Pennsylvania, 1968. “One of our containers is missing”, declares a sombre official at a military location. Soon, soldiers are being torn apart, throats are ripped and an army of the undead are being shot on sight (aim for their heads!!) as fatigued troops fight a losing battle. All this takes place during the opening 10 minutes of Day of the Dead 2: Contagium: a joint effort by directors Ana Clavell and James Glenn Dudelson who appear to have access to Romero’s Day of the Dead title, though there’s little else here to merit comparison to George’s classic.
The script pitches the zombies as virus replicating machines created by a formula which takes DNA and reconstructs and reshapes it – a little added bonus is the flesh-eating fiends are also telepathic which causes major unrest at Ravensfield Memorial hospital. This psychiatric centre for disturbed individuals plays host to a dedicated doctor battling to save the minds and bodies of patients and colleagues alike, but his efforts seem doomed to failure after the deadly container is opened on the Romero ward.
This namecheck only serves to remind us of the real master of the undead, and is followed by some gruesome sfx which consists of sundry disgusting scenes (characters vomiting black goo into their food, tearing and eating of facial sores…. Get the picture?) before a zombie chowdown straight out of Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters.
Ignore the often lame acting and a sometimes muddled screenplay and you may find enough to keep your mind from wandering, but devout students of the undead will probably go straight to olders and betters for their fix.
Clavell’s next venture will be Creepshow 3. The experience gained here should stand her in good stead for such a project.
