Day of the Dead Pure Genius!

"People today, lloking back on the three zombie films. I think there are really split camps. There are some people you can't get 'em away from the first one, you know it's their love. Then there are people who sort of celebrate or party down to Dawn of the Dead; it's sort of the wildest of the three, it was also the most popular. And then there are the real trolls you know that like Day of the Dead [laughs]." ~George Romero

Back when this film was released in 1985, it was a major dissapointment to people who liked Dawn of the Dead. As Romero seemed to think, I seem to think as well. The comic-book feel in Dawn was no longer. Replaced by a darker moodier one. The very heroic characters that people loved were replaced with what Roger Ebert called "mostly unpleasen" people.

"In the earlier films, we really identified with the small cadre of surviving humans. They were seen as positive characters, and we cared about them. This time, the humans are mostly unpleasant, violent, insane or so noble that we can predict with utter certainty that they will survive. " ~ Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 1985

Not only did he complain about characters who had what I thought more human qualities than in the past films, he says that the film was rife with overacting.

"The characters shout their lines from beginning to end, their temples pound with anger, and they use distracting Jamaican and Irish accents, until we are so busy listening to their endless dialogue that we lose interest in the movie they occupy."

Oddly enough I thought the accents were real. Now Mr. Ebert, until you live in a underground mine for an undisclosed amount of time, with hordes of undead flesh eaters above you, and not another living person in 150 miles of you will you ever know the kind of tension and stress these characters are feeling. I for one, would be pissed quite a lot if I could never go back into the sun with out a zombie biting me in the ass, as well as resistance from other people to get along.

"I played this tough character; I'm nothing like Sara, I wish I was. In real life I'm just one big...you know, wimp [laughs]" ~ Lori Cardille commenting on Sara's character

Sara was a first for Romero's films if not hooror films to have a strong female lead. Unlike previous or even recent films, the female lead was usually constantly afraid and never willing to step up. Not to say Sara was never afraid, she was strong willed, which made her character much different from the stereotype.
But that doesn't mean she was well liked. I would know for sure the character of Sara (played excellently by Lori Cardille) was not well liked. How? My entire family besides me thoguht she was a bitch to put it frankly, my sisters wanted her to die, I thought she was well rounded and showed enough compassion to make her a likable person. Yet my family loved Cpt. Rhodes (I did as well with that little curl of hair on the side of his face, like Elvis), then again I think that Rhodes was aptly portrayed by Joe Pilato; he got the manic crazy vibe going quite well. In fatc the acting on everyones part was quite excellent all around. With Jarlath Conroy playing the angry Irishman William McDermott, and Terry Alexander playing John, the Jamaican helo pilot. But two actors seem to satnd out from the rest. mostly because of the characters they portay. Dr. Logan (played by the wonderfull Richard Liberty) and Bub the zombie (a hard role done very well by Howard Sherman).

The characters of Bub and Logan have a relationship unlike anybody else in the film. A father-son like one in my mind, and it creates a startling contraste to the arguing between scientist and military personel. Bub is somewhat of a glimps at what pure innocence is; sure he eats human flesh, but that is his nature. Unlike Rhodes, he won't lie to you to get what he wants, he won't trick you. Bub shows us that the zombies are in fact us, but in a more primative. yet pure state before the social immorality takes a hold of us, he is like a baby. I think this relationship is best shown during the scene Logan teaches Bub to use a Walkman, Logan reaches to fix Bubs headphones and Bub grabs him; but Bub lets him go because of the trust he has. It makes a later scene in which Bub finds Logan dead all the more emotional, in fact that was the first scene in a movie I actually shed a tear (don't tell anyone though). Sherman was wonderful, he had to be, he did this all without speaking a word, and you feel it as strong as spoken word if not stronger. Liberty portrayed the "mad doctor" excellently, his mannerisms and facial expressions as well as how he spoke made the character come alive.

But that in no way takes the thunder away from the other actors. In fact, this was the first major motion picture for many of the actors.

"We were all Broadway actors with years of training and theatre experience." ~ Lori Cardille, from the reply to my letter

All of them performed greatly, and it seems as though as a group they worked extremely well together.

"I've never felt obligued to deliver on the violence." ~ George A. Romero

When you hear the name George A. Romero, you tend to first think, zombies, then gore. This movie is the best in SFX and make-up. In fact Tom Savini won the Saturn Award for his SFX in the film. The zombies' look like how I imagine zombies would look, blood comes out of body parts like I think it would (no idea what it really looks like, whci hmight be a good thing). The bites are now too real, with muscles tearing, tendons snapping, bones showing, and of course blood pouring out. I could well imagine the actors and crew were mildly disturbed watching this. About 3 people get dismembered in some way. The famous death of Rhodes is very gruesome. With him being torn apart while screaming "Choke on 'em!" as zombies drag his legs away. I can say for a fact this is Savini's best work, watch for the shovel taking off the top half of a zombies head for one of the best in the film.
Warning: This film is not for the squemish

I've mentioned acting, characters, and effects. But all that would be useless if the story was terrible. Thankfully the story in this film is fantastic. As I metioned before, it's not as light as Dawn was. It also focuses less on the zombies it seems. The darker theme and more emphasis on the nature of the zombies and characters makes this what I think the most human of the four films (Land of the Dead recently came out). I can't spill much more than a general premise:
A small group of scientists and soldiers take shelter in a mine to find the cause of the plauge and a possible solution. They are the last known survivors in the area.

"We are in the minority now, something like 400,000 to one by my calculation." ~ Dr. Logan

The opening scene really creates a great feel; a Florida city, totally deserted of life. As the scene ends you see a horde of zombies and their collective moans make a roar that sends chills down you back. That scene alone is enough to set the overall feel of the film.

But despite the darker tone the film still retains some humor in it. Many of the best comes from McDermott, the angry (according to Ebert they are all angry) Irishmen. He makes a humorous reference to Dawn of the Dead during one scene about shopping malls

"We were on relays then. We weren't over the air. The power is off on the mainland now in case you haven't heard, and all the shopping malls are closed." ~ McDermott

Another instance is when he clobbers a zombie with a shovel, grunts triumphantly, then procedes to try take a slug of brandy from his now empty liqour flask.

"There just something about Day of the Dead that I really think works. I think it's better crafted, I like the way it knits together. Day of the Dead has become my favorite of the 3 films." ~ George Romero

So as I close this review I must say my appreciation for this film has grown considerably. But it has taken 20 years to finally start to catch on, let us hope as time goes on, this film becomes known as the classic it is.

10/10 Pure perfection