CAN: Land of the Dead

Hey hombres, Arrow here reporting
from Cannes for JoBlo.com. I had to wear a suit tonight. I loathe suits and I
loathe ties even more than suits…but it was worth it. Nights like the one that went down on
this Friday the 13th couldn’t get much better! You see, JoBlo and I got to walk the
star-studded and camera-laced “red carpet” to attend a screening of the
first 15 minutes of George Romero’s Land of the Dead. Sure beats playing X-Box
at home!

The Red Carpet begins!

The great George Romero, the class-act Simon Baker,
the sexy Asia Argento, her boyfriend (with his trusty back-pack) and the film’s
producers were all in attendance. We walked the carpet behind them and once inside, an obviously moved Romero took
the stage to thank his cast, producers and family. Then the film
began…and…well…it was as I expected: a pure to-the-core, George Romero
Zombie movie. YESSS!

The man JoBlo and Arrow coming in!
(Damn, I forgot to remove my Press Pass…I’m a mess!)

Drunk (I respect that) and
lovely, Asia Argento!

The fifteen minutes we sat through were presented to us as the first fifteen
minutes of the film. It should be said that JoBlo thinks it was a bit from the
middle of the movie and time will tell if he’s wrong or right. Pssst: He’s wrong…

The film starts with two teams
scavenging for supplies in the “undead” filled city. Riley (Simon Baker) and
his crew are on one end while the rebellious and “spear gun” equipped Cholo
(John Leguizamo) does the same with his boys on the other. Right off the bat,
it’s obvious that there is a clear contrast between the two characters.
Riley feels (maybe too much) while Cholo obviously doesn’t give a damn.

Throughout the initial moments
of the raid, we’re shown the undead in an even more sympathetic light then they
were in Romero’s last 3 Dead films. They’re starting to communicate between each
other, they’re learning about the environment around them and every time one bit
the dust, the leader of the undead “Big Daddy” (Eugene Clark) would be mournful, hurt
and pissed. Yes, our little zombies are growing up!

So, as they loot the city, the
humans keep the undead busy with Dead Reckoning, a massive and armed to the
teeth combat vehicle (nice rocket launchers on the rig) that spits fireworks out
into the
sky. You see the bright lights keep the dead busy as the humans do their
Drug/Food store “shopping”. Big Daddy tries to wake his zombie brothers and sisters
by shoving them, but to no avail, they are transfixed on the bright lights.
Eventually something goes wrong (the fireworks device block) and the undead snap out
of their trance. They become a problem.

Riley orders a retreat back to
camp, but
stubborn Cholo really wants to raid a liquor store where booze is worth a lot of money
out there. He gets his liquor, but at the expense of one of his men’s life who
gets bitten by a zombie. Not wanting to become one of the undead, Cholo’s
companion puts his gun in his mouth and blows his head off.

The two teams swiftly head back to
headquarters, some are within Dead Reckoning, others are on motorcycles. Machine
guns fire heavily as the two teams slaughter a slew of undead. “Big Daddy”
grabs hold of a machine gun from one of the driving-by humans. He watches
his foes drive off over the horizon as a horde of undead gather behind him.
"Big Daddy" figures out how to hold the machine gun properly, lets out a guttural
scream and marches forward after the humans in a determined fashion, with his army of the dead behind him.
That was the end of the fifteen minutes.

After that, we were shown an
extensive teaser trailer filled with quick-cut clips from the film (loved the
shot of Asia fighting in a ring) and I’m sure we’ll see that bit online soon
enough.

Me and LE
GRAND MAN!
“I’m sold on the film, George!”

I loved every damn second of it! When the fifteen minutes were over,
I so wanted more! Here are a few of my likes:

• The dialogue was almost poetic in its grimness and subtle religious tone, especially from Riley. I
  have a feeling that I’ll adore the character.

• The overall feel was one of decay and dread. It looked like a Romero
  Zombie movie! That’s the best compliment I could give it!

• The overall mood reminded me
  of "Dawn of the Dead", mixed in with "The Road Warrior" and Romero’s own
  "Knightriders".
  

• The KNB zombie designs/gore
  were incredibly detailed and deliciously graphic. I haven’t seen realistic, animatronic zombies (with minor CG enhancement) look so damn good in
  while. As for the red splat: a head ripped off one’s body, gut munching
  (like the old days), brains blown out, endless squib shots, a flesh stretching
  bite…all in 15 minutes…yes, I was a happy gore fiend.
  
  

• The tension between Riley and
  Cholo has the potential to make for quite an interesting relationship. Two sides of
  one coin. I can’t wait to see how far they’ll take it.
  
  

• The action scenes were tightly shot and exciting to witness. No quick cut
  madness here…we see everything and with panache at that!

This film
looks like it will
blow our undead sox off to dead sox heaven! I CAN’T FREAKING WAIT!

Dennis Hopper and his gal leaving in front of us

After the clip, JoBlo and I left the theatre. On our way out, we ran into George
Romero, the cast and the producers. I went up to Romero and the first thing I
told him was “I’m sold”. He smiled, shook my hand and thanked me for the positive
feedback. After that I asked George for a picture and he gladly said yes, even
though he couldn’t wait to smoke his cigarette. Not to go
all genre fan-boy on you here, but it should be said: if 5 years ago you’d tell me I’d be at Cannes,
taking a picture with George Romero on the red carpet, I’d yell out
obscenities at you. But it happened, yes…I was somewhat overwhelmed. I guess it
was worth wearing a suit and tie after all! Thank you, JoBlo.com!

Now let’s get them well earned drinks bre!

CHEERS TO LAND OF THE DEAD!