Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Directed by Zack Snyder. Starring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Michael Kelly, Ty Burrell, Mekhi Phifer, Kevin Zegers, Lindy Booth, Jayne Eastwood, Inna Korobkina, Kim Poirier, Boyd Banks, R. D. Reid, Matt Frewer, Michael Barry, Bruce Bohne, Louis Ferreira. [R]

Remake of George Romero’s gory zombie satire/thriller drops nearly all of its mordant social commentary (these undead don’t shamble like brain-dead consumers; they erupt and sprint like the monsters from 28 Days Later) but still delivers on its promise of disgustingly bloody jolts. Following a massive zombie outbreak, a group of survivors barricade themselves inside a mall and defend their new home from the relentlessly encroaching creatures outside. Above-average performances and controlled direction keep this one on a (bumpy) course to its grim finish line. Can’t hold a candle to the original, and never tops its intense pre-credits sequence, but not the cash-grab embarrassment it may appear to be from the outside. The nihilistic “open-ended” conclusion might have been more effective had it not been chopped up into pieces and spliced within the end credits, the only major misstep for debuting director Snyder. Besides the humor, the one thing that’s sorely missed here is the lingering camera shots of the grotesque makeup and viscera that made Romero’s nasties especially horrifying.

63/100