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Movie Review - Day of the Dead (2008)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Steve Miner |
| Starring: |
Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon, and Ving Rhames |
| Rated: |
R (for strong pervasive horror violence and gore, and language) |
| Length: |
87 minutes |
| Genre: |
Horror/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
D-Day is Coming |
| Studio: |
First Look Studios |
| Website: |
None |
| Release: |
April 8, 2008 (DVD) |
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PLOT
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Based on the George A. Romero zombie thriller, Day of the Dead follows the footsteps of its predecessor's cult sensation. A mysterious virus has spread throughout
the town of Leadville, Colorado. As the military, led by Captain Rhodes (Rhames) and his troops (Suvari, Cannon), quarantines the infected, survivors realize that the dead
have evolved into a new species of hungry flesh-craving zombies. The survivors are forced to fend for themselves and try to make it out of the self-consuming town alive.
A straight-to-DVD zombie flick ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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"Hey Johnny, I'm interested in renting a thought-provoking thriller with equal amounts of chills, character development, and intelligence. How about this Day of the
Dead remake?"
You mean the one with the cool holographic DVD cover that showcases a zombie vomiting?
"Yeah! That's the one! The cover's pretty cool."
Yeah, it is. But be careful with your "remake" assumption. In name, that's what it's purported to be. But in reality, this has pretty much nothing in common with the
original. A couple of character names are the same, both involve the military, and a bunker comes into play. Other than that, nada. I have no idea what the producers
thought they had to gain by labeling this a remake other than a quick cash-in. They should've just renamed it and gone for some attempt at originality. The
movie doesn't even take place during the day!
Story is minimal, character development is non-existent, Mena Suvari looks like she belongs in the military about as much as Paris Hilton looks like she belongs in Mensa,
and Nick Cannon has no idea how to open his mouth without annoying everybody within ear shot. His presence is a poor attempt at comic relief, as he's allowed to run wild
with stereotypical racial jokes. I could feel my brain cells dying whenever he appeared on screen. It kind of tickles.
Does that answer your question?
"Yeah, I guess. Well, what if I'm a zombie junkie who just wants to see a bunch of flesh-eating mayhem?"
In that case, this serves up a generous portion of brain-dead, arm-chompin', fast-paced, cheesy fun. If you're a zombie "purist," whatever that means, then you might
be annoyed with the lack of explanation regarding how zombies can now climb around on ceilings, but you didn't really expect logic to play a part in this film's story,
did you? The movie knows how to deliver the gore, and it does so in copious amounts.
Does it always work? No, not really. There is a limit to how many times I can watch zombies get their heads cut off in exactly the same way before it starts to wear
a little thin.
"Well, is it scary?"
There are a few jump scenes that caused my girlfriend to grip my arm tightly (she's always looking for an excuse), but due to the gore overkill the scare-factor is
pretty low.
Look, this is a low-budget, straight-to-DVD zombie flick that has no more aspiration than to deliver what the MPAA has labeled "pervasive horror violence." Don't
raise your expectations or kid yourself. Day of the Dead is a prime example of getting what you paid for.
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ODDS & ENDS & SPECIAL FEATURES
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- On the Set Featurette - What we've got here is about 14 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage. We see several scenes as they're being filmed. Nothing too exciting.
Unless you were dying to know how they got that zombie on the ceiling.
- Alternate Ending - Almost six minutes of an ending that isn't too much of an alternate to the original.
- Interviews - 20 minutes of interviews with Suvari, Cannon, the director, the makeup dude, etc. talking about what a wonderful experience it was working on the film.
It's 20 minutes of your life you'll never get back should you choose to watch it.
- The dude who played Feldman in the "Bizarro Jerry" Seinfeld episode has a cameo role as a doctor who turns into a zombie.
- Mena Suvari was in Snide and Prejudice (ouch) with Angus Macfadyen who was in Braveheart with Brian Cox who was in X2 with Anna
Paquin who was in It's the Rage with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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No way. Severed limbs, chopped off heads, flesh-eating zombies, "F" bombs, and other profanities make this highly inappropriate for mom, kids, and
your Sunday School class.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer shows you exactly what to expect: low budget zombie gore with Nick Cannon dropping bad one-liners.
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THE GIST
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I honestly don't think you can pick up the Day of the Dead DVD, look at the cover with a zombie vomiting, make the choice to rent it, and then be shocked by the film's
content. THE FILM STARS NICK CANNON AND FEATURES A VOMITING ZOMBIE ON THE COVER! If those two elements don't dissuade you from wanting to watch this then chances are high
you'll be entertained.
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