Being a big fan of the zombie genre, I get very excited when news breaks that Romero is returning to the genre he created one again, Obviously his firts 3 zombie flicks are classic horror now but i love Land Of The Dead and think Diary Of The Dead is an underrated gem of a film. Survival however is a bit of a let down, find out why after the jump.
living dead series, entitled..SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD.
This time around Romero has dropped the experimental way of filming that was so evident in Diary Of The Dead, this time going for the straight approach...thank god, too many hand held movies came out at the same time. Anyways, Survival is more of a spin off that direct sequal to Diary as it follows the A.W.O.L national guard soldiers led by Alan Van Sprang's Sarge, who appeared in a scene that lasted for no longer that about 5 minutes, this was a pretty good idea to follow these characters, as i think alot of viewers wondered what they would do. Well the film starts with Sarge talking in a voice over about how the world turned to shit. They decied to go out on their own and make they're way north.
The cool thing Romero has done with this one is have two storylines that eventually become one. The first is about the soldiers and the second is about two warring families on an island, the Muldoons and the O'Flynns. The Muldoons want to keep the dead "alive" and train them to act like humans, i.e work in kitchens, deliver post and learn to eat meat other than that of humans where as the O'Flynns want to clear the island of the dead to make it safe. We are told the two heads of the families have been at war for years. Patrick O'Flynn is Exilled from the island with a group of men, The post a video on the internet stating that they can get survivors to the island. The national Guard guys find the video and head to where O'Flynn is and when they get there the discover that he's been survivning by conning people into going there and rips them off. Shit happens and zombies explode and are bullet riddled and the NGuards make it onto a ferry. O'flynn makes it onto the boat too and they set sail for the island. What happend then is a revenge fuelled story following O'Flynn as he attempts to kill Muldoon and get the island back.
On to the film it's self, Unfortuanately the film has a runtime of only 86 minutes which shows as it incredibly underwritten. It seams that there's a begining and an end but no middle, there seems to be enough space within the film for a back story on the Muldoons and the O'Flynns but it's never explored instead we get a short story from muldoon as to why he wants to keep the dead alive. The film would have been better had it been a bit longer, maybe around the two hour mark but alas it's not.
The characters of the National Guard are unlikable with Van Sprang trying to be the grizzled war vet who wants to get away from everything but when the need comes will kick some major ass, his portrayal just comes off as him being a gung ho twat. The rest of the team have absolutely no redeeming features and seem to take a back seat to everyone else, then there's the kid, the most pointless character in the film, he has no relevence to the plot and seems to be there just to make up the numbers. The O'Flynns are better characters with the main man Patrick O'flynn a sort of foul mouthed angry, but witty gent with a penchent for shouting bastard alot. The Character of Muldoon is a bit of an odd one, think Sam Raimi's Quick and the Dead, the part Gene Hackman Plays, Muldoon is a bit like that but slightly less evil. The two men who play Muldoon and O'Flynn are pretty good, they give some descent performances. Romero's Script is also quite tight dialog wise and there is some humour of the dark varity in there. Some of the kill are pretty good including one involving a zombie and a flare gun that brings back memories of Peter Jackson's Braindead. The photography of the film is very good, night shots are lit very well and there are some beautiful vista shots and a fantastic shot at the end of the film. Romero's direction is of course pretty good, the make is pretty good but not a patch on the Savini/KNB effects. I guess this is down to budget reasons. The Location is a beautiful looking island, with great looking Rural land which gives the film the look of a western. As usual there is an underlying theme running through the film, this one has the theme of Tribleism, this is evident in the war between Muldoon and O'Flynn.
Overall the film is good but lacking, it's a slight improvement over Diary of The Dead, and when you think that the man is in his 70s and still doing this better than most these days leaves me with an undying respect for the man. Roger Corman is in his 70s and last film he directed was Frankenstien Unbound, so for people who say that Romero should lay the dead to rest should realise that the man is making the movies he wants to make and if they don't want to see them, they don't have to. I on the other hand will continue to support this Visonary director untill the day he dies even if he makes Rest Home of the Dead.
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