This is a better remake than The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, although similarly, it wastes its villains somewhat. It's a better remake than Night Of The Living Dead, even though there's no Candyman here, just Marcellus Wallace, and it's a better film than House That Has Lots Of Corpses. The characters are interesting, so much so that you might even care about some of them, and there's a sharp wit running through the whole procedure. The ongoing conversation, via white card and binoculars, with poor old Andy, stranded alone on the roof of his gun shop, and the games of Shoot The Zombie What Looks Like A Celebrity are all pleasing diversions.
Ultimately, if you bathe in the glories of Romero's trilogy on a regular basis, then you'll probably feel this is some sacrilegious MTV-generation attack on your reason for being. Thing is, it's not really an abomination at all. It serves as a reverent but much more frantically-paced compliment to the original films, and may even go some way towards helping Sir George get Afternoon Of The Dead, or whatever he's gonna call it, shuffled off into production.
The zombies are fast, as is the trend nowadays thanks to Danny Boyle and his fleet-footed hordes, even though speedy maggot-skulls were on the go as far back as Return Of The Living Dead. The gore is plentiful, and the action fairly continuous. It's a grand hour and a half to be sure, although it does feel somewhat lacking in the momentous reverberations department.
It's fun, which is more than we could have reasonably expected, and it's as good a film as Cabin Fever or Jeepers Creepers, any other recent horror-fest you care to mention.
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Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Thanks Duke, you've been doing a great job. I really appreciate all of this super input.
2 - Rob
The originals scared and thrilled me, and still do, so of course I will watch this, but it probably won't be as good. Still the Zombie genre is a great one, and as long as it is scary enough, I got my money's worth.
3 - Bill Sherman
I yawned through the color Night remake, so I wasn't holding out much hopes for this 'un. But continued positive pieces like this 'un have convinced me to shell out the ticket money.
4 - Jonathan
I'm sad that Andy died. He was the most entertaining part of the movie.
Kenneth's evolution was boring and crappy.. first he is this police officer that cares about none of the others..but yet still hangs around with them.. and slowly grows a heart?
5 - Mark Louis Baumgart
What can I say? I saw the original originally in the theatres way back when. Several times. I had no life. The first third was great, the second third was boring, it put half the audience to sleep, the third part, with the motorcyclists was just dumb, great make-up here though. Saw it again, doesn't hold up. This remake was fun, Romero ain't ghod, and nobody has crapped on his bible, get over it. The remake is a better, more cohesive whole.