Scared the pants off me!

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2004)

I have been enjoying the general consensus of reviews, that this is a worthy reinterpretation of a classic horror movie, and that there is not any point comparing it to the original plot point for plot point. I look at this movie as an homage to good old fashioned zombie-fare, that people in peril makes for as good a premise as any for a thrilling movie, and if the peril is coming from flesh-eating zombies...well it doesn't get much better than that for me!
I love the Romero zombie trilogy, my favorite film is Dawn of the Dead, but for sheer gore and chills, Day of the Dead is my choice. This movie is not to be included in my appreciation of Romero's low-budget genius, for how can you compare what a filmmaker does with 26 million as opposed to 2 million, Romero wins hands down! But I thoroughly enjoyed this movie for its sheer exhibitionism, its modern take on the zombie genre and for having a pretty good mix of gore, thrills, humor and respect for zombiephiles! I also think it really cool that some actors who you would have thought would turn up their noses at starring in a potentially B-grade horror flick saw fit to do some slumming on such a film. Maybe, just as Toy Story made it chic to lend your voice to animation, this movie will have big name stars clamboring to join the horror cheese flick bandwagon!! (remember Piper Laurie in Carrie? Kathy Bates won an Oscar for Misery! Imagine Meryl Streep treading the boards with the Creature from the Black Lagoon :)
The only thing that I still find hard to accept is the fast-moving zombie. Zombies, like vampires, have a history, and when you mess with that, you risk alienating fans. I feel that the filmmakers could still have held on to the traditional zombie and had just as much fright, it's all in how you compose your film. However, I still had a great time (with my hands over my ears and my head hunkered down) watching this movie, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good scare!