Mr-Blonde
02-13-2006, 01:17 AM
George Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD (Divamax Special Edition) Review
by Chris Wheatley
http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=day3ll.jpg
"The darkest day the world has ever known"
The movie:
Being somewhat of a gorehound zombie movie freak it may surprise you to hear that I was not immediately a huge fan of this movie, as was the case with many people I think. Of course, it was George Romero who first exposed my mind to the idea of a world being overun with undead zombies. Night of the Living Dead was one of the very first horror films that I ever watched (at the tender age of eight). For a long time after, I was plauged by nightmares of armies of corpses coming to eat me. Suffice it to say that Romero's little low-budget black and white horror movie left quite a lasting impression on me.
When I saw Dawn four years later I was completely awestruck. I had never seen anything that graphic in my life. And unfortunately for me it fueled more bizarre zombie dreams that took place in my school, home, and yes-- at a local shopping mall. Again Romero had left an indelible mark on my psyche.
I was pretty sure at that point that Day would scare me like no other and being the kind that needs to face my fears, I watched it. After watching it however, I kind of felt that I had been gypped. While at the time I had appreciated the gorey FX and zombie makeups I felt that the story and the characters lacked much of what made the first two so special.
Alas upon it's initial release in 1985, Day of the Dead was a sadly misunderstood beast. It tanked at the box office. True-- it always had it's share of supporters even back then but the mainstream critics loathed it as did many horror fans. People considered it too depressing and the characters just too insane.
And that's because many of the characters are literally half-crazy from the very start of the film and most get progressively worse throughout. While the first two movies always had some heroic "let's work together" types for the audience to cling to Romero decided to take a different route this time around. Instead, this film shows us a group of survivors that are caving in on each other.
Many years after my initial viewing I decided to revisit Day. After watching it for awhile it struck me that this indeed was a GREAT movie after all! How could I have ever been wronger about something? This movie was far braver than most movies in it's unyeilding depiction of the ugly side of human nature. This movie is a fascinating little display on what happens when people turn on each other. And guess what? It isn't all simply blood-n-guts ugly. Romero takes the time to show us the lead characters vunerable sides in the film as well. The scene where they wax philosophical about exactly why the dead are rising is very well done.
The film is full of memorable characters most notably Captain Rhodes played to the hilt by Joe Pilato. Rhodes is the kind of wicked mean bastard that you don't want to fuck with. Richard Liberty also turns out a compelling performance as the mad scientist Dr. "Frankenstein" Logan. He somehow manages to come off as goofy and disturbing at the same time. Then of course there is Bub played by Sherman Howard who is a showstealer as the smartest zombie on the planet (not saying too much really). He somehow emotes a child-like innocence in the scenes with his father figure (Logan).
The make-up FX by Tom Savini are unparalled in terms of disturbing, realistic looking gore. A vast improvement over Dawn-- of the makeups for the hundreds of zombies shown in this film, all are unique and all are disgusting. The kills are extremely graphic and send chills up one's spine. If you can watch them with no problem then there is probably something very wrong with you!
Looking back in retrospect, this movie is now probably my favorite of the three. I still enjoy Dawn every bit as much it's just that over time I grew to enjoy this more. Thanks for the wonderful nightmares Mr. Romero. (8/10)
Bonus Features:
Commentary by director George A. Romero, Special Make-up Effects Artist Tom Savini, Production Designer Cletus Anderson, and Actress Lori Cardill. A little dry in parts but full of good tidbits of information.
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/9641/romero23tb.jpg
The Many Days of Day Of The Dead - An all-new 39 minute documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew. Some very cool insights and reflections from Uncle George along with the cast and crew.
Day Of The Dead: Behind The Scenes - 31 minutes of production footage from Special Make-up Artist Tom Savini. Tom savini is a motherfucking demigod of gore! These clips are testshots of the make-up FX behind some of the sickest scenes to ever grace a film.
The packaging's got a kick-ass fold out cover that reveals the "Dr. Tongue" zombie that is missing it's mouth and a leering Dr. Logan. It also includes Dr. Logan's "notebook" that has some movie-commetary as well as Logan's notes and sketches of dead things.
