DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) Blu-ray review

Dawn of the Dead (2004) d. Snyder, Zack (USA) (3rd viewing) 110 min

“The world is in danger when a mysterious virus turns people into mindless, flesh-eating zombies. In a mall in the heartland, a handful of survivors wage a desperate, last-stand battle to stay alive ... and human!”

Sound familiar? To be fair, when Snyder’s remake of George A. Romero’s 1978 classic was first announced, the landscape was not cluttered with undead onscreen shamblers everywhere. In fact, with the exception of 28 Days Later and Resident Evil (both 2002), zombies were kind of, well, dead. But with the success of this worthwhile reboot, which in turn sparked Romero’s own return to the fray (for better or worse) with Land of the Dead later the following year, the stage was set for all manner of rotters, microbudget to blockbuster, and the face of horror would never be the same.

WENDIGO (2001) Blu-ray Review

Wendigo (2001) d. Larry Fessenden (USA)

Commercial photographer George (Jake Weber), his psychologist wife Kim (Patricia Clarkson), and their young son Miles (Erik Per Sullivan) head up to the Catskills for a winter weekend getaway, but the trip is temporarily sidelined when a wounded deer stumbles into their path. When the dust settles, the animal is dead and their car stuck in a snowdrift, while the hunters hot on its trail emerge from the woods none-too-pleased to discover their quarry damaged by the collision. The most antagonistic of these, Otis (John Speredakos), speaks exclusively in sneers and veiled threats, and while the family escape the situation unscathed, the incident casts an ominous pall over their arrival at the cabin and the rest of the evening. The next day, Miles encounters a strange Native American gentlemen (Lloyd Oxendine) in town who, after giving him a wooden totem of the legendary Wendigo, a "hungry, angry woodland spirit," promptly disappears. A tragic sledding accident follows, setting in motion a series of (possibly supernatural) events that will forever change the face of the young family.