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on 5 STAR SCALE

Definitely another shameless horror movie that demonstrates why piracy is good for the industry: another way to filter the junk. I can't say this won't become a guilty pleasure of mine, but I can say with extreme certainty that this is no more a significant movie for the zombie genre than say.... Return of the Living Dead: Rave 2 the Grave. It's just an action fest; and if all you want is a zombie shooter, watch Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Land of the Dead, or the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake because this is just gratuitous without being focused or trying to accomplish anything. If you want gratuitous and self-indulgence that accomplishes something, watch the first Return of the Living Dead, any Lucio Fulci zombie movie, or the modern tribute Planet Terror.

How this abomination got made:
-Imdb says: 'Those who owned the rights to Day of the Dead (1985) made a straight-to-DVD "sequel" in 2005 called Day of the Dead 2: Contagium. Despite the title, the two movies are unrelated.'
-At ZombieReportingCenter.com, columnist Jef Porkins has this to say on his review of the 2008 remake: "The Taurus Entertainment Company, the people behind Day Of The Dead 2: Contagium are the ones behind this mess."
-From wikipedia: "Day of the Dead 2: Contagium is a low-budget quasi-prequel to the George A. Romero film Day of the Dead. Although it is advertised as an official sequel as Taurus Entertainment Company holds the rights to the original film, no one from the original film had any involvement in Contagium."
So it is quite apparent that Taurus sold the rights to the film to Millenium Inc, distributor for Day of the Dead 08

What is wrong with this movie:
-The zombie makeup: the zombies turn into blistered ugly things immediately in a way that is more akin to Argento's "Demons" than a person who has become infected with a zombie-ish strand. The makeup look for the faces is a uniform aesthetic, but unfortunately it is a very poor aesthetic design concept.
-Zombies with super-powers: again, these creatures are more reminiscent of "Demons" or "Dead Alive" than even the "28 blah Later" series or the 04 Dawn remake. These zombies can instantly leap like Spider-Man, bash barricades like the Hulk, cling to vehicles like treefrogs, and even dodge bullets Matrix-style. It is absurd and quite unscary.
-The zombie "intelligence" factor. These zombies can fire weapons, drive cars, and use stealth like Solid Snake to capture their victims. The filmmakers have to the gall to do another "Bub" but they don't have the sense to give him characterization and a clear plot purpose because they're too busy firing uzis at hyperzombies.
-Big Script Problems -No time spent developing our human survivors, or at least not any effective attempts. The younger brother and his girlfriend are on the right track in terms of characterization needed. Everyone else is under-developed because the movie is obsessed with showing nothing but zombie violence. Clocking in at a mere 81 minutes, too many opportunities to build characters we don't want to die are dismissed as quickly as the zombies overrun the town. The more I muse on this movie, the less I like it.

But I am of the school that would prefer a zombie story that focuses more on the people trying to survive and, by doing this, reveals some interesting facets of human nature. I agree with Roger Ebert that "Land of the Dead" should have been a social drama set entirely inside Fiddler's Green with only the occasional mention or glimpse of zombies and Romero would have made a more resounding film. I whole-heartedly agree. These zombies run 50mph in the other direction, and they don't even give a scare like Snyder's version did.

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