The Cleaver

About

The meat cleaver has an especially tough edge meant to withstand repeated blows against meat and bone. This is accomplished by using a softer steel and thicker blade – a harder steel and thinner blade would fracture more.
The edge does not need to be particularly sharp, because the knife's design, like a hatchet or axe, relies on its weight to cut efficiently. In fact, a "razor-edge" on a cleaver can be counterproductive as it will rapidly degrade with use.

Review

I would rate a cleaver with a 3/10 for close range use. As the info above states, they are used for cutting flesh and thin bones (such as small chicken bones) or separating ribs from each other. The blade quickly degrades if you use it on harder things (Such as human bones with their thickness) and would more likely shatter a zombie's skull rather than actually damage it's brain. Also, due to its large size and the weight compared to most other kitchen knives, it could also weigh you down if you need to run or attack while moving backwards. Lastly, the range on a meat cleaver is very short. The effectiveness of it in cooking relies on it's weight, so chefs will stand extremely close to the meat and slam the cleaver on it to cut it in two. Although this could prove effective on the head of a zombie, you wouldn't want to be two inches away from one to take it out.