Director: George Romero
Cast: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander

If you’re going to set a zombie movie at a military installation – as the recent ‘n’ decent 28 Days Later – you need to do it like George Romero’s Day of the Dead. Set after the events of the superior Dawn of the Dead, this apocalyptic thriller has a small group of soldiers and scientists hiding from the zombies in an underground fortress. The scientists are the good guys, seeking a way to understand what makes the zombies tick while trying to ensure the ongoing survival of the human species. The soliders, meanwhile, are even more loathsome than the zombies.

For a long time, the movie is zombieless, delving into the political struggle between these two parties. As I watched, I wished it were different, but now I understand how crucial that was to the story. The last third is basically the all-out zombie carnage you expect, with utterly realistic gore effects from Tom Savini and company, with countless bodies being ripped apart, intestines
spilled and flesh ripped. The acting is amateurish and the score better suited to a B-level ‘80s teen film, but they still can’t bring down the power of Romero’s zombies. Has there ever been a Romero film that was truly well-acted anyway?

Anchor Bay’s new two-disc collection comes with a pair of commentaries, one with Romero and one with Dead fan Roger Avary (director of The Rules of Attraction). You also get an excellent 40-minute making-of documentary, half an hour of behind-the-scenes footage, a promo video for the mine the film was shot in, plus trailers and TV spots and more! It’s a very nice package that makes me salivate for AB’s upcoming deluxe treatment to Dawn of the Dead, arguably the best of Romero’s zombie trilogy.