Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018) - Seriously?

I was into zombie movies BEFORE zombie movies became cool again (some time in the early 2000s I believe when 'Resident Evil' appeared on the big screen.  Therefore George Romero's 1985 film 'Day of the Dead' (or rather sequel to two classics - 'Night of the Living Dead' and 'Dawn of the Dead') was a real favourite of mine.

In fact (and don't hate me for this!) even though 'Day' wasn't quite as well-received as its two predecessors, I actually liked it the most.  I loved its darkness, sheer terrifying claustrophobic nature, cast, gore - in fact, everything about it.  Now, skip forward a couple of decades where I'm allowed to browse the internet and I find out that - for some reason - the actual TITLE of the film, i.e. 'Day of the Dead' was never copyrighted (or something).  This meant that, if I so wished, could make my own version of the film (maybe with some sort of addition-tagline just to cover myself) and not get sued.  This went some way to explain 2005's 'Day of the Dead: Contagium' (don't watch it - trust me!).  And possible 2008's remake of 'Day of the Dead' which confused many into thinking it was a sequel to the (quite excellent) 2005 remake of 'Dawn of the Dead.'

I don't know why I watched 'Bloodline.' Maybe it's because 'The Walking Dead' is currently between seasons, or because 'Bloodlines' is on Netflix.  Either way… I wish I hadn't.  Although, like any good car crash, I couldn't turn it off. 

'Day of the Dead: Bloodlines' has some of the worst acting I've ever seen.  It also has some of the most obvious sets I've ever seen.  The gore is okay, but too over-the-top for a film that's not supposed to be a 'comedy-horror' and the characters are more one-dimensional than your average daytime soap opera.  So why did I continue to watch it?  Possibly because I couldn't believe that someone was not just content with ripping off the 'Day of the Dead' title, but they've basically remade the original film... only much worse.

Most of the original characters have been 'updated' (any by 'updated' I mean turned completely one-dimensional by second-rate actors), although a few names have been changed and/or applied to different characters.  They've taken the setting, the characters, recreated the location (albeit badly in a set, rather than a real underground missile silo) and palmed it off as some sort of update.  And - surprise, surprise - it doesn't work.  They've even turned 'Bub' (aka the slightly more intelligent zombie from the 1985 version) into a slimy stalker, although, in the actor's defence, he's probably the best actor in this remake.

If you like zombie movies - great.  Just watch a different one, as you're bound to have a few in your collection.  Just because this is 'free' on Netflix, doesn't mean you should waste your time on it.  It really is that bad. 'The Walking Dead' will be back soon enough.  Even if you think the TV show is getting stale, it's still head and shoulders over this garbage.

2/10 Scuzzier than the leftover goo from a Queen alien's egg sack