Tom takes on Romero's sixth zombie feature SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD on DVD!!

By Tom Fallows / July 1, 2011

Tom Fallows is the supreme Romero & zombie expert - having wrote a well received book on the legendary director and the genre he made a household name. So naturally when I was offered the chance to review Romero's latest on DVD - I couldn't think of anyone better to send the review copy to...

Say what you like about George A. Romero, the man sure knows how to kill a zombie. In Survival of the Dead (his sixth zombie film in as many decades) the godfather of horror takes a sickly delight as he shoots em, blows em up, sets ones head on fire with a flare, sticks a fire hydrant in to anothers mouth and fills it with foam until its eyes pop out, rips off scalps and generally does to human body parts what little kids do the wings of flies. Yet aside from this anatomical abuse Romero, finally, seems bored of the dead. And who can blame him. Since his debutNight of the Living Deadin 1968 hes been bound to zombies in a way that he first found infuriating and now has accepted with a kind of sad resignation. 2008s Diary of the Dead (of which this film is a direct sequel) attempted to breathe fresh life into the franchise by starting from scratch, but instead displayed a director running out of ideas. Survival then is more of the same and despite a few genre flourishes and unusual twist, the film staggers through the motions like awellyou know. Survival of the Dead is released on DVD in the U.K. on March 15th priced at £7.99. Blu-ray at £12.85. It begins on Plum Island, where rival patriarchs Patrick OFlynn (Kenneth Walsh) and Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick) argue opposing methods of dealing with the undead. OFlynn wants to put them in the ground permanently, while Muldoon holds the smart ones up in his corral until a cure can be found. When Muldoon gets the upper hand he expels OFlynn to the mainland, but he soon returns bringing in tow a group of AWOL National Guard soldiers led by Alan Van Sprangs Sarge (a minor character from Diary). Battle lines are drawn, sides chosen, while the dead, slowly, begin to close in The theme of opposed ranchers hell-bent on a course of mutually assured destruction is lifted from William Wylers epic oater The Big Country(1958). And while genre fans salivated over the potential of Romero directing a full tilt zombie western, the final result never lives up to that promise. Sure there are some cursory motifs cowboy hats, horses, and the neat idea of keeping dead people like cattle but for the most part Survival treads familiar apocalyptic territory. Indeed, its muted colour palette (all night time browns and greens) and scenes of abandoned streets recall the directors own Land of the Dead, only this time without the budget to fully realise the social collapse.

This repetition of past glories doesnt end there. Theres the group of ethnic and social outsiders (a Hispanic, a strong minded woman, a lesbian etc) a la Night, religious subtext (with the line Gods gonna send us all to hell and the devil will surely send us back, sounding suspicious like Dawn of the Deads when theres no more room in hell tagline) and the now standard orgasmic, intestine munching climax. This familiarity breeds contempt. Sure, new elements concerning dead heads (as Romero would now have us call them) are introduced, such as a zombie riding a horse and a bizarre evolutionary twist come the resolution. But they seem muddled. The zombies are changing, and Romero deserves credit here for trying something new, but were never told why or what impact this has on his hellish universe. Instead it seems like change for changes sake and is more befitting of a storyteller trying anything to keep himself, never mind his audience, interested.

For purists there is little here of interest (even Tom Savinis legendry grue has been replaced by CGI splatter) but horror hounds unfamiliar with Romeros work may find something to enjoy. The director displays his usual macabre eye for detail and social conscious and the final image (although undermined by a clumsy narration) of two dead men standing in front of a glowing moon, firing empty guns at each other until the end of time is a potent metaphor for a humanity destined to make war forever and ever. Romero has shown time and again that he is a master of his craft, but Hollywood long ago gave up on him. With Survival, it appears he may have given up on himself too.