Rated: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: “Land of the Dead” is the fourth film in director George A. Romero’s zombie saga, which began way back in 1968 with “Night of the Living Dead.” In this latest installment, the plague of flesh-eating ghouls has overrun most of the planet, leaving mankind to live like refugees in small, walled-off outposts. The film’s ending is something of a letdown, but “Land of the Dead” still manages to offer up plenty of the grisly, blood-soaked moments and underlying social commentary we’ve come to expect from Romero.

Featurettes: The DVD is loaded with featurettes detailing everything from the film’s gruesome zombie effects to “Shaun of the Dead” star Simon Pegg’s trip to the set to meet Romero and film a cameo as one of the living dead. It is cool to witness the process of transforming dozens of extras into the bloodthirsty undead, but the most interesting revelation to come from these behind-the-scenes documentaries might be that Dennis Hopper based his character on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The only featurette that proves uninteresting is “A Day with the Living Dead,” which misses the mark because of a rather unfunny hosting job by star John Leguizamo.

Deleted Scenes: There is a brief montage of deleted scenes, the only one of value being a rather brilliantly filmed zombie attack on a young couple making out in an alleyway. The rest of the material here is mostly extra footage that was obviously trimmed off of already existing scenes.

Commentary: Much like the commentaries he’s done for other DVD editions of his films, Romero’s commentary on “Land of the Dead” is intelligent, witty and insightful. Covering everything from camera work and special effects to how specific plot elements were conceived and realized, the commentary track is an invaluable source for Romero fanatics wishing to trace the evolution of the “Living Dead” series.

Others: A montage of zombie attacks set to symphonic music entitled “Scenes of Carnage,” although an interesting idea, doesn’t really add much to the overall package.

The Bottom Line: Although the film was met with mixed reviews upon its theatrical release, “Land of the Dead” is a fine addition to any horror fan’s collection. Unlike many recent DVD releases in the horror genre, the disc is jam-packed with bonus features that actually enhance the viewing experience.