The third--and possibly the final--entry in George Romero's DEAD series, 1985's DAY OF THE DEAD was initially panned by both critics and horror fans. Many complained that, in spite of the much improved special FX, the film did not live up to the creepiness and the literacy of the groundbreaking first film of the trilogy, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), nor was its content equal to the offbeat humor and satirical subtext of the second film, DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978). Thus, it was simply written off as another exercise in shock value. But in the time that has passed since the initial release of DAY OF THE DEAD, many fans and critics alike have grown to regard the film as a worthy entry in the series, with many claiming it has become their favorite of the three.DAY OF THE DEAD is a claustrophobic character study set almost entirely in a secured underground military bunker. The story picks up some months after the end of DAWN OF THE DEAD, with the earth now nearly overrun by the flesh-eating corpses (one character estimates that the zombies outnumber the "normals" by circa 400,000 to 1). Military personnel have been assigned to the bunker with orders to protect and assist the group of scientists there who are experimenting on zombies in order to find a "solution" for the pandemic. However, much time has passed already with few results, and the assignment is taking its toll on the soldiers. When the Major in charge of the unit dies, the next in rank, an unbalanced Captain named Rhodes, takes over the project with the intention of shutting it all down and bugging out. The scientists resist, of course, as do the few civilians under the scientists' employ, and the resulting strife just might result in the annihilation of these last vestiges of the human race.
Contrary to initial criticism of DAY OF THE DEAD, the film's characterization is strong, literate, and fairly unidealistic, and the matter-of-fact socio-political subtext of the plot--though it might be a somewhat cliché SF theme--is actually a quite believable, hard-boiled reflection of the real-world tension between science and the military. And, yes, there is something for the gore hounds, too. Romero's long-time FX man, Tom Savini, does some of his most sophisticated work in DAY OF THE DEAD, with some of the most shocking grotesqueries saved for the final reel.
The performances in DAY OF THE DEAD are actually some of the best in the three-film series. Lori Cardille's emotive portrayal of the hard-as-nails heroine--a scientist named Sarah, who is the only woman in the enclave of "normals"--is fantastic, and Joseph Pilato creates a truly frightening portrait of a draconian martial megalomaniac. Richard Liberty is also delightful as Dr. Logan, the "mad" scientist whose experiments on the zombies are so extremely over the edge that the soldiers have nicknamed him "Frankenstein." Actor Terry Alexander delivers a standout performance as John, a civilian helicopter pilot who is also a pacifist and therefore avoids assisting the military half of their troupe as much as possible. And equally outstanding is Sherman Howard's (a.k.a. Howard Sherman) warm and sympathetic characterization of Bub, a benign zombie that Dr. Logan has "domesticated."
In short, DAY OF THE DEAD makes a worthy finale to Romero's bellwether DEAD series, despite its initial rejection by fans and critics. The socio-political subtext, while not overly subtle, is interesting and realistic, as are the characters in the film. And DAY OF THE DEAD offers up lots of cool make-up FX for the gore freaks in the audience.
The two-disc Divimax Special-Edition DVD from Anchor Bay is a must-own for Romero fans. It offers a beautifully crisp and clean digital transfer of the film--of even better quality than Anchor Bay's previous release--with two great optional feature commentaries (one that includes Romero, Savini, and actress Lori Cardille). The second disc is chock-full of other goodies, including an all new 39-minute documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew about the making of the film, a behind-the-scenes featurette, tons of trailers and TV spots, artwork galleries, and much more! Definitely worth the price of admission.
But no matter...it's creepy, apocalyptic nightmare that probes a primal fear, i.e. being eaten. It's quite well-acted (in a yelling and screaming sort of way) in spite of its other shortcomings. Lori Cardille and Jarlath Conroy stand out; too bad they haven't done more film work (both are very active in indie/theater work). Josef Pilato has gone on to character roles, including Dean Martin in "Pulp Fiction".
One note regarding the special effects...they're *really* disturbing, especially Sarah's field surgery upon Miguel. But people don't pull apart or break quite so easily.
It's well worth seeing. If you can still find it, buy it. The extras (including a home video "making of" documentary) are compelling.
Buy Day of the Dead (1985) Now
Day of the Dead, thanks to its tumultuous production history (Romero's original script had to be drastically rewritten because of budgetary constraints), falls short of the tremendous heights that Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead reached. However, ranked alongside many other '80s horror films, Day of the Dead actually holds up remarkably, looking fresh and smart, and the writing hasn't dated all that much. It is still a very effective post-apocalyptic vision that the film offers, whose ideological complexity can match modern works like The Matrix.The acting is weaker than in Dawn of the Dead -Joe Pilato takes the most obvious route by playing Rhodes as a megalomaniacal villain, right down to his extremely conscious enunciation of his lines, which actually detracts from the effectiveness of the character. (In Night of the Living Dead, for example, the character of Cooper had added power because we understand his fear) Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander and Jarlath Conroy are quite good, however, and Tom Savini's special effects are convincing as always, this time enhanced by Michael Gornick's dark cinematography. Visually the film creates its own niche, just as Night of the Living Dead had its stark black-and-white, low-budget, high-contrast look and Dawn of the Dead went for a garish, exaggerated colour which is almost uncinematic, alluding to comic books and paintings.
