Story: The action begins as Ana Clark (Sarah Polley) wakes up one nightmarish morning to discover her boyfriend has become a tasty midnight snack for a neighbourhood kid. To her horror, she realises that the whole town has been similarly afflicted, its population turned into corpses driven by an insatiable hunger to feed upon the flesh of those few survivors that are still living.

Eventually Ana runs into a small group of the still-living, among them cop Kenneth (Ving Rhames); the level-headed Michael (Jack Weber) and expectant parents Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and Luda (Inna Korobkina). Together they seek refuge in an abandoned suburban mall and barricade themselves inside. As the world outside grows ever more hellish, as the ever-increasing army of decomposing zombies tirelessly strive to infiltrate the mall, so the survivors must battle the undead, each other and their own fears and suspicions.

What's it like?: A very enjoyable popcorn romp through the world of zombie. Gone is the social commentary shown in Romero's version (and some of the running time) and what we¡¦re left with is a fast paced action orientated horror movie for the MTV2 generation. The zombies cannow sprint all over the place making them a more dangerous (and cinematically appealing) threat. In truth I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. The action sequences are well staged, the make-up is great and this director¡¦s cut contains a little bit more characterisation that only benefits the film. Despite my meanderings about the seemingly brainless side of the story there is one thing that sets this apart from Romero¡¦s version: the sense of loss and human tragedy. This is particularly evident in the baby sequence and during a dinner-time discussion between the mall survivors. Both Sarah Polley (Ana) and Michael (Jake Weber) are great and actually provide some acting sklills to it.. a HORROR movie. Imagine that? Look out for cameos from original DAWN cast members Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini and Ken Foree (and check the special features for more of Savini¡¦s ad-libbing suring his ¡¥news interview¡¦. Class)

Just enjoy it for what it is which is a well made, fast paced popcorn horror movie with elements of touching sympathy and some nice acting. It¡¦s not scary or frightening in anyway either. Just don't compare it to Romero¡¦s version because it¡¦s an entirely different film.

Click HERE for a link showing the new additions to the Directors Cut.

The DVD
Picture: Excellent. Outlines are crystal clear and there was no visible grain from what I could see. Colour hues are high with no bleeding in an albeit dark transfer. This is not a hinderance and it¡¦s a good effort. But what else do you expect from a big-budget studio movie?

Sound:Bombastic 5.1 mix that really gives the old front channel subwoofer a work out. The rear channels are nicely used and at a nice volume; you¡¦re never far away from the zombies when they creep up around you all the time. There¡¦s also a Surround sound Dolby Digital 2.0 mix aswell

Menu: The main menu has the montage sequence from the movies opening credits with Slipknot'¦s "Down with the Sickness" blasting over the top. Atmospheric and is a nice precursor of the films intention and audience.

Special Features: The movie is available in both theatrical and this uncut format with this reviewed edition having the bonus of 2 extra featurettes. Let¡¦s tackle the features in turn:

Disc introduction by director Zack Snyder: Short intro minute intro from the director that tells you what to expect from the new footage.

Audio Commentary with director Zack Snyder and Producer Eric Newman: Laid back commentary with Snyder speaking on behalf of the horror crowd and Newman backing him up with anecdotes and tidbits. Snyder comes across as someone who loves the genre and he doesn¡¦t discuss technique or intention just the need for gore. Bless him. Still the commentary is worth listening to for the lack of a real ¡¥Making of¡¦ feature but it¡¦s not Citizen Kane so just don¡¦t expect much theorising.

Undead Scenes w/ optional commentary: A nice selection of deleted scenes which for teh most part are alternate versions/takes of things that ended up in the movie. Most are further character points which Snyder discusses with his commentary. Mostly removed changed to soften the pace or keep it going.

"Special bulletin" Featurette: A great 20minute fake news report that covers 26hours of the escalating crisis. It¡¦s a nice addition that¡¦s well paced and played deadly straight. BABYLON 5 fans should recognise Richard Biggs (newscaster) and the voice of Bruce Boxleitner (as the voice of the US President).

Andys Lost Tape: This is by far the best extra. Andy gets his full due here in a nice performance from Bruce Bohne that looks at how Andy ended up holed up in the Gun Shop during the crisis. It runs parallel to the film so you get the ongoing communication with the mall survivors expanded upon in more detail. It¡¦s the backstory Andy was never afforded in the script and it should be the first thing you watch after the movie. Excellent idea that is well handled by all.

Featurettes: Raising the Dead, Attack of the Living Dead and the disc exclusive Splitting Headaches: Anatomy of Exploding Heads. Short, sharp looks at the make-up and technical visual effects of the movie. Covers the problems and making so many of the undead and applying their various stages of decomposition. All interesting and worth a view although the look at the mechanics behind the exploding heads is slightly disappointing.

Summary:

Film: 3.5/5
Picture: 4/5
Sound: 5/5
Extras: 3/5 - No "Making of" let's the score down here. Also the lack of the excellent screen-crawling trailer is a bit of a disappointment.

Overall package:

4/5 Possessed Cheryls: Great popcorn horror flick with plenty to amuse on a nice, well-packaged disc let down only by some expected, yet missing, extras and the audacity of calling it DAWN OF THE DEAD! It's not genre defining but it's better than some of the other big-budget horror fare of late.

Just don't let the Romero die-hard's know you liked it ;-) Worth a purchase only in this it's uncut form.