Survival of The Dead [DVD]

 

 

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George Romero's ''brand name'' has taken a little bit of a battering in the past few years. Once hailed as a master horror director with the original and much cherished 'Dead' trilogy, only to almost undo all of that good work with his more recent efforts - the lackluster studio dud 'Land of the Dead' and the nearly-there 'Diary of the Dead'. So, when this new effort was announced my world weary mind just thought 'ho hum, we'll see, not expecting much' and after reading a number of reviews across the net my fears were confirmed that this new entry 'Survival of the Dead' would be just another waste of a once heady talent... however, after viewing Romero's newest movie - I didn't come away feeling that. I actually liked it.

The story is a pretty simple affair: Coming across as a semi sequel/continuation to 'Diary', the film follows a group of rogue National Guardsmen (led by 'Diary' bit-player Alan Van Sprang as the laconic 'Nicotine' Crocket) as they seek refuge from the impending zombie over population problem. Crocket and his team, feverishly searching for a safe haven meet up with Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh in a scenery chewing performance). O'Flynn has been exiled from his home - namely Plum Island (this and Fiddlers Green? What is it with Romero and strange place names recently?), where his family is locked in a feud with the Muldoon family (led by Seamus Muldoon, played by Richard Fitzpatrick). The two families are almost living a 'cowboy' like existence on this remote isle, and here Romero rolls out his trademark social commentary, this time focusing on the family unit and how it reacts in times of desperation and conflict. On one side, the O'Flynns see the zombie plague as something that needs to be stamped out and eradicated, whereas the Muldoons want to train their undead brethren to eat things other than humans and keep them as part of their families. As O'Flynn and the soldiers arrive, the feud boils over to a bloody flashpoint as the two families fight it out to the bitter end in the usual Romero splatter happy manner.

To begin, this movie isn't perfect. It's by no means near the level of 'Night/Dawn or Day of the Dead', but (for me at least) its a major step up from 'Land' and 'Diary'. The cinematography, editing and production design are well realised and Romero's direction is sharp and on the ball. The movie is filled with many amusing sequences that have been largely absent from his recent films and they really add a welcome punchline to some of the zombie set pieces. The cast too, are well served and everyone gets their time in the sun. Each character is given a satisfying arc and when the inevitable zombie munch down begins at the film's climax, you actually care who is going to live or die. The script itself, although nothing revelatory is genuinely witty and goes from A to B in an efficient manner - allowing you the chance to actually 'get into' the film, rather than watch your clock or fiddle with the remote control until its over, which has been a recurring theme of late in my home when viewing the latest horror drivel. Sure, their are a few niggles: The CGI effects never really work and even though the make-up work is largely good - you still wish Tom Savini's magic touch was around, which is sorely missed by myself at least. The movie is a little short at 80 minutes, and you do want to get more out of the concept, but these things are minor blips in what is a surprisingly entertaining movie.

The DVD itself has a sharp transfer and the movie looks great, but there are no extras which is a shame - perhaps, the Region 1 version will rectify that misstep when it arrives. All in all, not a bad effort and good to see Romero can still deliver the gory goods given the right script and time. However, from reading the many reviews on Amazon and across the web - I fear I may be in the minority here so best to approach this one with caution, if you are in two minds whether to plunk down your hard earned. I would recommend the film wholeheartedly, but some may disagree.

I wish George would slow down a little and give us something to hold in high regard (like Dawn of..., Day of... and other films like Monkey Shines). There are plenty of average living dead/zombie films out there; I must have over 200 of them. I get excited about new releases from George (as I still think he's to be matched in terms of his earlier living dead films), and while I'm not as critical as many about Land of... and Diary of...., this one is a huge disappointment. Social commentary or not, it really is not that good! Can't bring myself to give it two stars but it's average, forgettable and film making by numbers.

And so these times of zombie movies everywhere you look, the grand master of the genre returns with his latest offering. Depending on what sort of (zombie) movies you like will determine which of George's original saga you like - if you like your horror `pure' then Night of the Living Dead will be for you, if you like action - see Dawn of the Dead, a darker take on the zombie genre goes with Day of the Dead and finally a more modern `Resident Evil' touch with Land of the Dead.

