Right, this film wastes no time with introductions so neither will I.

Zombies have overrun the world and the remaining humans have retreated to strongholds and retreats in order to stay alive. The setting is unclear, but it appears to be somewhere in the not to distant future. Land of the Dead is the fourth instalment in George A. Romero's zombie series which all began with Night of the Living Dead. The scenes are somewhat reminiscent of post apocalyptic flicks such as Mad Max and Escape from New York. But then again perhaps the apocalypse has just happened; no one said there wouldn't be zombies!

Riley (Simon Baker, The Ring Two) is the head of a scavenger group, charged with the task of leaving the confines of the city and scouring small towns to return with medical and nutritional supplies. Of course there is the element that moonlight by picking up luxuries and selling them on - three out of four may prefer a well known brand of crisp but…

Given the limited nature of twists that a zombie movie can take, Romero takes his characters forward in a surprising way. We see how they evolve to better hunt humans and how they try to return to their lives before transformation. What's this? Character development of a zombie? Surely not! Well, as it happens, that's what we get. For the most part it works. In fact it is most effective in making the undead an altogether more dangerous foe. In the past, if one was outside a zombie's arm span safety was guaranteed. This time, don't bet against them coming after you.

And that's what they do. They mobilise and attack the city haven that shelters the people. If I may digress, Napoleon was said to prefer a lucky general to a good one, and in the zombie ringleader, the undead have one. You see the attack on the city coincides with a massive division within the camp. Riley's second in command, Cholo (John Leguizamo, Moulin Rouge), has hijacked a war vehicle and is holding the fattest cat in the city to ransom - two million dollars in two hours or he blow clean him out of his ivory tower, literally. Riley is deployed to stop him and, as the result, the city is virtually unprotected.

Over the top carnage of the highest order results, which is all good fun I suppose. And, by and large, that's what this film is. The whole wasteland angle is a bit clichéd and there are numerous holes in the plot, but I have to say it is an entertaining romp, if not somewhat predictable. Land of the Dead shows that can you can have a life after death.

Rated 15A (see IFCO website for details)
Land of the Dead is released on 23rd September 2005.
Land of the Dead – Official website