2008’s Day of the Dead is a very, very loose remake of George Romero’s original. Remake isn’t really the word… reimagining? Inspired by? In Romero’s Day of the Dead, the world is already overrun by the undead masses, and the few remaining humans (mostly military and scientists) are holed up in an underground bunker, running experiments on the undead in an effort to find a cure.
In the new version, directed by Steve Miner and starring Mena Suvari, Ving Rhames, and Nick Cannon (along with Matt Rippy and Stark Sands – they have minor roles but they just have great names), the military shuts down a road in smalltown Colorado. There is a “flu” epidemic raging through the population. Of course, that flu quickly turns to zombification (thank you military biogeneticists). Suvari is a corporal who is trying to lead a group of survivors to safety.
Day of the Dead is surprisingly good for direct-to-DVD. It is well shot and loaded with violence and gore, gore, gore. The acting is average at best. Suvari’s strained relationship with her family is uncomfortably bad, and the crush one of Suvari’s privates has on his superior officer is pathetic and wholly inappropriate. Lucky, the acting is inconsequential when the fighting commences – and there is a lot of fighting. Body parts flying, heads exploding, flesh ripping – it’s drenched with red.
I wasn’t crazy about the representation of the zombies in this movie. I have accepted that the modern movie zombie can now move at a good clip – that’s just evolutionary (Darwin would be proud). But these zombies practically have super powers – they can run stupid-fast, leap tall buildings in a single bound, and even climb on the ceiling. They “retain a bit of their former self” which is fine until the love-struck private gets zombified, but he isn’t a threat to the other humans because he follows orders and was a vegetarian (therefore wouldn’t eat human flesh).
The special features are weak. You get cast and crew commentary, some generic junket-style interviews, an alternate ending , and “on the set” (aka some PA on set with a handicam shooting the crew shoot the cast running down hallways and stuff). Really boring, generic stuff that did not hold my interest.
Tech Specs: 5.1 Dolby digital surround, Dolby true HD. 16x9 1.78 full frame. 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video.
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