Survival of the Dead (2010)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

It has been a while since I watched Survival Of The Dead, which was a huge disappointment when it was released. After a long gap in viewings, I have maintained the same basic opinion. Coming off of Romero's excellent Diary Of The Dead, I was expecting George would deliver another excellent creative film. Not much so. While, I maintain that Survival Of The Dead is watchable, it is far from great. The film tries to take a lighter tone and forces comedy that is'nt funny into the mix. The Hatfield vs. The McCoys dynamic and big nods to the western are not bad ideas, but do few favors to a film that does'nt really work and is less than spectacular in the first place. It is clear that this film was made quickly and cheaply(where George usually shines). It would have been a lot better if George had more time and money to work out his best ideas and had more money to make this better visually. The f/x by Gregory Nicotero are not his best work and has a lot of really bad and obvious cgi. The acting is decent, but the story and characters are not that compelling. The prevalent theme of man's inhumanity to man is there, but is diluted by the sometimes goofy tone of the film and its poor execution. With all that being said, the film is not as bad as some would say. It certainly is better than lots of pure uninspired garbage that has since flooded the horror market, but for George A Romero it is his worst film. It is too bad that George has passed on and this was his last film, I was hoping he would have followed up with something really strong. Either way, Romero is a legend and his original trilogy of Dead films are untouchable, as well as other personal favorites like Martin, Knightriders and Creepshow.

Started with Land of The Dead, and now with this film, Survival of The Dead, George A. Romero tried to make zombies humanized. Perhaps, it began from Day of The Dead with Bub the Zombie character. But in my opinion, it is better to make a zombie film as it used to be. The flesh eater creatures that cannot think anymore only follow the instinct to chew the human meat and infected the victims. Overall, Survival of the Dead still a good zombie movie, though. Typical Romero's gore and the story also simple but not tacky at all.

With this entry in the living dead series, George Romero has absolutely hit the bottom. The best thing I can say about this movie is that it made me realize "Day of the Dead" wasn't so bad. The first evident problem of "Survival of the Dead" is that it comes across as being really cheap, from the low rent cinematography to the laziness of using CGI for gore effects. I could almost swear I was watching a TV show, not a feature film. The next evident problem is with the screenplay. There was promise with the idea of two armed groups at odds with how to handle the zombie problem. But not much is done with it, and the movie is mostly people talking with occasional shooting of zombies in the head. The direction is also pretty clumsy, such as the fact that while civilization has fallen apart, there is still electricity and TV broadcasts. If Romero decides to continue this series from this low point, I would strongly suggest he looks for some fresh talent to join him and construct a strong script. It would probably result in investors giving him more money to work with.

I think it amusing, half of you that are on here to bash films were probably not born when Romero first hit "Night". All you know is "CGI" these days. Yet, during you incubation, REAL films occurred. You Twighlight, Hunger Games idiots (which comprise a lot of you these days have no idea of cinema and it's purpose. Your purpose is to complain and nothing more simply because in "real life" no one give a crap on your opinions. You people are pathetic. How hard is it to actually enjoy a film for what it is? Just a friggin film. People pick apart films too much theses day. It's like they expect it to mirror life on a real scale. What ever happened to just pure fantasy and escape? This is whar movies are intended to be. All I say to you nerds that have to pick apart a film simply because YOU disagree .....well...eat it! Stay at home at 45. Don't try to attempt a life because life don't want you. Better yet....shoot yourself and save everyone the trould of having to take care of you after your mom gets murdered by your dad...'cause I would probably do the samre if I had a kid like you.