George A. Romero is without a doubt one of the great horror directors and one of my favorite directors ever. His 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead was revolutionary and really gave birth to the zombie subgenre. Sure there were zombie films before then, but after Night of the Living Dead was released, that’s when the subgenre really started to take off. Almost 50 years later, people are still in love with zombies. Romero even made five additional Dead films. How do I rank the series favorite to least favorite? Well, read on and find out (spoilers ahead FYI!!!):
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
One of the best horror films ever made and one of my favorite films of all time too – this film is awesome! Over thirty years later this film still holds up well and its social commentary is still very much relevant – consumerism is still very much a part of United States culture today. Since there are only four main characters, they’re given proper character development, thus we care about them. Ken Foree and Gaylen Ross are standouts as Peter and Francine, respectfully. Peter is a cool, level headed SWAT officer, who essentially becomes the leader of the group. Francine is the sole female member of the group and over the course of the film she grows and isn’t stuck in the “damsel in distress” archetype like Barbara is in Night of the Living Dead. Scott H. Reiniger is great as Roger, a SWAT officer who’s arrogance and ego ultimately cost him his life. David Emge is great as Stephen (aka “Flyboy”), a helicopter pilot and Francine’s boyfriend who’s the weaker male of the group and knows it, but still tries to help out in any way he can. The SWAT raid scene at the apartment in the beginning is quite brutal and disturbing as we get a true glimpse of the outbreak and the ethics of how people are dealing with it. The best part of the film is definitely the climactic scene in the mall with the bikers/looters breaking in and causing havoc. There’s some great slapstick comedy here to relieve us of all the previous tension and horror, and not to mention the great gruesome gore effects courtesy of Tom Savini, who also plays one of the bikers! This is Romero’s masterpiece by far and will remain relevant for years to come I imagine.
Day of the Dead (1985)
It’s not quite as awesome as Dawn of the Dead, but that’s like saying two pieces of bacon on a cheeseburger isn’t quite as awesome as three pieces of bacon on a cheeseburger. Bad analogies aside, this film rocks! What makes this film stand out from the rest in the series is that we get a scientific perspective on the outbreak. Even more interesting is that one scientist, Sarah, well portrayed by Lori Cardille is trying to find a way to reverse the outbreak while another scientist, Logan (aka “Frankenstein”), well portrayed by Richard Liberty is trying to train the dead to behave and not eat humans. One of his subjects,”Bub” is even trained to be obedient and to behave, proving that he’s actually onto something. This doesn’t sit well with the army unit in the film assigned to protect them. They’re led by Rhodes and Joe Pilato kills it in the role. The conflict between the scientists and the military in the film is really what makes it so tense. You know eventually that something bad’s going to happen and it does. There’s definitely no room to complain about Sarah as a character in the film. She’s the only female character and she’s a damn strong one at that. Terry Alexander is also great as John, the helicopter pilot who’s care free and realized from the get go that their whole situation is hopeless. The film’s practical effects and makeup are also phenomenal and remain the best in the series. Tom Savini went all out and it really shows in the film’s climax with all the soldiers getting brutally devoured by the dead. Rhodes has the guts (no pun intended!) to tell them to “choke on em!” being the asshole he is. I also happen to love the music; it gives the film that nice 80’s feel.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Romero’s first feature length film and it’s not only a brilliant horror film, but also one of the most important & influential films ever made. Without this, there wouldn’t be other zombie films and TV shows such as: Zombi 2, Shaun of the Dead, and The Walking Dead. The film itself serves as a social critique of racism and the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It was a bold move for Romero to cast a black actor, Duane Jones as the film’s protagonist, Ben. He’s commanding and the most level headed character in the film by far. It’s tense throughout and the conflict between Ben and Cooper is both believable and disastrous. The film’s female protagonist, Barbara has been criticized (especially by feminists) for being helpless and distressed throughout the film. She’s certainly not a strong character, but I find it to be a realistic portrayal of how one might act in such a situation. What makes this film standout is that it’s gory, bleak, and all of the characters are killed off, which was unusual for a horror film at the time. Ben’s death happens to be ironic as he survives the climatic zombie attack, but gets shot in the head by a redneck posse. There’s been much debate over the years whether or not the killing was racially motivated or if the shooter simply thought he was a zombie. The ambiguity really adds to the film.
Land of the Dead (2005)
A lot don’t like this one, but I thought it was great even though it lacked the punch of the previous Dead films. To be fair, it would’ve been hard for Romero to do that considering this came 20 years after Day of the Dead and he was doing it for a big studio, Universal instead of independently. It still has great social commentary and plenty of great moments. It’s basically criticizing the social class structure of society and how the rich want to remain rich and keep the poor well, poor. It takes place in Pittsburgh and while the rich live in Fiddler’s Green, an ivory tower, the rest are left to live in ruin and decay. Dennis Hopper is brilliant as the film’s antagonist, Kaufman, the rich man who rules Fiddler’s Green. He’s given some of the best lines in the film. The rest of the cast is solid including Simon Baker and John Leguizamo as Riley and Cholo respectively, two men who work for Kaufman who want something better for themselves, but have different mindsets and ways of getting it. Asia Argento and Robert Joy are also good as Slack and Charlie, companions of Riley. A lot of haters were critical and said that the dead were “too smart” in this, but I see it as evolution of the dead. They showed signs of intellect in the previous installments, so I don’t know why a lot had such a problem with it. The fact that the dead had a leader this time, Big Daddy was a great dynamic I thought. Perhaps he hung around with Bub from Day of the Dead? Haha – perhaps!
Survival of the Dead (2010)
I enjoyed this better than Diary of the Dead, but I still feel it was lacking and disappointing. The main problems with it are that it relies too much on lousy comedy and that there’s no real sense of tension throughout the film. The characters are a little better developed this time than they were in Diary of the Dead, but still aren’t anything that memorable. The family feud aspect between the O’Flynn’s and the Muldoon’s is an interesting touch, but you find yourself not caring too much for either side. Also, Romero once again used lousy CGI in this film, which further adds to the disappointment. If only Romero could return to the form of his previous Dead films.
Diary of the Dead (2007)
My least favorite film of the series by far. The social commentary lacks the subtlety of the previous films and while the found footage approach was a bold and different technique, unfortunately it just didn’t work. We feel too detached from the characters and on that subject, there’s a lack of memorable and likable characters in the film. The acting is also atrocious for the most part, which normally I’m not too critical of, but here it certainly doesn’t do the film any favors. Another weak point also happens to be the effects, which at some points are obvious CGI (bad CGI as well). It’s a shame that Romero has said he prefers CGI over practical effects considering his earlier films in the series had phenomenal effects work from Tom Savini. I give Romero credit for trying to do something different, but I felt it was a weak and disappointing film overall.
I plan on ranking and talking about the remakes of the first three installments in the future – be prepared for that!
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