From the guy who made zombies a household name, comes 2005’s Land Of The Dead. George A Romero wrote & directed this horror flick, that is preceded by Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, and succeeded by Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Eugene Clark, Robert Joy & John Leguizamo. Smaller roles are filled by Sasha Roiz, Krista Bridges & Pedro Miguel Arce.

3 years after a zombie apocalypse, mankind are setup in outposts across the United States. Our movie is focused on the one in Pittsburgh, where a feudal system of government is in place presided by the corrupt ruler Paul Kaufman. Bordered on two sides by rivers and on the third by an electric fence, the city has become a sanctuary, with the rich and powerful living in a luxury high-rise called Fiddler’s Green while the rest of the population subsists in squalor. Using a heavily armored vehicle that can travel through the zombie-infested areas with ease and with the help of remote-controlled heavy machine guns and video cameras, teams of men & women head out to nearby towns & cities for supplies and essentials led by Riley Denbo, creator of the specialized vehicle, and the assassin Cholo DeMora who reports to Kaufman for special favours. The teams also use fireworks to distract the zombies, who seem to stare at the skies in bewilderment as long as the fireworks light up the night sky. On one such outing some of the zombies seem to be capable of comprehending and learning. Led by a former gas station owner “Big Daddy” the zombies pick up whatever they find handy; sticks, pipes and Big Daddy also manages to snatch a machine gun from one of the humans leaving the city. The zombies head to Pittsburgh led by BD and cross a river by walking on the bottom (not needing oxygen they aren’t harmed) and reach the city’s fences.

Cholo, while gifting some champagne to Kaufman, s denied an apartment in Fiddler’s Green despite his longtime, devoted service to Kaufman. Upon being rebuffed, Cholo threatens to destroy Fiddler’s Green with the Dead Reckoning, seized by himself and his assistants Pretty Boy, Mouse, Anchor and Foxy. Zombies attack as they are leaving, but Cholo orders his crew not to intervene. Meanwhile Denbo is arrested along with Charlie and Slack, a woman they rescued from being Zombie bait by a bar owner whom they killed. As Cholo threatens Kaufman, the leader sends Riley to stop Cholo, alongside 3 soldiers – Manolete, Motown and Pillsbury. Charlie & Slack tag along but by now some of the zombies have sneaked in and Manolette is bitten and killed by Slack before he has a chance to turn. Once they come across Dead Reckoning, Riley devises a plan to approach the vehicle alone. Against Riley’s orders, Charlie, Slack, and Pillsbury follow him, but they disable Motown and leave her behind on the grounds of her loyalty to Kaufman. Cholo realises that Riley is working for Kaufman and holds both Riley and Charlie at gunpoint. Before Slack and Pillsbury can react, Motown, who has come round, opens fire and nearly kills both Riley and Cholo, before being bitten by a zombie and executed by Slack. With this distraction, Riley de-activates Dead Reckoning’s weapons systems and convinces Cholo to allow him escape Northward, while Cholo goes west. Cholo is later bitten by a zombie and returns to kill Kaufman.

As the people run in panic from the zombies and the firing from the guards & soldiers fail to hold them back Kaufman is cornered by BD in his garage. When Big Daddy leaves the garage, the now dead-and-reanimated Cholo attacks Kaufman; but both are killed by Big Daddy when the latter causes an explosion. Riley and his crew discover that although most inhabitants have become zombies themselves, some had followed Mulligan to escape. Pretty Boy has the opportunity to kill Big Daddy and the zombies; but Riley orders her against it. Riley and his friends then use Dead Reckoning to leave the city and head toward Canada.

It’s ok in places but I found myself finding it a bit predictable although the self-aware zombies threw me in for a loop. 6 outta 10!

Population 436 is 2006 mystery / horror (nothing major) small budget movie starring Jeremy Sisto, Fred Durst (yes, lead singer of Limp Bizkit), Peter Outerbridge & Charlotte Sullivan (I’m watching her on Rookie Blue). Directed by Michelle MacLaren & produced by Gavin Polone the movie shares similarities in plot to the classic horror The Wicker Man and also The Village.

Steve Kady is a recent widower who lost his wife & daughter in a car accident and works for the US Census Bureau. He is sent to investigate the remote village of Rockwell Falls to interview residents concerning the population – for over a 100 years the village has retained the exact same population of 436! Just outside the village he is distracted by a young woman who falls from her horse and his vehicle hits a pothole and bursts two tires. He doesn’t get help from the young woman, Courtney, who instead tells him to walk his way back to the nearest town, but deputy Bobby comes by and drives him to the village. With no places for rent, Steve is put up at the house of Courtney & her mother.

Something is so apparently off with the townsfolk – some seem hostile to Steve, some keep staring at him and others seem overly friendly & welcoming. There is also allusions to something that they call “the fever” which apparently affected a young girl who is being treated by the only doctor in town. Steve is plagued by nightmares once he is in there and he starts his work. Finding the people odd he also is horrified to learn that the doctor hasn’t been to a medical college but been trained in a traditional manner by his father before him. Also no one wants to leave the village save for Courtney but she is quite to others about it. People who try to leave Rockwell Falls seem to meet with bizarre and deadly accidents, or just vanish, which the residents believe to be the work of God. The small town crazies who are overly religious angle is played well here. Although he befriends Bobby, Steve finds himself attracted to Courtney who the deputy also fancies and is planning on proposing marriage too. But one afternoon Steve & Courtney talk and end up having sex in the barn, which Bobby just happens to see.

After stumbling upon some books on Biblical numerology, Kady realizes that the townspeople attach a mystical importance to the number 436 and are willing to go to extreme lengths to keep the population at exactly that number, including executing surplus residents. The first scene of the movie shows a baby being born and a man being killed to keep the numbers that way. Anyone who expresses a desire to leave is treated for the ‘fever’ by Dr. Greaver, the town doctor, with electroshock therapy or in extreme cases, frontal lobotomy. It gradually becomes apparent to Kady that the residents of Rockwell Falls have no intention of allowing him to leave. He sneaks in to meet the young girl, Amanda, who tells him that she is being kept a prisoner but she changes her tone when the others come. At a fair Steve is appalled to see a willing woman being executed to keep the number at 436 and goes hysterical as the townsfolk corner him. He is taken to the clinic to be treated for the ‘fever’. He escapes the clinic, and is sheltered by a sympathetic resident who reluctantly helps him plan his escape. Steve sets  fire to the town garage as a diversion and rescues Amanda from the clinic, but is forced to leave Courtney behind after discovering that she has been lobotomized by Dr. Greaver.

With two deputies chasing them, Steve & Amanda steal a tow truck and make it to the highway, after Bobby has a change of heart and helps them get away by killing the other deputy, but just like in his dream, Steve sees that there is thunder & lightning and a cross appears in front of the mirror as well as a doll. While he is distracted by these, the truck veers into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer truck, killing them both. As the movie ends, a co-worker of Steve has come to Rockwell Falls to search for the missing Steve (the townsfolk fakes a letter from Steve saying that he has found faith & a lover and has decided to stay in the village) but his car too hits the pothole, bursting his tires. This time the sheriff arrives and says that Steve left recently and takes the man into town, alluding to the wedding of Bobby & Courtney.

The story is ok but the movie drags out a lot with nothing much happening for a long time. It’s not scary at all save for a couple of jumps. Shame that Peter Outerbridge, a man who made his tv character (Dr. David Sandström in Regenesis) memorable for his speeches, doesn’t even speak in this movie till half way through. No bad acting in this but the actors aren’t given much to work with and hence the movie suffers greatly. A reluctant 6 outta 10 from me!