Dawn of the Dead
The signs were there. Young nurse Ana (Sarah Polley) was getting off her shift at the hospital when the sick started rolling in. She ignored the media warnings in favor of some good tunes on the radio and quality time with her boyfriend. Then morning struck. The neighbor's girl was in the house. Ana and her boyfriend are confused until the girl attacks the boyfriend. In that instant, he turns into a zombie and sets his sights on Ana. She escapes and drives through the ground-zero atmosphere of her neighborhood in Milwaukee. After swerving off the road and hitting a tree, she joins up with a group of people headed toward the mall. Of note is the cop (Ving Rhames), the husband (Mekhi Phifer) with pregnant wife, and the de-facto leader of the group (Jake Weber). They take refuge in the mall but when the security guards are too unwielding (they're more worried about possible looting than zombies), they mutiny against them and take over while allowing some unaffected people inside. After many days, it's obvious no help is coming for them, leaving it to the group to figure out a way to leave the mall.

The gore isn't at the level of the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it comes close. It certainly does frighten and the film does well in its start as well as its ending. It's the middle that I'm concerned about. Not much killing goes on through the middle (except for a hilarious sniping scene courtesy of the gun store owner across the street). And when the killing drops to zero, implausible situations take its place that make you go, hmmm. It's here where the plot holes are wide and evident and the frightening aspects of the zombies wear off. In fact, these zombies are really quite dumb. You mean to tell me after at least a week, the zombies still had no way of getting in the mall? I think the ones in "28 Days Later" were smarter than these poor folks. But you know, unlike 28 Days, this film leaves you much more satisfied and possibly a little more shocked considering it's in America rather than England. 2.5 stars