Day of the Dead (film)
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| Day of the Dead | |
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| Directed by | George A. Romero |
| Produced by | Richard P. Rubinstein |
| Written by | George A. Romero |
| Starring | Lori Cardille Terry Alexander Joseph Pilato Jarlath Conroy Antoine Dileo Richard Liberty Sherman Howard |
| Music by | John Harrison |
| Distributed by | United Film Distribution Company |
| Release date(s) |  July 19, 1985 September 12, 1986 |
| Running time | 102 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,500,000 (est.) |
| Preceded by | Dawn of the Dead |
| Followed by | Land of the Dead |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Day of the Dead (also known as George A. Romero's Day of the Dead) is a horror film by director George A. Romero. The third of Romero's five Living Dead movies. It is preceded by Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, and succeeded by Land of the Dead. Steve Miner directed a remake which came out in 2008, and Romero himself has completed a fifth zombie film, Diary of the Dead, but claims it is not directly a part of the series. It was released on February 15, 2008.
Day of the Dead deals with the fictional zombie assault on a military establishment, satirizing the military mindset in the process. The survivors in the film fear that they are the last humans on the face of the Earth. Day plays on the theme that humanity is a greater danger to itself than any outside threat. The living characters in the film are made up of three distinctive sects who have their own ideas regarding their predicament: soldiers who want to destroy the zombies, scientists who want to study them for a resolution, and civilians who want nothing more than to live out their last days without care.
The film received the least enthusiastic critical review of the five films. The film has been widely criticized. Fans of the previous film were disappointed as the plot is less sweeping in nature. Fans point out that the iconic human characters purposely contrast with the precocious zombie lead, "Bub", underscoring that zombies and humans are not so different.
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[edit] Plot Sypnosis
The film is set within an underground facility that now houses two warring factions of the living: a small group of scientists who are studying the living dead in hopes of stopping whatever is reanimating them, and a small group of soldiers who are growing increasingly despondent and volatile. The commanding officer is the dangerous Captain Rhodes (Joseph Pilato), who is verbally abusive, progressively psychopathic, mentally deranged and shows signs of being on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown. Sarah is one of the main scientists, and her lover is a soldier named Miguel Salazar.
The helicopter pilot John and his friend William McDermott live in a small trailer deeper inside the tunnel, away from the others, and remain neutral in the disagreements between the two other factions. Sarah learns that John and William have a simpler outlook on the situation, believing that the scientists are wasting their time when they should be finding a way to enjoy whatever life they have left. They would prefer to find an island some place and live as comfortably as possible.
As the arguments continue, the zombies start to find a way into the complex and there is no other way out.
[edit] Cultural references
[edit] Dawn of the Dead
In the scene change right after Doctor Logan (Richard Liberty) tells the zombie that it needs to sit in the dark and think about what it did, and punishes it by turning off the light, a rendition of "The Gonk" (the mall music used at the end) from Dawn of the Dead can be heard (as performed by John Harrison). In the dinner scene, McDermott says that "all of the shopping malls are closed," a clear reference to the film's predecessor Dawn of the Dead, which is set primarily in a shopping mall. The character of John is referred to as "Flyboy" by Captain Rhodes, just as Stephen was in Dawn of the Dead. At the end of the film the survivors escape using a helicopter, similar to the ending of Dawn of the Dead.
[edit] Other media
Near the end of Resident Evil, the protagonist Alice walks outside of her quarantine into a ravaged city street jammed with traffic. The camera pans past a newspaper blowing in the wind stating "The Dead Walk!", a direct homage to George Romero's work on Day of the Dead.
The song "M1A1", from the self-titled 2001 Gorillaz album samples the pulsing synthesizers and cries of "Hello! Is anyone there?" from the opening of the film. The song "Hip Albatross", also by Gorillaz, features a clip of Terry Alexander's dialogue. Furthermore, the artwork for the song "November has Come" off of the Gorillaz' 2005 album Demon Days has a picture of a calendar pinned to a brick wall set to the month of October with all the dates marked off in red Xs (reminiscent of the opening scene in Day of the Dead).[1] My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult also sampled dialogue for a track on their album Confessions of a Knife.
