Day of the Dead 2: Contagium [DVD]

A lot of people said this is the worst living dead movie but its one of my favorites! Its different and really gory . This is actually the third time I've watched it and recommended it to friends who loved it too!I think sometimes people go into a movie with too high expectations. Its the living dead for gosh sakes ! Its already silly . I'd recommend it to anyone that likes zombies and gore !

It’s a fair movie. Just wanted more of the dead films

On the back of the DVD case there's a bit that states the following...'Part prequel, part sequel, and a total, gut-ripping, gore-spewing homage to the original'. After watching Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005) a more applicable statement might have been `Part prequel, part sequel, 100% unadulterated rubbish'...at least in terms of the film trying to be an entry into George Romero's original `Dead' series. Written and co-directed by Ana Clavell (Creepshow 3), the other director being James Glenn Dudelson (Creepshow 3), who's also listed as the producer, the film features Laurie Baranyay (Intoxicating), Justin Ipock (Grave Situations), and Stephan Wolfert. Also appearing is Steve Colosi, John Freedom Henry (American Skin 2: Eagles Gathering), Julian Thomas, Samantha Clarke, Joe C. Marino (Hatchetman), and Andreas van Ray...as you can see, for many of the performers this was their first feature, and it shows much of the time.As the movie begins the year is 1968 and we're at a Ravenside, a military installation somewhere in Pennsylvania (interestingly enough there happens to be palm trees in Pennsylvania, something I didn't know. I did, however, know there were palm trees in L.A., where the film was actually shot). Anyway, something bad is going down (beside this film), resulting in zombies running around, and the military makes the scene, killing everything on sight. One man escapes with a thermos containing a whirly, twirly vial, but he gets shot and the thermos is lost in the underbrush. Fast forward some thirty-seven years and we see a group of schmucks (inmates at an asylum that just happens to be located where the military installation was so many years prior, at least before the army blew it up) and one of them finds the thermos, believing it to be some sort of treasure. I'm not going to bother going into specifics in terms of the various character (as it's not worth the effort), but as you can guess, one of them manages to open the thermos allowing the vial to fall out. After doing so it releases these magical, glowing, Tinkerbell spores that attach themselves to a handful of people present at the time. Subsequently these individuals get sick and start shedding their skin, along with developing oozing scabs. The symptoms clear up, but guess what? Those affected are now walking, talking zombies, capable of cognizant thought and also sharing a symbiotic relationship in that what happens to one, happens to all (if one bumps his/her head, the others feel it)...the facility is eventually quarantined as the guy heading up the place seems to know what's going down and decides he wants to see how things play out (scientific curiosity, I suppose), but the stinky brown stuff hits the fan as things get seriously out of hand given the extremely contagious nature of the virus released from the aforementioned whirly, twirly vial...Do you ever watch a film and start thinking about how the money spent in making said film could have been better spent? This is one of those kinds of movies (they should have just given me the money to fund my Catholic high school girl beach volleyball program). I think one of the biggest mistakes with this film, besides it being made, was the filmmakers attempts to insinuate the feature within George Romero's `Dead' continuum, especially since it felt apparent to me they had little intent on adhering to much of what those of us familiar with the series have come to learn about the undead in general from Romero's classic films (Romero's name isn't in any of the credits, so I doubt he had anything to do with this stink bomb). The situations played out in this film were more akin to the Resident Evil films than anything else, at least in my opinion (there's a lot of mutation elements thrown about). Had they not tried to attach their project to the `Dead' franchise, I think perhaps the film would have played out a little better, but not much. Normally I try to find at least one positive aspect in a movie but I was hard pressed to do so here, primarily because the story was so, damn boring and the characters strictly two dimensional. Even the ten minute opening sequence, one that should have been exciting as it featured army men fighting the undead, was completely lifeless (no pun intended) and devoid of any, real fun. The film then drags along for next hour and ten minutes until the last twenty minutes or so, when some zombie action kicks in (it's during this time things get visceral, but by then I had lost much of my interest by this point). There were quite a few specifics I despised in terms of this film, some of the main aspects being the following...1. The mental patients in general...I've seen real, live loonies before and the people acting all crazy here seemed just that, regular people trying to act crazy. Hey, let's walk oddly with weird hairstyles and sit around and rock back and forth with stupid, simpleminded grins on our faces. Don't we appear crazy?2. Near the middle an affected doctor does an Internet search in terms of learning about the vial, and he does get a response from someone, a civilian, who knows quite a bit. Later on, after the hospital's been quarantined (and supposedly locked down), the dude with the information just shows up in one of the day rooms so that he can dump a huge, steaming load of exposition in our laps. How in the hell did this guy even get in? Also, given what he knows, it seemed completely idiotic that he'd even show up, my point proved once he meets his end.3. There was some gunplay throughout, but never once did I see empty shells being ejected from various weapons or any other indicators that the weapons were actually being fired (smoke, muzzle flashes, etc.) other than the associated sound effects, which were obviously edited in during post production. This may not seem like a big deal, but when a film bores you stupid, it's not unusual to focus on the trivial flaws more so than if you were truly engaged in the plot. By the way, I don't think some of the firearms used in the opening sequence existed at that particular period of time, but then I'm no weapons expert.4. Zombies don't talk, at least not in my book. They make guttural moans, groans, and growls, and they may grunt out the occasional word or two ("Brains!"), but they don't stand around discussing with each other about their situation, trying to fathom the changes they're going through.I'm sure there's more, but that's what I came up with off the top of my noggin. All in all I thought this a generally worthless experience, one that lacked any respect for the franchise it's trying to leech off of, and worthy of a single star out of five.The picture on this Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD release, presented in widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1), enhanced for 16X9 TVs, looks decent, and the Dolby Digital stereo audio comes through well. There are some extras including an audio commentary track with writer/co-director Ana Clavell, producer/co-director James Glenn Dudelson, and cinematographer James LeGoy, along with a `making of' featurette and trailers for other Anchor Bay DVD releases like Day of the Dead (1985), All Souls Day (1997), It Waits (2005), The Evil Dead (1981), and Demon Hunter (2005).Cookieman108By the way, the people who made this film are also behind Creepshow 3 (2006) so needless to say my expectations for that film have been lowered significantly after witnessing this abomination.

