Some time ago in the quaint state of Pennsylvania, a group of young filmmakers had the idea of creating a new type of horror movie. They all pitched in five hundred bucks and formed a company called Latent Image. Their idea centered around flesh eating corpses. A young filmmaker named George Romero was tasked with writing and directing it. They shot the film in a little farmhouse and called it Night of the Flesh Eaters which was later named to Night of the Living Dead by the distributor. Little did Romero know that he and his friends would capture lightning in a bottle.

Years later with a dozen or so movies under his belt and a career that by all accounts was over (by Hollywood standards), George was brought back from the dead when zombies returned to the forefront of the public’s eye. There he went on a zombie making spree, shooting three movies in five years with the last film being Survival of the Dead. Alas, this movie should have remained dead like the walking antagonists.

The movie follows a group of soldiers last seen in Diary of the Dead. The group is lead by a ragged soldier named Crockett. He’s is a grizzled veteran of the undead war. His two black pupils lets you know that there is no soft edges to his character. He’s all kill or be killed. And also, he’s probably the biggest chain smokers in movie history. I’ve never seen a character light up as much as he does. I kid you not … in every scene, he is snapping open his zippo and taking a deep long drag. I’m guessing it’s because he read the script, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves :)

Crockett commands a ragtag group of soldiers who are all by-the-numbers cannon fodder. They pretty much all die in the order that you expect them to. Not that it matters. None of them are very likable. They all do stupid things so when they do die, it isn’t so much a “tragic” moment as it is “duh” moment. They hold long conversations while being attacked by zombies. They don’t mind swimming through zombie infested waters. They don’t like to secure any areas from wandering zombies nor do they believe in searching their prisoners for weapons. Or for that matter, they don’t mind arming their prisoners. In a word, they are idiots. But not just normal idiots, they are famous idiots since robbing the film students in Diary of the Dead which brings me to one of my biggest problems with the movie. The world itself.

Romero does a terrible job conveying his apocalyptic world. He’s trying to show a world going to hell, but the characters still talk about internet fame which implies some sense stability. At another point, the characters manage to acquire a ton of cash and they are excited about being millionaires. Yet, the outbreak is presented as a national one which makes no sense. Money would be worthless, yet Romero doesn’t address these implications which makes for confusing character motivations. And believe it or not, in a Romero zombie apocalypse, YouTube continues to function. Hell, people still get cell service and the power continues to work. That’s what I call a convenient apocalypse.

Well, the soldiers manage to get a boat where they sail out to Plum Island which is inhabited by Americans with thick Irish accents. We’re told it’s a fishing village, but it’s really Ireland displaced in the wild west.

The plot centers around two rival clans. One clan wants to kill the zombies whereas the other wants to rehabilitate them. The rehabiltators believe if zombies could learn to eat animals instead of people, people would be safe around them. It’s a completely retarded argument that ignores the fact that zombies will still eat people. And with a limited food supply on the island, it’s just pure insanity for them to feed their livestock to creatures who don’t need to eat. I think Romero was just trying something different with the genre, but the logic doesn’t jibe. Yes, it sucks to kill your undead spouse, but it sucks even more to die of starvation.

The two clans fight each other with the soldiers getting in the way, resulting in an OK corral type of standoff that is completely boring because all of the characters are both unlikable and predictable. The showdown is supposed to be a meeting of ideologies but it plays out with random people shooting each other with the zombies cleaning up the mess.

The movie ends with a pretty weak conclusion with a taped on message conveyed in monotone narration. It’s flat. It’s uninspired. It’s (as my screenwriting teacher would say) “on-the-nose”. Now contrast that with his first film, Night of the Living Dead which ends with a brutal montage set against creepy almost nihilistic music. It is an incredibly effective piece of filmmaking for what was just a simple credit roll.

