"Day Of The Dead" (1985)

No, it’s not a Mexican celebration, this is George Romero’s final in the trilogy, beginning with “Night Of The Living Dead.” We’re now over a decade since the first one came out and unlike real trilogies, this doesn’t follow the storyline of the other movies, just a stand alone entry in the Dead movies.

This movie starts with Sarah (Lori Cardille) who awakes from a nightmare only to be flung into a darker reality: that zombies are still after them, and the rule the Earth.

She and her team are just returning from a scout trip to get provisions for their underground compound. We discover as they go deep into the Earth, that they’ve made living quarters and have three camps…a military group determined to eradicate the zombies, a survival group hoping to regain society, and a research group. It’s obvious these groups will butt heads. What I can’t stand is stupid people doing stupid things to supplement the plot.

Unfortunately, in order for anything to happen, the moral dispute between what would be the questions people raise living in cramped quarters. What is absolutely impressive is that “The Walking Dead” clearly borrows these themes from this movie. And the trilogy really. To that effort, it’s before its time, and is pretty amazing that it does hold up (trivia: they even have Greg Nicotero doing FX for “The Walking Dead.”). There is also a moment when the discussion turns more philosophical. Terry Alexander completely knocks it out of the park, with part pragmatism and mostly spiritual. It is a heartbreaking speech about what we are and what we deserve. This is expert exposition delivered spot on. It's a cruel indictment on our society and to (whatever God you believe's) testing us with bringing Hell to us. This is somewhat prescient considering how we are to each other in 2015.

The other thing, is that this movie had ZERO stars. At this time, and the successes of the other two, I’m sure Romero could’ve gotten himself a named actor. He does something brilliant in that he casts people he can tolerate in (what was mentioned in the commentary) as a limestone mine. There was no way a star would think of spending hours in a hole in the Earth for countless hours with blood FX.

I was fascinated by the commentary. Especially since it had Lori Cardille on it. Surprised to discover her father was in the original “Night Of The Living Dead” decades earlier. Also, that her memories of the limestone mine were actually fond. That’s a woman! As a movie though…it has a LOT of lag. What “Dawn Of The Dead” had going for it, was it was a comment on the eve of consumer culture. That type of political observation in a zombie movie is the backbone of what makes “Walking Dead” so successful (and may I remind you again, decades ahead of its time). The violence also stands the test of time. When the mandatory gore and splatter occur at the end inevitably happens, it’s gruesome even in today’s standards.

A real solid movie for a slow night. Brought back memories too. As I saw this movie in my teens when I couldn’t get dates with girls at school. It actually makes you feel better when you’re really lonely. I think it has to do with isolation of the characters.