The remake of the 1979 classic by George A. Romero, Dawn Of The Dead - The Director's Cut from director Zack Snyder sets us up just like the original and uses a similar storyline, while introducing us to brand new characters.

The movie transpires in the city of Everett, Wisconsin, where a mysterious disease is spreading through the population. No one knows who the first victims are, or how the virus started, but anyone bitten by an infected individual dies and is then reborn as the mindless undead. A group of five surviving humans - nurse Ana (Sarah Polley), cop Kenneth (Ving Rhames), ordinary guy Michael (Jake Weber) and expecting parents Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and Luda (Inna Korobkina) seek refuge in a local mall. There they encounter three security guards, CJ (Michael Kelly) and his sidekicks, Terry (Kevin Zegers) and Bart (Michael Barry).

More survivors arrive, swelling the numbers and allowing for more people to be picked off over the course of the film. Some of them are infected and thanks to Ana they figure out that this is some kind of virus that reanimates the dead. We never do learn much about the origin of the virus; you see glimpses of the epidemic on the TV but not much information is given and this all leads to the air of mystery that surrounds the film. The remaining survivors band together and before long it becomes clear that help is not coming, as they are picked off one by one. Soon they realise that they will eventually all die in the mall and so they attempt an escape, their destination being a port where they hope to sail away to a nearby island, which the virus may not yet have reached...

The film ends really abruptly, although there are a few seconds of flashbacks throughout the credits (so don't switch off as soon as the film ends - watch the credits!). This left me feeling somewhat bemused, however not disappointed, as it left me wanting more and left me with questions that will go unanswered - like did any of them manage to survive and, if so, what happened to them? Only you can decide, as when there is no room in hell, the dead walk the earth!

The actual development of the characters itself was okay but there is little in the way of emotion and no time to shed tears over the fallen, as the next zombie attack is always only minutes away. They could have portrayed the shock and horror more, as the characters watch their lives unravel and the world they live in become a feeding ground for zombies. Ana (Polley) who is the first character we meet, plays a good role as a nurse thrown into a nightmare. Michael (Weber) who takes on the role of leader and is the general brains of the bunch, carries you through the film as he persuades this group of misfits to work together. Michael Kelly, who plays CJ, did an excellent job of portraying a man out to save his own skin - even if this means killing everyone else in sight!

There are so many characters that it's inevitable when some are just throwaway, whose sole purpose is to become zombie food and increase the body count. There are a few touching subplots, such as Kenneth's long distance relationship with the man from the gun shop over the street (Andy); they embark on games of chess and messages via eraser boards and binoculars. The boredom leads them to play a twisted game of "spot the celebrity," which is hilarious. Then there are the most disturbing parts, such as Andre's concern over his unborn child.

There are several moments in the movie where you know exactly what's going to happen, yet you still find yourself jumping in the scene anyway. For instance, in one of the infuriating scenes in the movie, a truck full of survivors delivers an obese woman in a wheelbarrow. She's half-alive, half-breathing and it's pretty obvious she's a step away from turning into a zombie. Yet as each person foolishly puts their ear next to her, wondering if she's alive or not, you're sitting there just waiting for the inevitable. The zombies are faster these days, they no longer stumble after their prey like Frankenstein's monster, instead sprinting like Olympic athletes, albeit flesh eating versions! However, I was left wanting to see a closer view of the zombies, as they looked fantastic but the cameras zip past them a little too quickly.

When it comes to the visuals, an explosive and exhilarating opening sets the standard for the rest of the movie. The zombie and special effects are great and just pop right out of the screen at you. Blood and gore is pretty much omnipresent, while the explosions are bright and the blood looks amazingly red. The black and dark shots come across deep and there is no noticeable ghosting. The film is presented in 2.35 widescreen - the same aspect ratio as the DVD release, making it a great conversion to the UMD format.

The audio through the headphones is fairly loud and clear (I had it three notches away from full), however I found myself turning it up when conversations arose between the characters to hear what was being said. I wouldn't recommend just using the PSP speakers, as when doing this I found the audio to be too low, even using the +2 mode. When the helicopter buzzes past you it actually sounds like it moves around you and envelopes you within the film. Everything sounds just as it should; even the guns give a convincing bang, unlike some other films for PSP.

This version is the director's cut of the film and is approximately twenty minutes longer then original, most of this filler being an expansion of dialog between the main characters, giving us more insight into their personalities. Breaking the mould for the complete lack of extras on many UMD releases so far, there are nearly thirty minutes of extras here. There are twelve minutes of deleted scenes straight from the DVD release, which need to be adjusted to fill the whole screen if desired. The menus are easy to navigate and look fairly decent and we have a chapter selection hooray! There are several movie trailers; unfortunately these are text based, which gives you brief outline of film and not full motion film clips.

Dawn Of The Dead - The Director's Cut is another great release for the PSP and a must if you're a fan of this genre, but also a really good watch if your not! Parts are extremely gruesome and make you jump out of your skin, so this is not one to be watched alone if you're a little jumpy or at all if you don't have a strong stomach. However, for those that can take it, you could watch this film time and time again and always find something new to jump at and marvel over. This is a fantastic remake of a classic horror film and one I will definitely be adding to my own collection.

Reviewed by Krista Day for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).