Survival of the Dead is also a text book example of pointless computer graphics. At one point, Crockett shoots a zombie in the chest with a flare gun, causing the zombie to combust as if it’s internals were fused with gasoline. The zombie’s head catches fire whereby Crockett lights his cigarette off it. The effect is pure agony to watch because the computer graphics are terrible and the moment is pointless. There are so many similar moments that I felt like I were watching a gory roadrunner cartoon. Seriously, do zombie movies need this kind of CGI? In fact, do zombie movies need any kind of CGI?

In summation, Survival of the Dead isn’t worth sitting through even once. Even the gimmicky Diary of the Dead surpasses this film. Where Diary of the Dead took risks, this film phones it in. It’s pretty clear that Romero is bored with zombies and would rather be filming something else. I can’t blame for that, but I can’t excuse the sloppy writing.

Verdict: Skip it

Apparently George Romero and Tom Savani – the dynamic duo behind the legendary Dawn of the Dead – are batting their eyes at each other over the prospect of remaking Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things. Normally, I’d scoff at the thought of a remake but this actually sounds interesting.

For the record, each time I hear of another re-something, I want to stick my head in the dryer and let the puppy go all night long. It’s gotten so bad that film executives are not just raiding films of yesteryear, but now they are remaking movies not even a few years old as the Hulk and the soon to be Spiderman reboot will testify. But there’s something about a remake of Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things that tickles me. I like the idea of George putting his writing skills behind something that isn’t his own. I think he’s lost the touch in recent years, and working on an already existing property might be a good exercise. Mind you, I haven’t seen the original movie, but people do seem to like it.

And for Savani — he’s always fun to watch so long as his creations are in front of the camera as opposed to behind it (*cough*Night of the Living Dead remake*cough*)

Granted, this could be one expensive lesson on why you should invest in mutual funds instead of George Romero film projects, but I don’t think George is entirely out of the game. He’s been on the record of saying that zombies just don’t do it for him anymore. I can understand the sentiment of losing the love for a genre which is why his recent films have felt as stiff as the corpses themselves. Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things isn’t a traditional zombie film – so I hear – and that prospect of genre intersection might be the shot in the arm he needs to get his old mojo back.

That said … he’s gotta lose the crotchedy “zombies shouldn’t run fast” mantra. Love it or hate it, the genre has expanded to include it and selling bumper stickers that say “Fast Zombies Suck!” is just another way of telling those kids to get off his lawn.

Romero And Savini Collaborating Again? (empireonline.com <- new window)

The movie ended up scoring a meta-critic rating of 43 putting it more on the side of Diary of the Dead as opposed to Dawn of the Dead. It’s a little disappointing to note that the godfather of the modern zombie may have lost its touch. Honestly, it’s not that surprising. When asked during an interview if he could make other types of movies, he lit up at the subject, noting the only reason he’s making zombie films is because zombies are hot right now.

It’s not surprising that such feelings are being reflected in his work. Nevertheless, if you wanted to see his latest work, just swing over to Netflix and tell them that A World on Fire sent you ;)

Survival of the Dead (netflix.com <- new window)

In any case, Ebert has been generally positive with Romero over the years. He didn’t quite “get” Night of the Living Dead when it was released but he thoroughly enjoyed Dawn of the Dead. Ebert enjoyed Romero films because Romero used zombies as metaphors instead of targets. Even when Romero fumbled, Ebert could find a silver lining in the dropped ball which says a lot for Romero’s skills as both a writer and director.

These days, I’m thinking Ebert is a little cashed out on zombies. He recently reviewed Survival of the Dead and the old flame appears snuffed. In fact, I got the sense that Ebert was having a hard time staying interesting in just writing the review. Here’s a snippet:

All true. But after you’ve seen, oh, I dunno, 20 or 30 zombie movies, you sort of stop caring very much, unless something new is going on, as in “Zombieland.” At this point, I find myself watching primarily to spot and appreciate entertaining new ways to slaughter zombies.

