I don't think there's any good reason to have re-made the George Romero movie.
Yes, it's bigger in scope, has more violence and special effects, but it's basically the same thing. Then again, so is any movie about a virus outbreak, some to think of it, from WARNING SIGN to QUARANTINE. I think my biggest problem is that they cast Timothy Olyphant as the sheriff and main character. Don't get me wrong, he's a perfectly good actor and was great in HITMAN, DIEHARD 4 and A PERFECT GETAWAY, but he has that crazy vibe already so what's the point of waiting him to turn into a more crazy person?
The premise is that the townspeople of Ogden Marsh are going insane and it's from a military plane that crashed in the local river, where the town gets its drinking water. In the first day alone the sheriff has three deaths--then the military quickly moves in, isolating the town. He's' separated from his wife, who is taken with the contaminated people, but she's pregnant and so her symptoms--an increased body temperature--make it seem that she has the virus. Or does she really have the virus. There's a harrowing scene when she's strapped to a stretcher along with a bunch of other people and one of the crazies walks in and starts stabbing everyone with a pitch fork. It's all routine as we watch the sheriff, his wife and the going-insane deputy try to make it out of town and to safety. I even expected that big bomb solution at the end. But when a movie begins with the town being spied on by satellites you know there's no escape for anyone, no matter where they go. So, that zapped a lot of the suspense for me.
I wasn't so crazy about this routine remake.
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Rating: 6.0 out of 10.0 - 5 votes cast total
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