Due to the rights issue being owned by another studio, Day of the Dead 2: Contagium was released through Taurus Entertainment in an attempt to cash in on the name. The film itself has nothing to do with any of the Romero movies although the box art claims otherwise.[vague]
Resident Evil: Extinction references several plot elements including Bub, an underground facility, and a global outbreak.
[edit] Reception
Despite its lackluster critical reception, the film is noted for its special effects work, notably Tom Savini's make-up; and it was honored in 1985 with a Saturn Award for Best Make-Up. Romero himself cites Day of the Dead as his personal favorite of his original trilogy of zombie films.[2]
[edit] Soundtrack
Composed and performed by John Harrison with vocals by Sputzy Sparacino and Delilah for tracks 5 and 6, this album was given a limited release of 3000 in 2002 [3]. It includes a 12 page booklet with some information from John Harrison and Romero regarding the score.
[edit] Track listing
- 1. The Dead Suite
- 2. Breakdown
- 3. Escape Invasion
- 4. The Dead Walk
- 5. If Tomorrow Comes
- 6. The World Inside Your Eyes
- 7. Deadly Beginnings
- 8. Diner of the Living Dead (Zombie Voice excerpts from the movie re-edited)
- 9. Dead Calm
- 10. Bub's 9th
- 11. Dead End
[edit] Differences from previous films
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The following differences have been noticed in Romero's zombie universe since Dawn of the Dead:
- Zombie film and Romero fans noted the change in zombie behavior in this film. Many of the zombies generally had a grey green color to their skin. This was done possibly to show the long term effects of decomposition and the elements. Another interesting change is the sudden increase in zombie strength. In the previous films the zombies were generally weak and easy to push past. In Day of the Dead, the zombies had the power to pull human limbs, heads and bodies apart with relative ease - leading some fans to call this the "Play-doh effect."
- This is the only George A. Romero zombie film in which a zombie actually has a line of dialogue. Bub the zombie slurs, "Hello, Aunt Alicia," when prompted by Dr. Logan.
- Day is the only film in Romero's Dead series which does not show people being bitten by a zombie and returning as zombies themselves. It is explained that by amputating the infected limb in time, the infection can be halted, preventing the victim from dying. (Technical note: in a Romero zombie film, zombie bites cause lethal infection, after which the victim rises as a zombie. Infection may also be possible through direct contact with internal zombie fluids. In Day, Dr. Logan wears precautionary medical gloves while handling his undead specimens.)
[edit] Sequel
An unofficial quasi-prequel was released in 2005, entitled Day of the Dead 2: Contagium. Although it is advertised as an official sequel as Taurus Entertainment Company hold the rights to the original film, no one from the original film had any involvement in the film. The plot revolves around soldiers fighting off rampaging zombies at a remote medical facility with intentions to blow the facility up. The film received negative reviews on release.
[edit] Remake
Day of the Dead (2008 film), was released straight to DVD on April 8th. Little of the original plot exists, the remake only begins to take place in the underground army base near the end of the movie. The movie also bears little resemblance to the Romero original, with the outbreak starting, and not already having well taken place into the story. The zombies infection is also blamed on an airborne infection spread by cold-like symptoms (previously either unexplained or attributed to radiation in the Romero Dead movies.)
[edit] References
- ^ http://forums.gorillaz.com
- ^ George A. Romero interview, The Many Days of Day of the Dead, on Day of the Dead "Divimax special edition" (DVD, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2003)
- ^ SoundtrackCollector: Soundtrack details: Day Of The Dead
[edit] External links
- Day of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
- Day of the Dead at FilmSpot
- Original Day of the Dead script
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