Review of Survival of the Dead (2010) by Hunter D — 10 Mar 2011

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, like George Romero's other recent films, has taken a brutal beating by critics and fanboys (with a few exceptions). Romero hasn't made a non-zombie flick since BRUISER, and he seems stuck in the sub-genre he himself created. I imagine that this is because it's the only way Romero can get funding, sort of like how Don Coscerelli was stuck making PHANTASM films for years, or the way Frank Henenlotter couldn't get his original films off the ground, but someone was always willing to sign checks for another BASKET CASE movie. Romero's days of doing films like KNIGHTRIDERS and MARTIN between zombie movies are long gone.

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD picks up in the same world DIARY OF THE DEAD took place in, centering on the group of soldier-bandits that briefly appeared in the previous movie. They see a video on YouTube (AT&T needs to work their apparent ability for their 3G network to withstand a zombie apocalypse into their advertising campaigns) of a mad Irishman promising safe haven on an island off the coast, so lacking anything better to do, they investigate. This leads them to Plum Island where an old family feud has been taken to the extreme, as the two patriarchs disagree on how to deal with the walking dead around them.

People who weren't pleased with LAND OF THE DEAD and DIARY OF THE DEAD aren't going to find SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD to be up to their DAWN OF THE DEAD standard. But in each movie, Romero has used the zombie setting to employ a not-so-subtle allegory, and in each movie its been different. SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD has things that fanboys won't find palatable that are a sad fact of low-budget horror filmmaking, mainly the CGI gore. Fans have a love of practical effects (as do I) and Romero zombie films have some of the nastiest gore you'll see, unfortunately a lot of the money-shots are marred by some low-rent computer effects. This never really bothered me though, as Romero doesn't dwell on the flesh-eaters the way he has in the past. DIARY OF THE DEAD and SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD don't have the overwhelming hoards of ghouls that inevitably overpower the survivors, they are films much more focused on what the characters do and how people behave given the situation they face. Romero is no longer at the forefront of zombie movies, and he seems stuck in the purgatory of his own making. Yet its a situation he makes the best of, he never makes the same zombie movie twice, and his sixth film in he still has something to say.