Day of the Dead Review:

We seem to be undergoing a bit of a resurgence in zombie films lately (Resident Evil, 28 Days Later) so this DVD of Day of the Dead from Anchor Bay is a welcome addition. The zombie genre has many imitators but one name stands above all others : George A Romero. From his seminal Night of the Living Dead to Dawn of the Dead and the final part of the trilogy, Day, Romero has thrilled and inspired a whole generation of film makers in the horror genre.

Day of the Dead is a loose sequel to Dawn of the Dead (the only real thread between the films are the zombies and the timeline : the situation gets worse from film to film). Humanity is vastly outnumbered by the walking dead. Civilisation has broken down and we join a small group of survivors in an underground facility. There are soldiers and scientists and this is a very uneasy alliance indeed. The military has one agenda and “Dr. Frankenstein” (Richard Liberty) has deeper psychological motives, but the bottom line is a growing rift between the human factions as the zombie threat grows closer.. It’s only a matter of time before tensions lead to all hell being unleashed.

More and more, as time goes by and with countless repeated viewings, Day of the Dead has shown itself to be the very best Dead movie of Romero's career. Night of the Living Dead was the classic, a pinnacle title for horror fans everywhere. And Dawn of the Dead is the hands down fan favourite, no doubt about that. But in terms of pace, storytelling and filmmaking talent, Day is the film to look at. The acting is much better than the other two, Tom Savini's effects are much more realistic and sophisticated and, because of it's limited environment, the film hasn't aged much at all. This could have been filmed today. But when it first came out, fans turned their backs on Day of the Dead. Romero originally intended this to the epic conclusion to the Dead trilogy but he had to scale things back due to budget problems.

Romero’s films all tend to have an underlying message. Day is no exception : if the humans worked together they could figure out how to save themselves but they don’t therefore they become lunch. The situation is grim : they’re outnumbered 300,000 to 1 and the tension in the underground bunker is unbearable. The scenes in the mess hall between both camps are brilliantly handled. Without a real leader, the military group has splintered away from the medical research team and big problems have arisen. Stress has caused most of the occupants in the mines to loose whatever grasp on reality they ever had. Tensions are high as the new military leader chooses pointing guns at heads over talking situations through. What we witness is the last 4 or 5 days of this little camp. It’s Lord of the Flies and it isn't pretty.

Day is a slow burning film (rare in a horror film), but when it gets to boiling point it's brilliant. Forced to rethink his original script, Romero ended up making choices that served the story and made it more internal. There are moments of humour but it’s pitch black. A word about Tom Savini’s make-up effects – groundbreaking. Everything you see is proper ‘old school’ make-up and it really is something. If you’re of a gentle disposition – be warned.
If you like good horror films with brains well as (lot’s of) gore, check out this classic. Accept no substitutes!

PICTURE/SOUND
This two-disc set of Day helps bring the film up to another level. It's one of Anchor Bay's new "Divimax" titles, so expect a luscious anamorphic widescreen transfer with nice muted colours in the caves, minimal but appropriate grain and solid blacks. It's presented with three soundtracks: Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby 5.1 EX and, best of all, a rich and full DTS 6.1 ES track.

EXTRAS
The extras are vast and very fun. First up are two commentary tracks. Filmmaker Roger Avery discusses Day from a fan's point of view and does a great job of it. This is the type of track I’d like to see more of. The other track is a filmmaker commentary with Romero, Savini, actress Lori Cardille and production designer Cletus Anderson. This a great track as well, but it's much more laid back and casual, something pretty common with Romero tracks on DVD. He doesn't get all worked up, just leans back and talks, which is nice because he's fun to listen to.

Disc Two is packed with additional extras, starting with two documentaries. The Many Days of Day of the Dead is filled with nice, current interviews from the cast and crew, as they talk about the making of the film and its place in film history. Day of the Dead: Behind the Scenes, features archival video footage, starting with the folks in Savini's workshop torturing unsuspecting people with zombie appliances and spirit gum, and heading into "making of" fare on the set focusing on the more fascinating gore effects. It’s nice to see good special editions of non-mainstream films. I can’t wait to see Anchor Bay’s Dawn of the Dead DVD next year.

TRIVIA

• Real pig intestines were used for the scene where Rhodes gets ripped apart in the hallway. Unfortunately, someone had left the guts out of the freezer over the weekend, and after the scene was shot the cast and crew ran away gagging.
• The book Dr. Logan gives to Bub is Stephen King 's Salem's Lot. (Romero nearly directed the TV version).
• Romero had originally planned for all the zombies to perish in a massive explosion when they stumbled across explosive chemicals in the laboratory. Meanwhile, one of the soldiers who had died during the attack was to have stayed dead and not come back as a zombie, thereby giving hope to the survivors.
• The original script, for which Romero couldn't get budget for, involved the scientists living over-ground in a fortress protected by electrified fences and the military living safely underground. It also involved a small army of trained zombies, and the conclusion to the trilogy more brutal than the current version.
• All the extras who portrayed zombies in the climax received for their services: a cap that said "I Played A Zombie In 'Day of the Dead'", a copy of the newspaper from the beginning of the film (the one that says THE DEAD WALK!), and one dollar.
• The first scene (abandoned city) of the movie was filmed in Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, Florida.
• The budget for Romero's original script was estimated at $7 million, but he would only be given the money if he could film an R-rated film. He was told that if he went ahead and shot an unrated film with no limits on gore, the budget would be split in half to $3.5 million.

Derek Maher

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