Land of the Dead (formerly known as Dead Reckoning) (2005) is the name for the fourth installment of the Living Dead zombie movie series. The movie was shot in Toronto, Ontario, despite director George A. Romero's wishes to continue the series in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The movie began filming on October 11, 2004, and was partially credited to fans, according to Romero, who kept on requesting he do another zombie movie. The film was shot in 42 days.

The movie is the fourth in the series, started by Night of the Living Dead, and continued with the sequels Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.

It is the first movie in the series to receive an MPAA rating for its theatrical release. Romero had said for years that he would film two versions; an R rated cut for the theatres and first DVD, and an unrated cut for the second DVD release. Both DVDs were released in the US on October 18 2005. Rumors suggested that Romero shot alternate, less explicit, gore scenes for the theatrical release, but this is not entirely accurate. The more extreme instances of gore were obscured by foreground elements filmed on bluescreen, so that these overlayed elements could be easily removed for the unrated DVD. Other ways to obscure blood in order to get an R-rating were achieved by simply trimming the grislier shots by a few seconds, or by digitally repainting blood so that it is more black than red, or digitally painting the blood out altogether. The Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario gave both the theatrical version and DVD version a rating of 18A. In the UK the BBFC gave it a 15 certificate for both the theatrical and unrated versions.

In an interview, Romero jokingly said that he would like to do a film where Zombies existed as a part of everyday life and people went on with their normal lives with Zombie Patrol.

Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have cameos as zombies, based on Romero's love of their heartfelt zombie send-up Shaun of the Dead. Tom Savini can also be briefly seen as a zombie (credited as "Machete Zombie"), reprising his character Blades from Dawn of the Dead.

The script for the movie was released on the Internet, but was removed after Universal Studios took action

Some time ago, an unimaginable catastrophe destroyed much of human civilization. The recently dead, for an unknown reason, had returned to life and taken the lives of their living brothers and sisters. These "zombies" multiplied rapidly by adding to their ranks with every new victim. Many years later, the dead greatly outnumber the living. The remnants of humanity have fled to a large city, where a feudal like government has taken hold. Bordered on one side by a large river and on the other by an electric barricade, the city has become a sanctuary against the undead threat. Fiddler's Green, the center of this fortress city, is where the rich and powerful live in luxury while the rest of humanity live in poverty around them. Paul Kaufman rules with an iron fist and overwhelming firepower.

In order to ensure his dominance and upscale lifestyle, Kaufman financed the construction of Dead Reckoning, a tank-like vehicle that can venture out into the world with relative ease. Riley Denbo, both the designer and commander of Dead Reckoning, has recently retired. Unlike Kaufman, Riley is respected by the citizens of the fortress city for his work to protect them from a dangerous world. However, after a series of incidents, Riley winds up in jail with his best friend Charlie Houk, a member of the Dead Reckoning team, and Slack, a hooker with a heart of gold.

Meanwhile, Cholo DeMora, the second in command of the Dead Reckoning team, having been turned away by Kaufman from buying an apartment in Fiddler's Green, has gone renegade. Having his dreams shattered by Kaufman, Cholo is out to even the score. He threatens to destroy Fiddler's Green with the Dead Reckoning unless his demands are met. Kaufman turns to Riley to stop Cholo from exacting his revenge. As Riley finally catches Cholo he convinces him to allow him to take Dead Reckoning and leave the city to head north, leaving Cholo and an unamed friend with a truck to go west but shortly after this Cholo is bitten by a zombie. Riley and his crew then notice fires in the city and head back to try and save the city.

Meanwhile, in the zombie-infested outside world, something unusual is going on. The zombies seem to have resumed their pre-dead existences — a former brass band blows ineffectively on their aging horns, a cheerleader carries her pom-poms, a dead couple walk hand-in-hand. A leader has risen among their ranks, as well. A former gas station attendant who continues to shamble out to the pumps every time a fellow zombie rings the bell, "Big Daddy" takes center stage as the zombie protagonist. Unusually aware and intelligent, Big Daddy (in a continuance of the "Bub" plotline from Day of the Dead) teaches his fellow zombies how to use firearms and overcome some of the rudimentary human defenses. The zombies are beginning to learn, adapt, and even to communicate with rudimentary moans and grunts. In retaliation for the constant raids carried out by Dead Reckoning, Big Daddy ultimately leads the zombies in a massive assault on the human city with the center of the carnage taking place at Fiddler's Green. Kaufman witnesses his kingdom coming to pieces before his very eyes as the zombies overcome the humans in a bloody massacre. As the zombies overtake the city, the humans discover the defenses used to keep the zombies out have become walls to keep them in.

As retribution after being shot by Kaufman, Big Daddy trails the fleeing despot to an underground garage where Kaufman plans to escape in a Lincoln Continental. Big Daddy finds Kaufman's car next to a gas pump and, in a moment of zombie revelation, begins pumping gas into the cab through a hole in the windshield. Apparently satisfied, he lumbers out of the garage.

Now a member of the undead, Cholo has located Kaufman. Suprisingly Cholo seems to have retained some intelligence by shooting at Kaufman before grappling with him, Cholo prepares to carry out his revenge with an infective bite. However, Big Daddy is not finished and displays his zombie intelligence once again when he rolls a burning object toward Kaufman's gasoline-soaked vehicle. It explodes, finishing both Kaufman and the undead Cholo.

Meanwhile, Denbro and Dead Reckoning have fought to free the inhabitants of the now-overtaken city. At the electric fence, the crew discovers a massacre; with nowhere to run, impoverished and elite alike became a walking dead smorgasbord. Destroying the fence, however, the crew finds that most of the city's lower-class inhabitants had hidden elsewhere and were unharmed.

After the zombies destroy the class system created by Kaufman by killing most of the city's elite ranks, the playing field is leveled and both sides are left to rebuild. The final line in the film suggests that humans may finally be able to accept, and live in, a world that includes zombies.

In an interview with MovieHole.net on November 29, 2005 George A. Romero said that he would like to do a sequel of the movie. He also stated that he doesn't want the movie released direct to video but instead will aim for a theatrical release.