This Spring the Dead Will Rise! Nick Cannon Mena Suvari and Ving Rhames star in this horror film based on the George A. Romero classic zombie film. A mysterious virus has infected the small town of Leadville Colorado and the military is brought in to enforce a quarantine and stop the spread of the disease. As people perish survivors realize that the virus is creating the walking dead who crave human flesh. Only a small number of people are immune to the virus and those few survivors must battle to fend off the infected zombies while trying to make it out of town alive.
I'm a great fan of Zombie films. I watched the Dawn of the Dead remake and was happy with it so I had good expectations for this one.
I liked the fact it was running along the same time lines as Dawn, made obvious by Ving Rhames character as Officer Rhodes' brother in this one.
However, when the people just started turning to zombies without dying first it kind of destroys the whole point of zombies. It makes them out to just be ill because it's a virus, like flu.
And now they can jump for miles and climb buildings!!!
Disappointed I'm afraid
Warning: if you're expecting a faithful re-make of the original Day of the Dead you may be more sorely disappointed than a zombie that's run out of fingers to gnaw off. That said, when distanced from its iconic predecessors and judged purely as a horror film on its own merits there's a lot to like about director Steve Miner's new version and it's certainly more fun than last month's plodding Diary of the Dead release.
Plot-wise, a small American town is cordoned off by the military after a strange viral outbreak is reported. Among the army personnel is Corporal Sarah Bowman, who has a mother and brother living in the area. Beecham's Lemon obviously isn't quite enough to see off the malevolent virus as it transforms the population into ravenous monsters, leaving Sarah and her small gang of survivors in the position of trying to escape town and, in the process, massacre zombies in as many grisly and inventive ways as possible. Yay!
The atmosphere of the film is definitely more Resident Evil than Romero, eschewing oppressive tension and deep characterisation in favour of an onslaught of bullets, dismemberment, decapitation, explosions and enough fake blood to fill a swimming pool, all packed into a slim 84 minute running time. It might not tax your brain in the slightest but it'll certainly keep your eyes fixed on the screen.
The frenetic pace also manifests itself in the zombies themselves. The breed here have evidently completed an A level in Undead Studies and picked up some skills since they are far from being the lumbering, shuffling creatures of the Romero films. No, these zombies are feisty - they
hiss, screech and can run faster and leap further than the average Olympic squad. They even have an unsettling tendency to scuttle up walls when the mood takes them. This behaviour combined with good quality make-up and prosthetics is effective in producing plenty of scares and "ugh" moments, although some occasionally ropey-looking CGI does tarnish the effect a little.
On the human side of things, Mena Suvari acquits herself well as lead heroine, Sarah, managing to convey a combination of likeability, bravery and resolve that makes you root for her as she kicks/shoots/slices zombie posterior. She's supported - if not amazingly then at least competently - by the rest of the cast including Stark Sands' loyal army private, Bud (named as a nod to Romero's movie) and Michael Welch as her occasionally obnoxious brother, Trevor Bowman. As I mentioned earlier though, most action-horror flicks aren't generally known for the subtle nuances of their characters and this is no exception. In fact the script seems to revel in the fact that it has no time to dilute the action with contrived backstory - when Sarah is asked why she carries an unloaded gun, or why there's a certain amount of antipathy between her and Trevor, she simply replies "It's complicated" with no further exposition. Still, there's always another firefight just around the corner to ensure you're not too bothered.
In all, I enjoyed it and it's a film I'd readily add to my DVD shelf. Day of the Dead certainly isn't original, thought-provoking or likely to stick in your consciousness for a long while, but its big plus is that it's entertaining, pure and simple.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Horror remake based on George A. Romero's classic zombie film. When a strange virus infects a small Colorado town, the military is brought in to stop the disease spreading by enforcing a quarantine. But as people begin to become infected, the survivors realise that the virus is turning them into the walking dead. Now, the few people who are immune to the virus must fend off the zombies and try to escape from the town in one piece.
Horror remake based on George A. Romero's classic zombie film. When a strange virus infects a small Colorado town, the military is brought in to stop the disease spreading by enforcing a quarantine. But as people begin to become infected, the survivors realise that the virus is turning them into the walking dead. Now, the few people who are immune to the virus must fend off the zombies and try to escape from the town in one piece.
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