AMC new zombie series ups ante on blood, gore

The expected disclaimer that "this program contains graphic violence" and might not be suitable for all viewers precedes episodes of "The Walking Dead," AMC's new zombie drama.

The warning might seem a little redundant, as the show is called "The Walking Dead" and is about zombies.

But this disclaimer means it: "The Walking Dead" (Sunday, 8 p.m.) is probably the most gory thing that's ever been produced and aired for commercial TV, and aside from maybe "True Blood" and "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," "Walking Dead" doesn't have a lot of pay-cable rivals for gruesome violence ("Dexter" has a lot of blood, but next to "The Walking Dead," it looks like a pinprick).

For some, that will be the good news: What's a zombie show without ickiness? And "The Walking Dead" has plenty of it — blood gushing from heads, bodies trailing entrails, and one especially memorable bit of ax-chopping in the second episode.

Most of the carnage happens to the zombies, the victims of some mysterious virus that has turned them into the walking dead, which often makes them sitting ducks for the running, gun-toting living (a shot in the head stops a zombie in its tracks).

Get the zombies in a group, though, and it becomes tough for the living to escape the mob. (Fans of fast-moving zombies should check out the darkly satirical miniseries "Dead Set," in which zombies invade the set of a "Big Brother"-style reality show; IFC is airing all five episodes in a marathon beginning at 5:30 p.m. MDT Sunday.)

As most people who have been salivating in anticipation of "The Walking Dead" know, the series is based on a series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, and produced by Frank Darabont, best-known as the director of "The Shawshank Redemption." That movie alone made Darabont a notable director, but nobody ever accused his work of being fast-paced, and Sunday's Darabont-directed premiere of "The Walking Dead," which fills a 90-minute time slot, is longer and slower than it needs to be (although it does have a great climax).

AMC sent two episodes for review, and the second one — directed by Michelle Maxwell McLaren, whose many TV credits include several episodes of AMC's "Breaking Bad" — picks up the pace considerably, especially with the aforementioned chopping scene.