In The Throes Of Death (And Rewriting)

All right (thanks Cat!), I saw LAND OF THE DEAD. What did I think?

Romero is back. Is it a perfect film? Of course not. Is it a fun film? Well, not really, but not in the bad sense. I tried to explain today to someone the difference between the Romero films and the likes of the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake or 28 DAYS LATER (both fine films, put the torches down).

Romero is not out to make a "roller-coaster" ride of a movie. He has something to say and it just so happens that he says it in the context of a world taken over by the recently deceased who just happen to crave flesh (whew!). The DAWN remake was, indeed, a roller-coaster ride. A very fun, scary, silly, sometimes gory ride. 28 DAYS LATER was also a roller coaster ride, but less so. It wasn't as "fun," but it also didn't really have anything to say.

NIGHT, DAWN, DAY, and now LAND all have a message that says something about how f***ed up our society is, how much importance we put on things instead of people, and how the wealthy only want more wealth no matter who they have to step on, hurt or, yes, kill. Romero is telling us, dear reader, that all we seem to want are THINGS. It is these things that will make us happy. Well, guess what? They won't. And on top of that, there are now THINGS coming after you. Oh, and they'll eat you.

But wait, there's more (said in the Matthew Lillard "Stu" voice from SCREAM): the things are starting to think. It's a very interesting concept, first postulated in DAY OF THE DEAD (again, my favorite in the series, though I am in the minority) when Dr. Logan starts to teach "Bub" how to do certain things. Now, the zombies have always worked on instinct (graphically shown in a scene in DAY). They just want food. But, Dr. Logan surmises, if we can teach them to "behave" around us and reward them ("reward is the key! I'm convinced of that now."), then it may keep them from wanting to eat us. Great. Teach away.

Except, it doesn't quite end up that way in LAND. See, the zombies (or "stenches") start to re-enact the things they did in life, until a really smart stench shows them they can be more...have more...eat more, if they use what they "know" to get into the walled enclave of rich, white people (by eating through the slums of people not good enough for the complex known as "Fiddler's Green").

So, again, it isn't fun, because there is a message that is serious. But, let me tell you, it IS gory! For an R rated film, this was a very hard R. Nothing will ever be as gory (or, actually, as realistic) as the gore in DAY OF THE DEAD, but this movie had its share. My personal favorite was when a stench reaches in to someone's mouth and pulls a bunch of stuff out. If the moment was meant to shock and disturb, it worked. It was so real and barbaric that it sent a chill up my spine. Thank you, George, thank you!

So, that's that. Will I see it again? of course. Will I buy the DVD? Duh.

LAND OF THE DEAD is turf Romero can gladly tread. And, yes, there is room for a sequel, but not in a hokey way. There are no happy endings in a ROmero dead film. The dead are not neatly disposed of. They're everywhere folks.

Everywhere.

On another note, Cat and I are in the middle of Act 2. Act 2's are hard because so much has to go on, happen, be exposed, it can be daunting. Especially in a thriller. But, we're geting there.

Tomorrow, I am going to see WAR OF THE WORLDS. I'll let you know what I think. I like David Koepp and Dakota Fanning.

Ok, I better go. Thanks for stopping by. Catch me here again soon...

--"If they're mortal, they have mortal weaknesses. They'll be stopped, somehow."
WAR OF THE WORLDS