A group of people from various walks of life are trapped in a huge shopping mall as a strange, unknown (and unexplained in the movie) virus turns all outside the mall into the walking dead -- or zombies.
This movie is one of the most graphic, violent movies I have seen in areal long time. They show you just about everything when it comes to the destruction of the zombies. It is not for the weak of heart.
The special effects, and make-up effects are incredible. I have a feeling that when it first came out, it made a good chunk of the audience squirm in their theater seats. They spent a lot of money on the special effects and make-up, and that's a good thing for a movie of this kind.
You can pretty much tell who will make it to the closing credits at the end of the movie because those people have the most development. Some have very little development, and are killed early on, while others make it to about three-quarters of the way through.
Another thing that this movie does well is the action. When the zombies attack, there is no time for the characters they are after or the audience to breathe. A good chunk of the movie takes place in the shopping mall, with the zombies trying to break in to get to the main cast, so there isn't action every five minutes.
The development of the main cast was pretty good. It wasn't perfect, but you understood each character's motives as the movie went on.
One of the things I didn't like was the "Andy" (Bruce Bohne) character. He spent most of the movie on the roof of a building near the shopping mall, and communicated with the main cast through a magic marker board. If you ask me, this character was not needed, as he did nothing for the movie.
As for the soundtrack, it's all modern music with instrumental pieces used to enhance the scare factor, sometimes in a really good way.
If you have a weak stomach, don't see this movie. And do not let young kids see this one. The violence factor is extreme and the imagery is even more graphic.