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Land of the Dead
Universal Pictures


6.6

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 84 votes
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FILM:

George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

MPAA 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)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Drama \| Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	George A. Romero
DIRECTED BY:	George A. Romero
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 18, 2005 Video: October 18, 2005 Theatrical: June 24, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	93 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Canada / France / USA

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...

100

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.

100

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.

100

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.

100

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.

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.

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.

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

The social commentary isn't subtle, but Romero delivers the goods so effectively that many won't even notice.

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.

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.

Empire Kim Newman

Inventive suspense, spiky characters, outrageous horror and wicked satire. Welcome back, George - you've been away too long.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Romero finds still new and entertaining ways for unspeakably disgusting things to happen to the zombies and their victims.

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.

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.

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.

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.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's not startling or frightening enough.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A perfectly adequate horror romp, but it's hard to imagine anyone remembering it five years from now.

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.

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.

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."

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Land falls well short of the greatness of Romero’s previous zombie efforts.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Looks and feels like someone else's better-made schlock.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

In Land of the Dead there are virtually no good parts. The movie is listless and uninspired.

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.

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.

Land of the Dead Universal Pictures

Land of the Dead
Universal Pictures