Bloody good remake

Rating: Null/10 (23 March 2004)

DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) ***1/2 Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Michael Kelly. Bloody good remake of George A. Romero's cult classic zombie sequel to his original cult classic 'Night of The Living Dead' again with a small band of people holed up in a shopping mall and forced to fight off a plague of sudden zombies that are ravenous for flesh and brains. Novice director Zack Snyder keeps the kinetic pace to a feverish giddy high with a sprinkling of humor amidst the horror thanks to James Gunn's lively screenplay mixing action and gross-out violence (an aside: could've been meatier for my tastes but what can I tell ya) with deft aplomb and clever camerawork with a bruised glaring palette by Matthew F. Leonetti, sharp editing by Niven Howie and nasty make-up effects by David LeRoy Anderson. Polley is surprisingly gung-ho while Rhames and Weber make for excellent heroic types in a sea of oncoming carnage. Look sharp for the original film's stars Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger and Tom Savini in cameos.