Review #143: Day of the Dead (1985)

Cast/Notable Credits:
George Romero (Director):

Joe Pilato (Cpt. Rhodes): Dawn of the Dead, Pulp Fiction (1994), Wishmaster (1997)

Richard Liberty (Dr. Logan): The Crazies (1973), The Final Countdown (1980), Porky’s 2 (1983), Flight of the Navigator (1986)

Lori Cardille (Dr. Sarah Bowman)

Terry Alexander (John)

Jarlath Conroy (Billy McDermott)

Sherman Howard (Bub, the Zombie)

Trailer:


Plot:

Continuing along the zombie apocalypse of Romero’s previous two “…of the Dead”
movies, Day of the Dead follows a new group of survivors and their story. Earth has been overturned with zombies, and the human race is all but extinct. A dozen of the last remaining humans have taken refuge in an underground military establishment in Florida.

The underground military establishment is an old abandon RV storage unit. The survivors are a combination of three groups of people, scientists, military and civilians. All groups were assigned by the government to perform different tasks at the base.

The military…obviously protects everyone and is the “muscle” of the group. As it becomes more apparent that the government no longer exists, the soldiers have begun enforcing martial law and recklessly running the show their own way.

The scientist group was assigned to study the zombies and ultimately come up with a cure. Dr. Logan (nicknamed Dr. Frankenstein) leads the scientist and has become obsessed with trying to domesticate the zombies. Dr. Logan has cut up, dissected numerous zombies and has theorized that the zombies can be conditioned and controlled leading up to being domesticated.

Dr. Logan has taken a zombie subject and named it “Bub”. Bub is Dr. Logan’s number one student zombie and is less agitated and aggressive than all others. Bub is primitive and child-like in nature but he demonstrates the ability to remember simple little items and how they work.

Sarah, one of the last remaining logical and rational survivors left, has not forgotten the original assignment and continues to try to find a cure for the infestation. Sarah does not completely agree with Dr. Logan’s attempt to domesticate the zombies.

The civilian group consists of two people, John and Billy. They were assigned to assist both groups to whatever services they need. John's main job was to supply the transportation for the military by flying the helicopter. Billy is in charge of operating old WWII radios in an attempt to communicate with any other survivors.

Conflicted with different ideas on how to live out their remaining days, the different groups start to tear apart at the seams as they argue with each other more than they cooperate with one another. Of course, it’s a Romero movie, so eventually zombies make their way into the compound and things go to hell quickly.

Villain:

Slow moving zombies once again headline the "bad guy" department for a Romero "...of the Dead" movie. This time around, the zombies look pretty good compared to their bluish/grayish look from Dawn. The zombies had different stages of decay and some were pretty grotesque in appearance.

News flash! In case you've been under a rock, zombies LOVE to feed off human flesh. Day of the Dead is no different, but Day does have something the other Romero films didn't have...a feature zombie. And that would be Bub.

Bub is a little different from a typical zombie. He's more tame. Bub is Dr. Logan's star pupil in his attempt to "domesticate" zombies. Bub shows the ability of lower developmental learning. Bub still remembers the things from his past (razors, phones, headphones and even knows how to use a gun). Bub has a close relationship with Dr. Logan as he never attempts to harm him, but Captain Rhodes on the other hand, he would love to kill him. Hint: foreshadowing...hmm.

Cast:

The cast of Day of the Dead is a cheap imitation of Dawn of the Dead's core cast...in my opinion. John is a rip off of our beloved friend Peter. John tries to play the calm and smooth wise character, but fails in my book. I also hated his over the top horrible Jamaican accent. John flies the helicopter and is the lone pilot of the bunch. Hmm...helicopter...another rip off of Dawn?

Next on the list is Billy McDermitt, the other civilian. Billy plays John's best friend and is...shall we say...a little bit of a drunk. His first lines of the movie were spoken as badly acted drunk and then the film repeatedly shows him sippin' down the alcohol from his trusted flask.

Dr. Sarah Bowman portrays the source of intelligence in the film. Played by Lori Cardille, Sarah is a likable female heroine. Sarah clings to the possibility of finding a cure for the zombie apocalypse, but fails to recognize a larger picture at work as it becomes apparent that the world is truly over.

Dr. Logan plays the lead scientist in the operation. His character is the poster child for what a "mad scientist" is. Logan has given up completely on finding a cure and has turned his attention to "domesticating" the zombies. After numerous weird experiments and dissections, he earns the nickname...Frankenstein.

The last character worth mentioning in the film is the head of the military, Captain Rhodes. Rhodes has recently taken command of the military unit and has begun his own agenda...capturing absolute power. Rhodes is the typical major A-hole in the film. Rhodes has given up on the scientist and wants to implement martial law and become the ultimate leader.

SFX/Gore:

The special effects in Day of the Dead were surprisingly the best to date, courtesy of Tom Savini. The collective look of the zombies were awesome. Savini and crew went to great lengths to give each zombie a distinctive look. Factored into the look were different stages of decay, and numerous wounds from zombie bites.

Savini and company did a fabulous job on the death of * Spoiler - Highlight to Read * Captain Rhodes. Ultimately the zombies broke into the facility and Rhodes came face to face with Bub. Bub had broken free and found a gun. Bub shot Rhodes and chased him through the underground corridors. Rhodes attempted to escape through a door way, but as he opened it, a pack of zombies jumped on him and ripped him apart at the stomach. The zombies tore him up (even a fake rubber chicken can be seen as they tear out his intestines) into two main pieces which was a fabulous special effects job. As Rhodes met his doom, he screamed out the phrase, "Choke on em'! Choke on em!" (referring to his body parts) * End Spoiler.

T.Gun's Take:

Being the encore film to Dawn of the Dead is a tough act to follow and that is the number one reason that hurts Day of the Dead so much. Dawn was such a great film, so expectations were high for Day of the Dead but I was disappointed. I guess lightening couldn’t strike twice.

Was Day of the Dead a bad film? No. The problem for me (and many other fans) is that Dawn was such a great movie; Day was…a let-down. The characters in Dawn were totally kick *ss awesome, yet the characters in Day seemed to be a poor man’s version (or rip off) of Dawn’s.

Day was a much darker film than any of the other Romero zombie flicks. The story was more dense and complicated than the others. Romero installed a new aspect to the zombies in the story line...learning skills. Romero continues on trait in Land of the Dead.

Don't expect to see the same cozy feelings from this film as you may have with Dawn. Day of the Dead is more disturbing and darker, but it is still a pretty good movie.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on July 19, 1985 and made $5.8 million at the box office ($1.7 million opening weekend)
-Filmed at a former limestone mine near Pittsburgh
-Extras were reportedly given $1, a copy of the newspaper at the beginning of the movie, and a ball cap reading, “I Played a Zombie in Day of the Dead”
-The newspaper at the beginning of the film is the same used in Resident Evil
-Lori Cardille's father Bill appeared as a reporter in the original Night of the Living Dead