BARE BONES: SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD (2009)

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD (2009)

George Romero’s seventh zombie opus gives the feeling that the legendary director might be growing tired of making zombie movies after four decades. Survival’s story of feuding Irish clans and the living dead is weak and a bit ludicrous as an island matriarch (Richard Fitzpatrick) is trying to keep the island’s zombie inhabitants “alive” and a functioning part of society, despite their appetite for human flesh. His exiled rival (Kenneth Welsh) believes the opposite and returns to the island with some rogue soldiers…including Sgt. Crockett (Alan van Sprang) from Diary of the Dead…to prove his point.

 Once again Romero tries to show us people are far more dangerous, by greed or stupidity, than the zombies, but this time his message is as half-hearted as as is his direction. Romero directs the movie like he just doesn’t care and a lot of it seems like a joke, as if he isn’t taking his own material seriously. Previously Romero used satire to deliver his message, now the usually deft satire is replaced with dumb humor that disrupts the more serious tone. Not sure what kind of film Romero was trying to make this time and not sure he knew either. Sadly this would be his final directorial effort upon his passing in 2017.

-MonsterZero NJ

 

BARE BONES: DIARY of the DEAD (2007)

DIARY of the DEAD (2007)

With the loss of horror great George A. Romero earlier this week, I thought I’d “dig up” this old review of one of his last zombie flicks…

After an unpleasant experience filming Land of the Dead with a big studio, Romero returned to his low budget roots and applied the camera POV style to his latest zombie opus. He starts from scratch telling the story of a new zombie outbreak through the camera of a group of film students making a horror movie…when the real horror begins and the dead begin to rise. It’s not perfect, but it is successful at making the zombies scary again by viewing them through the eyes of the terrified students. There is the trademarked gore and the gritty low budget style suits Romero far better then Land’s big budget gloss. Romero can be preachy at times with his social views and if you’re not a fan of the POV style films, this probably won’t win you over, even if it is far less shaky than most. It’s a return to form in many respects for the master of horror, though not quite a classic like the films of his original dead trilogy. Stars Michelle Morgan, Joshua Close, Shawn Roberts, Amy Lalonde, Joe Dinicol, Scott Wentworth, Philip Riccio and Alan van Sprang whose rogue soldier character returns in the follow-up Survival of the Dead.

 

-MonsterZero NJ