Day of the Dead (1985)

by Tom
(Australia)

With zombie master George A Romero's Diary of the Dead hitting DVD store shelves in my country very soon, I thought it was high time to revisit his 1985 classic, and my all-time favourite zombie gorefest, Day of the Dead!

I like any movie that takes a bunch of ordinary people and drops them into a desperate situation. It's an oft-used horror movie premise, and in the hands of a good script-writer and capable director like Romero, it can work magnificently.


Release: July 19, 1985 (U.S.)
Written and Directed by: George A. Romero

Starring:
Lori Cardille as Sarah
Terry Alexander as John
Joe Pilato as Capt. Rhodes
Jarlath Conroy as William McDermott
Antonè DiLeo as Pvt. Miguel Salazar
Richard Liberty as Logan
Howard Sherman as Bub


Day of the Dead begs the question, what would you do in this situation? Who among these people would you ultimately side with?

We open sometime after Dawn. The dead have now taken over, and a group of survivors (part of the failing government's last-ditch effort to address the zombie problem) are holed up in an abandoned missile silo at the lower-end of Florida. It's a team of scientists, a civilian helicopter pilot, and their military protection. Yes, we have a cross section of "society" in here, the gung-ho military/dictator types who just want to run the show and blow away anything that ambles slowly, the rational scientists who want to understand, the indisposable few, ie: the respective voices of reason, and madness.

This motley crew have been reduced to hiding out most of the time, but they do emerge sometimes, either to rope in some zombie specimens for the scientist, Dr Logan (Richard Liberty), or make short helicopter trips up and down the coast to broadcast radio messages to anyone who may be out there listening. What is so interesting about the plot here is that all sides make a good point. The gung-ho's, led by Captain Rhodes (Joe Pilato) are of the opinion that humanity is basically doomed and the only option left is to go out with guns blazing. The scientists' voices of reason are Sarah (Lori Cardille) and Logan, who still maintain that zombification can be reversed, cured, or at the very least controlled and contained (Logan's shining example of this is "Bub" (Howard Sherman) a "domesticated" zombie he has taught to obey simple commands rather than just crave fresh flesh). Still a third voice is that of the civilians, John (Terry Alexander) and McDermott (Jarlath Conroy), and while McDermott just seems to want to drink himself into oblivion (hey, there's merit in that too), John, my favorite character, wants to helicopter it the heck outta there, find a nice little island somewhere, and live out the rest of his days in relative peace. Amen, brother! John and Sarah are responsible for one of the film's more poignant scenes, with John making his views clear, describing their hideout as a "great big 14 mile tombstone".

It is not long before things come to a head when the military types discover that Logan has been feeding his zombie specimens with the remains of Rhodes' fallen comrades. Meanwhile, Private Miguel Salazar (Anthony Dileo Jr), has sustained a zombie bite to the arm. Thinking quickly, Sarah amputates the limb, and manages to slow the zombification. That's my take on it anyway. I think just a little of the zombie poison or infection or whatever it is has gotten through to his brain, leading him to open the main gates and door to the hideout, not really knowing why, letting the zombie horde in. This leads to the films gloriously excessive climax, where Tom Savini's gore effects become the grisly highlight of the film's last act.

Much has been written and discussed about the changes Romero was forced to make to the film after his budget was severed (pun intended!). Having read the original screenplay (readily available online), and having seen Land of the Dead, which incorporated some of that screenplay into it's running time, I have to say I'm damn glad those changes came about. What we have here is a classic horror film, in the true sense of the word. Claustrophobia and terror are in abundance here. It's bleak, it's dark, it's pretty damn hopeless and that is exactly what I love about this particular zombie flick. I also love the much-maligned ending. I won't give it away here, but I think it perfectly rounds out the original "Dead" trilogy. Gone is the campiness of Dawn, returned is the darkness of Night.

Watch it as a zombie horror flick. Watch it as a savvy social commentary, if you will. Just watch it. It holds up extremely well these days, far better than the woefully dated (though still enjoyable) Dawn, and stands at the forefront of zombie flicks, being amusing, thought provoking, and above all, horror-fying!