With the rumor of a couple of new Romero zombie movies in the works, hopefully he’ll reawaken Ebert’s love of the dead. I’m not betting on it, but it would sure be a fine thing to see.

Survival of the Dead Review (rogerebert.suntimes.com <- new window)

For the recent resurgence of zombies, George gives all the credit to video games and as much as he respects the genre, he will never stick his toe in video game development. As he says, “I’m just too darn slow”.

It’s an interesting watch, but I gotta say that George looks a little bored. Maybe it’s all the interviews by wide eyed twenty somethings or maybe all the “Survival of the Dead” promoting has worn him out. It’s the writing process that appears to spark a little life in him but it is quickly passed with nary a look over the shoulder.

Still, it’s an interesting watch which gives insights to Romero thought process. Check it out

Watch George A Romero watch Left 4 Dead 2 (news.bigdownload.com <- new window)

The first part of the interview is pretty funny. Romero looks a little comfortable as he is barraged with a torrent of questions. This interviewer looks to have forgotten his Ritalin and is a complete spaz. I get the sense that this is his first celebrity interview and he’s doing his best to appear cooly smug about the whole proceeding.

The last part of the interview gets interesting when Romero talks about the state of zombies which pretty much sums up the title of this piece. In short, Romero doesn’t want people to evolve the genre. To quote the iconic legend, “leave my zombies alone”.

Well, this isn’t really news. Romero has been pretty outspoken about running zombies and it makes sense that he would dislike “spider zombies” as seen in the horrific remake of Day of the Dead. He asks people to leave his zombies alone. I don’t really understand what he means by this. I don’t know if he is talking about people remaking films or if he is claiming ownership of the entire genre.

The great thing about zombies is that they are fictional creatures, meaning they can evolve with the tastes of a particular culture at a time. By asking people not evolve the genre, he’s asking people to stay true to a forty year old vision which might not be relevant anymore. Romero might like to keep the genre static, but that’s the quickest way to actually destroy it. Just sayin’.

George A. Romero wants you to leave his zombies alone! (destructoid.com <- new window)

On an aside, anyone who says life ends after retirement is pure hooey. Romero recently turned seventy and by conventional wisdom, he should be sitting at home, watching a marathon of Judge Judy. Instead, the guy is producing far more work than people half his age. I’m guessing George isn’t going to quit until he is a member of the walking dead, and even then, he’ll probably be carrying a camera with him. Maybe he’ll be writing a new screenplay, “Night of the Living People”. Who knows.

In any case, according to the article, the app looks to tap into the everyone’s hidden zombie. From the article:

* Capturing or importing a photo, followed by adding over 20 zombie features, including open wounds, weapons, and a large gallery of deformed eyes and mouth options.
* A custom engine that allows you to “shoot” your creations and experience the amazing blood-splatter effect.
* Save your zombie images to your phone, post them to a social networking website or e-mail them to others.

Sounds pretty cool. When it is release, I’ll make sure to give it a spin and share my thoughts.

App of the Dead (zombiecommand.com <- new window)

I just logged onto Twitter and saw this article posted from his Twitter account. Evidently, in order to promote Survival of the Dead, Romero and friends rounded up four hundred corpses to storm downtown New York.

Honestly, this sounds like an awesome zombie walk. Probably the best one ever. From the article:

The leisurely zombie walk took about an hour, which makes a whole lot of sense considering zombies don’t run. All moviegoers know they walk very, very slowly. Once they arrived at the theater, they walked the ‘Dead Carpet’ past a phalanx of photographers and were greeted by the film’s director, George Romero.

