Grade:  B

Director:  Zack Snyder		Released:  March 2004
Writer:  James Gunn, George Romero		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer		Running time:  100 minutes

Ratings System

I'm a horror fan.  I appreciate and respect the traditions of gore-for-the-sake-of-gore zombie flicks.  So when a zombie appears to have super-strength, or when a wooden stake is able to puncture through a human skull, I don't even blink, it's all part of the fun.  On the other hand, crocoWife expected a more scary/creepy type of horror film, and started rolling her eyes and laughing after the first zombie bite.  It is funny, but not in that way.  It's not funny like, "ha ha, that's unreal and stupid," it's more funny like, "oh, snap!  Did you see that zombie's head explode?!"

After the film ended, crocoWife proclaimed it the "worst movie ever."  Which I find hard to believe because she was there when we walked out of Gang Related.  Needless to say, she's not a fan of Dawn of the Dead.

I rather liked it.  The big difference here from other zombie flicks is that the zombies run.  They be runnin' all over that bitch and they be runnin' fast!  Normal zombies stumble around in some kind of zombie stupor, but not these guys.  These guys will chase your ass down and bite your head!

The zombies are still dumb as rocks, often getting run down by trucks or exploded by propane tanks because they don't know enough to get out of the way.  Their speed is pretty much the only zombie movie convention that gets broken.  Let's run down the list.

Bad acting?  Check.
Corny dialog?  Check.
Characters trapped in a confined area?  Check.
Self-sacrifice for the good of the group?  Check.
Nudity?   Check (but not enough in my opinion).
Blood and gore?  Check.
Gore and blood?  Check.

The first 5-10 minutes set up the premise of the film and show the first outbreak of zombies.  There are some really cool camera angles used here, one aerial shot in particular follows a car driving out of town while other cars crash and explode into a nearby gas station.  Great shot.

This version is missing the social satire of the original, but I think I understand why they removed it.  The satire of 1979 is not exactly cutting edge satire in 2004.  However, they could have updated it instead of simply dropping it.  No matter, it will make no difference when watching this remake.  Just enjoy the zombies and root for the heroes.

- crocoPuffs