Review of Survival of the Dead (2010) by Jason W — 03 Jun 2010

Now this is more like it.

Free of the moral horseshit that lurked within Diary of the Dead, this movie's a good ole' Western. With zombies.

A lot of people seem to dislike this, and I suppose I can understand why. It doesn't feel as bleak or as sinister as Night or Day. It's not as whimsical or as charming as Dawn. And it's not as... Anticipated as Land was. It's simply just another episode in the franchise.

And, seeing as how it's not trying to force a message down your throat the entire time, or awkwardly trying to make a flavor-of-the-month style of filmmaking work, I'd say that it's fine by me that this got made.

It's about these dueling Irish families on this island off the coast of Delaware. One family's trying to kill all of the undead, because naturally, they're trying to eat the living. The other family attempts to preserve the dead in an attempt to domesticate, and later, cure them from their fleshy desires.

A 'rag-tag' group of marines (actually first seen in Diary of the Dead, where it was odd that so much attention was paid to them) find their way to the island, and are caught up in the middle of this struggle.

It's fun how this is basically a old-time Western, and the zombies are essentially a background nuisance rather than a threat. Everytime they're onscreen, they're merely cannon fodder, and the butt of several grisly punchlines. Some work, some suffer due to overly computer generated gore. But mostly, this movie's about the dueling families. And like a Western, there's a lot of soapy character drama, and a lot of shooting.

George Romero was always better at handling personal conflict than staging action scenes, and the gunfights here are mostly milquetoast. But, they're not terrible, so I guess... It's not... Bad?

Technically, it's well-made. Shot with the RedOne, the digital look is clean and pretty, but it definitely makes some of the zombies look like people with makeup slathered on. The editing and music are decent, and I've already touched upon the makeup effects, which work 75% of the time.

This isn't a great film by any means, and it's certainly a far cry from the first four films (I like Land. Suck it, bitch). It's not going to convince anyone that slow-zombies are still scary (they're not, unfortunately), and it's not going to blow your mind.

But, it definitely doesn't take itself seriously, and as far as 90-minute zombie films go, you could certainly do worse. And as far as George Romero-directed zombie films, you could definitely do worse.

Just do yourself a favor, and pretend it's a Western, and not a horror film. You'll be better off, and you'll enjoy it more.