Land of the Dead

Bow down to the master, George A. Romero, and accept no substitutes—this is the finger-lickin’ flick that flesh-a-holic zombie fanatics have been waiting for. Land of the Dead, the fourth in Romero’s landmark zombie series that started in 1968 with the black-and-white classic Night of the Living Dead, is his first return to the dead in two decades, and you can bet a sauteed arm and leg that it's worth it. This is easily one of the year’s most purely entertaining films, with a top-notch cast that takes us on a post-apocalyptic hellride that will be talked about long after most of this season’s so-called blockbusters are in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart.

The story unfolds in Fiddler’s Green, an island-like fortress of a once-proud city now populated by the remaining human elite who must use connections to gain entry. Things get complicated when one of the mercenaries hired to bring in food and water (John Leguizamo) commandeers a tank and threatens to destroy the city, unless its top mogul (Dennis Hopper) grants him admittance. And then all hell breaks loose. With dope makeup effects—including an almost completely decapitated guy who puts his handicap to inventive use—the gore erupts in spades, but what keeps Land from being more than gore is a great script, emphasizing character and social issues. Romero has crafted the perfect Dead trip, showing his endless parade of imitators what a real zombie movie should be.