In what is shaping up to be my continuing zombie re-edification, last night I watched Day of the Dead. And yes, as someone via Twitter wondered, the Romero original. Until I was asked, I didn’t know there was an alternative.
I don’t know what more to say beyond that I really liked the movie. It was much less campy than I had feared. Sherman Howard’s zombie Bub, for instance, which is where I thought much of the camp might come, is really quite effective and quite the opposite of camp. The film can be tough to watch at times, with its claustrophobic setting and cynical depiction of humanity — there’s less black humor than in Dawn of the Dead, something Romero mentions in his DVD commentary — but I’d highly recommend it.
I guess it’s now on to Land and Diary of the Dead.
Land of the Dead was somewhat disappointing, but Diary of the Dead was pretty fun. Are you going to watch 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later after this? Those two always give me shivers.
Oh, and there’s a really decent French zombie movie called Les Revenants. That one is so perfectly French it almost hurts to watch it: the dead rise and walk the earth…and they want their jobs back.
What to do? What to do?
I’ve seen both 28 movies. I was a little disappointed by Weeks, but I think they’re a really interesting take on zombies. Romero’s are interesting largely because they’re not very frightening in and of themselves (especially in Dawn).
‘The Crazies’ looks like it will be good, too – http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/15346