PopHorror Let's Get Scared
George A. Romero is one of the biggest names in the genre, we all know even people who are not into horror recognize the name. His powerful meanings in all of his Living Dead movies were on point. However; one stuck out for me above all. I found Day of the Dead one day at our local video store, The cover of the VHS spoke right out to me. Sure, I was desensitized to blood and guts at a young age, but somehow I missed the rest of his movies. I remember watching Night of the Living Dead every Halloween. But I didn’t know how much George A. Romero would affect my life. 36 years later and it’s in my top five movies of all time. Let’s get to the review!
Synopsis
Trapped in a missile silo, a small team of scientists led by Dr. Sarah Bowman (Lori Cardille), laid back civilians, and trigger-happy soldiers led by Capt. Henry Rhodes (Joe Pilato) battle desperately to ensure the survival of the human race. However, the tension inside the base is reaching a breaking point, and the zombies are gathering outside. If they can’t work together, they will suffer greatly.
Filmed in locations between Florida and Pennsylvania they are both menacing scenery. Imagine being trapped in an abandoned mine with minimal ways to escape. It was the perfect recipe for his films. In Dawn of the Dead, we saw a stage of freshly dead. In Day of the Dead, the full rot is setting in and the zombies do look ten times better. You can see how this tribe of people that have a love for these movies. Men like Tom Savini helped shape the movies. and in Day of the Dead, he gets his revenge. Day of the Dead was a pure work of art. It was a passion project. The film had lots of love invested in it, and its place fits perfectly in the Zombie universe. George was always trying to top his last kills by amping up the kill scenes in this film.
Day of the Dead came at a time when horror was booming and winning awards. The whole genre was alive at the time. However; George A. Romero did it the best; Everyone wanted a slasher movie. What if the odds were against all those iconic characters when it came to zombies eating them alive? Eventually, even the smartest of people, and the most prepared will still fall victim. You can only hold up so long. George A. Romero proved that in his movies time and time again. There is no escape in the end.
Day of the Dead also speaks on a level that still exists today. If no one gets along, everyone will fall. In zombie movies, you are up against the living dead, the quick answer is to shoot them in the head, how would the country as a whole act? Would we still be fighting for our favorite teams in the political spectrum? His answer was easy. He called him “Bub” the first domesticated zombie. Bub wins everyone’s heart just because of his pure innocence. He showed that the dead still had emotions, they still remained somewhat human.
Unfortunately, George A. Romero left us in 2017. He would have a lot to say about the way of the world. George was the Willie Nelson of horror except with coffee and doughnuts. I will always be enthralled with his films. Especially Day of the Dead.
