Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005)

REVIEW

There's nothing in any of the publicity material to suggest that Day of the Dead 2: Contagium was meant to be a comedy and its uncertain tone certainly suggests that its makers had no idea whether or not it was meant to be either. One gets the horrible feeling that they were taking it all terribly seriously - at least they started off that way and gave up when they realised what an appalling piece of crap they were making.

It becomes evident very quickly that scriptwriter Ana Clavell wasn't really too much attention to what was being writing - in the pre-credits sequence, the opening of vials of germ warfare weapons commandeered from defecting Russian agents causes an almost instant outbreak of zombies. Yet later, when a long-missing vial is found and opened, it takes a torturously long time for anyone to actually become a zombie - instead, those affected stand around emoting badly, spouting inane philosophy and looking a bit pasty and sweaty. This is just one of far too many plot holes and inconsistencies that riddle the feeble plot of Day of the Dead 2: Contagium.

To compound her sins, Clavell not only has no idea of how to string together a coherent plot but has a less-than-winning way with dialogue too - the obvious is frequently pointed out, the psychiatrists sound like they've just read Psychology For Dummies and failed to understand a word of it and at times it betrays an astonishing ignorance - like, for example, the moment when a character describes a woman as being like a statue with the entirely wrong word "statutory"!

Production values rarely rise above the level of a particularly impoverished day time soap, with most of the action restricted to a handful of bland locations and a series of almost identical interiors. Flat lighting gives the photography that dull sheen we associate with the lowest quality TV productions and the camerawork is uninspired and at best merely functional.

The saving grace of many an otherwise unwatchable zombie movie has been the quality of its special effects but not even here can Day of the Dead 2: Contagium rise to the occasion. Apparently a third of the budget was wasted on the dreadful effects, ranging from the world's worst CGI helicopter in the opening scene, through the amateur dramatics level peeling skin effects to the slap-it-on-and-hope-it-sticks messiness of the full gore effects that seem to take an eternity to appear.

Crass, shamefully derivative and featuring performances so awful (particularly Andreas Van Ray as the hospital's head doctor, as eccentric a turn as you'll see anywhere) that even Edward D. Wood would have thought twice about leaving them in one of his films, Day of the Dead 2: Contagium is a truly terrible film in every single respect.

Quite what any of this has to do with Romero's original Day of the Dead (1985) is quite beyond me. Clavell and co-director James Dudelson have the gall to name check the great man (the virus breaks out in Romero Ward) but lack the wit, intellect or simple ability of the man whose name they're shamelessly dragging through the mud. Fans of Romero should be aware that the same production company, Taurus Entertainment, have just completed Creepshow 3 - you have been warned...
KEVIN LYONS

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008