A little bit too dead

Rating: 7/10 (22 March 2004)

While it has some new blood pumped into it, some things suffered from unintended anemia. The first 7 minutes gave it a great sense of urgency, it covered the outside world quite well and it seemed to be a hint of things to come. But once they were intrenched at the mall, there never seemed to be a real threat nor a sense of dread. Too many characters suddenly possessed a GI Joe personality rather than a true fear of what was happening around them, so it seemed fine just to hang out at the mall. Even the older woman seemed like she could take on anything so why not just sit tight and slowly pick them off. The zombies rarely were given a role to play so the eeriness and morbidity of the original was erased. The effects were quite beautiful but I didn't feel frightened of the what was out there. If the zombies periodically made their way in, it would have been more unsettling. Beside this remake being the most "ungory" of gore films, it all had the feeling of being done before especially with obvious references to earlier horror films like Aliens, Dawn Of The Dead, Body Snatchers and even Rosemary's Baby. Who didn't see that coming? This is from someone who is scared of his own reflection: I never flinched. The trailers and credits were more frightening. A pretty show, with some striking images but kinda flat at the same time, not to mention another 1 note performance by Ving. I will hope for better in the DVD release which will obviously have more ghastly footage. Oh, well.