Good effort

Rating: Null/10 (2 April 2004)

When i first went to watch this film last weekend i was a bit sceptical after i had heard all the hype surrounding it. I wasn't too impressed with the first opening scenes to the film, as unlike the original George A Romero trilogy the film seemed to lack the gritty and dark atmosphere they had. The story in the remake seemed to be more inventive and interesting. I don't want to ruin too much of the story line for you so i will give you my favourite moments. Watch out for the zombie baby, and the ample sized zombie lady! The chainsaw scenes were also not to be missed. These zombies were fast mothers, unlike the stiff, slow zombies that would normally blow over in a brisk breeze! These zombies were like the ones out of "The return of the living dead". The story in whole was a good balance of acting and effects and plenty of tense fear pumped into the audience, but sadly this film lacked the true zombie atmosphere. Approximately half way through the film the story line showed the characters playing sports games, looking through telescopes on the roof and generally trying to pass the time. These scenes were unnecessary as a zombie flick should be a bit more depressing and dark. The zombie scenes were excellent, i was almost hanging off my chair in suspense, sadly the zombies were not as rotten and fearful as i was hoping unlike "zombie 2" or "day of the dead". The most impressive scene was towards the end of the film when the zombies had managed to enter the mall and the remaining survivors escaped in two armoured buses, crashing through the car park gates into a sea of zombies. There were not many gore scenes in the film, but the ones they had were nice and juicy! As far as zombie remakes go it was a good effort. I think for any true zombie horror fan its worth a look, but this remake is not on the same level as George A Romero and Lucio Fulci.