Presents

Day Of The Dead

Remakes, remakes, remakes!  Aren't we all tired of them yet?  Well, apparently not, because, finally, the entire Romero Dead trilogy is now officially remade with the new Day Of The Dead!

  Like the original Day Of The Dead, this one centers around a secluded military group, only this time, it's in a small mountain town that's totally isolated from the world.  And, unlike the original, this isn't in the same timeline as the Dawn remake, this time the military are experimenting with a viral weapon and it's escaped into the population and the military have cut the town off from the rest of civilization to keep it from spreading.  And, I guess you've figured it out by now, the virus kills humans and then brings them back to life as flesh eating zombies!  The appearance of Ving Rhames brings a kind of continuity to attach this to the remade Dawn, but that's about as far as it goes.  The story is exactly what you'd expect, a small group, part military, part kids find themselves in the town hospital when the dead rise and now they have to fight their way to safety.

There are many similarities to the original, there's Bub the tame zombie, here renamed Bud, although the storyline for Bud is different than the original the concept is essentially the same.  Instead of the entire movie taking place in a bunker, the story winds up in a bunker that serves as the setting for the final battle in the film.  As a remake, this isn't quite as strong as Dawn, but it's still a pretty good zombie movie.  I think it might have been better served with a different title as the Day moniker brings an expectation that this movie doesn't quite live up to.  Oh, and there's the small set up for a sequel that's become pretty standard in any horror movie these days!  Over all, Day Of The Dead isn't the excellent remake that Dawn was, but it's still a cut above most.  I'm giving Day Of The Dead three out of four cigars, because, while it's a pretty good (if predictable) zombie movie, it never quite lives up to it's venerable title.  So, until next time, when I'll be waiting for the Land Of The Dead remake, remember that the best movies are bad movies.