Day of the Dead (1985)

Written by Happywax    July 2011

Rating 9 out of 10

Director - George A. Romero

Cast

Lori Cardille - Sarah

Terry Alexander - John

Joe Pilato - Capt. Rhodes

Richard Liberty - Logan

Sherman Howard - Bub

Hey there all you Zombie lovin maniacs, Happys here and again I'm on the defence of one of the Greatest and one of my personal all time FAVOURITE zombie movies Day of the Dead.Their are some who say that Romero lost his way with his third 'dead' movie,  I disagree. Whilst it is true that the first hour may be a little heavy on the talking and rather light on the old blood and guts for some fans, the director sure delivers the goods in a rip-roaring final act in which he ramps up the action and allows top FX man Tom Savini to paint the screen red with some astoundingly gruesome gore.

"Its tearing me apart .. Really !"

Personally, I love the slow burn approach Romero takes with this with chapter in his long-running tale of world domination by zombies; it gives you a chance to get to know the characters before they have their legs ripped off, and that's a good thing. This time around, the action takes place in an underground complex where a bunch of scientists and some nasty soldiers attempt to figure out what to do about the whole 'walking dead' situation.

"Is that Grand Funk !? I LOVE Those Guys !"

Crazy Dr. Logan (Richard Liberty) reckons he can domesticate the shambling corpses: teach them how to perform simple tasks and not to crave human flesh. However, Captain Rhodes (Joe Pilato) isn't too impressed by this idea and, when he discovers that the mad doctor has been rewarding his star pupil, Bub, (Howard Sherman) with tasty tid-bits cut from recently deceased soldiers, he decides it is time for he and his men to leave.

"Something been eating at me lately !"

"I said NO ! I Don't want a hand !!"

With no further use for the civilians (with the exception of a helicopter pilot), the soldiers act ruthlessly, killing some and leaving others to be eaten by the scientific 'specimens' kept in the complex's cave system. But their plans are scuppered when a delirious soldier, the still-living victim of a zombie bite, opens the gates to the hordes of the undead… Featuring one of the greatest zombies of all time in the form of Bub, and showcasing some of Savini's career highlights, Day of the Dead is unmissable entertainment for those who like their movie monsters to smell bad, walk slow and have really bad teeth. The film starts brilliantly with a search party landing in a town, searching for survivors, but finding maggoty flesh-eaters are the only inhabitants. The next hour is spent introducing the characters and building the tension (with the occasional mutilated corpse or graphic gut-spill thrown in to remind you that this is still a Romero film).

"Its an Eyelash! Here I'll get it !"

The final half-an-hour or so is packed with full-on over-the-top carnage, culminating in a couple of the nastiest death scenes it has been my pleasure to witness.

"Hmm , feel like .. Ribs for dinner !"

It is a real shame that twenty years after this excellent film's release, Romero gave us a fourth ,fifth and sixth set of "dead" films which genuinely saw him losing his way: Land of the Dead wasn't to bad , but "Diary" was a real disappointment for many fans of the series, and in "survival" he got back to basics, but none of the last three were even close to his earlier work, but lets not dwell on those, the bottom line is that Day of the Dead kicks some major ass, there was a time in my younger days when I would watch this movie at least once a week.

"I just can't get ahead !"

 If your a fan of zombie movies than this movie is definatly required viewing, and remember Happys always right!!!!!!   And just because I'm always trying to give our followers the best damn review site on the internet, I've posted the entire "F"ing movie for you guys below the trailer, so now you've got no excuses why you haven't seen this EPIC PIECE OF AWSOMNESS............................................Enjoy!!!!!!!