Review of Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead is aligned with George A. Romero's great film of the same title, but beyond the allusions to Bub and Rhodes, there really is not much to connect them. Indeed, the title seems to refer to the fact that the zombie invasion of the town takes place in just one day (the first James Joyce-inspired zombie series?). The cause of the outbreak is linked to an ancient zombie getting thrown into a pool which then somehow reanimates several long-dead corpses (which are in surprisingly robust shape) joined by a coterie of newly dead victims in addition to some nefarious scientist action. The budget is low and when the zombies are enticed into a cave their number mysteriously reduces quite radically, and visually, some zombie makeup is good, some is not. Yet, the series does feature a bride who reveals super martial arts skills (to fight her own zombified father, no less!), pleasant emotional bonding chats in the face of an impending zombie-induced fate, a gun-toting mayor, and a nod to the original Bub, which is a nice touch and who is very well played by Mike Dopud, who delivers the best performance in the series by far. However, by the end of Season 1 there really does not seem to be anywhere else for the series to go, so it is not clear if Season 2 will be lumbering into view any time soon.