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Info:
  • DVD: Survival of the Dead (2-Disc Ultimate Edition)
  • Rating: Unrated
  • Starring: Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Richard Fitzpatrick
  • Written By: George A. Romero
  • Directed By: George A. Romero
  • Distributor: Magnolia Home Pictures
  • Original Year of Release: 2009
  • Extras: See Below
  • Series:

Survival of the Dead Two Disc Ultimate Edition

Romero’s Weakest Zombie Film Yet

By Tim Janson     September 07, 2010


Survival of the Dead Lacks Bite
© Magnolia Home Entertainment

 

George Romero’s 2005 film Land of the Dead was the highest grossing of any of his zombie films making over $40 million dollars. But having a chance to work with a far larger budget and with well-known actors seems to have had an adverse effect on Romero. His last two films, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead were back to bargain basement budgets. While “Land” cost $15 million to make. The last two films cost a TOTAL of $6 million. Romero generally seems more comfortable working with a smaller budget but the results from the last two films have been mixed at best.
 
In Survival of the Dead, the film picks up several days into the zombie plague as a group of four national guardsmen led by “Sarge” (Alvan Van Sprang) go AWOL and become outlaws, hijacking other survivors. Sarge appeared in Diary of the Dead when he and his group robbed the college students traveling in the RV which ties the films together in a small way. They find a teenaged kid who has an armored car with over a million dollars inside the truck. Ditching their jeep for the more formidable armored truck, they make their way south to Delaware where they learn about a safe haven called Plum Island. 
 
The island is home to a pair of feuding Irish families, the Muldoons and the O’Flynns. Patrick O’Flynn (Kenneth Welsh) believes the zombies should be put down while Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick) believes their loved ones should be kept alive until a cure is found. The O’Flynns are outnumbered and Patrick is exiled off the island. He joins up with the national guardsman to return to Plum Island and settle the score with Seamus. 
 
To this point you notice that zombies have not been mentioned very much and with good reason. The zombies seem to have been an afterthought in Survival of the Dead. While Romero’s previous films have been about the survivors reacting to the zombie plague, here they seem to be more a nuisance than anything. They arrive on the island to find that Seamus is trying to train the zombies. An undead postal carrier is chained to a mailbox, repeatedly walking back and forth delivering the mail, while a farmer zombie pushes a plow back and forth. Awesome…domesticated zombies…how terrifying! The worst yet is O’Flynn’s own daughter Jane is now a zombie who spends her day riding her horse throughout the countryside. How sweet…a zombie film has turned into Black Beauty! O’Flynn gathers his clan and along with the National Guardsmen, they head towards a showdown with the Muldoon clan. 
 
It’s shocking at how far off the mark Survival of the Dead ends up. The scathing sarcastic wit that has always been a staple of Romero’s films is replaced by slapstick humor. Some of it is quite funny such as the Muldoon’s zombie wife who continues to make him dinner. It’s just not the subversive humor that were used to seeing from Romero. Add to that the film is slow and poorly paced with uninteresting characters. But the most egregious sin of Survival of the Dead that it isn’t scary…not even remotely. On top of that, Romero seems to be changing his own rules about zombies in this film. Decapitation always killed a zombie but here there’s a scene with several zombie heads impaled on branches that are still animated until a bullet is put through their heads.
 
Acting is never a strong point in Romero’s zombie films but most of the no-name cast is adequate. Welsh is a long-time veteran of TV and film and is enjoyable as O’Flynn. Van Sprang may be remembered from his roles in Earth: The Final Conflict but is best known in Canada for his TV appearances. 
 
Survival of the Dead comes off as a film about a clan feud with zombies thrown in the mix rather than a film about the undead. We have to ask the question, could it be that George Romero is losing it? A once maverick filmmaker who delivered one of the horror genre’s greatest films on a nothing budget seems caught up trying to duplicate his past success rather than trying to breathe new life into the zombie genre.
 
Extras
 
The overall grade of the DVD set is raised by a nice set of extras including a full-length documentary.
 
