Okay, the good news: There's excellent talent in this film. The bad news: It's completely wasted! Shortly after the great 2005 remake of George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD, along came this half-hearted attempt at remaking his sequel, DAY OF THE DEAD. "Half-hearted" might even be too strong of a word. Try "half-baked, pea-brained, sleep-inducing fiasco"! Yeah, that works much, much better. Never mind that it's got Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon, or Ving Rhames (a carry-over from the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake?) Trust me, while they are good actors, this film isn't one any of them would want listed on their resumes. Now the story, if you can call it that: Somewhere in Colorado, a mysterious flu-like virus has decimated a town... Oh please, do I really need to tell you the rest?! Blah-Blah-Blah... Zombies... Blah... Running and shrieking... Blah-Blah-Blah... Jumping implausibly high... Blah... Even climbing upside down on ceilings... Blah-Blah... Survivors trying to get out... Blah-Blah... Ving Rhames eats his own eyeball... Missile silo... Huge explosion... BOOM! THE END! Not much else to say, really. Avoid it like the plague it is. And if you think the zombie genre couldn't possibly get any lower, look out for DAY OF THE DEAD 2.

This is not my kind of movie. I knew this but tried to ignore this train of negative thought and gave it a chance and resisted turning it off but I wish I did. It couldn't have been more stereotypical at the start as a zombie film; young teenagers, unnecessarily quick editing and dodgy mise-en-scene topped sadistically with over exaggerated diegetic sound. The minor characters are dismissed straight away. The movie developed more positively and had a flash of decent acting as Ving Rhames, came into the film. The plot is about a government experiment gone wrong and is sketchy and lacks enough beneficial logic about the implications of it. The subsequent area is affected and hence quarantined, the movie follows the characters, in the town including a female soldier who takes charge by taking her sick mother to a now zombie infected hospital. She looks after her brother and his girlfriend and also another male soldier who is a private. This is probably the best thing about the movie, in that she is the one who takes action, and becomes decisive, rather than the usual stereotypical female who relies on the men. Maybe this is an oasis in the desert in terms of anything to like about this film. I'm not spoiling anything in saying that characters die, but what makes this movie so annoying is that they respond to their families being violently mauled, maimed to death the same way as if your team loses a match, or your favorite meal is out of stock at a restaurant. Most of the characters are subsequently two dimensional at best, maybe it is the absence of true directing from Steve Miner, which makes this movie so bad, the camera angles don't have enough to either create fear or sympathy, they are not involved enough. The special effects are also terrible, although I admire the indie low budget vibe, it can't always work when movies like this attempt to over shock with gore. Maybe it is just because I am not a big fan of gore. To be fair a few days before watching this movie I watched maybe the best horror film of all time, "The Shining". The bar was pretty high I learnt a lot from comparing the two about how gore is not always what makes a film scary but it's more the editing and sound which makes it scary or not. Both are sadly lacking in "Day of the Dead". Another reason why the characters ruined the film was not the script but more the fact that I didn't like them. They have their moments but they are too set in their ways to deserve liking. I didn't really care about the ending and whether or not they survived. This is the contributing factor in me not liking this movie. I am not saying this is the worst movie ever made; there are positive aspects, which will certainly be enjoyed for fans of zombie horror. This is also an alright movie when you just want an entertaining thrill ride, something not too taxing, but if you're in the mood for class this is not the movie to watch.

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So I've just finished watching Day of the Dead, and I must say I've rather enjoyed it. I've read some of the reviews and message board posts, and I can understand why people don't think it's the best film out there, not even the best Zombie flick. It's just a zombie film, and not such a bad one.The story is just about the same story like in any other film of the sort. A virus, infected, some people naturally immune, survivors trying to escape the outbreak. It's not an apocalypse film, as the virus is local, it's more like what happens before the apocalypse. The plot is nice enough. I did like the fact that unlike in other films of the sort, in this case the infected do retain some of their humanity and traits. Acting isn't all that great, though I don't think it's the cast's fault, as there's a limit to how well one could play the banal obvious rolls in such a film. I did like Nick Cannon as the comic relief, although it too was rather stereotypical (very Bad Boys). Nothing I can say about the direction and cinematography, and the soundtrack was OK I guess.All in all, it's typical Action Horror zombies. If you din't expect to be overwhelmed by quality, you can really enjoy this film for what it is. If you want a nice Zombie film - go ahead and watch Day of the Dead, but if you're looking to be scared or for a Zombie film that reinvents the wheel - keep looking.