Dawn of the Living Dead
Hannover House
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When a young couple inherits ownership to an abandoned California property, they decide to make it the home of their dreams. Little do they know, but fate has delivered them a nightmare, in the form of an army of undead zombies.

Their dream house sets atop an ancient burial ground, cursed by an evil Mayan ritual killing. Now, with fresh meat nearby, the undead emerge to feast on the living and deliver their zombie carnage. The fate of the world is in the hands of our two, terrified homeowners, who must find a way to stop the undead before it's too late.

I like a good zombie movie. However George Romero got it so good so long ago that it's hard to duplicate (unless it's called Rotten Shaolin Zombies). Dawn of the Living Dead (originally known as Curse of the Maya) is another in a long line of independent horror films that has its moments visually but the story never holds together well.

Right off the bat there's the creepy relationship between the film's main characters Renee and Jeffrey. Apparently they're engaged yet Jeffrey looks and acts like her dad except when there's shots of the two sleeping in the same bed. Icky to say the least.

With B-horror a lot of the fun comes from the effects and gross-out make-up. When it's on in Dawn of the Living Dead, it's good stuff – gross yet not grotesque it works better than most everything in the rest of the production. Outside of Todd "Wach' You Talkin' About, Willis" Bridge's catering bill, it's clear where the budget, however small it might have been went.

But the zombie goods account for less than half the film. The rest is a mess, whether it's a creepy couple, lifeless sets or its lame excuse for a story. So while's there's some interesting components, Dawn of the Living Dead is definitely not the dawn of a new era in zombie flicks.

Video: How's it look?
Dawn of the Living Dead is more than just an homage to old-time zombie films story wise. It looks like one too. Not so much stylistically speaking but rather in the cheap look of the film stock. It's shown in full screen and the picture quality is very soft.

Audio: How's it sound?
Even though it's in Dolby 2.0 stereo, it's very unimpressive – another victim to the low production values.

Extras: What additional goodies are included?

• A slightly interesting Behind the Scenes featurette that runs a little over five minutes.
• Trailer.

Closing Thoughts
Dawn of the Living Dead rips its title from the great of zombie filmmakers but it fails to live up to most every expectation one might have. Add to that a very lackluster DVD and you've got a disc that's a renter at best.


Review brought to you by our friend Ryan @ Movie-Views.com