Run, Zombie, Run!

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2004)

Ten Point Review:
1) In a nutshell, this movie is not as good as the original but is still a surprisingly good flick. It is a respectful homage, even if you could argue that the only real similarity is that they are both set in malls.
2) The zombies run pretty fast. Fast enough to make the movie a little more unsettling. Think Return of the Living Dead and you'll know what kind of zombies you have here, though the ones in this movie don't call for more cops and paramedics over CB radios.
3) There is hardly any kind of character development. What little there is is effective to some degree. It's kind of a shame that the movie wasn't over two hours like the original was because it would've given us a bit more time to get to know these characters. I thought the character of Michael was great while some of the others were really just one note performances. Some of the acting sucked pretty bad also but hey what do you expect, Macbeth?
4) Tom Savini, Ken Foree and Scott Reiniger make cameo appearances in the movie. I thought that Ken Foree's in particular was pretty cool. I also dug the fact that there was a store named "Gaylen Ross".
5) I really hate when they make horror movies that have a lot of hard rock/ thrash/ whatever music in them. Gore and guitars don't mix well for me. At the same time, I thought there were some pretty inspired music choices, like Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" and Jim Carroll's "People Who Died". I have to say that Richard Cheese's cover of "Down With the Sickness" was a high point as far as the music went.
6) This movie pulls no punches when it comes to taking out the main characters. While I said earlier that there was no character development to speak of really, you do feel it when certain characters die.
7) The special effects are very impressive. While not as visceral as Savini's were (sorry, but when people got bit in the original, they got BIT, meaning they got a nice healthy chunk taken out of them), they are still pretty effective. And there are several kills, both human and zombie, that were executed very well. I would've liked the movie to be even gorier and that's after having seen the original in theaters and the uncut on video.
8) The opening sequence, all the way up to the beginning credits, is excellent. It may be the best part of the movie. The direction is a little flashy at times with some unnecessary fancy shots but is still tight regardless. I think the look of the movie is pretty interesting also, with this bleached out color scheme that seems to get more and more washed out as the movie progresses.
9) This movie isn't particularly scary. There are barely any shock scares. The horror lies mainly in imagining yourself in the predicaments that the characters face.
10) The story doesn't end when you might think. Make sure to sit through the credits.
Rating: *** out of *****.