For some reason, this was the ONLY George Romero zombie movie that I’d never seen (Diary of the Dead is my favorite, of the most recent ones). Thanks to AMC’s Fear Fest, that’s no longer an issue.

Previously, I had read the online reviews in years past, and was not so interested in delving deep into Romero’s politics. I took a deep breath, and dove in headfirst. I loved the cold open, with the undead returnig to their roots: the band attempts to perform and the zed gas station attendant returns to his previous duties, before dying.

Simon Baker (before gaining regular paycheck as The Mentalist) and John Leguizamo are looters on the last jobs of their lives, before getting betrayed. They live within Union Town, a city whose perimeter is mostly surrounded by a nearby river, protecting it from the undead hordes. Dennis Hopper lives atop a central skycraper, in a city where he’s the boss, and the rich are far, far away from the Walkers.

In this chapter of the saga, the undead can seemingly communicate with each other, making the zombie hordes even deadlier than ever.

Minor details get in the way as this becomes a heist flick, half-way through the movie, with Baker being sent to retrieve Hopper’s most prized possession: the indestructible war machine, Dead Reckoning, by any means necessary.

At one point, a drawbridge is used. And any time a drawbridge and zombes are involved together, I get insane Left 4 Dead flashbacks (poor, poor, Bill)

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed Romero’s great one-liners. He knows dialog, even if some of his newer flicks just don’t meet the cutting edge, like they used to. It’s also been a while since Romero ended a zombie film with a happy ending. Matter of fact, this is the only undead movie he’s ever directed to end in a happy ending. Maybe there is hope, afterall, to escape the zombie apocalypse. Nah, probably not. Stash plenty of bottled waters, unperishibles and lotsa ammo! It’s gonna be rough, out there!

Strength: Baker… before he was The Mentalist. And Dead Recokoning. Very cool.
Weakness: The politics of dying.
WTF Moment: Zombies like fireworks. Who knew?

Notable Quotes:
– “Put some flowers in the graveyard.”
– “That’s why I love you, Charlie, because you still believe in Hell.”
– “I’m lookin’ for a world where there’s no fences.”
– “In a world where the dead are returning to life, the word ‘trouble’ loses much of its meaning.”
– “Zombies, man. They creep me out.”
– “Try to look friendly. I am friendly.”

Review: 3/5