Thanks to Stranger Things, Day Of The Dead has gained a bit of an increase in its otherwise tepid reputation. Known mostly for being the final of George A Romeo’s original Living Dead Trilogy, it never gained the prestige of Night nor the hipness of Dawn. It was just “the third one”, and didn’t really get talked about. That’s probably due to it being so utterly downbeat and bleak, even by the standards set by the master of zombie cinema.
The main reason for this is that it doesn’t follow the three-act drama set by the previous two films. Both of them, for all their diversity and difference to each other, have three key beats: zombies turn up, the humans find sanctuary and then quarrel, the zombies get in and nibble everyone. Day doesn’t have this tempo, as it’s set in a post-zombie apocalypse world. It’s three acts are: the zombies have won, the humans have false sanctuary and are already quarrelling, and then… well, no spoilers. Let’s just say it’s all far less optimistic, far less positive, and somehow far more realistic than the others. It’s also far more satisfying, if you are willing to entertain something close to a nihilistic zombie Waiting For Godot.
Continue reading
18
The early 80s: a time in American culture filled with explorations of questionable fashions, clashes of socio-political identities, gargantuan cocaine habits, and an unending urge to somehow bring the simplicity/mythical mono-culture of the 50s back to life. Along with an assortment of rock and roll revivals, and the machinations of The Moral Majority, this meant that the time was right for comic movies to enter the prime time with DC legend Superman crashing into the box office with two smash hits: Superman, The Movie and Superman II, The Sequel. So happy were the film producers Ilya Salkind & Alexander Salkind with the money made from the franchise, that they took a scrapped subplot from a rejected Superman III, The Flop script and decided to make Supergirl!!
If there is one thing zombie movie fans love, it’s watching the living being eaten alive to sate the hellish appetites of the undead hordes and their own, carnal sensibilities. If there is a second thing they like, it’s often having an interesting backstory behind the film and bit of vintage to its creation. This is possibly it’s due to the production tribulations and copyright problems of the touchstone work of the genre, The Night Of The Living Dead (NOTLD), or maybe it’s because, until recently, aficionados were considered the creepy cousins to more wholesome things like Vampires, Werewolves, and serial killers and needed something else to talk about between themselves once the delicate and nuanced plot variations of “and then they ate everyone!” have been chewed over. Whatever it is, 1988’s Flesh Eater (AKA Zombie Nosh and Revenge Of The Living Zombies) wears it’s rather curious pedigree on it’s chest, like the proud winner of Six Degrees of George A Romeo, due to being Produced, Directed, Written by, Edited, and Staring The Bill Hinzman!
Trash or Treasure 