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Night of the Living Dead In 1968, George A. Romero brought us a film that would be the inspiration to horror film makers everywhere. A shoestring budget film which produced as much terror as it did profit. For the first time we get to see the world of Mr. Romero. A world where the dead have started to come back to life to feast on the flesh of living humans. Our story begins with Johnny and his sister Barbara visiting their father's burial site in a distant graveyard. Within minutes we are exposed to an unruly man (the first zombie ever, played by Bill Hinze) who attacks Barbara and ends up killing Johhny. From here we are catapulted into a macabre tale of a supernatural frenzy. Barbara flees to a nearby farmhouse where she meets up with Ben, our hero. As the two explore their surroundings and try to determine what is going on, they find that others have barricaded themselves in the house. As dusk breaks into night, questions have yet to be answered. Who are these people that are driven to getting at them? When the television gives their report, the truth is hard to swallow. The dead have returned to life and are attacking the living!!! One of the survivors has a sick little girl, and moving her is no option. Our survivors work hard to barricade the doors and windows, with the hopes that help will soon come. Claustrophobia and the stress over their situation make for heated confrontation between them and surviving the night of the living dead will become an impossible task. Watching this film now, you may find it a bit silly. But you should remember that it was made on a very tight budget back in the 60's. Night of the Living Dead was the very first flesh eating zombie film. An inspiration to many great horror films that will follow in it's wake. Film makers such as Lucio Fulci, Mario Bava, Joe D'Amato and Dario Argento have followed up Romero's style of movie making to produce some truly gross, excellent zombie flicks.
Watch a clip from Night of the Living Dead in Real Player format by clicking here (638K)
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"When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth."
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Dawn of the Dead In 1977, George Romero teamed up with special makeup effects guru Tom Savini to create the second part to Romero's Dead saga. Dawn of the Dead is a look at how the world begins to fall apart as the dead begin to outnumber the living. Urban territory becomes a death trap as big cities are overwhelmed by walking, hungry corpses. Our story follows two members of a SWAT team, a helicopter pilot and a news woman. Together, the four survivors take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall. Once they hunt down and destroy all of the zombies therein, they bar all of the entrances with trucks and keep the mall as their own little haven. Once they are safe they build themselves a secret apartment on the upper level. From here they begin to live out their lives and try to be as happy as possible under isolated conditions. All goes well until the climax. A large band of survivors (more like hunter/killer bikers) run into the mall and see the helicopter on the roof. Being scavengers they move the trucks and infiltrate the mall. While raiding the place the zombies gain access and the scene becomes a vicious frenzy of living madness against undead instinct. We get to see what happens to those who are greedy. David Emge (who I've had the pleasure of meeting) plays 'Flyboy'; one of the survivors that loses it at the end, only to fall to the blue army. Besides doing the horror effects, Tom Savini plays an excellent role as one of the raiders. Does he survive? Does anyone survive? Or will they all become victim to the evergrowning population of blue skinned flesh munchers. Dawn of the Dead offers excellent gore and it literally has 'gut wrenching' effects. A favourite amongst Dead fans, Dawn of the Dead is a must see. |
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Day of the Dead Seven years after Dawn of the Dead pasted the screen with orange blood and blue zombies, Day of the Dead arrived with a more severe look into the zombie madness. George Romero and Tom Savini combine their forces again to bring us a horribly authentic gorefest. I spoke with Mr. Savini himself. When I asked him which film he thought he did his best effects in, he told me it was Day of the Dead. I heartily agreed with him. Day of the Dead centers on a small team stored in an underground bunker. The zombie population has grown to outnumber the living 400,000 to 1. This team is comprised of a small military unit and a medical operation. Their mission is to find a way to stop the zombies. The military wants them detroyed but the doctors are looking for a way to domesticate them. After Major Cooper dies Captain Rhodes is next in command. Rhodes is a power hungry officer that really has no use for any medical experiments. Under his command the team begins to break apart. Cooperation is severed between his men and the medical team. Chemistry continues to get hostile until Rhodes finally loses it and sends the medical team to their deaths, exhiling them into the dark catacombs that house the roaming dead. Meanwhile a disturbed officer, inflicted with a mortal wound, opens the compound to the surrounding army of the dead. As the zombies pour through the gateway, his fate is sealed along with everyone left in the bunker. Get ready for one of the bloodiest, most hauntingly real climaxes ever filmed as the undead finally get to eat.  |
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Night of the Living Dead '90 (Savini's Remake) Over twenty years after the original Night of the Living Dead haunted viewers the decision was made to create a remake. And who better to direct this remake than the man, Tom Savini. Surely, Tom and Mr. Romero must be good friends for the torch has been passed and a new NOTLD returns to shock us again. I was delighted when I watched this remake. It stays true to the original story without being too redundant. The original elements and characters are used but the remake has it's own feel, it's own storyboard (so it's not shot-for-shot of the first film). The dialogue has been changed and the ending is true but different (I'll never spoil!!). Our hero Ben is now played by Candyman's Tony Todd. Of course, the effects in the movie are far more superior compared to the original film. To those of you who have seen the original NOTLD, you will notice that a couple of characters have changed. In this remake, Barbara comes out of her hysteria and becomes a hero. Also, Mr. Copper's wife is less rational so there is a balance. Overall, the remake of NOTLD is an excellent film. Most of the content is exact and I can assure you, the remade NOTLD is a fantastic horror film that will stay enjoyable everytime you watch it.  |
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