After some less than enthusiastic reviews of Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead, its probably fair to say the heralding of the next Romero zombie film has been somewhat muted, perhaps a little unfairly, as it would seem he is doomed criticism wise, to keep reinventing the wheel so to speak. Survival of the Dead is the sixth installment in the series and it leaves off where Diary ended, within six weeks of the outbreak.
Plum Island: An island divided by two feuding families, both of Irish origin, they are the O'Flynns and the Muldoons. Patrick O'Flynn is the leader of his clan, he is ruthless is his search for zombies and nobody living or dead can stop his cause to rid his island paradise of the living dead. Muldoon on the other hand has different ideas, he wants to preserve the dead, including some of his own family, in case there is a cure, but he also has ideas of harvesting the zombies, his mad scientist role is, through trial and error to find a new food source for the zombies so that man and zombie alike can live together.
Mainland: 'Nicotine' Crocket leads a crack group of 4 soldiers, they have been randomly searching and stealing food and other supplies from passing vehicles, they meet up a with a young man with $1million cash locked in an armoured van, oping for a share they befriend him, he tells them he has seen a video message on the internet inviting all living souls to come to Plum Island and start a new idyllic life. Crocket is against going, he deems it to be a trap, sure enough he is voted down and as it turns out it is a trap set by a now exiled Patrick O'Flynn and his cronies. O'Flynn is out-gunned and soon they are all allies on a rejuvenated carferry heading for Plum Island to live out their existence in an island paradise...not! So has Romero hit Zombie Gold with this one? Lets analyze? First off we have a smooth enough link between this and Diary, viewers will remember Crockett and his group from Diary, where they attempted to rob the film crew. The zombies by Crocketts own admission in the film aren't to be feared, they are now seen as more of a nuisance and as such the film plays to these notions, the Zombies aren't given as much space as normal, they seem to be a backdrop to the ensuing feud, a raison d'etre for a social comment about a feuding civilization hellbent on a power struggle, no matter the cost to society, both sides being portrayed at times as being right, others as being very wrong, either way neither side comes across in a positive light. This social comment isn't as strong as in Romero's previous films though, so it doesn't feel like he's preaching, but it might be perceived by some to get in the way of good zombie movie. The zombie make-up isn't all that convincing on the whole, some don't even have the basics of a pale skin tone, it would seem George saved his budget for the head explosions of which there are many, some very creative ones at that, that will keep the faithful very happy, including a fire extinguisher to the mouth that leaves a zombies head explode after his eyeballs pop, delightful, a flare to the torso of another that lights up his body and head before it explodes in flames, very delightful. The zombies are also more agile than usual, we have an underwater zombie attack...cool, zombies driving cars, goddamit there's even gorgeous female zombies on horseback.
I must say after watching the trailers for this i was a little wary of Kenneth Welsh's "Oirish" accent, it is quite deplorable, but as it turns out, there are others that are just as bad in the film, why make Americans and Canadians act Irish, why not just make them American, you guys have feuds too, it not like it was essential to the plot anyway, having said that, Welsh's portrayal of O'Flynn is very enjoyable, he is a rogue for sure but he has his moments of humanity that give him depth of character.
The science twist where Muldoon tries to alter a zombies feeding practices, is an interesting plot line, not one i remember having seen before, it works quite well, i think it will be a guaranteed plot line in any further installment. The only real negative i have to say about the film is its negating of the zombie as a creature to be feared, that combined with Romero's choice of slow zombie doesn't leave the viewer with any sense of fear in the film at all. Overall, i'm sure Romero fans will enjoy it, it has a good post apocalyptic feel, there's some good splatter, a couple of good gory zombie attacks all surrounded by some good set pieces and on the whole there is a good pace to the film.
Plum Island: An island divided by two feuding families, both of Irish origin, they are the O'Flynns and the Muldoons. Patrick O'Flynn is the leader of his clan, he is ruthless is his search for zombies and nobody living or dead can stop his cause to rid his island paradise of the living dead. Muldoon on the other hand has different ideas, he wants to preserve the dead, including some of his own family, in case there is a cure, but he also has ideas of harvesting the zombies, his mad scientist role is, through trial and error to find a new food source for the zombies so that man and zombie alike can live together.
Mainland: 'Nicotine' Crocket leads a crack group of 4 soldiers, they have been randomly searching and stealing food and other supplies from passing vehicles, they meet up a with a young man with $1million cash locked in an armoured van, oping for a share they befriend him, he tells them he has seen a video message on the internet inviting all living souls to come to Plum Island and start a new idyllic life. Crocket is against going, he deems it to be a trap, sure enough he is voted down and as it turns out it is a trap set by a now exiled Patrick O'Flynn and his cronies. O'Flynn is out-gunned and soon they are all allies on a rejuvenated carferry heading for Plum Island to live out their existence in an island paradise...not! So has Romero hit Zombie Gold with this one? Lets analyze? First off we have a smooth enough link between this and Diary, viewers will remember Crockett and his group from Diary, where they attempted to rob the film crew. The zombies by Crocketts own admission in the film aren't to be feared, they are now seen as more of a nuisance and as such the film plays to these notions, the Zombies aren't given as much space as normal, they seem to be a backdrop to the ensuing feud, a raison d'etre for a social comment about a feuding civilization hellbent on a power struggle, no matter the cost to society, both sides being portrayed at times as being right, others as being very wrong, either way neither side comes across in a positive light. This social comment isn't as strong as in Romero's previous films though, so it doesn't feel like he's preaching, but it might be perceived by some to get in the way of good zombie movie. The zombie make-up isn't all that convincing on the whole, some don't even have the basics of a pale skin tone, it would seem George saved his budget for the head explosions of which there are many, some very creative ones at that, that will keep the faithful very happy, including a fire extinguisher to the mouth that leaves a zombies head explode after his eyeballs pop, delightful, a flare to the torso of another that lights up his body and head before it explodes in flames, very delightful. The zombies are also more agile than usual, we have an underwater zombie attack...cool, zombies driving cars, goddamit there's even gorgeous female zombies on horseback.
I must say after watching the trailers for this i was a little wary of Kenneth Welsh's "Oirish" accent, it is quite deplorable, but as it turns out, there are others that are just as bad in the film, why make Americans and Canadians act Irish, why not just make them American, you guys have feuds too, it not like it was essential to the plot anyway, having said that, Welsh's portrayal of O'Flynn is very enjoyable, he is a rogue for sure but he has his moments of humanity that give him depth of character.
The science twist where Muldoon tries to alter a zombies feeding practices, is an interesting plot line, not one i remember having seen before, it works quite well, i think it will be a guaranteed plot line in any further installment. The only real negative i have to say about the film is its negating of the zombie as a creature to be feared, that combined with Romero's choice of slow zombie doesn't leave the viewer with any sense of fear in the film at all. Overall, i'm sure Romero fans will enjoy it, it has a good post apocalyptic feel, there's some good splatter, a couple of good gory zombie attacks all surrounded by some good set pieces and on the whole there is a good pace to the film.