Survival Of The Dead (2009/Magnolia/MagNet DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C-
Like
George Lucas, George Romero has decided to do a second trilogy (and counting in
both cases?) of his most commercially successful films and like Lucas, the
second trio is a far cry from the first.
After the disappointing Diary Of
The Dead (2007, reviewed elsewhere on this site) comes Survival Of The Dead (2009), which wants to
take on the banality of war and conflict, but does not really know where it
wants to go with its ideas and becomes very formulaic in the process.
With
zombie films the most played out in the Horror genre in recent years
(decades?), a family feud on an island (Plum Island) that could be a sanctuary
from the undead becomes a new field of horror as one family head kills healthy
people to have them as slaves while the other aims to end the feud in blood
once and for all. Thrown into the mix
are a small group of U.S. Soldiers trying to survive and suddenly joined by a
young opportunist civilian who has some survival ideas of his own after meeting
with some murderous white separatists.
While
this is all interesting, it never adds up to anything, goes nowhere and has
little to say, much like most of the Romero imitators since the 1980s. I liked the actors and the two actors playing
the Irish family heads (both X-Files
veterans) steal their scenes: Richard Fitzpatrick (Boondock Saints II, Flash Of
Genius) and Kenneth Walsh (Adoration,
Exorcism Of Emily Rose, Absolute Power, Scorsese’ The Aviator). The other cast members are also well cast and
more convincing than in Diary, but even
some chemistry cannot save this installment.
With a
lack of structure that works, all we are left with is humor that is more miss
than hit from Romero’s screenplay and of course, the mutilation of the zombies,
their victims and the like. There was
potential here of course as there always is in Romero’s work and it is the
furthest away from the Greater Pittsburgh area any of the Dead films have strayed (Philadelphia is the other side of the
state) and that is a metaphor for the film, which becomes the opposite of what
his films used to be all about. Only the
ultra-curious or diehard fans should bother with this one.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is soft with poor Video Black and motion
blur from the RED ONE 4K High Definition camera the whole shoot by Romero
veteran Adam Swica (Bruiser, Diary Of The Dead) resulting in a
weak-looking film that does not have the character of the earlier Dead films
(monochrome for Night, heightened
color for Dawn, cold color for Day) and that too does not work. Despite the make-up work by Greg Nicotero and
company, there are too many digital enhancements on the effects, making this
more like bad Science Fiction than anything else. Wonder if the Blu-ray looks any better? The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is a little better
than the 2.0 Stereo mix, but the recording is not
always good with some distorted dialogue and lackluster soundfield.
Extras on
DVD One include a Romero Introduction, Time
With George clip, HDNet program plugging the film and feature length audio
commentary by Romero & crew, while DVD Two adds a Storyboard Comparison, How To Create Your Own Zombie Bite,
short film Sarge, Walking After
Midnight documentary and A Minute Of
Your Time with 13 behind the scenes shorts.
- Nicholas Sheffo
