1) Disturbed, “Down With The Sickness” from Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Okay, it’s a little on the nose, but hear us out! Although Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) slipped Richard Cheese’s lounge music parody of what’s bar-none the most well-known song of the much maligned nu-metal era into his 2004 remake of the George A. Romero classic, what really drives it home is a scene with far less levity. Right when it seems the film is over, the film’s remaining survivors take a boat to a remote island rumored to be harboring survivors, with the hope of waiting out the undead infection. Things transition over to found-footage style as one of the characters finds a camera on the boat over, and once they arrive, it seems things are amiss. Moments later, they’re set upon by a mob of flesh-hungry creatures. Cut to black, ooh wah-ah-ah-ah. The rest of the song plays out over the closing credits as the film cuts in and out of the cast being ripped to shreds by zombies. Without giving Draiman and company too much credit, in the moment, it totally works and ends the movie on a bleak, surprisingly un-cheesy note.