Audio Commentary with George Romero, Executive producer Peter Grunwald, Kenneth Welsh, and Stunt Coordinator Matt Birman
 
Time with George (9:12) A quick interview with Romero about the making of this film and filmmaking in general.
 
An introduction to the film by George Romero (4:17)
 
Walking After Midnight (1:16:00) This is a feature length documentary made by Detroit Filmmaker Michael Felsher that covers the entire production of Survival of the Dead beginning with the first day of primary filming. It includes interviews with Romero and the cast members. It covers the stunt work, special effects, and make-up. It’s an exceptional documentary and one of the best things on the two-disc set. 
 
“Sarge” A Short Film (4:11) A short solo film featuring Alan Van Sprang as the “Sarge” as he talks directly to the camera about the zombie plague.
 
A Minute of your Time Shorts (20:00) A collection of 13 quick video cuts from various George Romero appearances at conventions, interviews with cast members, special effects shots, as well as other “Dead” related activities.
 
How to Create a Zombie Bite (10:04) A web episode of Backyard FX which shows how to cheaply create your own zombie makeup effects
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Showing items 1 - 10 of 14
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rockywp 9/7/2010 9:42:28 AM

This is great movie!

SinisterPryde 9/7/2010 12:38:18 PM

I think Romero has earned to right to do a slap-stick goofy zombie movie.  These new films aren't in the same world as the original three and shouldn't be taken as such.

I enjoyed the movie and I hope he gets to do the other two that he wants to do.

tjanson 9/7/2010 1:57:55 PM

No one said he hadn't earned the right...he just didn't do it very well.  the last two films have been behind night/dead/day of the dead.  Even far behind Land for that matter.

themovielord 9/7/2010 7:02:31 PM

this wasn't even laughable crap... it was just a waste of time

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ZurEnArrh 9/8/2010 7:19:00 AM

Long-time haunter of Mania, first-time registrant. I was compelled to do so to in order to clarify:

In DAY OF THE DEAD there are two instances that I can remember involving decapitated heads remaining animated after being removed from the body. The first is when we see the soldier's head under the blanket that Frankenstein was experimenting on (right before he gets 86'd by Rhodes). The second is in the catacombs when Bill or John (can't remember which one) lops the top half of a ghoul's head off with a shovel. The eyes are clearly seen looking around after the fact.

It is the destruction of the brain that 'kills' the zombie, not decapitation. This is also illustrated when Frankenstein is rambling on about how the zombies function without purpose, etc., and he's got the soldier zombie strapped down to the table with its head and brain peeled all the way down to the limbic system / cerebral cortex / some such BS (the head mentioned earlier was from a different soldier body; this is why Rhodes got so pissed, cuz 'Stein was digging up his homies).

Well, hope I don't sound too pretentious, I just love the first three Romero zombie flicks as they are untouchable. Enjoyed LAND a great deal, DIARY was painful to sit through, and I haven't seen SURVIVAL yet.

So, hope to participate in some of the hilarity that crosses this website often instead of just reading it. Cheers.

jedibanner 9/8/2010 8:22:30 AM

I'd say this new movie is better then Diary but still, doesn't feel scary or as realistic as the originals.

Diary was horrible with some of the worst acting ever and this one at least brings in new players and a new twist.

But...there comes a time where, maybe he should consider doing something else from now on.

tjanson 9/8/2010 12:50:29 PM

Zur...i may be wrong pug I'm pretty sure I recall from either Night or Dawn...a TV reporter saying that to kill the zombies you had to kill the brain or remove the head.  That said, you are right about Day...but in this film, the decapitated but still animated zombie heads serve no purpose other than for a slapstick moment of target practice

myklspader 9/8/2010 5:21:41 PM

I am so glad I rented this for a buck at Redbox... it sucked. And what is with the junk message... are we going to have to put up with that crap here now?

ZurEnArrh 9/8/2010 7:10:56 PM

Ah, well. I like slapstick.

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