Gory and entertaining, Land Of The Dead is George A Romero's long-delayed fourth film in his zombie franchise. It's not as grim as Night, as smart as Dawn or as exciting as Day, but it still delivers the walking dead goods. Fans of the franchise will appreciate its inventive gore and digs at the US government, but if you've never heard of the series it still works as an above-average actioner. It sure beats hell out of Resident Evil.

It's set in an American state where zombies have virtually overrun the living and survivors live in a fenced city, split between a ruling class, led by the smug Kaufman (Dennis Hopper), and an underclass who struggle in the streets. The status quo is shaken when upstart Cholo (John Leguizamo) steals heavily armed zombie-fighting truck the Dead Reckoning and threatens to do a "jihad" on Kaufman. Glum mercenary Riley (Simon Baker) is sent out to stop him, but he has other plans...

"FEELS A LITTLE HALF-HEARTED"

What starts out as a fascinating look at Romero's expanded apocalyptic world - with raiding parties sent out for supplies and zombies kept as attractions at sideshows - eventually becomes a standard story of a man on a mission. The film eventually feels a little half-hearted, caught between Romero's rage at the state of the real world and the need for an upbeat ending. But there are plenty of striking images - the semi-decapitated zombie slaying, the zombies in the river - to send you shivering into the night.