Movie Review: Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018)

Synopsis: Five years after the start of the zombie apocalypse, a former medical student takes care of survivors in a military bunker. Needing medicine for a sick girl, she leads a scavenging mission and inadvertently brings back the living dead version of a man who tried to rape her. Realizing he is still obsessed with and shows unusual brain activity for a zombie, she has the creature taken alive so she can use its blood to create a cure.

Who's In It? The movie stars Johnathon Schaech, Sophie Skelton, Marcus Vanco, Nick Loeb and Jeff Gum.


Review: I came across this movie on Netflix a few days ago and, to be honest, I didn't know what to think of it from the description. But, it had been a while since my wife and I watched a movie together so I decided to give this film a chance last night.

I have reached a point where I pretty much just grade zombie movies on a curve. This is because there are so many of them and, as a result of that, they all tend to be very similar to each other, even if they aren't deliberate remakes like this one. Because of that curved grading, I did find I enjoyed this movie a lot more than other people who watched and reviewed it.

Is this the greatest zombie movie ever made? No. In fact, I'm not even convinced it was as good as the movie it attempted to re-imagine. However, it did have a few things going for it.

For one, I found I liked the half-human/half-zombie Max (Schaech). Since he was already creepy even before he became a member of the living dead, he did bring the proper level of discomfort to the film. Zoe (Skelton) needed him for a cure. But, I could understand and even feel her anxiety about having her would-be rapist in the same room as her, especially since he was still obsessed with her despite his current state. Not to mention, his above-average intelligence (even when compared to some of the humans) made him very unpredictable.

I also thought the movie raised some interesting ethical questions. While using Max's blood to create a cure seemed like the best move at first, it was easy to question that decision as more and more people died as a result.

Of course, to be fair, a lot of those deaths were the direct result of human error and not necessarily Max's or Zoe's fault. You would think, after 5 years, they would be a bit more cautious than they were and, at very least, would be at least attempting to shoot the zombies in the head instead of wasting bullets.

I think my biggest complaint about this movie was the character Miguel (Gum). Of all the characters in this movie, he was probably the one with the most common sense. It was, after all, the zombie apocalypse and he was the one in charge of keeping everyone alive. However, instead of recognizing that and making him a character you may not necessarily like but still have respect for, the writers made him into a complete ass who couldn't even control his own men. 

Personally, if it were me, I would have gotten rid of his brother (Vanco) and made him Zoe's love interest. This would have given his objection to keeping Max alive a little more meaning because it would force her to butt heads with someone she loves and respects rather than that guy who wants to play soldier and nobody wants to listen to.

Final Opinion: Again, it's not the best zombie movie I've ever seen. But, it is better than quite a few others I've watched and I found I did enjoy watching it.

My Grade: B

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kwik Trip Kitchen Cravings Tailgater Pizza

Movie Review: Damsel (2024)

Movie Review: Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie (2023)