Land Of The Dead: Directors Cut (Blu-ray)

In this intruiging and fairly high-budget sheened effort, Dennis Hopper lords-it as the boss of a safe, shiny skyscraper in the last remaining safe zone - a haven where only the richest or his chosen few can live in luxury while the rest of the world struggles to survive in the wasteland outside. Add to this scenario a moralistic hero, zombies that are starting to learn (like they did in Day of the Dead) and an unscrupulous hustler played by John Leguizamo who just wants to get a place in the skyscraper 'or else', and you have the makings of an interesting movie. The leader of the zombies is played with interesting inarticulate fury, hurt and outrage as he begins to round up his fellow shufflers. Events are also complicated interestingly by a superweapon. Our hero is a bit of a blank slate emotionally, but he's engaging enough and the real draws here are the zombies and Dennis Hopper's slimy villain. However it's a tonally peculiar film. It doesn't know whether it wants us to identify with the heros in fearing the zombies, to cheer on the zombies as they tear into the conceited and selfish rich, or to identify with the zombies in it's occasional 'Zombies are people too' moments. As a result, it doesn't hit hard enough at either end of the spectrum - but it's a fun middle ground.