OMG Horror.com

George A. Romero is considered a horror god, some even going as far as to crown him the godfather of the modern day zombie subgenre. With his seminal achievement coming in 1968 with the groundbreaking, politically charged Night of the Living Dead, he's inspired countless copycats and imitations over the following four decades. Not only has Romero's films been flat out cribbed, but he's happily lent his blessing toward remakes of his original titles. In 1990, Tom Savini remade Night of the Living Dead; a practically bloodless version created by a man responsible for some of the most gruesome and graphic depictions of on screen violence (Savini is an all world make-up artist). Zack Snyder (Of 300 Fame), in 2004, offered an impressive rendition of arguably Romero's best zombie film: Dawn of the Dead. Snyder flipped the script on zombie conventions, making them animated, hyper-ambulant and thereby truly menacing. Cut to the now, 2008, where Steve Miner, no horror stranger at all (director of Friday the 13th parts II & III), desperately tries to keep the trend alive...or dead?!? Day of the Dead, that is!

Way of the Dread!
Day of the Dead opens with a Military road block securing a small town Colorado highway. We quickly become acquainted with Captain Rhodes (Ving Rhames), Corporal Sarah Cross (Mena Suvari), Privates Bud Crain (Stark Sands) and Salazar (Nick Cannon); all of them laced with "I mean business" mugs, except for Salazar who spouts such stereotypical dreck that even BET writers would cower in embarrassment. Suvari, as Sarah Cross, is about as pleasant as a flu shot in the lead role; she seems to be channeling her inner Sarah Conner instead, an icy three foot steel pole stuck up her ass. Despite her tough exterior, she softens up to Bud Crain, inviting him to aid her in the check up of her sick mother. When they arrive at Cross' house, we meet her hash head brother Trevor (Michael Welch) and his girl Nina (Annalynne McCord), who seem to have neglected the sick mother and been making out on the couch. Mother Cross, nose trickling blood, is soon taken to the hospital for treatment.

At the hospital, we realize that anyone infected starts off with a nose bleed, soon mutating into a flesh hungry zombie. Everyone transforms simultaneously, it seems, and the hospital quickly becomes a giant undead army that goes on a blood thirsty rampage thru the small town. Cross, Trevor, Nina, Salazar and Crain (who turns into an obedient vegetarian zombie) hole up in a military bunker, seeking refuge until the "virus" has passed thru town. But once they discover that the government is responsible for "Project Wildfire" as they call it, Cross and the gang must deal with the situation themselves. Salazar turns into John Matrix from Commando, an Uzi in one hand, a shottie in the other, machine guns strapped to his back, a machete on his hip, the works. You think this helps him though?

The Day is Short!
Given the fact this was a straight to video release, I must admit it's not as bad as I was expecting. I'm I saying it was good? No. Was it scary? Not in the slightest. Was it entertaining however, yes fairly! The reason for this is twofold I believe. The first is the pace of the movie. This thing speeds at video game tempo, there's never a dull moment where the audience can stop and think to themselves, "You know, I've got better things to do in 90 minutes." Even the most ADD addled kids will have a hard time looking away! The second reason for entertainment has to do with the lack of explanation for the virus itself. Save for one late expository scene, it's like a throw back b-movie where the characters in the movie just react to the situation, never questioning the source or culprit of such a problem. This was part of the Snyder's charm in the Dawn remake as well (same with Tremors, also homage to b-movies). I like that you don't get too bogged down in plot, we just get an all out fight for your life type kill quest instead. And this one did have some decent gore, albeit comported in over the top Kill Bill fashion.

But if there are two good things about the movie, there are two hundred bad ones. Let's begin with the fact that the same ultra hyper pace that ameliorates the picture also detracts from it as well. It's that same pace that allows zero character development whatsoever, thusly conjuring little to none sympathy for the principal characters. I don't care if any of these people live or die, and that is certainly a problem (I know character isn't essential in horror per se, but we need someone to root for). Also, this film bares little resemblance to the original 1985 version; most of that movie was a slow burner that took place almost entirely in the bunker, where character development and dark comedy was definitely at the core. Here, the bunker scenes comprise the last twenty minutes at most. Then there's the poor CGI work, the sub-par acting, painfully clichéd dialogue, laughable violence at times, the MTV direction, the unoriginality of everything from its title to its credit sequence, the list continues. However, after watching Killer Pad and Catacombs, I quite enjoyed this one. I thought it was unintentionally funny!

Terror Rating: 1 out of 5
Originality: 1 out of 5
Level of Gore: 4 out of 5
Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Recommendations: Dawn of the Dead (2004), Zombie

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