How cool is that? To end a zombie walk with a hand shake from one of the big heavies of the genre? Sounds like it was a blast. Check out the photos. Just a question … what is the Hulk doing there? :)

The Walking Dead: Zombies Invade Manhattan to Promote Movie (dnainfo.com <- new window)

It’s an interesting read for one thing. He talks about turning the “new dead” series into a franchise so he and his partner can have control over the future of the series. One interesting nugget is the possibility of a boxed set of all his zombies films. In short, not in our lifetime. From the article:

The first four films were all controlled by different people. I can’t even get enough cooperation from them to put out a boxed set so forget trying to cross-collateralize used characters. I’d love to take this Bub or Big Daddy and show them when they were alive.

Then there is this quote which is a little disturbing.

No, I just love it. I mean, I could do this for[ever]…I’d like to do two more of them and I have a little stockpile of ideas that I’ve never been able to do over the years but now can do with CG, some of them.

How many good filmmakers out there cracked up their ships on the rocks of computer graphics. How many sank to the bottom all because their “idea” couldn’t be expressed in any other way except gaudy special effects? Resist the urge, George. CG can lead to the dark side. Please do not follow the siren song. Just file those ideas away, and focus on telling a good story.

In any case, this is a good read with even a mention of zombie horses. Check it out.

George Romero Interview, Survival of the Dead (moviesonline.ca <- new window)

Evidently, he will continue to build upon the ideas he developed in Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead to create a four movie arc that depicts the end of the world via. hungry zombies. Not much other information has been announced but I’m guessing we’ll be seeing some familiar faces from the first two movies put in the last two.

As for Survival of the Dead, I have yet to see it but the reaction is mixed. Feel free to share your thoughts.

And one last thing … thanks for sticking around.

George Romero Has 2 More Zombie Films Rising From The Dead (io9.com <- new window)

Funny thing to note … I’ve seen so many zombies flicks lately that I don’t even blink anymore when I see a corpse wrestling with a pound of intestines. I think I might need a vacation.

The cool thing about this trailer is that it is introduced by none other than George himself. He does his best to make a decent intro as hordes of white faced zombies close in on him. And when they do reach the man, he stares at the camera like someone dropped a cigarette butt in his coffee. It’s kind of funny in not-try-to-be-funny way.

As for the trailer itself … it starts out good, but it kind of loses its steam halfway through. I don’t know what it is. Does it sell me on the movie? Sure. But I was sold before the movie. It just feels like an energetic meh like the editor was bored and thinking of some other trailer while he was cutting this one. In any case, with just a month to go, I’m looking forward to finally seeing this flick.

Survival of the Dead Red Trailer

Anyway, back to the DVD review. The folks over at DVD Times managed to get a hold of a region 2 DVD which from the review unfortunately doesn’t sound like it doesn’t have a whole lot going it. The folks at DVD Times turns out to be a little disappointed with the whole deal. From the article:

There’s a scene in Survival of the Dead, Romero’s latest addition to the genre, where aging zombie destroyer Patrick O’Flynn is faced with the prospect of having to finish off two zombie children chained to their beds; as he takes a step back to gather his mettle, the weight of his burden is tangible to us, and it’s this quality that makes Romero’s zombie brand so appealing. It’s just a shame that in Survival…, we aren’t given adequate time to know and understand the fallible humans before us, and as a result the impact is much flattened when stood alongside notable earlier efforts.

As for the DVD:

Perhaps the only issue of note is that the picture is surrounded by a very fine but nonetheless visible frame. During the dark scenes, it’s not actually noticeable, but during lighter sequences, a line is evident, particularly across the top of the picture. Whilst this doesn’t spoil viewing to any major degree, it’s an occasional reminder of reality that can detract from the zombie nightmare illusion. This could be my review copy – but I tried it on a couple of different players to ensure it wasn’t related to my hardware.

To be honest I’m jonsiing for this film. So long as the movie does not channel the spirit of Diary of the Dead, then I will be happy.

Survival of the Dead DVD Review (dvdtimes.co.uk <- new window)

This week’s release is a new trailer for the upcoming production. It looks pretty good. Dare I say … it looks Hollywood with plenty of cuts punctuated by a heart pumping score. The trailer follows the exploits of our not so friendly National Guard unit who was last seen in Diary of the Dead.

