SCAREDY CAT'S FILE

Is Day of the Dead Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot

Rating: 5
Author: Scaredy Cat

Yes, 5 out of 10. It's a siege in an underground bunker, and the gore is the loudest thing in it.

THE SCARE SIGNAL

SCARE SCORE

5 /10

DREAD LEVEL

Low

The fear fades by the time the credits finish, since nothing in it follows you home.

DOG

Dog: fine

fine, no dog dies.

Ruling: Fine if you can handle gore, but eat first. The soldiers are worse company than the zombies.

Day of the Dead runs 101 minutes, and nearly all of them take place in an underground missile bunker in the Florida Everglades. Scientists and soldiers share it, and they agree on nothing, including what to do about the zombies.

The premise, briefly

Seven years into a zombie apocalypse, scientists and soldiers share an underground bunker, and the lead scientist is trying to teach the captive zombies manners.

How much do you want to know?

The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.

CUT TO THE CHASE

How it ends

Miguel opens the fence and lets hundreds of zombies into the bunker. Rhodes is torn apart while Bub shoots him and salutes, and Logan is already dead. John, Sarah and Bill escape in the helicopter to a tropical island.

The scene you're dreading

Near the end, Miguel opens the perimeter fence and the zombies surround him on the missile elevator platform. You will see them tear at him, and then he lowers the whole crowd into the bunker, which is how the bunker falls.

The dog

No dog dies in Day of the Dead, and no other animal does either.

It is a gory siege with jump scares, and the humans in the bunker are worse company than the zombies.

THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN

How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.

What actually happens

Seven years in, still no cure

Seven years into the zombie apocalypse, a few scientists and soldiers share a missile bunker below ground in the Florida Everglades. The scientists are looking for a way to stop the plague, and the soldiers are there to guard them. Sarah, a doctor, flies out with the soldier Miguel, the radio operator Bill and the pilot John to look for other survivors, and they find only a huge crowd of zombies. Back at the bunker they learn that the officer in charge, Major Cooper, has died. Miguel is in bad shape mentally and snaps at Sarah when she tries to help. Meanwhile the lead scientist, Logan, whom the soldiers call Frankenstein, keeps captive zombies in a corral below ground. He believes they can be trained to behave. Sarah wants a cure instead, and she finds out that Logan has been experimenting on the dead soldiers, including Cooper. She keeps quiet because she fears the soldiers would turn on the scientists.

Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.

Martial law and a pet zombie

Supplies shrink and the research drags on, and the soldiers get meaner, led by the unstable Captain Rhodes. Rhodes announces martial law and gives the scientists only some time to produce results, adding that anyone who gets in his way will be executed. He also threatens to take the soldiers and leave, which would end the scientists' protection, but Logan points out that the soldiers have nowhere to go. Sarah talks it over with John and Bill, who live in an RV tucked away down the tunnels and think her work is pointless. John believes the plague is divine punishment and suggests the three of them steal the helicopter and settle on a desert island. Logan, still hoping to win Rhodes over, introduces Bub, a docile zombie who remembers pieces of his old life and behaves a little like a person. Rhodes is not impressed, and his patience gets shorter.

A roundup and a very bad lunch menu

During a roundup of captive zombies, Miguel loses focus and one escapes its harness, which gets the soldiers Miller and Johnson killed. Miguel tries to kill it, and another zombie bites his arm. With help from John and Bill, Sarah amputates the arm and cauterizes it to stop the infection. Rhodes responds by canceling the experiments and ordering every captive zombie destroyed. Sarah and Bill go to the operating theater for supplies and find that Logan has been working on Miller and Johnson's remains. Bill wants to leave in the helicopter right away. Then Rhodes learns that Logan has been feeding pieces of the dead soldiers to Bub as a reward for good behavior. Rhodes kills Logan, takes the scientists' weapons, kills Logan's assistant Dr. Fisher, and locks Sarah and Bill in the zombie corral. When John refuses to fly him out, Rhodes has Private Steel beat John into line.

A missile elevator with a new job

Down in the lab, Bub works himself loose from his chains, finds Logan's body and mourns him, then picks up a pistol and goes looking for revenge. Elsewhere, Miguel has broken down completely. He goes to the surface and opens the perimeter fence, and hundreds of zombies close in on him on the missile elevator platform. This is the scene people dread most, and it comes near the end: you will see them tear into him, and then he uses the elevator controls to lower the whole crowd into the bunker. It starts with the fence opening and ends with the elevator going down, and all of it happens outside before anyone is in the bunker. John, meanwhile, knocks out Rhodes and Torrez, takes their guns and goes into the corral to get Sarah and Bill out.

The ending, explained

Zombies swarm through the bunker, and Rhodes abandons his men to the horde. Bub chases him down a corridor, Rhodes runs straight into a crowd of zombies, and Bub shoots him in the stomach. Bub gives him a mocking salute while the zombies tear Rhodes apart. Logan, Fisher, Miller and Johnson are already dead by this point. John, Sarah and Bill get to the helicopter and fly off to a tropical island.

The post-credits ruling

Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits.

✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.

Questions people ask at 1am

Is Day of the Dead scary?

Yes, Day of the Dead is a 5 out of 10. It has jump scares and a lot of gore, but the dread is low and fades when the credits roll.

How does Day of the Dead end?

Zombies get into the bunker after Miguel opens the fence, and Rhodes is torn apart by them after Bub shoots him. John, Sarah and Bill escape in the helicopter to a tropical island.

Does the dog die in Day of the Dead?

No dog dies in Day of the Dead, and no other animal dies either.

Is there a post-credits scene in Day of the Dead?

Nobody has confirmed whether Day of the Dead has a scene after the credits.

Who is Bub in Day of the Dead?

Bub is the docile zombie that the scientist Logan trains. He remembers parts of his old life, frees himself from his chains, mourns Logan, and shoots Rhodes.

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