Review of Survival of the Dead (2010) by Al M — 27 Aug 2010

The sixth film in Romero's Dead series, Survival of the Dead is a more direct sequel than any other film in the series. With Diary of the Dead, Romero restarted his series with the advent of the zombie plague, and Survival picks up directly from Diary, and a group of minor characters from the previous film have now become the main characters.

Survival of the Dead is a film filled with despicable characters, and it makes us wonder whether the human race should indeed survive. Ultimately, Survival of the Dead ends up being a somewhat silly and heavy-handed critique of war and the demonization of the enemy.

Unfortunately, what unfolds along the way towards the noble narrative is mostly silly and pointless. A group of AWOL soldiers end up in an island community where two rival groups engage in a Hatfield and McCoys style feud over where the zombies should be systematically put down or whether they should attempt to train them to eat food other than humans.

The soldiers become embroiled in the microcosmic war that plays out on the island and that has more to do with fighting humans than with killing zombies. Ultimately, this is perhaps the film's greatest fault--there is simply not enough good zombie action in it.

There are some brief moments of brilliance, but they are drowned out by the onslaught of stupid rednecks, silly plot points, and a less than impressive cinematographic aesthetic.