"Land of The Dead:" One Lucky Bastard's Review

Thanks to a local radio station and Comicopia, Lynne and I got to see the latest George Romero flick Tuesday night. We resolved to buy the DVD before we even left the cinema. Since then, she and I have talked a bit about the movie, comparing "Land of The Dead" to the 2004 "Dawn of The Dead" remake (fun fact: our first date movie was "House of A Thousand Corpses" on DVD). While she has her own views on the film, I can't help but see the revamped "Dawn" in a dimmed (though still positive) light. I think Romero did this not only to remind the general population who did the original films, but also to remind us how they're done. And he succeeded.

One thing Lynne and I agree on: Zombies are better, and much scarier, when they are slow, Roger Ebert be damned. Plus, fast zombies, like the ones in the new "Dawn" (an idea taken from"28 Days Later") never made any sense to me. When a victim was taken down, he or she seemed to die and rise again instantaneously, leaving a zombie maybe a few seconds to dine on pre-deceased flesh. No wonder they were so hungry (insert your warm flesh/Chinese food joke here).

Romero's zombies in "Land" take their time and, in several parts of the movie, dine like they're hanging out at a restaurant's patio in comparison to those undead Speedy Gonzalezes.

The one thing in common with both remakes of Romero's film ("Night of The Living Dead" was done in 1990) is the lack of social and political commentary that Romero's fims have. The LA Times mentions in a recent article on Romero: "'Night' evoked Vietnam-era bloodshed and, with its black male lead trapped in a farmhouse, echoed civil rights hysteria. 'Dawn' poked fun at soul-deadening consumerism. And 'Day' addressed ethics in science."

With the remake of "Night," you have none of the politics, making the story as pointless as most of the worst horror films. In "Dawn," you can almost see a cynical right wing, action movie worldview even without hearing the director's commentary briefly poke fun at actress Sarah Polley's left-wing politics. In that movie, the mall is less a satirical tool and more of a legitimate haven, with the power-hungry alpha, right wing security guard CJ (played byMichael Kelly) being one of the primary sources of salvation for the survivors at the end of the film.

Romero would have never have allowed such a character to go unpunished. More likely, he would have given him the same fate the psychotic tunnel-visioned military leader had in "Day of The Dead" (the most gruesome scenes in that movie seemed to be repeated in "Land," but with far greater effectiveness) and not in a way similar to "Land's" tragic antihero played by John Leguizamo. Romero also would never have had the retreat backfire the way it did in the "Dawn" remake, infesting the island with more undead. For all the brutality in his movies, Romero seems to believe that there's always a chance to escape the horror.

It seems to me, however, that "Day" was less about the ethics of Science and more about the corruption of power over intellect and compassion (In that movie, the militia kills the scientist who tries to understand the zombies, knowing full well that their safety can't rely soley on amunition they'll surely run out of). This makes "Land" seem more like a remake of "Day," with a few quotes relating to the current war or terrorism thrown in for good measure.

While sentences mentioning "Jihad" and "terrorists" only made the audience either laugh or groan, "Land" really hit it's mark in relating to today's society with scenes of cruelty towards the formerly living and depicting the power behind dwindling civilization being more concerned with maintaining financial and racial heirarchies. Those scenes actually create some chilling moments all their own with next-to-no spraying blood (thanks in part to Dennis Hopper, who except for one or two laugh-out-loud moments, is uncharacteristically low key).

The modern special effects at Romero's disposal didn't hurt either, but he uses them to exercise more creativity rather than the efficiency the remakes seemed to strive for. Nothing was really expected in any of the fright/death scenes. This, coupled with the plot revolving around the evolving zombies (including a scene which I didn't fully see coming even though I saw the idea first from a Swamp Thing story written by Alan Moore about a town of vampires), show that Romero still has much to offer as society as his vision evolves and society continues to devolve.