‘Love means never having to say you’re zombie’
Day of the Dead: Bloodline is a 2017 American horror film written and directed by Hèctor Hernández Vicens (The Corpse of Anna Fritz). It is a “reimagining” of George A. Romero’s 1985 film of the same name.
Actress-turned-producer Christa Campbell co-produced for Millennium Films and Taurus Entertainment Company, the companies that made the 2008 remake. Johnathon Schaech, Sophie Skelton (Stalker) and Marcus Vanco star.
Post-apocalypse: A former medical student is tormented by a dark figure from her past, who happens to be a half-human, half-zombie hell-bent on destroying her…
Reviews:
“Schaech, in his second villainous turn in a misconceived horror reboot after 2008’s Prom Night, has little opportunity to bring shading to the single-minded Max; Gum’s Miguel has none of the maniacal fire of Joseph Pilato’s Captain Rhodes in Romero’s Day; and the lead roles are so colorless that Skelton and Vanco can’t get us to care if the ghouls bite Zoe or chew Baca. (Sorry.)” Rue Morgue
“Overall, Day of the Dead: Bloodline is a bit of a waste of time. On the whole, it’s an alright zombie film with better effects that it has any right to have. Still, it does nothing to improve upon the original so what’s the point of its existence? It’s nowhere near as bad as some would have you believe but it’s nothing special either.” Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life
” …the pace is relentless. I was never bored, and in this day and age of direct to video/streaming titles all clamoring for attention, a film that manages to genuinely entertain is worth noting. While at some point there may have been the beginnings of a socially relevant zombie opus worthy of carrying the Day of the Dead name, what we have now is at least on par with goofy walking dead shoot-em-ups like Zombi 3.” Bloody Disgusting
“There are a couple of well-constructed action beats and some surprisingly decent makeup work all things considered – but yeah, it’s bad. And it’s mostly boring, which is even worse. The noisy, messy climax isn’t even all that satisfying because the prologue was noisy and messy too, and that happened before you were actively rooting for all the characters to die.” Ready Steady Cut
“Granted, Skelton is the main focus and does a tremendous job going for jogs along perimeter fences (so many times). Otherwise it’s all Bacca’s sneaky suicide missions, leader Miguel (Jeff Gum) throwing his “machismo” around, red shirt lady flip-flopping sides – frankly, names and details don’t matter here. Soldiers fight zombies, and that’s all this movie cares about. Why waste time on the nitty-gritty… aka development?” We Got This Covered
“There are a few well-choreographed action scenes and the makeup work here is actually pretty strong, especially on Max […] The biggest problem with Bloodline is that Zoe is just a dull character, both on the page and as performed. So it’s a film that’s ostensibly about objectifying and possessing women that features a personality-less object as the protagonist, thereby creating a black hole at the center of the film.” RogerEbert.com
“The bland, emotionless acting coupled with the illogical character choices make it hard to root for anyone but the zombies. The visual effects feel cheap despite the budget used to make the film but at least the camera work is solid throughout which helps slightly. With so many zombie films out there, it’s hard to recommend Bloodline to anyone, even the die-hard fans of this genre.” The Review Geek
“It’s almost as if the producers decided the film needed more blood in post-production. Then they added it in as cheaply as possible. The acting is ok if a bit bland with Schaech being an effectively creepy boogeyman, however, Gum fails to capture the over-the-top menace Joe Pilato conveyed in the original.” Voices from the Balcony
Main cast:
Johnathon Schaech … the half-human/half-zombie Max – The Forsaken; 8mm 2; Prom Night; Quarantine
Sophie Skelton
Marcus Vanco
Jeff Gum – Exeter; The Vault
Lorina Kamburova – Nightworld; Leatherface
Nick Loeb
Rachel O’Meara
Debbie Sherman
Luke Cousins
Nathan Cooper
Cristina Serafini
Release:
In the UK, Lionsgate released Day of the Dead: Bloodline on DVD and Digital Download on 15 October 2018.
Film Facts:
Earlier script drafts of the project were by Mark Tonderai (House at the End of the Street) and Lars Jacobson.
Trailer:
