Land of the Dead 2005 4 out of 10 (Zombie Movie Review #6)

Land of the Dead 2005  4 out of 10

George Romero's return to the genre is a mixed bag.  On the heels of the  excellent Hollywood remake of his Dawn of the Dead,  George comes at this zombie movie with something a little different.  I guess it basically follows the next logical step from Bub the zombie in Day of the Dead.  The movie should have been called Zombie Messiah,  since a gas attendant zombie appears to be the leader in the next step of the zombie evolution as he starts relearning how to use tools and weapons and gets a horde of zombies to follow him in an attack on the city.   This zombie movie takes place when the zombies have pretty much taken over the world and the rich lead by Dennis  Hopper are living the fine life in a fancy walled in city while lower class citizens go out into the world of zombies to bring back stuff for the rich.   So I guess you could say that it has references to the lower classes rising up against the upper class in the form of Zombies basically starting a revolution.   Simon Baker stars as one of these warriors that drives around in a armoured bus taking out zombies on supply missions.    The movie is a mixed bag because it fails in bringing the fear that most zombie movies create.  The film chooses to focus on a side story involving the main character going out to stop one of  his former partners from blowing up the city.  The characters are too well armed and the city too protected for most of the film so you don't get the sense of peril that you should out of a zombie movie.  The movie picks up a little towards the end when the zombies led by their Messiah (thought he was actually going to walk on water at one point) leads them across the water to assault the city .  These scenes were interesting, but were pretty much too little to late to make this a great movie.   An interesting concept that just didn't really work effectively despite having a few cool scenes here and there.

              

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Day of the Dead 1985 6 out 10 (Zombie Movie Review # 4)

Day of the Dead 1985   6 out of 10

I saw that Day of the Dead was showing on Chiller the other day and it has been at least 20 plus years since I had seen this zombie movie.   Of the three movies in George Romero's zombie series that started with the Classic  Night of the Living  Dead 1968   (a movie that created the modern zombie genre)  Day of the Dead was my least favorite.  Re-watching it all these years later,  I actually appreciated it more than the first time around.    The movie takes place sometime after the events of Dawn of the Dead in focuses on a military base in which the some scientists are trying to learn more about the Zombies and what makes them tick, while some scraggly looking military guys are trying to protect them.    Here is the rundown of the good and bad about Day of the Dead.

List of what I liked in the movie:

1.   The zombie effects and blood and gore of the film was excellent including scenes with a guy getting his head slowly ripped off his body. 

2.   The soundtrack at times had a cool John Carpenter style vibe to it

3.  The dialogue and acting were really cheesy, but that isn't always necessarily a bad thing.    (also see this as something on the  What I Didn't Like list)

4.    Looking at this movie years later,  I was able to reflect on its contributions to   the genre.   One of the focuses of the movie not seen in the previous films was the notation of trying to understand what makes the zombies the way they are and working towards either a cure or a way to control the zombies.   As far a zombie films or shows like the Walking Dead..... you have to give props to the movies that set the foundation for the genre. 

5.  Bub the zombie that can learn and remember a part of his former life was an obvious inspiration for the storyline in The Walking Dead in Woodbury where the scientist was trying to figure out if any of the former person was still in the undead creatures.    Bub is a classic big screen  zombie

Here is Bub trying to make a phone call

   

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Things I didn't like:

1.   The pacing of the movie was way too slow and you really don't get much good zombie action until the third act of the film.  The movie is more about the people which works great in a TV show like the Walking Dead where we have the time in each episode to explore the characters and their relationships and motivations.  In a stand alone movie this drags the story down and was clearly the reason I didn't like this movie many years ago.    Coming on the heels of Return of the Living Dead....which spun the Zombie genre off into a whole new direction and was relentless and entertaining throughout, the slow pace of Day of the Dead was a disappointment 

2.  The acting and the dialogue could have been straight out of the Toxic Avenger.

Of course this may be a reason to put it on the like list.  

3.   Despite the great and gory special effects the sense of peril wasn't at a level that it should be.   I mean the zombies are slow and plodding and just don't strike the terror that the Zombies of The Walking Dead do.   Maybe part of that is not having a connection with the lackluster characters in the movie,   but again I feel it struggles in comparison to Return of the Living Dead or its own predecessor   Dawn of the Dead,  which had one of the setting ever for a Zombie movie.

All in all it I give it about a 6 out of 10  which is a better rating than the first time 

around mainly because of its contributions to the genre.  

Coming Soon look for my Top 10  Zombie Movie List 

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