Okay, I promised Colin a review, and I’ve been absent from the site entirely too long. Work has been brutal, and I suppose this review will be as good an opportunity as any to signal my return.

George Romero is considered a minor deity among horror aficionados. He created the original zombie thriller, Night of the Living Dead, in 1968. It was heralded at the time as one of the scariest movies ever made, and to this day has a cult status that transcends age and social boundaries.

Unfortunately, some say George’s magic touch didn’t last. Romero still enjoys cult status, but ask anyone how many sequels there were to Night of the Living Dead, and there is a good chance they won’t know the answer. Certainly the sequels were gorier than the first, and shot in color, and filled with buckets of disgusting blood and gore. But the thrill, that initial shock, was gone. This is the natural order of things, I believe. You cannot maintain a high level of shock beyond initial stimulus. People need to see more, new, greater, better.

And this movie really wasn’t it. Don’t get me wrong, I still found it enjoyable. Dennis Hopper and John Leguizamo were spot on as the evil villain and his henchman. And there were more than enough severed arteries, spilled intestines, and shattered skulls to please. And Asia Argento was hot dressed as a hooker (I have a thing for the slutty look).

But in the end, even though the movie wasn’t bad, it wasn’t exactly good. It had the unenviable honor of being simply mediocre. If you want to see a good zombie flick, rent Shaun of the Dead, a parody of sorts that actually manages to be an excellent movie in its own right.

Verdict: Rental