I saw Army of the Dead...

Writer/director Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead (now streaming on Netflix and playing in those few theaters still operating) is a companion piece to his 2003 Dawn of the Dead remake. Its release comes at a lingering, pandemic period when freedoms continue to be restricted (with all the debatable pros and cons attached to all the vague hows and whys); only here we're not dealing with a reality-variant Andromeda Strain, but rather an exploit of fast-moving, flesh-eating (and often organized) living dead in a heist context. 

The set-up is simple, where an Area 51, military caravan gets into a crash outside Las Vegas. A zombie is unleashed from a trailer the soldiers are carting, and once they're bitten and transformed, the group heads to Sin City to wreck havoc. (The opening-credit sequence does a swell, sardonic job of condensing the raging takeover.)

To instill star value, Dave Bautista plays Scott Ward, a former mercenary who now flips burgers in Vegas for a buck, even as a countdown begins in Washington to nuke his realm on July 4th: a controversial plan that some insist won't purge the infestation. 

As fate would have it, Ward is approached by casino honcho Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) who enlists the big man to lead a team to crack a safe to attain millions in cash before the big blow-up. 

Along the line, others get involved due to one cause or another (Ella Purnell; Omari Hardwick; Huma Qureshi; Theo Rossi; Tig Notaro; Ana de la Reguera; Garret Dillahunt; Nora Arnezeder; Lyon Beckwith; and scene-stealing Mathias Schweighofer), establishing a Romero-esque ensemble of harsh but identifiable characters who are set to risk it all for a share of the moolah. 

Some humor cuts in, though Army of the Dead is a far cry from Zombieland or Return of the Living Dead, even if it does use more levity (in a Guy Ritchie sorta way) than let's say the Walking Dead or for that matter, Snyder's Dawn retelling. There are also moments of kill-a-loved-one poignancy to pad the variance, though that doesn't make the movie Maggie, either. (To boot, cool, reinterpreted tunes haunt the atmosphere: a lovely touch.)  

The balance is pretty successful, with the intermittent, contrasting spurts bouncing off copious, CGI carnage and general weirdness. My favorite interlude comes early, when these hot, undead showgirls attack a guy in his hotel room. (The gals are topless. That's an aesthetic plus.)  And oh, the zombie tiger is amazing, as is the zombie king (Rich Cetris) and his sexy zombie queen (Athena Perample). Yeah, infect me, baby!

Even with its unique attributes, Army of the Dead is nothing novel. Some folks may dismiss it as just another link in an ongoing flesh-eating-flick chain. Maybe they're right to do so, but I found the film a dandy diversion, even when it referenced those too-close-to-home temperature checks. In other words, the movie is good, gruesome fun, even if it does have one foot planted in restrictive reality. 

I saw Day of the Dead (Take 3)...

"Day of the Dead: Bloodline" is the second remake of George A. Romero's 1985, blood-drenched, zombie-invasion classic. (The initial retelling, directed by Steve Minor, surfaced in 2008.) The Romero film, to anyone who knows anything about horror, is one of the most influential in cinema history, acting as the third chapter in the writer-director's gruesome, post-apocalyptic mythology and perhaps more than any other zombie picture has made the greatest impact on the cult phenomenon known as "The Walking Dead". 

To have remade "Day" in the first place seemed unnecessary, though with Zack Synder's retelling of Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" becoming (for better or worse) a mega hit, a "Day" resurgence was only inevitable. Unlike the initial "Day" remake, however, this one, directed by Hector Hernandez Vicens and written by Mark Tonerai and Lars Jacobson, sticks closer to Romero's roots, with tensions rising among scientists and soldiers as the gut-wrenching madness ensues. There's also a significant variation on Sherman "Lex Luthor" Howard's Bub: friendly, flesh-eating zombie supreme. (Incidentally, the new "Day" was produced by Lati Grobmen and Christa Campbell, who co-produced "Texas Chainsaw 3D"; and Campbell actually co-starred in "Day '08".)

This time "Bub" is played by horror-movie veteran, Jonathan Schaech, but called Max. (For the record, the character was called Bud in the '08 version and played by Stark Sands). Unlike those who've come before, Max isn't an living-dead soldier, but rather a resurrected mental patient with a tenacious craving for a particular nurse/scientist named Zoe (Sophie Skelton). She, for all intents and purposes, stands in for Lori Cardille's Sarah: arguably one of Romero's gustiest characters. (Sarah, for the record, was portrayed by Mena Suvari in the '08 remake.)

