Great filmmaking...but the need to explain every little thing sinks it

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2019)

The quality of the production values and the cast get the highest praise.
What begins has the quality of a different kind of horror film like "Jaws" with vivid color and cinematography and a killer soundtrack plus some of the best actors working today. A disturbing prologue set in 1986 in one of the creepiest places on the planet (the Santa Cruz Boardwalk), we cut to the opening credits with the close-up of a caged rabbit and a gorgeous choral composition by Michael Abels that sets the audience on edge because we don't know where we are or what or why we're looking at it. (And for my money, there needs to be a whole lot more of me asking why, not the director/writer explaining it, taking the mystery and certainly the scare out of whole enterprise.)
There's a remarkable affinity by this director to timing and editing that explains his superb use of music throughout the film. It's sensational. But again we don't need to understand the lyrics of "I Got 5 on It" to enjoy it. And as the story unfolds, the more we're told...well, the more has to be explained. There was little need to have a title card about the "underground tunnels" networking the U.S. Who cares? I started asking questions like "So where do you shop for groceries?" or "What's the bathroom situation?" since "we're flesh and blood just like you"...well, not really.
This is basically "Night of the Living Dead" with some clever twists, but in Romero's film we're much too involved with survival than wanting explanations. Yet this cast is game and does well at sticking with what they're given to say and do. I finally just stopped listening to the dialog and watched the actors and "performance art" set up around them. There's a solid sense of the conflict within family units that was the most enjoyable thing for me to watch. But ultimately, I was left unsatisfied and wanting the "mystery" that is the heart of horror.