Day of the Dead
Directed by Steve Miner
Millennium Films

I think there are few horror fans that wouldnt agree that the original Day of the Dead is one of the greatest zombie films ever made. The tense atmosphere, memorable characters and insane gore all add up to one of George Romeros finest efforts and unfortunately also his latest film to meet the remake craze. The remake of Dawn of the Dead was intense and unique in its approach taking the foundation of the original and more so retelling the story more so than remaking the actual film. Steve Miner's take on Day of the Dead however is just plain abysmal. This movie has as much impact as the reanimated corpse of an elderly woman with her dentures removed and it stinks just as bad.

Where to even begin with this one Every stereotypical aspect of the current zombie craze is here and this has more to do with 28 Days Later than Day of the Dead. The folks in a small town are becoming infected with a mysterious disease that suddenly turns them into zombies complete with bad CGI rotting effects to show the transformation. These are very agile zombies as well, to the point of being ridiculous. I'm sick and tired of zombies jumping and climbing on walls and ceilings. Zombies are meant to be slow and menacing. The entire point of zombies is that when they are alone they are easy to defeat but when you face a swarm you can essentially kiss your ass goodbye. These zombies arent menacing and every person in this small town must have been trained in some form of acrobatics.

Then of course you have the military involvement and surprise surprise, the disease is the result of military testing. You couldn't see that one coming from a mile away. But it isn't the recycled plot that really kills the movie. It's the fact that the cast really seems to be phoning in their performances. For the most part these are well known actors and actresses but they definitely seem to be seeing dollar signs and the actual performance is secondary.

There is a lot of gore to be found in the film, but it is nowhere near as high in quality as the original and is mainly limited to bites and decapitations. In fact when you get right down to it this is more of an action movie than an actual horror film. There is no real sense of dread or tension to be found in the film.

It's no surprise that this film skipped a theatrical release and was released straight to video. Regardless of the fact that this is a remake of one of my favorite films, it just isn't a very good zombie movie. It uses all of the cliches currently being exploited by zombie films and for a movie that is inspired by George Romero there is a surprising lack of Romero influence on display. It's almost like the similarities of Day of the Dead were an afterthought that they squeezed in without giving it all that much thought. If you feel like watching 28 Days Later again but with a new name, by all means watch this movie but as far as zombie films go, even Land of the Dead is much better than this.