The Corner Penthouse

It all started back in 1968 with George A. Romero's original Night of the Living Dead (just released by the Criterion Collection). While it didn't create the "zombie", it did create the genre as we know it. There would be no "The Walking Dead" were it not for Night of the Living Dead. Mr. Romero followed up his masterpiece with two more films to create the original Dead trilogy: Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). In the 2000s, he would release a new Dead trilogy: Land of the Dead (2005), Diary of the Dead (2007), and Survival of the Dead (2009). All three films of the original trilogy have been remade, more so for the original film because it fell into the public domain (due to the lack of a copyright notice), and thus it was "free" to all who wanted to rip it off. Dawn of the Dead received a popular theatrical remake in 2004, written by James Gunn and directed by Zack Snyder. Day of the Dead has now been remade twice; first in 2008 as a film starring Ving Rhames and Mena Suvari, and now as Day of the Dead: Bloodline starring Sophie Skelton and Johnathon Schaech.


Day of the Dead: Bloodline retains the motif of scientists and military living in a bunker, safe from the "rotters" outside, and there is a chained-up zombie ala Bub in the original, but that's where the similarities end. The lead scientist in the original was a guy trying to "domesticate" the zombies so they would pose no threat to the living. Here, our female lead, Dr. Zoe Parker (Sophie Skelton), is working on a vaccine for the virus that causes people to turn into zombies. She lives in an underground bunker among a small group of military personnel and survivalists, one of whom is a little girl in desperate need for such a vaccine. In a plotline that seems ripped from the TV series "Z Nation", the only hope for making the vaccine lies in the blood cells of Max (Johnathon Schaech), a rather remarkably fast, strong, and nimble zombie who, in his previous life, was a creepy perv with a unrequited crush on Zoe. He even went so far as to carve her name into his arm. Suffice it to say, Zoe doesn't enjoy having to "work" with him, even if he is safely chained to the wall in her lab.


For the most part, I enjoyed this film. I might even say that I liked it a little more, in some ways, than the original, which I found to be really boring (until the shit hit the fan in its second half). I thought this movie provided an interesting dynamic by having Zoe need to work with a zombie who tried to rape her when he was still alive. There was even some decent practical effects, though they were augmented by way WAY too much CGI blood splatter - which I did not like. Do be aware that the "rotters" are of the fast-moving variety, not the traditional slow stalkers of the Romero original.


At a runtime of 1:30:35, Day of the Dead: Bloodline is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with an 1080p transfer. Picture is crisp and clear with no issues that I noticed. On the audio side, there's an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio audio track, which is loud and clear. The film contains 16 chapters and includes English SDH and Spanish subtitles. The first print run includes a slipsleeve.


The one bonus feature that can be found on the disc is in HD. It's an EPK-style featurette containing B-roll and interviews with various cast and crew members.

• Reviving The Horror (14:48)

Day of the Dead: Bloodline, which is available on Blu-ray and DVD, is a decent remake that doesn't try to be 100% like the original, but not so completely different as to not qualify as a "remake". I probably liked it a little more than most would, but I would never say that it's the greatest movie ever made, either.


Final Verdict: Recommended only to diehard Dead fans only. All others Rent first.


You can buy the earlier Dead films on Blu-ray at Amazon using these links: Night of the Living Dead (1968) (Criterion Collection), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), Land of the Dead (2005) (Shout Factory Collector's Edition), Diary of the Dead (2007), and Survival of the Dead (2009).

If you want the remakes, these are what you'll want: Night of the Living Dead (1990), Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Shout Factory Collector's Edition), Day of the Dead (2008), and Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018).


All images were grabbed from the movie on the disc. The Blu-ray has been provided by Lionsgate for review on this site.