In terms of zombie movies you can't reach much greater heights than George A. Romero's films. Looking solely at Romero's original Dead trilogy, the critical and audiences responses to these films is rather similar to the original Star Wars trilogy. The original film revolutionized cinema and redefined where genre films could go. The second film is generally regarded as the superior film in the series by fans and critics in terms of story and scope and production value, though it is debatable which film is actually better. And then there's the third film which most regard as the worst or a disappointment next to the others. Blame the Ewoks or the extremely unlikable soldiers. To be clear I'm not saying the Romero "Dead" films are the same in terms of pop-culture status, box office receipts, or filmmaking quality. Nor am I saying these films are on equal footing. I'm merely stating their respective trilogies follow similar trajectories in terms of response.
George A. Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD continues delving into a world where the dead have risen from their graves and have overrun the Earth. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD dealt with the first night and the initial "outbreak" set in a rural farm house. The story is shown through the eyes of regular people. DAWN OF THE DEAD widened the lense, showing the world as it descended into chaos. We were shown life in such a world over the course of many months and the devolution of society.
Day of the Dead shows us what life is like years into the zombie apocalypse and those few survivors left alive. Romero shows us what's left of humanity through the perspective of the military and scientific community. Day of the Dead wasn't as well received as Dawn (what film following the critical and audience darling of Dawn of the Dead would be?) and some point to the unlikable characters and the slow paced plot as the reason why.
Okay, I'm gonna come out and say it... I prefer Day to Dawn 'cringe'... go ahead, rip my head off, tear me a new one, tell me how wrong I am. But it's the truth. Romero had a reason for everything he does in these movies and Day begins a paradigm shift in the narrative that I find so very interesting.
THE PLOT
An indeterminate amount of time has passed, presumably a year or more, since the dead returned to stalk the Earth. A small group of survivors living in an underground bunker have managed to stay alive all this time, but not without casualties. The group consists of a handful of soldiers and even fewer scientists and a pair of civilians. The scientists have endeavored to uncover the reason why dead bodies are rising from the grave and hopefully find a way to stop it. After all this time and little results the soldiers are losing their patience, growing increasingly irritable and dangerous. And the chief scientist, after being surrounded by dead bodies day in and day out for so long, has begun having rather strange ideas. Soon the soldiers begin turning on the scientists, just as one of the doctors has a breakthrough, but not in the way they were hoping...
WHAT I LIKED
The Zombies. I've always liked the zombies in Romero's films, the previous films being no exception. The zombies weren't necessarily anything special to behold, made frightening by sheer numbers and their unrelenting pursuit. Finally Romero offers audiences some truly remarkable looking zombies. Film effects had come a long ways since Dawn of the Dead and zombie films had grown and evolved since then with the films of Lucio Fulci and other greats such as Re-Animator and The Return of the Living Dead. These films churned out some pretty memorable zombies. Romero had a lot of competition. With Tom Savini onboard once more along with two thirds of KNB-efx Group (Nicotero and Berger specifically), Day of the Dead showcases arguably the best looking zombies in all of Romero's six Dead films. I speak of course of the brief but memorable "Dr. Tongue" zombie and the great and wonderful Bub.
The Gore Effects. All three of Romero's original trilogy sport some wonderful gore effects. The disembowelment at the end of Dawn of the Dead still holds the gold standard. But of the three films Day has the privileged of having Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, and Howard Berger, some of the great practical effects artists to ever grace the industry. As a result there are some supremely gory moments in this film. The epic disembowelment returns in a big way, the most hated character in the film on the receiving end of such a death as well a zombie on the operating table, and in a dream sequence too. There a zombie head with nothing remaining but the brain. And oh so much more! Romero takes full advantage of his stellar effects team.
Shifting Focus. Romero's patented social commentary is once again in full swing here, this time commenting on the military at the time and the scientific community. Romero seems to possess contempt for both groups or at least has little to no faith in either to protect us or work toward humanity's best interests. This film displays the smallest group of likable characters out of the original trilogy, partly to the dismay of moviegoers. And then there's Bub The Zombie. This is the first time Romero presented the audience with a sympathetic zombie and, dare I say, a character more appealing than most of the humans. It appears as if Romero was planting the first seeds of a paradigm shift in the narrative, that of a zombie led sequel. And perhaps Romero was even suggesting a grander and far more pessimistic social commentary: Maybe humanity isn't what's good for the plant? Are we worth saving? Maybe humanity dying out isn't such a bad thing after all?
ODE TO WHAT MIGHT'VE BEEN
A Romero Zombie Film from the Zombie's Point of View. With the character of Bub and where Romero was pushing humanity in the narrative, the next logical lead for the fourth Dead film should've been Bub or at least a zombie character. I am so incredibly fascinated by such an idea and would've loved to have seen Romero tackle that project. I need to do more research to discover why this never came to fruition, but I assume the bottom dropping out of the horror film market at the close of the 80's played a big part in it. By the time LAND OF THE DEAD came out there was a change in audience sensibilities and a zombie-led film wouldn't have worked... probably. Had horror films continued to thrive through the end of the 80's and into the 90's (and if the maestro were still with us today) I have no doubt Romero would've taken the franchise here eventually.
NITPICKS
Pacing and Character Portrayals. One of the prevailing problems with both Dawn and Day, in my opinion, is the pacing. These two in particular have lengthy portions that must be slogged through. In Day it falls on the characters. With a large portion of unlikable characters you realize pretty fast that nobody wants to spend any time with these people. But when they're all you have to work with, what choice do you have? That's all by design though, I feel, not a fault but a narrative device. But then the lion's share of moments should be carried by the few actually likable people present, yes? Well, aside from our lead heroine, the other two likable characters are barely featured. Dr. Logan (Frankenstein) is a fun character but not an anchor for the film by any means. And the setup wasn't there for Bub to take a larger role yet. Again, it's likely all by design but there's too many jerks and not enough saints to carry all 96 minutes. Just focus on the zombies, gore, and Bub and you'll be alright. Despite the majority of unlikable characters, I feel the acting in this film is the best of the three.
THE VERDICT
The Earth has been overrun by zombies and the survivors of humanity have all but lost their minds in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead. Losing patience and nerves frayed, what's left of humanity isn't very likable, which is the only stumbling block of this otherwise wonderful film. The technical effects, the make-up effects, the acting, the gore, and the zombies may be the best of all six George Romero "Dead" films. Led by a strong female character in actress Lori Cardille, Day of the Dead marks the high point for the series, in my opinion.
Overall Ranking: 10 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10
For more of Romero's Dead films and other zombie movies check out these others below
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