Land of the Dead (2005)

“In the beginning one man made us fear the Night. Then night became Dawn and dawn became Day. This summer an all new cycle of horror begins. As legendary filmmaker George A. Romero returns to the genre he created. To bring us his ultimate masterpiece.” Going into George A Romero’s ‘masterpiece’, Land of the Dead I wasn’t that hyped up. Some of the reasons could possibly have been: a) the official trailer was so bad that I did not want to go near the film it advertised. Most of the time I despise any kind of movie that has rock music in the trailer, probably because it tends to mean that the film is going to try and be all modernized with fast paced action going along with hardcore music. Also the trailer for Land of the Dead doesn't even show what the real story is. b) I am not one who is a fan of this brand of horror films. The only zombie movies that I can actually claim to like are the Resident Evil films and Romero's original Dawn of the Dead.

 

Smarts

84%

Here is how the plot goes. Several years after the original Dead Trilogy is the time period of Land of the Dead. During the night time, groups of people led by a man named Riley (Simon Baker) go out at and raid zombie infested towns for supplies. The things that they live on are: Night flowers (fireworks), and the food and gun plunder that they take from abandoned stores. Riley's second, Cholo (John Leguizamo), has a score to settle with Kaufman (Dennis Hopper), the despotic leader of the isolated human city most of the film takes place in. Cholo steals the powerful battle vehicle the town raiders use and threatens Kaufman with the destruction of his highrise home Fiddler's Green if Kaufman doesn't fork over five million dollars. This is the worst aspect of the whole film and it is a big one. The main plot of Land of the Dead has really nothing to do with zombies. Yes they are there in the film but they are not the driving force. The whole movie is based around humans, not zombies. If zombies aren’t the main point of the film don’t call the movie Land of the Dead I say!

Besides that debacle, George A. Romero has created a fantastic film. The acting, the effects, the gore, it’s all wonderfully done. Some of the biggest make-up effects jobs for film are given to Tom Savini. There was no wonder that Romero would choose Savini here since he pulled off the unbelievable Dawn of the Dead (1978) gore effects. Savini, as usual, doesn’t disappoint. He also happens to star in the film as one of the zombies.

Land of the Dead is lead by Simon Baker. Riley is a man with few emotions. He talks about shooting his zombified brother and acts unfazed by the ordeal. Asia Argento plays Slack, a deadly hooker that teams up with Riley.  I enjoyed how Argento plays the good, but violent character; she does it better than Milla Jovovich who plays Alice in the Resident Evil films. She has more depth as an actor which leaves you wanting more. Every second she was on the screen I was listening to the dialogue but I continued staring solely at her.

Romero usually doesn’t chop stuff out of his films to try and make his movies PG-13 like many other horror films have in recent years. That might be one of the reasons people loved him back when he created Night of the Living Dead and why they still love him today. He knows how to show you a gruesome film in its entirety without pulling punches.

 

Popcorn

86%

Besides the boon of not having inane rock music blaring throughout the film's runtime, another huge bonus for me was that there was no stupid comedy relief. At least 85% of horror films have some kind of character that presents you with out of place and often just plain bad comic tension release. Romero knows that real fans hate that kind of garbage and luckily Land of the Dead stays clear of this big hurdle.

George A. Romero knows how to stay true to a genre. And he better have stayed true to it since he supposedly created it. This isn’t your Grade A brand of filth that other directors present audiences with. I am glad that Romero stayed on to direct Land of the Dead and opted not to let someone else take over the project as the results would have likely paled in comparison.

One thing that horror movies always get me on, despite the predictability, are the jump scares when monsters pop out from shadows or corners or other such surprises happen. Land of the Dead executes this timeless practice wonderfully. Every other scene gets you with combination of built-up suspense and a final shock of “Did they just do that!” Plenty of gooseflesh inducing gross out moments as well.  During one incident late in the film, a group of zombies is surrounding the attack truck, Dead Reckoning, trying to get in, and we cut to a shot that shows one of the zombies trying to rip through the car with her fingernails. Her nails begin to rip out of their skin and just barely hang on. I think, perhaps, the whole theater shuddered at once.  A little earlier we witness a zombie chasing down a girl and finally tackling her to the ground where he proceeds to rip her belly button ring off with his teeth causing blood to fill her belly button and gush out. Some of the stuff that Romero and Savini do is just so sick that you cannot help but be impressed by it.  For goremongers, this film is great.

 

Final

Possibly the best zombie film since the original Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead gives you everything that you want in a zombie movie: action, horror, and just plain sick stuff. George A. Romero has returned to the genre that he created as the trailer says and he blows other horror movies out of the water. He is one of maybe three masters of horror (Clive Barker, Wes Craven, and George A. Romero). Just having him come back to direct is worth the price of admission. Even though this film is intended for adults due to non stop horror violence and some nudity if you are up to it, go and see Land of the Dead, you will be in for a treat.