When the legendary director who invented the Hollywood zombie comes out with a new movie that he’s touting as “his ultimate zombie masterpiece,” it’s enough to make you sit up and take notice.
“George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead” (yes, that’s the full title) hit theatres this weekend, much to the anticipation of horror and zombie fans everywhere.
In preparation, I called up my friend and resident zombie expert, Helen Androlia.
Androlia gave me an exhaustive background on George A. Romero, his movies, and their significance within the horror genre.
Romero made Night of the Living Dead in 1968 on a tiny budget. The film made history.
Before Night of the Living Dead, there had never been a zombie movie, and so it set the rules that every zombie movie to come would follow.
“(Zombies) are us in a sort of basic form. That’s what makes them so scary.” She then looked at me, and said, “I’m a nice girl with dimples, but if I see you starting to turn, I’ll hit you in the head with a crowbar.”
It also created a template for the series of movies which Romero would go on to write and direct, all of which chronicle the collapse of civilization to the zombies (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead).
These three films were all very similar and when watching one, you could expect four things:
1) The black character is the one to watch, he’s the protagonist and the most interesting person.
2) People are going to die ? a lot of them. It’s not good to get too attached to anyone because the zombies may be eating him or her in the next scene.
3) The setting will be almost entirely one location where the people are under siege from zombies.
4) All of the really significant killing happens between humans and other humans; zombies just provide the necessary pressure to push humans to the breaking point.
But according to Androlia, things have changed in the horror genre since Romero directed Day of the Dead in 1985.
The focus has shifted from protagonist to antagonist with the birth of “superkillers” like Freddy, Jason, and Hannibal Lecter.
At the same time, the importance of things jumping out of the shadows and loud noises to scare people has increased, “Boo Factor” as Androlia calls it.
Because of all of this, I wasn’t too surprised that Romero broke a lot of his own rules in Land of the Dead.
The movie takes place in a fortified city, where the new social order is a sort of feudalism, with the rich living in a luxury skyscraper and everyone else living in slums, rife with corruption and vice.
Meanwhile the zombies have taken over pretty much everything, and they seem to be evolving and becoming more intelligent. Led by the smartest of the lot, they set out to lay siege to the city.
The whole thing feels like the zombie version of a Romero film. All the basic components are there, but it just sort of lurches and shambles along, all the while looking a bit rotten.
Perhaps the most telling thing was that for the late show on opening night, there were only 40 or 50 people in the audience.
The movie sits in a no man’s land between mainstream and cult that leaves everyone unsatisfied.
The hardcore zombie fans don’t care about big explosions and won’t forgive the glaring plot holes. They aren’t looking for punchy one-liners and dwarfs dressed like pimps (yes, the movie has a dwarf in a purple suit and cowboy hat).
At the same time though, zombies aren’t what conventional horror audiences are looking for. Both 28 Days Later and Resident Evil, the two biggest zombie movies in the last few years, met with lukewarm reviews at best.
There are some redeeming features. John Leugizamo pulls out a good performance, and the big budget really helps to make the zombies look better than ever, but ultimately, that’s just not enough to carry the movie.
The good news is that the “of the Dead” franchise appears to be dead, and it was good while it lasted. Dawn of the Dead is great social satire, and Day of the Dead is the most gore filled movie I have ever seen.
The bad news is that we can look forward to Diamond Dead, directed by Romero, in 2007, where a young woman must kill 365 people in a year with the help of a rock band that she accidentally killed and brought back to life.
Few movies fit into the dark comedy, horror film and psychodrama category at the same time. “Thirst” is one of them. The latest film by South Korean director Chan-wook Park won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival but beware, it’s not your typical vampire movie.