Yet, there is a nitpick. It appears that Romero has discovered CGI and he seems pretty happy to incorporate it into his movie. I’m not all anti-CGI, but I am very much anti excessive CGI. The bits used in the trailer just seem to call attention to itself like a kid flapping his arms in front of a camera. While it may be funny to watch a soldier light his cigarette off the burning head of a zombie, it just reeks of a special effects shot. In the span of two seconds, I realize that I am watching something entirely “unreal”. It’s like watching a magic act and seeing the fishing line.

Otherwise, this is looking to be a fine movie. I do find it amusing that the trailer mentions all of Romero other zombie films except his last two. Still, look good so far.

More to come as I have it.

George A Romero’s Survival Of The Dead Trailer (youtube.com <- new window)

FearNet has wrote up a pretty thorough write up about the DVD, giving a sort of mini review about the movie. If you haven’t seen the 1970′s version of The Crazies, the writeup is a perfect introduction to the rather interesting albeit paranoid film.

And Blue Underground Home Video seems to be in agreement, as they’ve timed their slick-looking blu-ray release to arrive right alongside Overture’s (surprisingly good) remake of The Crazies. As soon as the old-school horror fans are done with the main feature, they’ll want to click right over to the very enjoyable audio commentary between filmmakers George Romero and Bill Lustig. (Mr. Lustig directed flicks like Vigilante and Maniac, but these days he seems to be doing a rather fine job doling out digital treats with Blue Underground. Having said that, I do believe this commentary is an import from the old Anchor Bay release of The Crazies.) As expected, Romero is a treat to listen to. He’s both kind to his old movie, and brutally honest, and Lustig does a great job of keeping the information flowing. (Not that Romero ever needs much help in that department.) Also included: a brief piece on lovely leading lady Lynn Lowry and a few old trailers and TV spots.

If you’re a fan of George Romero, you should do yourself a favor and see this movie. It might not be as slick of “well made” as contemporary films, but if definitely entertains with the best of them.

Review: George A. Romero’s ‘The Crazies’ (1973) (fearnet.com <- new window)

What is a one sheet?

Honestly, I hadn’t a clue, so my pals over a Wikipedia let me know that it’s “a single document that summarizes a product for publicity and sales”. What this tells me that it is a slow news day over at BD, which should tell you that’s pretty slow over here in the magnificent offices (**cough**snort**) of A World on Fire.

What’s actually cool about this link is the image attached. I’ll make no bones about it (what does that phrase mean?), I wasn’t too wild with the proposed DVD art for the movie. Take away the zombie makeup and it looked like a couple of constipated women in search of a toilet. This image is great. Pure nightmare fuel, conjuring thoughts of the IRS.

About the publicity stuff? Here’s a brief excerpt:

Off the coast of Delaware sits the cozy Plum Island where two families are locked in a struggle for power, as it has been for generations. The O’Flynn’s, headed by patriarch Patrick O’Flynn (Kenneth Welsh) approach the zombie plague with a shoot-to-kill attitude. The Muldoons, headed by Shamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick), feel that the zombies should be quarantined and kept ‘alive,’ in hopes that a solution will someday be found.

The O’Flynn’s, who are clearly outnumbered, are forced to exile Patrick by boat to the mainland, where he meets up with a cynical band of soldiers, headed by Guardsman Sarge (Alan Van Sprang). They join forces and return to the island, to find that the zombie plague has fully gripped the divided community, and the body count is rising.

That basically sums up everything that has been said about the movie. Just follow the link for the poster. It really is cool. And a note to Mr. Disgusting … is it really necessary to watermark the photo with a Bloody Disgusting logo? I’ll let Gob Bluth speak for me.

Official One Sheet Debut for George A. Romero’s ‘Survival of the Dead’ (bloody-disgusting.com <- new window)