found-footage style. The virus in this movie is found out to be rabies in humans. The film follows a reporter and her cameraman as they spend the night with fire fighters.
The building they go into is under quarantine as some form of outbreak is turning people into predators of one another. The spread of the virus is what is most terrifying here.
Carriers
As the name suggests, this film is about humans carrying (or trying not to carry) a virus that is sweeping the world. The movie focuses on four survivors of a viral pandemic who are trying to stay healthy as everyone else is infected.
They try to make their way somewhere safe with a lot of upheaval along the way. Some survive, some don't; we won't ruin it for you.
Flu
This 2013 South Korean disaster movie is as horror as they come since the reality of it can be more apparent than other films. The flu in this movie is a strain called H5N1 that kills its hosts within 36 hours.
While what is happening in reality is far less aggressive, there were other plagues in history that resembled this much more and so is not that far fetched an idea.
The Bay
The Bay focuses on a sickness that comes from the water which is horrible for a town called Claridge that is located in East Maryland. The water source for this town shows a lot of toxicity within it and so a plague is released as a result.
The disease, much like in reality, creates chaos in the community as humans were getting sick, becoming hosts to a lethal breed of parasite.
Pandorum
Pandorum came out in 2009 as a science fiction horror movie starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. The movie follows humans who take on space living and travel because of the overpopulation on earth.
This is less about a virus and more about what the future could come to should we as humans deplete the earth of its resources.
The Thaw
When they discover a bear and the remains of a wooly mammoth, they bring everything back with them to their research lab. Days later they start to feel strange, developing a strange illness.
The film then takes a turn into a more environmental motive for the violence that ensues.
Right At Your Door
The film takes place in Los Angeles, where several dirty bombs were detonated. Considering the drama our world is seeing, this isn't too far fetched of a concept.
Ash covers the city and a toxic cloud is a threat to anyone who breathes it in.