George Romero lit a match in 1968 with his immortal classic “Night Of The Living Dead” and the flames from that film still burn bright today. The box office returns from 2002’s “Resident Evil” reanimated the zombie genre. From Zack Synder’s terrific “Dawn Of The Dead” remake to the international sensation of “The Walking Dead,” Zombie mania has dominated the horror market for nearly two decades. Romero’s original masterpiece has been revisited a few times already, with a mediocre effort from Tom Savini and a weak 3-D version in 2006. Celebrated animation director Jason Axinn (To Your Last Death) attempts to put a sinister spin on the timeless masterpiece with an animated remake with the promise of a few new scenes.
Barbara and her brother Johnny are visiting their father’s grave in rural Pennsylvania when they are attacked by a deranged elderly man. Barbara manages to escape and find refuge in a farmhouse near the cemetery. Shortly after her arrival, she is greeted by an unexpected hero and four other strangers that have taken shelter in the same home. Quickly, the farmhouse’s new residents realize that they are under siege, along with the rest of the country, from an army of living corpses. The group desperately attempt to formulate a plan of escape and find refuge in a safe, more populated area where broadcast of shelters are being advertised through the radio. Standing in their way is a legion of hungry undead monsters.
The iconic character of Ben in a pre-arrival scene is probably the only reason to watch this very bland animated remake. While some animation artistically spruces up adaptions, the cartoon style movement of each human character really nullifies the threat of the undead. Each movement is stagnant and gives the perception of the alive characters actually moving slower than the undead ones. Visually, director Axinn does a fine job and stills from the film would be something Dead fans would want to have in their private collection, but in motion, this just does not play. Rumblings through Hollywood have whispered that one day actors could be replaced by robots, this film proves that there will always need to be a human element to provide emotion in cinema. Romero’s smart socially aware script littered with dramatic themes is lost in translation in animation. A clever effort from the team, but in the end this outing brings nothing new to the terror table.
Scream Score: 5.8/10