Dawn of the Dead (2004)

REVIEW
George Romero's classic 1979 horror tale gets updated for the 21st century with this good reinterpretation that takes the old story of rampaging zombies and freshens it with a little technical wizardry. Not as gory as the original but certainly with enough blood and guts to satisfy any zombie-phile, this new Dawn begins at breakneck speed. Polley is a nurse who returns home and is promptly fighting off the neighbor's kid and her husband, who both have a taste for blood. In this version, however, getting away isn't as easy, since these zombies can run. When she and a group of other stranded mortals meet up at the mall, they all have their hands full from the hungry mob milling outside, militaristic mall security guards and dying cohorts about to become the living dead. As in the original, director Snyder milks many a scene for laughs, and the mix of scares and laughs works well. Rhames makes for a great zombie fighter; he, Polley, Weber and Phifer bring top-level talent to an already prime horror story, making this fun for all.