Why even bother!? (Day of the Dead [2007] (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Day of the Dead [2007] (DVD)
Date:	02/09/09 (3 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of action

Disadvantages: Annoying characters, poor effects

note: also appears on The Student Room and Flixster

If we hadn't quite had enough of the zombie film remakes already, some bright spark decided to remake probably the least conspicuous entry into the series - Day of the Dead. The trailer filled me with dread that it would be DIRE, and whilst it's not quite as bad as I expected, it's still a pointless remake that's action-packed, but soulless, joyless, and extremely cheap.

The premise is simple - a group of irritating teens come across a roadblock and discover that there is some sort of viral outbreak in their town. They meet Captain Rhodes (Ving Rhames) and Corporal Sarah Cross (Mena Suvari), the only two serviceable characters in the entire mess, and with whom they ultimately try to survive the night, as a fleet of zombies descends on the town.

What possessed someone to think that remaking this film was a good idea is beyond me, particularly that they decided to do so on such a horrendously low budget. As a result, it doesn't have the superb gore effects that the original had, and simply copies the shell concept of the original film, whilst just filling things with far more annoying characters and, admittedly, a lot more action too. It's just a shame that most of the action is uninspired, shot with little flair, and perhaps worst of all, there's no characters, aside for perhaps Suvari's Cross character, that you really give a damn about in the slightest. I can't imagine Romero rated this at all, because I didn't, and audiences seemed to vote with their feet, reflected in the film's poor DVD sales, and complete lack of a theatrical release!

Day of the Dead is an inferior zombie film (and a poor remake), and whilst its first act is poor, the latter two are action-packed to the point where the film is at least enjoyable garbage. The zombies are ridiculous and the visual effects are unconvincing, but Mena Suvari is a surprisingly convincing (and well-acted) lead, and if anything, it is an action-packed zombie film.

Summary: A pointless remake of a great film