Land of the Dead (2005)
Director and Writer: George A. Romero
Genre: Horror, Zombies
Rating: 4
Inspiration: September Zombies week
- check out today's events
Tagline: The dead shall inherit the Earth.
In this new tale a harrowing vision of a modern-day world where the walking dead roam an uninhabited wasteland and the living try to lead "normal" lives behind the walls of a fortified city. A new society has been built by a handful of enterprising, ruthless opportunists, who live in the towers of a skyscraper, high above the hard-scrabble existence on the streets below. But outside the city walls, an army of the dead is evolving. Inside, anarchy is on the rise. With the very survival of the city at stake, a group of hardened mercenaries is called into action to protect the living from an army of the dead.
Amusing quote:
Mike: They're pretending to be alive...
Riley: Isn't that what we're doing? Pretending to be alive?
Trivia:
George A. Romero was so impressed with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead (2004) that he asked them to appear in this, the fourth part of his "Dead" series, and they appear as the photo-booth zombies in the carnival/bar-room sequence. They also feature prominently in the artwork for the unrated directors' cut.
-- with the make-up, I didn't recognize Simon Pegg
George A. Romero's daughter appears in the film. She is the soldier who shoots the zombie on the electrified fence.
-- kinda neat when a family member of the director makes a cameo
Zombie speed: usual slow-moving, can't swim but can walk under water
Zombification: unknown, they are just there
Zombie mode: low-functioning turning evolving into high-functioning
My thoughts:
In-a-word(s): dead reckoning
In the beginning of the film the camera does a sweep of abandoned neighborhoods. Zombies are scattered here and there. I liked the shot of a zombie band playing some tunes in a gazebo.
As well as showing us the survivors perspective of a world infested with zombies, we get to see a spark from the zombies. They are communicating says one of the characters in the film. Somehow, using telepathy maybe? Because there are still a lot of groaning, moaning and grunting.
These zombies are no longer distracted by sky flowers (fireworks). They have a mission and they're sticking to it which is basically finding some munchies. And you betcha, they get 'em.
Zombies aside, I'm left with thinking about classism. Even in a zombocalyptic world, we humans have to start all over again with establishing basic rights.
Ewww moment: head flip - bite - head flip
Check out this Land of the Dead lego vignette created by cbolego. Amazing what can be done with a set of legos. And, there are special made zombie ones.
