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Film: Day of the Dead II: Contagium
Year: 2005
Director: Ana Clavell and James Glenn Dudelson
Writer: Ana Clavell
Starring: Laurie Baranyay, Stan Klimecko and John F. Henry II
Review:
This film begins in 1968 in Ravenside Military Hospital that is located in Pennsylvania. Something is going on in this hospital. We see a man, played by Michael Moon, in a locker room. His buddy tells him not to do anything stupid. Moon tells him that he won’t. He puts something in his thermal container that he is sneaking out of the hospital. A group of soldiers then enter the hospital. They start to kill off the residents.
We learn that there has been an outbreak of a virus that turns people into zombies. The soldiers are killing everyone, regardless of if they are infected are not. They also are setting up explosives to destroy the rest. Many of the soldiers are killed before they can. Moon makes it out of the hospital, but it shot in a ravine before he can get away. He drops his canister.
The film then shifts to today, five days in the past though. We get some voice-over narration from Justin Ipock. He is talking about something quite morbid. We learn that he is a patient in a mental institution. He has an obsession with death, but will be getting released soon. With him are more patients. There is a man with a horror film obsession, but they are really bad horror films, he is played by Stan Klimecko. He also wears glasses. There is a man who doesn’t feel he should be there, but has bad anger issues played by John F. Henry II. There is also an African-American who is developmentally slow and has issues with seizures; he is played by Julian Thomas. Their doctor who is supervising as they are cleaning is played by Stephan Wolfert.
Thomas finds a canister in the grass while they are cleaning. Wolfert tries to open it, but it has been rusted shut. They go back to the hospital. This place is located on the same location as the hospital we saw in 1968. Ipock is seeing another resident; she is played by Laurie Daranyay. She has issues with cutting herself. She has befriended another resident, played by April Wade. We also learn that she has a crush on her. They are bothered by a resident who is a recovering drug addict; she is played by Jackeline Olivier. They are all brought back into the hospital by a mean orderly, played by Joe C. Marino.
Wolfert is a doctor that uses unorthodox methods that most do not agree with. A nurse played by Samantha Clarke likes what he is doing and thinks he is doing a great job. She states that the doctor who runs the place looks at everything as a project and she doesn’t like it.
We see life in the hospital as the day goes on. Daranyay and Ipock are allowed to have alone time. They are ratted out by Wade and Olivier though. Wolfert tries to help them, but he is over-ruled by his boss, Andreas van Ray. They are stating that they will do a test on Daranyay to ensure they did not have sexual relations during their meeting. She is being sent to solitary confinement.
Back in their ward, Henry gets upset with Klimecko and Thomas watching a bad horror film. He takes the canister that Thomas found into the bathroom with him. He works on trying to open it. Wolfert brings Ipock back to the ward. Thomas realizes that his canister is missing. Daranyay breaks away and comes to their ward. They all go into the bathroom.
Henry gets it open and the smaller canister inside falls out. It rolls out of the stall he is in and opens up. Everyone in the bathroom is now affected by whatever was inside of it.
They all wake up the next day with the same symptoms. Their skin is peeling, their eyes have become dilated to the max and they now have psychic connections. Wolfert is called into the office of Ray. He informs him that his care plan will be discontinued as he will be taking over. Wolfert is told that he needs to move out of the ward as well.
Ray appears that something like this was expected. There is a plan, but he does not follow it. When Marino is bit, he is quarantined in another room. The others infected become worse and then spread the virus. Kevin Wetmore Jr. is the son of Moon, and he is called in to fill them in on what happened.
Will the hospital be overrun by zombies? Can it be stopped? Is it curable or will it spread before it can be contained?
The best things about this film would be the normal zombies. They look good, move in a realistic way and eating their victims looked pretty realistic, for the most part. I also do not mind that this takes place in a mental hospital, but that is where it ends.
This film has a lot of issues. The story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I don’t get why the zombies that are directly infected are superhuman and end up with spikes on their face. I also don’t know why some of the zombies move fast. Many of the zombies sit around during the ending and I can’t imagine when food moves past they would not go after them. I’m not sure how Daranyay’s character becomes pregnant if she did not have a sexual intercourse with Ipock. There is a lot of questions this film poses, does not answer the and it is coupled with bad acting with a poor screenplay.
I would avoid this film. This one tries to capitalize on Day of the Dead and George Romero’s success, but this film has nothing to do with it. The rules of the zombies do not make sense, the acting is not good, the story is bad and there really isn’t much that redeems for this film. The best is the zombie make-up and how most of the zombies act. The film does have a bit of a gross-out factor. I would definitely avoid this film.
My Rating: 3 out of 10