Oct 16 2009
31 Days - 31 Films of the Macabre - Day 16
Alright, might as well wrap up the Zack Invasion (that’s zombies for you unaware of the marvelous book, World War Z) with #16 of the 31 movies.
Day of the Dead - 1985
Although, one of the least appreciated of the original trilogy, this is one of my favorite horror films and quite possibly my favorite zombie films ever. The movie tends to lean more in the direction of Night rather than Dawn in the dark tone and functionality of the living members. While the constant threat of Zack was overtly obvious in the first two films, Day utilizes the tension between the living people far more perfectly and with more dramatic overtones than the previous films.
Plus, it was this film that Romero instigated that zombies weren’t completely devoid of their previous memories on a subconscious level as we see Bub become easy to semi-communicate with and even wield a hand gun.
Fun Facts:
The remote location also complicated the transportation of crew members and equipment. “Zombie” extras were recruited from among the citizens of Pittsburgh, with preference given to those who had worked on previous Romero films. Extras were paid $1.00 for their services, and given a hat that read “I was a Zombie in Day of the Dead”.