Like the '08 version, this '18 edition gives its own spin on certain details. The action still centers on a military base, but it's not stationed underground (with the dead ironically roaming above). In this instance, the military compound could pass for any number of Rick Grimes' temporary stations, only cleaner. Though the survivors debate why a batch of antibiotics might be faulty and how to find a cure for the spreading "rotters" disease, none of Romero's social allegory permeates, which might frustrate the original film's fan base. However, for those of nonchalant acceptance, the common quarrels are compelling enough to hold interest, as well as the big, vaccine-supply run that highlights the first half.

The story concentrates ultimately on the peculiar relationship of Max and Zoe. Since there's no Dr. Logan to test our lead zombie in the ways of memory and cognition, the character is left to pursue the young woman for such (and maybe--fingers crossed--offer a "bloodline" cure). Also due to Max's deep-seated "love" for her (and the fact that he's not decaying away like other zombies), she's able to demonstrate that he does, indeed, harbor memories and therefore an emotional constitution, even though Max was no epitome of compassion when he tried to rape her some years prior. Funny thing is, Zoe does have a boyfriend, Baca Salazar (Marcus Vanco), but their relationship is sexually hindered, due to her memory of Max's attack. (The name, Salazar, actually links to characters in the '85 and '08 versions, played by Anthony/Antone Dileo and Nick Cannon respectively.)

To parenthesize the triangle (okay, I'm pushin' it here; the set-up isn't exactly "The World, the Flesh and the Devil"), the supporting military, civilian and medical characters (portrayed by Lillian Blankenship; Nathan Cooper; Lorina Kamburova; Nick Loeb; Rachel O'Meara; Cristina Serafini; Debbie Sherman; Phyllis Spielman; Mark Rhino Smith; Shari Watson; and Jeff Gum as Baca's in-charge brother, Miguel) do a solid job keeping situations in check, unhampered by either hesitancy or diverting squeamishness. In other words, though they may disagree and stumble, for the most part they perform their jobs with little or no cry-baby complaint.

It should be noted that there's no official Captain Rhodes (at least per name) this time to escalate the action, though Gum's Commander Salazar arguably insinuates him, teetering between logic and rage. (Rhodes was played by Joe Pilato in the original, who gave great, long-term thrust to the film's already tiered tension; the character was later played by Ving Rhames, who took the opposite approach, behaving cool-headed in the wake of the chaos.) In this regard, a stand-out, start-to-finish villain or hero may have benefited the story, though I suppose one could argue that either presence may have also distracted from its ghoulish beauty/beast motif.

That motif only goes so far, though, for Max is less sympathetic than his flesh-eating predecessors. (He also speaks, when push comes to shove.) Nevertheless, Schaech does a great job granting the character Howard's Karloffian nuances. Schaech's makeup is even reminiscent of Tom Savini's Bub design, and the actor makes the most of it, with Max acting as one of Schaech's best personas, whether before or after infection. That's saying a lot, considering the actor's versatility. (As a side thought, it would be cool to see Schaech play Norman Bates someday. I'm sure he could pull off the character's tortured mood. I bet he'd bring the right amount of bite to Dracula, as well.)

Though the film offers strong, sporadic gore, it'll likely disappoint those anticipating non-stop, over-the-top carnage. (It's rather subdued when compared to the original, but then, so is the '08 version.) On the other hand, its quirky slant puts it in a unique, quasi-necrophiliac niche. On this basis, it might appeal to those who fancy such radical, "dead" fare as David Gebroe's "Zombie Honeymoon"; Marcel Sarimento/Gadi Harel's "Dead Girl"; and Hernandez Vicens' macabre warm-up, "The Corpse of Anna Fritz".

Also, though the "Bloodline" subtitle references Max's potential, recuperative endowment; it's mainly a differentiating label, implying that the film is as much a knockoff as the "Day" prequel, "Contagium", which in truth was more an unofficial/closer-knit "Night of the Living Dead" sequel. To reinforce this corollary concept, the movie tangents itself with a substantial, flashback to establish Max and Zoe's early connection: not at all in tune with Romero's zombie-storytelling style, but it does seem to jive with the film's autonomous, non-sequel structure. The story could be further perceived as happening simultaneously with any given, Romero chapter, but that contrivance certainly wouldn't pacify purists.

If you dig zombie movies, this new "Day" is worth digestion. If you desire something that ties to the genuine, Romero bible, it might be better to turn a blind eye, but then, how could any true-blue zombie fan do that? Maybe it's best just to take the film at surface value: a bloody buffer for the next of its type or at the very least, something to tide one over until the next "Walking Dead".