When There's No More Room in Hell ...

... the dead will walk to the local video store for a copy of the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. This movie is on a long list of recent releases that I never got to see in the theater. (I did finally get to see Spiderman 2—about a week and a half ago.) When the ten-minute promo for DotD appeared on TV last spring, I was eager to see it. And now I can—on October 26th, when the DVD is released. Gratification, prepare to be delayed. Meanwhile, I've been feeding my inner zombie with recent DVD versions of the original Dawn of the Dead and lesser but still must-see Day of the Dead.

What's the appeal of zombie movies? Don't ask me. Who do I look like, Fellini? Seriously, though, Stephen King compared the dark side of human nature to a hungry alligator that lives under the trapdoor in the floor of your brain. Every once in a while, he said, you have to lift that trapdoor and feed the gator. If you don't, sooner or later it's gonna crawl out looking for food. And when my inner gator starts growling for its supper, there's nothing better to feed it than a zombie movie.

Now it looks like George Romero is gearing up for another chapter this year, Land of the Dead. I hope he gets a decent budget this time.