I have a deep love for the films of George A. Romero in general, but especially for the original DEAD trilogy. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAWN OF THE DEAD, and DAY OF THE DEAD each rank highly among my favorite movies of all time. For decades, DAY was seen as the black sheep of the bunch, receiving what I believed was an undue amount of negativity. Then the view of DAY seemed to shift in the horror community, it started getting more and more acceptance and love, and I have been very glad to see that.
DAY OF THE DEAD looks even better in light of the cash-ins on the name that have been made without Romero's involvement; the absolutely atrocious DAY OF THE DEAD 2: CONTAGIUM and Steve Miner's 2008 remake. While the 2004 remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD was quite successful, the '08 DAY OF THE DEAD made such little impact that it's already being swept aside to make way for a new remake.
Nu Image/Millennium and Campbell Grobman Films, the companies behind TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D, are moving forward with the DAY OF THE DEAD remake they've been developing since 2013, and there's been a behind the scenes shake-up since we last reported on it. In November of 2013, HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET director Mark Tonderai had been hired to helm the new DAY, working from a script he wrote with Lars Jacobson. Tonderai doesn't appear to be involved any longer.
DAY OF THE DEAD take three is now set to be directed by Hèctor Hernández Vicens, a filmmaker who has experience with movies about dead people returning to life, having made the recently released THE CORPSE OF ANNA FRITZ.
The plot of Vicens' DAY OF THE DEAD? Well, it sure doesn't sound like DAY OF THE DEAD:
The post-apocalyptic tale follows a former medical student tormented by a dark figure from her past, who happens to be a half-human, half-zombie hell-bent on destroying her.
That plot description leaves me scratching my head. I don't have high hopes for this project, but I'll be giving it a chance and checking it out when it's done. I've endured CONTAGIUM and Miner's DAY, and this has to be better than those.
Mena Suvari in DAY OF THE DEAD '08
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