Is Land of the Dead Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot
Yes, 5 out of 10. It's a zombie siege with a lot of messy bites and a few jumps, plus a plot about who gets the high-rise.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
5 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Low
You'll be fine by morning, apart from a slight suspicion of gas station attendants.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, though dogs are said to have been fed to zombies in the past.
Ruling: The rich get a high-rise and everyone else gets a fence in this zombie siege, so keep the lights on.
Land of the Dead runs ninety-three minutes and takes place in Pittsburgh, which has become a walled city with a luxury high-rise in the middle and an electrified fence on one side. The zombies outside have started behaving intelligently, which puts them ahead of the feudal government.
The premise, briefly
Years after the zombie apocalypse, Pittsburgh is a walled city run by a plutocrat, and Riley, who designed its armored scavenging truck, gets sent to take it back after it's stolen.
How much do you want to know?
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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
Big Daddy leads the zombies into the city and kills Kaufman and Cholo with an exploding propane tank. Riley sees the zombies leaving the survivors alone, spares them in turn, and heads for Canada with his group.
The scene you're dreading
The zombies breaching the fence and overrunning the city near the end. People get devoured as the horde spreads, and Riley's group fires missiles to mercy-kill some of the people being eaten.
The dog
No dog dies in Land of the Dead. Dogs and cats are mentioned as having been fed to zombies in the past, but that is never shown.
Land of the Dead is a gory zombie siege with a few jumps, and knowing Big Daddy lets the surviving humans go takes the edge off the last act.
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
The rich get a high-rise, everyone else gets the smell
Some years after the zombie apocalypse, what is left of human civilization lives in fenced city-states across North America. Pittsburgh is one of them. Rivers cover two sides of it, a militia guards an electrified fence on the third, and the suburbs outside are empty except for zombies. Inside, the wealthy have a luxury high-rise named Fiddler's Green and everyone else gets squalor. Paul Kaufman, a plutocrat, controls all the commerce in the city, and the government around him is feudal. He also owns Dead Reckoning, an armored vehicle that can drive through zombie territory without much trouble.
Riley Denbo designed Dead Reckoning and commands it. His crew drives it out to scavenge food and medicine for the city, plus luxury goods to barter with. They notice that some zombies are acting intelligently, especially a former gas station attendant called Big Daddy. A rookie named Mike is bitten while grabbing scattered cigarettes, and he takes his own life rather than turn after Riley shoots the zombie. Afterward Riley retires from commanding the vehicle, because he wants to leave for Canada once his car is repaired. His car turns out to be missing, so he visits Chihuahua, a pimp whose men were meant to be fixing it. There he finds Slack, a woman the guests are watching get shoved into a cage of zombies for fun. Riley and his friend Charlie rescue her, Charlie kills Chihuahua in the chaos, and the three are arrested. Slack explains that Kaufman ordered her execution for helping a resistance leader named Mulligan.
Cholo's apartment application is denied
Cholo helped Kaufman get rid of his political enemies and still can't get an apartment in Fiddler's Green. He steals Dead Reckoning and threatens to destroy the high-rise unless Kaufman pays him five million dollars. Kaufman sends Riley, Charlie and Slack to get the vehicle back. Riley approaches it alone, and Cholo holds him and Charlie at gunpoint, once he works out who sent them. Cholo is about to launch the missiles at Fiddler's Green when Riley disables the weapons from a distance. Motown, who works for Kaufman, opens fire and nearly kills Riley and Cholo before a zombie bites him and Slack finishes him. Riley asks Cholo to come along, but Cholo wants to confront Kaufman. On the way he is bitten by a zombie, and Riley takes Dead Reckoning back to Fiddler's Green.
Big Daddy has had enough of the fence
This is the scene people dread most, and it comes near the end. Big Daddy leads a crowd of zombies across the river and into the city. They break through the perimeter fence, overwhelm the border guards and pour into Pittsburgh. Expect a crowd of zombies on the move and people being devoured as they spread. Riley's group manages to escape, and they fire missiles at the zombies attacking the people they can see, as a mercy to the ones being eaten. The ones we follow get out of it, and the scene is the city falling apart around them.
The ending, explained
Kaufman runs, runs into Cholo (now a zombie) in the parking garage, and Big Daddy kills them both with an exploding propane tank. Mulligan turns up with most of the poor people, whom he rescued, and he and Riley say goodbye before their groups go separate ways. Riley watches Big Daddy lead the zombies away from the city without hurting the survivors, and decides to leave them alone as well, since they are also looking for somewhere safe. Riley's group lights the last of the fireworks and leaves for Canada in Dead Reckoning.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits, so staying to check is your call.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, though dogs are said to have been fed to zombies in the past.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Land of the Dead scary?
Yes. Land of the Dead is a 5 out of 10: a gory zombie siege with some jump scares and low dread, which fades once the credits roll.
How does Land of the Dead end?
Big Daddy kills Kaufman and Cholo with an exploding propane tank. Riley then spares the zombies, who are only looking for sanctuary, and his group leaves for Canada in Dead Reckoning.
Does the dog die in Land of the Dead?
No dog dies in Land of the Dead. It is mentioned that live dogs and cats were fed to zombies in the past, but that is never shown.
Is there a post-credits scene in Land of the Dead?
Nobody has confirmed either way, so Land of the Dead may or may not have one.
Why do the zombies in Land of the Dead act differently?
Some zombies in Land of the Dead are shown behaving intelligently, and Big Daddy, a former gas station attendant, leads them across the river into Pittsburgh. Riley concludes that they only want sanctuary of their own.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of Land of the Dead is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You can find out how Land of the Dead ends without sitting through the siege. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur horror before you see it.
