Day of the Dead: Bloodline

Lore & Background

The film was announced on July 10, 2014, with producers Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman obtaining the rights. Campbell, who had a small role in the 2008 remake, stated the goal was to keep it close to the Romero version. Filming began in June 2016. The plot centers on medical student Zoe Parker, who survives a zombie outbreak and is sent to High Rock Emergency Bunker. Five years later, she works to create a vaccine using the blood of a partially zombified patient, Max, who had previously attacked her.

Reader's Guide

Day of the Dead: Bloodline was released in Vietnam on December 29, 2017, and in the United States on January 5, 2018, via home media by Saban Films and Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an 11% approval rating based on nine reviews. Critics such as Michael Gingold of Rue Morgue called the remake 'a foolish and pointless exercise,' while Brian Tallerico of Rogerebert.com noted a few well-choreographed action scenes but criticized the characters' poor decisions. The film is notable as the second remake of Romero's original, but it failed to achieve critical or popular success.

Did You Know?

• The film is one of two remakes of George A. Romero's 1985 film Day of the Dead; the first was released in 2008.
• Producer Christa Campbell had a small role in the 2008 remake.
• The film was released in Vietnam on December 29, 2017, before its US home media release on January 5, 2018.
• On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 11% approval rating based on nine reviews.

Origins & Production

Day of the Dead: Bloodline occupies a peculiar spot in zombie cinema history as the second remake of George A. Romero's 1985 classic. The first reimagining, simply titled Day of the Dead, had already appeared in 2008, making this 2017 entry a follow-up adaptation of the same source material. The project was greenlit on July 10, 2013, when producers Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman—both of whom had worked on Texas Chainsaw 3D—secured the rights. Campbell, who had even held a small acting role in the 2008 remake, emphasized their commitment to fidelity, stating they wanted to stay as close to Romero's vision as possible and avoid the over-the-top action style of films like World War Z. The team held meetings with potential writers to determine the best adaptation approach before principal photography began in June 2016.

Plot & Narrative Structure

The film is structured around a five-year time jump, beginning with a party at a medical school where a reanimated corpse triggers the outbreak and a disturbed patient named Max attacks medical student Zoe Parker. The narrative then leaps forward to High Rock Emergency Bunker, where survivors have lost all contact with the outside world. Zoe, now a camp doctor alongside her friend Elyse, works to develop a cure using rotter blood samples. The central conflict escalates when a supply run to Whittendale University goes wrong, Max re-enters the compound, and the group must navigate internal tensions between Zoe and Lieutenant Miguel Salazar. The story culminates in a desperate 48-hour window to create a vaccine, a failed test that kills Elyse, and a final confrontation in a greenhouse where Zoe kills Max. The film closes with Zoe curing the bitten Baca and broadcasting a message to remaining survivors.

Cast & Direction

Directed by Hèctor Hernández Vicens, the film assembles an ensemble cast headlined by Sophie Skelton as Zoe Parker, Johnathon Schaech, Marcus Vanco, and Jeff Gum. The narrative distributes its focus across a group of bunker survivors—including Baca, Frank, Lucy, Derek, Thomas, and the young patient Lily—rather than centering on a single protagonist, a choice that mirrors the communal structure of Romero's original. The antagonist Max, a partially reanimated patient with an obsessive fixation on Zoe, provides a recurring personal threat that contrasts with the broader zombie horde. The film's action sequences, while noted by some critics as well-choreographed, are set against a backdrop of increasingly desperate and often fatal decision-making by the group. The ensemble approach means that characters enter and exit the story at different points, with Frank, Thomas, Elyse, Derek, and Lucy all meeting violent ends as the compound's defenses crumble.

Reception & Legacy

Day of the Dead: Bloodline met with overwhelmingly negative critical reception upon its release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a mere 11 percent approval rating based on nine reviews, with an average score of 3 out of 10. Critics consistently measured the film against Romero's 1985 original and found it wanting. Michael Gingold of Rue Morgue dismissed the very premise of a second remake as a foolish and pointless exercise, while describing the film's thematic content as strictly and tediously standard-issue. Brian Tallerico of Rogerebert.com offered a slightly more generous star-and-a-half, acknowledging a few well-choreographed action set pieces but ultimately expressing frustration at watching characters he felt no connection to make really stupid decisions. The film's release strategy—debuting in Vietnam on December 29, 2017, before arriving in the United States via home media through Saban Films and Lionsgate Home Entertainment on January 5, 2018—suggests a limited theatrical footprint, and its critical reception has cemented its status as the less-remembered of the two Romero adaptations.