As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....
What can you say about George A. Romero's 'Day of the Dead' (1985) that hasn't already been said. It's a film that wasn't nearly the scale and scope that he wanted. He had to tone down his blockbuster story, to match his ever shrinking non-blockbuster budget. The result was still a far superior zombie tale to many of those still being made today. Then, there was 'Day of the Dead' (2008). Steve Miner's attempt to play off of the success of Zack Snyder's 'Dawn of the Dead' remake in (2004). While I found the film to be quite fun and an interesting take on the original story, it didn't quite have the same staying power. Although, I'll admit that he made the story his own and created a fairly fun little popcorn zombie film. Now, lest you think I've forgotten about 'Day of the Dead 2: Contagium' (2005), I haven't. I just haven't been able to bring myself to watch it, after all of the horrible things I've seen and read about it, I've stayed far away from it. So that brings us to Hèctor Hernández Vicens brand new take on the tale, 'Day of the Dead: Bloodlines' (2018). Now, this isn't a part 2 or a continuation of the original story. This is truly another remake. As it's been well documented, I'm a fan of remakes. I have no issues with them, as long as the creators are doing something different. Making the story their own and bringing something new to the table. Sadly, no one has attempted George A. Romero's original script yet, but maybe someday in the future it'll see the light of day on the big screen. In this version, it sticks pretty close to the original film from 1985. There are a few deviations, but overall, it's the same story with some different characters or ones that have been combined into one person. But before we dig into the finer points of the film, let's break down the plot.
The film begins with a scene of mass hysteria, as the zombie have already begun to overrun the human population. There are people screaming and running for their lives, as everyone around them is either being ripped apart or being turned into the undead themselves. At this point, we meet Zoe. She's trying to grasp what's happening, while trying to find safety and shelter. Now, we rewind to earlier before the outbreak has occurred. We learn that Zoe is a med student and she's got a creeper stalker named Max. As the other med students are having a big party, Zoe is being victimized by Max. Soon, patient zero returns from the dead and begins spreading the zombie virus at an alarming rate. Zoe escapes and we fast forward to the present. Some time has passed and she's found her way into a military stronghold, where she's the only practicing doctor, who's surviving alongside military personal and civilians just hoping to not become part of the world of the undead. When they learn that a little girl has a strain of pneumonia that will potentially infect everyone in the bunker, Zoe leads a team back to the medical school to get much needed medical supplies. When they return, they have an unknown hitchhiker, a very zombie Max. Once they realize he's there, they also realize that he may be the cure to the virus. Not a way to turn everyone back to humans, but the way to keep anyone else from being turned into the walking dead. Before long, things go sideways and Zoe has to do everything she can to save Max, in order to make a cure, but not kill off everyone else in the process.
What's interesting about this take on the original story, is that it's almost like an even more toned down version of what was already toned down. The budget is obviously less than the 1985 and the 2008 versions of the film. While elements of them both still remain, you can clearly see that they were doing the best with what they have. The only real name in the film is Johnathon Schaech, who most of you may recognize from his role as Jimmy in 'That Thing You Do!'. He's taking on the role of Max, the analog for the original and remakes lovable learning zombie, Bub. In this go around, he's not so lovable. They have also gone so far as to explain why he's smarter than your average zombie. Why he retains some of the things that make us human, including logic and reason. He's still a creeper, but we learn very quickly that he's capable of rational thought as he literally hunts down Zoe and keeps himself hidden in the bunker. This doesn't really feel very logical and really hurts the story, in my opinion. Not the fact that he can react to things in a more human way, but that he uses it for the purpose of continuing to be a creeper. He's anything but likable in this film. In this version of the story, Zoe is a composite of both Sarah and Dr. Logan. One of the few female leads and the only doctor on site. We lose the characters of John and Bill, which provided some relief from all the military personal in the original. In this re-telling, it's all military, Zoe and some civilians, probably due to budget, but it gives the viewer less characters to really latch onto. Which in any film where the overall plot is fairly dark, you need some spots of daylight to keep you interested and to give you people to root for. Here, we end up not really having anyone we care about or that we want to see live. Even the zombie, Bub, that we all fell in love with, is turned into something to loathe and despise. It's a brave decision, but the wrong one to make. With a run time of about an hour and 30 minutes, it feels like a 50 minute race to the ending. I never found myself rooting for anyone and it all felt like we were going through the motions. At least in the 2008 film, we still had characters that were fun to watch and even the undead helped to move the story along. One last big change from the original, was the running zombies vs the slow, shambling ones. While this is a stylistic choice, in this film it's not utilized very well. The same can be said for how quickly the infected turn. We even get an explanation that, depending on where you've been bitten, will dictate how quickly you become a 'rotter'. Scientifically, it makes sense, I guess? But this is like the difference between the rate in which you get high taking a Vicodin vs mainlining heroin. Not too mention the blood splatter bursts. That only works in anime, guys.
At the end of a very bloody day, 'Day of the Dead: Bloodlines' kind of fails at what it's trying to do. While I can respect Hèctor Hernández Vicens' vision and what he was trying to do, I think he was hamstrung by a shoddy script and a minuscule budget. The actors seemed to be straight out of film school and there was never really any drama, danger or a real plot to speak of. Imagine taking your favorite story and removing all of the things you really loved about it and replacing it with excerpts from the phone book. That's kind of what we ended up with here and it's a shame. While the original isn't crying out for a remake, after what 'Dawn of the Dead' (2004) did for upping the remake game, there's a potential there to create something amazing. Only time will tell if we'll ever get a version of this story that will stand alongside the original and don't get me wrong, it wasn't a perfect film. However, it's stood the test of time and has still managed to set the tone for generations of zombie films that followed it. It's quotable and has one of the most horrific scenes of undead violence ever committed to the screen. If you don't know what I'm referring too, just think back to when Rhodes finally got his comeuppance. I'm giving this film 1 out of 5 stars. Sadly, it just fell far too short of the mark. Little budget or not, I've seen films on a tiny budget, pull off really big things. So that's not an excuse. Somewhere right now, Bub is rolling over in his empty grave. Also, what was up with Johnathon Schaech's mouth?!?!
If you want to see where this all began, check out: 'Day of the Dead' (1985), 'Day of the Dead' (2008) and while you're at it, check out 'The Battery' a film that was made on a shoestring budget that is still one of the best zombie films of the past 10 years
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