Then George decided to `reboot' the franchise set in modern times with Diary of the Dead. Whatever you think of it - it bombed. Neither fans of George or new cinema-goers liked it. So... where does he go from there? Does he learn from his mistake and go back to something more successful, i.e. perhaps a combination of Night/Dawn of the Dead?

The answer, sadly, is no.

Survival of the Dead is probably the most disappointing film of recent times. Not because it was bad. It's okay. Simply because it could have been so much better. It doesn't have much of a budget, but George is good at working round such limitations. After over thirty years spent making horror movies, this instalment comes across as if it was written by a horror-freshman.

If you've ever gone onto the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com) and looked up movies, sometimes people post in the forums sarcastic topics like `100 things I learned from xxx.' Then they go on to list all the plot holes and things that don't make sense. Unfortunately, Survival of the Dead is one long list of things that don't make sense. Its ultimate downfall is the characters. Not only are they pretty wafer-thin, but they do the most stupid and random things. To start one such list off I'd begin...

1. When most of the world has been killed by zombies, the remaining humans think it's a really good idea to keep them alive
2. Stroking a hungry zombie, no matter how lovingly, will get you bitten
3. If you have six bullets in your gun and there are twenty zombies coming towards you, just use up all your ammunition - the undead will surely give up and not eat you
4. Finally, when the world is going to hell and the dead are coming back to life and attacking the living, it's far more important to kill the remaining humans while dragging up old grievances

You probably get where I'm going with this.

The whole film is just a mess. Characters go from being good to bad to who knows what in a matter of scenes. No one makes any sane decision throughout the whole ninety minutes, therefore leaving you not that bothered when they either turn to zombie chow or shoot each other because they suddenly feel like it.

Is Survival of the Dead the last of George A Romero's films? He probably thought not. I daresay it is. Pity. It could have been so good.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing on Dawn of the Dead but miles better than Diary of the Dead, which isn't really saying much.
As an avid watcher of zombie movies, particularly George A. Romero's Dead movies, I was optimistic for this latest instalment. Read more

Published 1 month ago by UndeadCritic

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Effort
Not as good as George A. Romero's first 3 zombie movies..but still a good effort, the SFX are done mostly by CGI but still looks good for a low budge film, the entire cast was... Read more

Published 3 months ago by S.B

1.0 out of 5 stars Fake Irish accents and a dead woman riding a horse
Oh dear dear. George, what were you thinking ??? How can you have gone from the brilliantly disturbing, atmospheric 'Dawn of the Dead' (Original version) to this pile of tosh ? Read more

Published 3 months ago by Rachel Pryer

1.0 out of 5 stars Can you survive 90 minutes?
Dear, oh dear, oh dear.....Survival of the Dead is George A Romero's 3rd film in his second (slightly rubbish) zombie trilogy and his 6th `of the dead' film (seriously couldn't he... Read more

Published 3 months ago by rohall

3.0 out of 5 stars Well it's better than Diary of the Dead....just saying
I bought this DVD a couple of months ago and I watched it for the second time today. It is certainly not the best zombie film out there, and yes you do have to look past the... Read more

Published 4 months ago by History Reader

2.0 out of 5 stars Just Stop Mr. Romero
George A. Romero WAS a film making legend to me when i had only seen Night,Dawn and Day. I thought these are amazing. Read more

Published 6 months ago by George

2.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE WEAKEST DEAD'S YET
Coming on the back of the enjoyable and clever "Diary Of The Dead" it's sad to say that "Survival Of The Dead" is quite a weak zombie film. Read more

Published 7 months ago by nin/ja77

1.0 out of 5 stars Just about survived watching this
Oh dear this was a great idea, small island packed with the undead and being set in America (sigh) there's lots of guns. Read more

Published 7 months ago by S. S. J. Woods

1.0 out of 5 stars Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
This is by far one of the most half baked ideas for a Zombie film... Ok scratch that, the *idea* is pretty good, a group of people hiding out on some island somewhere while the... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Mr. J. P. Hunt

3.0 out of 5 stars Survival of the Dead ....Yet another of the dead movie
George A Romero a master of horror brings us yet another tired old zombie yarn which just seems to wander like a staggering zombie that has just had a few pints of beer at the... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Wayne Tully

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