Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.0

Day of the Dead: Bloodline Blu-ray Movie Review

Undead on arrival.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 4, 2018

It might be tempting to think that George A. Romero is at the very least rolling over in his grave, or at worst (best?) is considering going "The Walking Dead" route and may be thinking about climbing back up topside to take out the creative team responsible for Day of the Dead: Bloodline, a kind of brain dead (sorry) remake of one of Romero’s most iconic titles. As much as Romero invested his films with abundant energy (despite the sometimes sloth like movements of the zombies) and even trenchant if subliminal sociopolitical aspects, there’s simply no denying that at a baseline level, almost all of Romero’s zombie output was fairly simple in design and (again, not to pun too horribly) execution. Why modern day filmmakers feel the need to “tart up” the proceedings is anyone’s guess, but Day of the Dead: Bloodline is the worst kind of sequel and/or remake: a needless one.

The original Day of the Dead came along in 1985 and even then was something of an outlier in the Romero zombie canon, for at least a couple of reasons which I recount in our Day of the Dead Blu-ray review. As fans of this franchise will probably already be aware, Day of the Dead has already suffered through one largely lambasted remake, 2008’s Day of the Dead, so some wise types might wonder why anyone would bother about attempting another “at bat” with this particular enterprise. Kind of interestingly, both the 2008 remake and this one currently under review have Bulgarian connections, which may or may not account as much as anything for this return to an arguably already exhausted well.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline utilizes some frankly needless “backstory” information in a rather long pre-credits sequence that begins with a zombie attack, because Screenwriting 101 classes evidently insist that films like this need to start with snack time. That then segues back four hours to detail the efforts of medical student Zoe Parker (Sophie Skelton), whose work identifying the epidemiology of a corpse on an autopsy table marks her as a student with a future. Zoe has also attracted the attention of a creepy looking dude named Max (Johnathan Schaech), whose blood she draws for another lab she’s part of. Things go haywire at a semester ending party at the medical school, where Max’s attempts to assault to Zoe are met with a bit of resistance not just by Zoe, but by the suddenly animated corpse Zoe was working on earlier. That leads to a scene with a panicked informant desperately trying to get people at a raucous dance aware that mayhem is about to occur in a scene which is almost shockingly like a similar moment in the unsuccessful Doctor Who spinoff, Class: Season One.

The main part of the film takes place several years after this introductory mishmash, with Zoe consigned to the bunker like facility that those who have seen the original Day of the Dead will recognize in general ambience, if not in this particular iteration. Day of the Dead: Bloodline either revisits or rejiggers various sequences and/or ideas that were present in the original film, but to largely listless effect. There’s still the somewhat disturbing image of a captive “rotter” being utilized for lab experiments, and this version has an almost Frankenstein aspect in terms of how it treats the character of Max, once he (of course) shows up at the bunker in at least semi-zombie form.

But Day of the Dead: Bloodline is almost laughably inept on any number of levels. Even some of the supposed jump scares (with ubiquitously attendant LFE on the soundtrack, just to provoke a startle response) are kind of flaccid, and some of the line readings in this film led me to believe that they were being coached by some of the Bulgarian crew who might consider English their second language (if even that). The film doesn’t really have the oppressively claustrophobic feeling that Romero’s original did, and in fact seems to almost enjoy getting “out and about” to explore the countryside at various moments.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Day of the Dead: Bloodline is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. This is a perfectly workmanlike presentation that offers generally excellent detail levels, but which tends to see downturns in fine detail in many of the darker interior shots. There's a long sequence bathed in blues where this tendency is only further increased. But in many of the outdoor moments, and even the more brightly lit interior scenes, sharpness and clarity are very pleasing. The palette has been intentionally tweaked in a variety of ways, and much of the film is desaturated. Even the more vividly suffused moments tend to exploit a lot of gray and greenish gray tones, so that the palette doesn't really "pop" in any meaningful way, aside from a few admittedly vivid sprays of blood. CGI generally looks quite convincing, and some of the close-ups of gruesome exposed flesh and blood may be squirm inducing for some viewers.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Day of the Dead: Bloodline features a pretty rote sounding but undeniably forceful DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, one which offers jolts of LFE (as discussed above), as well as subliminally anxiety provoking washes of score that ominously waft through the surround channels. Sound effects are numerous in this film, and there are well placed discrete channelizations of "chewing" sounds that are kind of goofily enjoyable. Dialogue (such as it is) is rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Day of the Dead Bloodline: Reviving the Horror (1080p; 14:48) is an okay EPK with quite a few interviews with various cast and crew.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Day of the Dead: Bloodline is unimaginative, repetitive and just kind of "by the numbers", and I can't seriously imagine any devoted Romero fan thinking this version has anything to offer when compared to the original. Even the largely lamented first remake probably tops this largely inept enterprise. Technical merits are completely competent if never overwhelming for those considering a purchase.