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Land of the Dead

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 84 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Drama | Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: George A. Romero
Directed by: George A. Romero
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 24, 2005
DVD: October 18, 2005
Running Time: 93 minutes, Color
Origin: Canada / France / USA
Summary
RATING: R for pervasive strong violence and gore, language, brief sexuality and some drug use
Starring Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, Dennis Hopper, Eugene Clark, Jennifer Baxter, and Boyd Banks
George A. Romero's long-awaited return to the genre he invented. (Universal)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
The latest installment could well be Romero's masterpiece. Taking full advantage of state-of-the-art makeup and visual effects, he has a more vivid canvas at his disposal, not to mention two decades worth of pent-up observations about American society.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Romero's newest is a horror movie for hard-core fans of the gory and the gruesome and a classic genre film for genre aficionados.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
One of the enormous pleasures of genre filmmaking is watching great directors push against form and predictability, as Mr. Romero does brilliantly in Land of the Dead. One thing is for sure: You won't go home hungry.
Read Full Review >Premiere Aaron Hillis
Land of the Dead is Romero's long-awaited masterpiece, a slyly suspenseful and droll thrill-ride that expounds on both the highbrow and the chewed-off-brow concepts of his previous trilogy, then flippantly dismisses the cheap scare tactics of the control-pad generation's gimmicky genre knockoffs.
Read Full Review >Variety Justin Chang
George A. Romero shows 'em how it's done in Land of the Dead, resurrecting his legendary franchise with top-flight visuals, terrific genre smarts and tantalizing layers of implication.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Romero easily commands an enormous cast, a plethora of action sequences and a cornucopia of special effects -- some of them very gory -- and creates one darkly dazzling image after another that allows Land of the Dead to emerge without any nudging whatsoever as a bleakly humorous, hard-charging allegory.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
As the ghouls evolve toward humanity and the humans toward ghouldom, we can appreciate Romero for using horror to show us How We Live Now, and How We're Living Dead now, too.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The social commentary isn't subtle, but Romero delivers the goods so effectively that many won't even notice.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
Land of the Dead is huge. It's Romero doing what he does best: using zombies to create a lowbrow social parable. It shows up junk like "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" for the brainless pap it is. And it's got something that even the best previous "Dead" films have lacked: good acting.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
The satire is headline-fresh, the action scenes keep pace with summer blockbusters, and no one shoots an evisceration with as much skill.
Read Full Review >Empire Kim Newman
Inventive suspense, spiky characters, outrageous horror and wicked satire. Welcome back, George - you've been away too long.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Hopper, unsurprisingly, devours scenery like he's already dead and loving it, but for once his penchant for overacting is overshadowed by the real stars of Romero's world: They're dead, they're all messed up, but it's great to finally have them back in town.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Staff (Not Credited)
Land is pure entertainment and superbly well done. It is not as scary as it is gross, and its grossness is so outrageously graphic (hint: don't seat yourself next to a zombie at your next barbecue) that it is laugh-out-loud funny.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Brains! Brains! Why can't they make a zombie movie with brains? This is one. Romero has given us, as well as the zombies, a lot to chew on.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
It's fairly solid fun, though, without breaking any new ground, just as January's remake of "Assault on Precinct 13" was.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand
Oddly enough, though Land of the Dead is more clever and grand than Romero's early classics, it is not as haunting.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Romero finds still new and entertaining ways for unspeakably disgusting things to happen to the zombies and their victims.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
The master is back, and there's no shortage of exploding brain matter -- or fun -- to be had in the theaters this weekend.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Brad Wheeler
Land of the Dead is a horror flick, but not a screamy one -- the booming soundtrack pumps up the drama, and the gore induces squirms, but zombies more titillate than anything.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Romero isn't a subtle filmmaker -- the sociopolitical underpinnings of his DEAD films have always been brutally clear -- but LAND is alive with subtle touches.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Romero's fourth entry, turns out to be his most conventional as an action thriller--though it's every bit as gory as the others and more clearly class-conscious.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
A perfectly adequate horror romp, but it's hard to imagine anyone remembering it five years from now.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
Romero's fourth-grade dialogue doesn't help matters, but anyone seeking out the latest achievements in cranial ruptures, spewing-blood gouts, and ground-beef spillage need look no further.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
If the Star Wars movies have taught us anything, it's that waiting 20 years for a new sequel by a guy named George can lead to disappointment.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Land of the Dead is fairly intense. Intensely gory and violent, that is, as has come to be expected from the genre. It's just not very frightening. Not half as frightening as, say, last year's "Dawn of the Dead."
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Land falls well short of the greatness of Romero’s previous zombie efforts.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Looks and feels like someone else's better-made schlock.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
In Land of the Dead there are virtually no good parts. The movie is listless and uninspired.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Too bad the plot held no surprises and the acting no revelations. No actor could be said to stand out and the movie never acquires much tension or momentum.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 84 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Shane A. gave it a6:
One of Romero's worest films. I respect him as a director fully because he has the ability to make a horror movie with an actual meaning behind it but this was just an overrated flick. He had a lot of well known actors yet they just couldn't act. He had an exciting plot but it just wasn't exciting. This movie sounded good on paper but I think I'll stick to liking his earlier works.
Essej gave it a10:
Anonymous said: "I'm sorry, but when did zombie movies have underlying political messages." I'm sorry, since Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. So... since the beginning.
Jonathan S. gave it a9:
Oh please "Anonymous", and anyone else out there so ignorantlycomplaining-- ever since 1968 with Romero's original, zombie movies OF COURSE have freaking political messages and commentary. Ever since Night of the Living Dead, political and social commentary and allegories have become a trademark of the better horror movies, and is certainly an expected tradition. Anyone who doesn't honestly know that must have little to no knowledge of horror whatsoever. And did you even watch this movie? The zombies **SPOILER** freaking evolved to be able to use guns and run, not to mention communicate, so how did were they "the speed out a one legged Zebra" (which doesn't even make sense, learn to check your reviews). This film, while not a hallmark like Romero's original trilogy, proves that the zombie master can still make relevant and exciting zombie films, all while blowing rip-off filmmakers out of the water. No matter how many 28 Days Later and Romero remakes people out there make, there is still only going to be one master.
[Anonymous] gave it a1:
I'm sorry, but when did zombie movies have underlying political messages. I didn't want to see "Mr.Smith goes to Raccoon city". I wanted to see a genuinely scary movie, but there was nothing about it. It tried to have the aspects a modern day "fast paced" horror movie by having zombies jump out of the darkness, while the zombies were still the speed out a one legged Zebra. There was no mood or atmosphere to the movie like Night of the Living Dead had. That movie didn't even have the budget to shot people getting shot in the head and it was still terrifying. [***Spoiler***] At the end we all discover that deep down inside the zombies, they do have a little human in them after all........brains, skin and the little fleshy lining you have on your hamstring.
Randy M. gave it a9:
An utterly breathtaking piece of film genius. Yes, it is indeed an awesome zombie flick, but you have to look beyond and see the political message that the director is trying to convey. Romero once again shows us why he's one of the greatest directors ever.
R D. gave it an8:
Very good zombie. not so tense but very gory and smart. Cool move by Romero to show that Zombies can think too. big Daddy is great.
Jay D. gave it a9:
One of the best horror movie i've ever seen since 28 days later.
