Leadville's Never Seen So Much Action!

As you probably have noticed, I love horror movies. Can't get enough of them. My latest was the remake of George Romero's Day of the Dead. I was not happy to discover that both this move and Romero's latest, Diary of the Dead, were essentially straight to video releases. I know I'm not the only one watching zombie flicks!

The new Day stars Mena Suvari and Nick Cannon. In spite of this, I thought it was great! Sure, some of the effects were a little cheesy, but for the most part this was a super fun flick! Apparently, zombies are extremely combustible! They also climb on the ceiling in this movie. Ving Rhames also appears in the movie, not as a reprisal of his role from Dawn, but as a military man who makes one nasty zombie!

Now, the movie is not a true remake of the original. In fact, it's more like a reinterpretation. If you've seen the 1985 movie, you know it's not that great. It's about a group of soldiers and a group of scientists sharing living quarters in an underground facility while zombies wreak havoc on the ground above. The scientists are studying the zombies and even have one that shows signs of intelligence - their studies are by no means benign, but most of the science people are the "good guys" in the movie. The soldiers on the other hand are led by a dictator-style manic guy who reminds me a little of the Children of the Corn kids - lots of anger in that one. There's undoubtedly more of a message in the original - in fact, there's no message in the new versions at all, just brainless gore to veg out to, but I don't mind. Fluff is a necessary part of life.

The remake takes place in Leadville, Colorado and starts off with a military blockade/quarantine. Course the folks in Leadville are told it's just a training exercise and that the roads will be open the next day - yeah, 'cause they're all dead by then! There's a strange illness floating around town that starts off looking like a cold, then nose bleeds, then a trance like state and finally total zombie meltdown. 

Overall, fun, gory, lots o' gratuitous violence and more creative zombie characteristics than you've ever seen. Fun stuff! And thank GOD! My second film of the evening, Youth Without Youth, was arguably more intellectual but flew right over my head. I know I'm not dumb but damn if movies like that don't make me feel that way. It did have some great previews, though. I've added Black Book, The Counterfeiters, and Redbelt to my must see list as a result. Check out the trailers online and you'll see why.