One can't help but feel that the true Living Dead series (the Return of the Living Dead series, for the record, has nothing to do with Romero and his original vision, or even the tone of the true Living Dead films) could have used an even bigger closing statement - the ending of Day of the Dead feels slapped together and a cheap cop-out. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that this is still horror filmmaking by a master of the genre.
The DVD edition includes a documentary which, though interesting (a 1985 behind-the-scenes doc!), leaves out much that is important -nothing on the preproduction of the film; no intimate looks at any of the stars and major above-the-line crew (Joe Pilato is the only one we get close to -no Romero, no Cardille, no Alexander or Conroy, no Gornick). For a better look behind the scenes, hunt for the deleted book The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh or one of Savini's memoirs.
Read Best Reviews of Day of the Dead (1985) Here
George A. Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD proves once and for all that when it comes to making horror movies about the dead coming back to life and chowing down on the living, Romero is the best there is. Hell, DAY OF THE DEAD makes all other zombie movies, especially Lucio Fulci's excellent zombie movies, look like child's play. My favorite character was Bub, played to perfection by Howard Sherman; his moments, including his discovery of Beethoven, are the best moments in the whole movie. Isn't that interesting, having a zombie as my favorite character in a zombie movie? Yet that makes sense considering most of the other characters in the film; however, Joe Pilato was great as Captain Rhodes, and the late Richard Liberty stole it as Dr. "Frankenstein" Logan. I also liked John the Jamaican helicopter pilot, played by Terry Alexander, who is the most sympathetic human character; his speech to Sarah (Lori Cardille, daughter of the reporter in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, Chilly Billy) about the zombie situation is the most intelligent moment in any horror movie. Gary Klar also steals the show with his performance as nasty Private Steel.Ah, but the gore in DAY OF THE DEAD is the real meat of this grue sandwich here! Tom Savini really poured himself into the effects (along with Greg Nicotero, who appears in the film as Johnson), and it shows. The scenes involving intestines sliding out onto the floor are guaranteed to upset your stomach. I really can't say enough about the climax that hasn't been already expressed; simply put, it's the greatest instance of gore ever filmed in movie history! Truly disturbing what happens to those unfortunate to cross paths with these zombies; it all makes Fulci look like Walt Disney! Savini won a well-deserved Saturn Award for his effects on DAY OF THE DEAD, the culmination of his awesome makeup effects work in all those splatter films he did in the late '70s and early '80s!
Anyway, this 2-disc set rocks! Stunning picture quality, like it was filmed yesterday! The extras are really awesome, especially the documentary "The Many Days Of DAY OF THE DEAD" featuring interviews with Romero, Savini, Nicotero, Cardille, Sherman, Pilato, production designer Cletus Anderson, assistant director Chris Romero (George's wife), and co-producer David Ball; their anecdotes on the production are really interesting and informative. There's also 2 commentaries, one with Romero, Savini, Anderson, and Cardille, and the other with director and Romero fan Roger Avary; a radio interview with Richard Liberty (shortly before his death in 2000); behind-the-scenes gore footage; photo gallery; trailers; and TV-spots. Oh, and I love the little booklet that looks like a legal pad with notes by Dr. Logan which contains liner notes from Michael Felsher on his view of DAY OF THE DEAD. A groundbreaking yet underrated horror movie whose reputation is steadily increasing, DAY OF THE DEAD is a definite must-watch!
Want Day of the Dead (1985) Discount?
Of all Zombie movies, I liked this one the best for it's grim portrayel of a world gone mad and over run by blood thirsty rotting corpses. I think the sub-plot/story of this film is based apon our current prison system if zombies=criminals. The underground shelter has become what is left of society, or at least what these solitary survivors percieve as the last fragment of society. They keep several zombies in a corral, like cattle or a prison of sorts if you will for the zombies (criminals) every day more and more of the zombies are captured and put into this prison. Let's say that Dr.Logan (Frankenstein) is a bleeding heart liberalist with an idea to rehabillitate the zombies, he thinks they can be 'tamed' or domesticated. He knows that with the zombie population at 125,000 to every one human that the war against them is futile. I think this represents a huge problem with the prison system, the war against criminals will never end, every time you imprison one there is always one or tow more to take their place, and theres definately not enough room for them all, and many prisoners today are serving long pointless sentences for non-violent crimes and some are in for minor crimes. Many of these people could be rehabillitated and turned back into society as useful members of society. Nobody wants to pay for this rehabillitation however so we lock them in a room for several years hoping when they are released they will be so afraid of returning to jail they wont re-offend. However this is not the case as after release from prison they are not rehabillitated for their crimes and will most likely re-offend. Lets say Sarah and her Lab Partner are open minded yet sceptical as Logans theories are quite sound but they do not have the time and the resources to go along with his plan. THe government doesnt even want to imprison them at all, the government represented by Cpt.Rhodes and his militia. They want them to simply drop dead or execute them all, but as said before they are hopelessly outnumbered. Much like the government they desire a quick cheap easy safe way for the problem to be solved which is insane as it is not realistic.The whirlybird pilot and radio-man could care less either way, however they dream of a peaceful utopia away from the problem to start civilization all over again from scratch. By their philosophy theyd just rather ignore the problem at large. But if they're not part of the solution they're part of the problem. I think Dr.Logan was on to something briliant when he tamed 'Bub' and taught him how to use a pistol...Dr.Logan quite possibly could have, given the time he needed, tamed and trained several zombies, armed them with fire-arms (or other weapons) and sent them out to kill other zombies. They'd have no opposition as the other zombies would never have seen them as a threat.
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