Look, I'm not reviewing this relative to big box zombie films. It's a B flick. That said, man did they do a pretty a good job. Were there some plot holes? Sure. Was some of the acting overwrought? Of course. Were the special effects A+, absolutely not. Even still, this one is in a league of its own if for nothing else than a really interesting and believable character dynamic. I actually liked several of the characters. They were interesting. And a lot of the conflict was totally believable. This wasn't necessarily scary as much as it was interesting and cute. Give it a watch; it won't kill ya ;)

This by far not the best zombie movie ever or even one of, but at first its not too bad, it is a B movie, despite what some say, the acting wasn't that bad, certainly not the worst, but far from the best, just okay! I actually found myself liking some of the characters, the main patients and their male doctor and a nurse, so there is some to root for, but it becomes obvious soon into the present time, that like most none Romero zombie movies, its futile to root for anyone!In the end, it just kind of ends abruptly, so you really don't know what happened to " the good guys " in the movie! So it has no rewatch possibilities, so better to watch for free on Prime, then to rent or own it!I gave it 3 stars because I did enjoy it, as I said I liked the main characters, actually felt sorry for the patients in it, wish they had done it differently, making them all the heroes, instead of what they did, it would have been a nice change of pace in movies, to have mentally ill people as heroes!

This sequel to the new Day of the Dead (2008) keeps the blood spraying, the gore going and the zombies feeding.I bought this movie to add to my already vast collection and It fits perfectly.The Blood & gore is there, If you have a weak stomach don't watch this before dinner.The movie starts out a bit slow, then the blood starts to flow, soon enough you're watching in awe as the horid and blood oozing scenes come to the screen.If you're an avid zombie genre fan, this is a gross but great movie to see, and if you get a chance to buy it, do it!You won't be disappointed, and I'm betting it will be a movie you watch more than once. :)

First of all, this movie has hardly anything at all to do with the original. However, IMO, it is actually a pretty great movie. If you are a fan of B-movies about zombies, of course. this movie doesn't do a bad job entertaining, it has great special effects, and it is just an overall great, cheesy B-movie. Don't come into this movie expecting a serious film like Romero's Day of the Dead. Watch this movie expecting a cheesy zombie B-movie. Also, this DVD doesn't have any major special features that I recall. However, I would highly suggest purchasing this movie for fans of zombie movies, just know what you're getting into. ;)

With the exception of the title being DAWN OF THE DEAD, there is little connection between this film and the original Romero settings. Bad dialogue and awful special effects halp to make this film the disaster that it is.On the flip side though, it is unique in its own way, sporting a slightly (and I use that word loosely) new twist on the zombie contagion. Pistols with no muzzle flare, Russian spies captured on American soil in uniform and zombies that enjoy comradary as well as conversation all help to make this move what it is.If you like B (and I mean B) movies, then this one's for you.

Sadly disappointed with story and weak acting. But you need to complete the series

Nice movie Nice seller great deal

thanks!

I love zombie movies, and I have liked pretty much everything I have seen. Even though this version was not directed by Romero, I was sure that the directors would still do a decent job.....I was dead wrong.The movie is boring and has no pace. Goes from a fast pace hit, to a slow, girl meets boy movie. It starts out looking like it will be something worth watching, but after the first 15 minutes it ALL goes down hill.The plot makes little sense and seems as if the directors have tried to tie it all together by what other film makers have done before. But in the end it makes very little sense. All the actors are nobodies and end up over-acting in many parts of the movie.The gore is not at all great, it is at best poor to okay. There are two maybe three zombies that were well made, but the rest looked as if some college art student took 5 minutes to do their makeup. Also the zombies, and the people being attacked by the zombies, go down very slowly as if not to hurt themselves or the other actors when fighting with them, making it look very fake.I love zombie movies. Even the cheesy European ones done 20 years ago where makeup was just grey paint and ketchup, and they did a better job.Bad, bad movie. Very badly directed and acted. So bad that I had to make sure everyone knows about it. If you REALLY want to see it, rent it first, as not to waste your money buying it. Or you can wait 6-7 months until it hits the bargain bin at the movie store. I give it 2 stars for effort.

I didn't like this film at all really, I found it very disappointing and turned it off after half hour