DVD Collectors Online

Day of the Dead (Remake), a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Day of the Dead (Remake)
Year: 2008
Director: Steve Miner
Rating: R
Length: 86 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Mena Suvari
Nick Cannon
Michael Welch
Annalyne McCord
Stark Sands

Plot:
Nick Cannon, Mena Suvari and Ving Rhames star in this horror film based on the George A. Romero classic zombie film. A mysterious virus has infected the small town of Leadville, Colorado, and the military is brought in to enforce a quarantine and stop the spread of the disease. As people perish, survivors realize that the virus is creating the walking dead who crave human flesh. Only a small number of people are immune to the virus, and those few survivors must battle to fend off the infected zombies while trying to make it out of town alive.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Gallery
Interviews

My Thoughts:
This is the first time I ever watched this remake... if you can call it that. This is one of those remakes that really don't follow the original very closely. That is not really a bad thing... but I would have liked to see some more resemblance to the original then this. This one really is a little more then a name only remake. And it probably is better looked at as a stand alone movie then a remake.

So is there anything making this a worthwhile watch? Sure... some of the effects are pretty cool. And the storyline... if it wasn't trying to pass for a remake would be pretty good. But it is definitely not a movie that would win any awards. Just a leave your brain at the door... somewhat enjoyable zombie movie. I don't mind the fast zombies... but in this case they were maybe a little too fast as a lot of things went by so fast you barely got the chance to see it. And I must say I didn't care for the zombie crawling the ceilings. These are Zombies... they don't need spider powers. One thing I was looking forward to in this movie is what they would do with Bud... the zombie with military background in the original. And he is in this one as well... which in one way they handled it in a humorous way. But at the same time I had to shake my head at it. If you decide you want to check this one out... please do so but keep in mind that this is not what I would call a true remake. It is pretty much a remake in name only. I went into this one knowing this ahead of time and I think this helped me enjoy it some. So maybe it would help you as well.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 12/11-12/13 on December 11th, 2009)

From Dusk Till Dawn, a review by Jon

From Dusk Till Dawn
4 out of 5



I love this movie. One of my favourite horrors. And after the last few days of the elegant brilliance of Val lewton, I felt I needed to cut loose with some balls-out action vampire killing!

I wish I could have seen it without knowing what it actually was, because the shock of the switch from thriller to horror would have been great fun. It's great that Rodriguez put full effort into that first half to give us well rounded characters, because a problem with a lot of horror films is the thin characters. What's also lacking is a sense of humour, but last section is full of laughs, especially Tom Savini trying to hide his new teeth! Or the vamp that disintegrates on a pool table and his eyes roll into the pockets!

Speaking of which, the gore never gets boring. So many gags, you could watch this several times and still see something new and disgusting. The script is fantastic, full of quotable lines, some of which I've been able to get into everyday conversation... like "I might be a bastard, but I'm not a f***ing bastard!" or the speech about pussy. Actually, I wish I'd not tried that last one. I'm still not welcome in Asda...

It's alright having a good script, but you need a good cast to deliver it and this lot are perfect. Even Tarantino, working to his, erm, strengths. Juliette Lewis I thought would be wrong, but she strikes a good tone between schoolgirl and temptress to Richie's nightmare. Harvey Kietel is as dependable as ever and Clooney is obviously having a riot. Well, I say "obviously", but the outtakes show him frequently pissed off and without his usual humour, so maybe it just proves what a good actor he actually is. And it does no harm to have room for cult favourites like the afore mentioned Tom Savini and Fred Williamson.

Everything oozes confidences in this movie. All the scenes have that little extra they didn't actually need, but looks cool anyway. It will possibly always stand as Rodriguez' best film because it's the most perfect fit for his seat of the pants directing style and there aren't many stories that can stand such a change in tone and still work fully committed to both styles.

"And I don't want to hear anything about "I don't believe in vampires" because I don't believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what I saw is fucking vampires!"

(From October Marathon: Horror! on October 8th, 2008)

The Flash Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Guest Stars:
Richard Belzer as Joe Klein
Vito D'Ambrosio as Bellows
Biff Manard as Murphy
Mike Genovese as Lt. Warren Garfield
Charley Hayward as Trachmann

My Thoughts:
A good episode... but not really a favorite. I didn't really care much for the main bad guy... and some of the story was done a bit silly.

My Rating:

(From The Flash Marathon on April 11th, 2010)