[nicholasrope]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Day of the Dead (1985)

George A Romero's third zombie film in which the ghouls now outnumber humans by 40,000 to 1 adds interesting new concepts to the formula.

The main one being that one zombie, affectionately known as Bub, has developed rudimentary forms of human behaviour and understanding - a concept that is taken even further in belated follow up film Land of the Dead (2005) - it's this breakthrough work that fuels the bulk of the film which is set in an underground Florida missile silo as the small group of scientists leading the exploration frequently come into conflict with the just as small band of hot headed military types assigned to protect them but are more interested in blowing the ghouls away than training them in human life skills.

In truth the plot is fairly slight but is bulked out by a nightmarish framing device and an eye in the sky exploration of local Everglade towns and is driven along by very strong performances by all involved, in particular Lori Cardille's all action doctor and Joe Pilato's manic and unhinged Captain Rhodes.

Where Day of the Dead ups the ante from previous Romero zombie movies is in Tom Savini's gut wrenching (literally) gore FX. They are truly stomach churning with outstanding sequences of flesh munching, ripping and disemboweling.

Following on from the campy romp that was 1978's Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead is a deadly serious shocker. The majority of characters are flawed at best or extremely unlikable in the main giving the film an air of cheerless sombreness and although we finish on a happy ending the overall tone is as grim and unforgiving as hell itself.

Apparently it went over budget, you wouldn't have known it. Love this film