Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005)

I remember Day of the Dead 2: Contagium being released and watching the reaction unfold from a distance. There was initial curiosity, mostly because of that title. A sequel to George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead was something that instantly caught the attention of horror fans, and people wondered whether there might actually be something worthwhile hiding behind it.

Then came the backlash. It quickly became clear this wasn’t the sequel people expected, and the reaction was brutal. Fans rejected it, reviews were harsh, and before long Day of the Dead 2: Contagium faded into obscurity as one of those strange franchise entries people either forgot existed or preferred not to acknowledge.

Despite all that, I actually picked up the DVD around the time of release. It then sat unwatched for years, partly because its reputation always followed it. Eventually curiosity got the better of me, and after finally giving it a chance, I have to admit something I really wasn’t expecting.

I didn’t hate it. In fact, I kind of liked it.

Now, there needs to be a massive disclaimer attached to that statement. As a sequel to Day of the Dead, this film has absolutely no right to exist. Romero’s original was an intelligent, bleak and thoughtful examination of humanity falling apart. It explored control, power, scientific morality and whether humans themselves were becoming a bigger threat than the dead outside.

Contagium is not that film. It doesn’t have the same ideas, the same atmosphere or the same understanding of what made Romero’s work so effective. As a direct continuation, it completely fails. However, as a standalone low-budget infection horror film featuring zombie-like creatures, it is nowhere near as bad as I expected.

That doesn’t mean it is secretly brilliant. It is still cheap, messy and flawed, but there is a difference between a bad movie made cynically and a bad movie where people were clearly trying. Day of the Dead 2: Contagium feels like the latter. The biggest surprise for me was that, after a while, I actually managed to forget what it was supposed to be. Once I stopped thinking about the impossible expectations created by the title, I found myself getting into the film more than anticipated.

The setup has an unusual feel to it. At times, it almost plays like something between Crazy People or The Dream Team mixed with the later 2008 version of Day of the Dead. That is an odd combination, and not everything works, but there was enough personality there to keep me interested.

A large reason for that is the characters. For a film with such a poor reputation, I expected very little, but characters like Dromwyn, Eve, Vicky and Patty are surprisingly well realised. The performances are mostly solid, the actors work well together, and there is genuine chemistry between them. It would have been very easy for this type of film to populate itself with disposable victims waiting for the inevitable outbreak, but there is at least an attempt to give everyone a personality and a reason for being there.

The villains are much less subtle and border on cartoonishly evil, but strangely that helps create distance between this and the movie it is supposedly connected to. The more Contagium does its own thing, the easier it becomes to accept. The film also deserves some credit for its approach to gore. Not every effect works and the limitations of the budget are obvious, but the ambition is there. It attempts some fairly elaborate moments and, while the results vary, there is something admirable about the effort.

From a technical standpoint, it is also quite well made. This isn’t a case of someone grabbing a camera, some friends and a bucket of fake blood just to exploit a recognisable title. The filmmaking itself is competent. There is a little CGI, limited and works for the most part. The sound is clear, shots are properly composed and the score actually works with the action rather than simply existing in the background. During the climax there were even moments, particularly with the use of horns in the soundtrack, where the music genuinely helped build tension. Small things like that show there was more care involved than many people probably give the film credit for.

The biggest issue, and one it could never escape from, is the title. The story takes a small idea associated with Day of the Dead and moves in a completely different direction. Watching it, I found myself wondering whether the original film was ever really the intention. It almost feels like either the writers had never seen Romero’s movie, or this began life as an unrelated infection story before the Day of the Dead connection was added later. Without that title, far fewer people would have watched it in the first place.

In many ways, the existence of Day of the Dead 2: Contagium is more interesting than the film itself.

Looking back at interviews with directors Ana Clavell and James Glenn Dudelson, there appears to be a certain amount of careful positioning around what exactly this movie was supposed to be. The connection to Day of the Dead was obviously useful from a marketing perspective, but there seemed to be some hesitation when addressing whether it was genuinely part of Romero’s universe. Ultimately, it feels like a sequel in name only.

Dudelson, CEO of Taurus Entertainment Company (which had connections to the distribution of the original Day of the Dead) would continue to be involved with several Romero-related projects. These included the 2008 Day of the Dead remake, Day of the Dead: Bloodline, the Syfy Day of the Dead series, and even the unofficial Romero follow-up Creepshow III and subsequent TV series. Whereas Ana Clavell may have stepped away from the industry for many years, although she has since returned with a new film, The Shadows.

So, after avoiding Day of the Dead 2: Contagium for all this time, where do I stand? Honestly, I feel slightly strange admitting that I quite liked it. 

It isn’t a good sequel. It isn’t really a sequel at all. The anger from Romero fans is completely understandable because the title promises something the movie never delivers. But judged as its own strange little infection horror film, I found more to appreciate than expected and enough ambition to make it stand above the completely disposable horror films that surround it. Maybe I just have a high tolerance for rubbish, but I can’t bring myself to wholly dislike this one. Sometimes not judging a book by its cover, or a zombie film by its questionable franchise connection, pays off.

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