Often imitated, rarely bettered; George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead is the film that kickstarted the zombie genre and influenced many of the horror genre's most successful directors. Made on a miniscule budget of $115,000, Romero and his small crew stretch every dollar to make a film whose cheap-looking visuals actually work in it's favour. It's stark black and white look is beautiful, with deep shadows creating an instant atmosphere of unease. The music and sound design are brilliant, adding to the tension. Romero also brought a political subtext to the film, using a black man as the lead who ends up with more to fear from the living than he does from the undead. Many of the conventions we see in horror films were established right here, with this small independent film that transcended it's roots to become a landmark of the genre. Romero would make a career out of the zombie film (with Dawn, Day, Land, Diary and an as-yet untitled 6th installment), while this film would be remade (by Tom Savini in 1990) as well as parodied and ripped off more times than I can count. Great horror film and independent film-making at it's best.
cosmobrown's Reviews
Displaying Review 31 - 35 of 44 in total
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"When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth". George A. Romero's follow-up to 1968's Night of the Living Dead achieves that rarest of things; a sequel that actually surpasses it's original. Dawn of the Dead follows on from the events of Night, while upping the scale and threat level. America's overrun with zombies, and the nation has succumbed to fear, paranoia and hysteria. A group of four survivors intend to escape to Canada but end up having to take refuge in a local shopping mall. This is where Romero's film reveals it's masterstroke, with a core of hilarious satire exposing our obsession with consumerism. Wheres the first place the zombies go? Why, shopping of course! Add to that, a great mixture of frights, tension and humour, as well as the incredibly gory effects work of Tom Savini (who also stars), and you have one of the all time classic horror films. Intelligent, thrilling filmmaking.
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George A. Romero was reportedly offered double the budget to make Day of the Dead, the third film in his zombie saga, if he could achieve an R rating (15 in the UK). Romero went ahead and made it an X (18), at half the cost, and you can see it in every second of Day of the Dead. If you thought Dawn was violent, wait until you see this one. Tom Savini and his crew of extremely talented and innovative special effects team bring to screen some of the bloodiest, goriest and most impressive zombie moments ever seen. People are torn apart, intestines ripped out, heads ripped off, flesh bitten off; you name, it's in there. As a film, Day of the Dead is smaller in scope and ideas than Dawn. The world has become overrun by zombies, and a small group of military personnel and scientists are camped out in an underground bunker. The scientists try to discover more about the zombies, and end up creating the first zombie hero in Bub. We watch fear and paranoia tear the group apart, leading to the zombies finding their way in and snacking down like fatties at a buffet. In keeping with the previous films, it's a typically bleak affair and, while it lacks the social satire of the other films, it's still brilliantly written, shot and acted, along with the incredible practical effects which have yet to be bettered.
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With all these young pretenders staking a claim to the zombie crown, the original master returned to show hes not dead (or un-dead) yet. The fourth in George A.Romero's zombie saga, "Land of the Dead" is unfortunately a step down from the previous 3 films. Thats not to say that it's a bad film. More action-orientated than his earlier films, Land of the dead sees zombies outweighing humans, and the remaining humans walled up inside an artificial city, ruled over by Dennis Hopper.
This is definitely the goriest of Romero's zombie films, and probably one of the goriest films I've ever seen. The make-up and special effects team come up with some gruesome and inventive moments. A zombie ripping a womans belly button piercing out with his teeth will have people squirming in their seats.There are also fun cameos from Tom Savini, Simon Pegg and Edger Wright. The zombies, too, are smarter than we've ever seen them.Led by Eugene Clark's Big Daddy, these zombies are quicker, more efficient and, scarily, have the ability to work as a team. The zombies are also different in look. There are zombies in various forms of dismemberment, including one with its head hanging on by a flap of neck skin. Its not all blood and guts though. One thing that made Romero's films stand above the abundance of zombie related horror films were their subtext. Comparisons can be drawn between Land of the dead and the current political state in America.
Romero's return to the genre he helped invent is, i'm happy to say, a successful one. He shows he still has a fresh voice and can hang with the youngsters. -
There's a reason why George A. Romero is regarded as the king of the zombie movie. While he may not have invented the genre, he was the first to instill a sense of political and cultural relevance to it which transcended the pulpy origins of the genre into something a little bit special. He began in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead, continued onto 1978's Dawn of the Dead, 1985's Day of the Dead and then 2005's Land of the Dead. 2007 saw him re-enter the zombie world with Diary of the Dead, and it shows that the old master has lost none of his magic touch. Set simultaneously with the events of Night of the Living Dead, Diary of the Dead uses the handheld/ found footage style of The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, [REC] to take a unique spin on the much-weathered genre. We see through the eyes of a group of film students, caught up in the middle of something they don't understand, as they document everything. They intend to show the world what the media is covering up. That's the political slant that Romero brings to this latest film; despite the fact that we now have 24 hour news coverage courtesy of internet, cable television, mobile phones etc, we still can't believe everything (or anything) we see and hear. Along with this theme, Romero also brings plenty of trademark humour, creativity and originality to proceedings, as well, of course, as plenty of imaginative zombie gore. The dialogue gets a little clunky at times, and Romero lays his messages on a bit thick at time, while the acting feels a little ameuteurish at points, but otherwise Diary of the Dead is another George A. Romero zombie classic. Well made and creative, with an interesting message at it's core, Diary of the Dead is well worth your time.