All in all some insightful information for Romero purists. I really dig this kinda shit but most casual viewers however would probably find it boring. (9/10))
by Chris Wheatley
http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=day3ll.jpg
"The darkest day the world has ever known"
The movie:
Being somewhat of a gorehound zombie movie freak it may surprise you to hear that I was not immediately a huge fan of this movie, as was the case with many people I think. Of course, it was George Romero who first exposed my mind to the idea of a world being overun with undead zombies. Night of the Living Dead was one of the very first horror films that I ever watched (at the tender age of eight). For a long time after, I was plauged by nightmares of armies of corpses coming to eat me. Suffice it to say that Romero's little low-budget black and white horror movie left quite a lasting impression on me.
When I saw Dawn four years later I was completely awestruck. I had never seen anything that graphic in my life. And unfortunately for me it fueled more bizarre zombie dreams that took place in my school, home, and yes-- at a local shopping mall. Again Romero had left an indelible mark on my psyche.
I was pretty sure at that point that Day would scare me like no other and being the kind that needs to face my fears, I watched it. After watching it however, I kind of felt that I had been gypped. While at the time I had appreciated the gorey FX and zombie makeups I felt that the story and the characters lacked much of what made the first two so special.
Alas upon it's initial release in 1985, Day of the Dead was a sadly misunderstood beast. It tanked at the box office. True-- it always had it's share of supporters even back then but the mainstream critics loathed it as did many horror fans. People considered it too depressing and the characters just too insane.
And that's because many of the characters are literally half-crazy from the very start of the film and most get progressively worse throughout. While the first two movies always had some heroic "let's work together" types for the audience to cling to Romero decided to take a different route this time around. Instead, this film shows us a group of survivors that are caving in on each other.
Many years after my initial viewing I decided to revisit Day. After watching it for awhile it struck me that this indeed was a GREAT movie after all! How could I have ever been wronger about something? This movie was far braver than most movies in it's unyeilding depiction of the ugly side of human nature. This movie is a fascinating little display on what happens when people turn on each other. And guess what? It isn't all simply blood-n-guts ugly. Romero takes the time to show us the lead characters vunerable sides in the film as well. The scene where they wax philosophical about exactly why the dead are rising is very well done.
The film is full of memorable characters most notably Captain Rhodes played to the hilt by Joe Pilato. Rhodes is the kind of wicked mean bastard that you don't want to fuck with. Richard Liberty also turns out a compelling performance as the mad scientist Dr. "Frankenstein" Logan. He somehow manages to come off as goofy and disturbing at the same time. Then of course there is Bub played by Sherman Howard who is a showstealer as the smartest zombie on the planet (not saying too much really). He somehow emotes a child-like innocence in the scenes with his father figure (Logan).
The make-up FX by Tom Savini are unparalled in terms of disturbing, realistic looking gore. A vast improvement over Dawn-- of the makeups for the hundreds of zombies shown in this film, all are unique and all are disgusting. The kills are extremely graphic and send chills up one's spine. If you can watch them with no problem then there is probably something very wrong with you!
Looking back in retrospect, this movie is now probably my favorite of the three. I still enjoy Dawn every bit as much it's just that over time I grew to enjoy this more. Thanks for the wonderful nightmares Mr. Romero. (8/10)
Bonus Features:
Commentary by director George A. Romero, Special Make-up Effects Artist Tom Savini, Production Designer Cletus Anderson, and Actress Lori Cardill. A little dry in parts but full of good tidbits of information.
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/9641/romero23tb.jpg
The Many Days of Day Of The Dead - An all-new 39 minute documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew. Some very cool insights and reflections from Uncle George along with the cast and crew.
Day Of The Dead: Behind The Scenes - 31 minutes of production footage from Special Make-up Artist Tom Savini. Tom savini is a motherfucking demigod of gore! These clips are testshots of the make-up FX behind some of the sickest scenes to ever grace a film.
The packaging's got a kick-ass fold out cover that reveals the "Dr. Tongue" zombie that is missing it's mouth and a leering Dr. Logan. It also includes Dr. Logan's "notebook" that has some movie-commetary as well as Logan's notes and sketches of dead things.
All in all some insightful information for Romero purists. I really dig this kinda shit but most casual viewers however would probably find it boring. (9/10))