[5]
George Romero concludes his famous ‘Dead’ trilogy with 1985’s relatively underwhelming Day of the Dead. The film centers around a group of scientists and military personnel who take shelter in a sprawling underground bunker in Florida while the dead walk the ground above. Lori Cardille heads up the ensemble cast, playing the mediator between a wacky scientist (Richard Liberty) and a hot-head soldier (Joe Polito). While zombies take the center stage at the beginning and end of the film, most of the story’s conflict is between the humans as they argue over how best to deal with the undead threat.
While Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead are among my favorite films ever made, Day of the Dead has simply never captured my fancy. The makeup effects work, led by Tom Savini, is by far the best in the series, but the characters are less engaging and the subtext less provocative. A lot of the performances feel too much like an over-the-top community theater production. Cardille is good, but the only other actor who leaves much of an impression is Howard Sherman as ‘Bub’ — one of science team’s zombie guinea pigs who becomes humorously domesticated. Thematically, Night dealt with racism and Dawn dealt with materialism, both still salient issues today. But Day‘s critique of the military feels thin and tired by comparison. I also find it a much more joyless viewing experience. Night and Dawn both have escapist appeal in their settings of survivalist or capitalist dreamlands. Day is just a group of assholes arguing in a pit.
If you’ve never seen Romero’s previous zombie films, I imagine Day of the Dead might be entertaining. Nobody does claustrophobic horror/thrillers better than Romero, and the film contains its fair share of indelible imagery. But for me, it’s too similar to its predecessors, without improving upon them in any substantial ways.
With Terry Alexander, Gary Howard Klar, John Amplas (Martin), and Greg Nicotero.