EDITORS NOTE: This review also appeared on Creative Loafing's website. Check it out HERE
George Romero and the zed word (zombies) go hand in hand. Romero is credited as being the grandfather of the zombie movie, and his latest incarnation, Survival of the Dead is released on X-Box Live, Playstation Network, and soon in theaters, but has the zombie king reclaimed his thrown after a few lackluster performances, or has he simply faded into obscurity?
Survival of the Dead takes place some time after Land of the Dead, and has some typical zombie elements, such as the ability for zombies to jump out of nowhere, plenty of gore, and some sick humor. The big element of Romero's earlier work that seems to be missing however, is the social commentary. While Dawn of the Dead is famous for the undertones in the movie, this movie seems to lack any such undertones, and rests on it's script and used premise, which is hardly sturdy.
The movie seems to simply be a retelling of the old Hatfields and McCoy's tale; a tale of two families feuding on an island, with zombies. I would love to say there is more, or that it is an allegory for something, but sadly, it's just about two Irish families that argue over the proper method of disposing zombies.
The cast is pretty weak, the delivery is rough and the script is very rudimentary. The grandfather of zombies seems to have spent a couple hours on the script, and hoped to rather progress zombie carnage, for he seemed to work very hard at the different headshots for zombies, using CGI, stop-motion and good old fashion latex. The CGI seemed promising, but not quite there. There seemed to be similar scenes of zombie carnage to the first few movies he's done, leaving me wanting something new.
Overall, there are plenty of zombie movies out there better than Survival, and movies far more entertaining. I would recommend you avoid this one, and hope Romero learns from his now several failures and returns to his former glory sooner rather than later.
George Romero and the zed word (zombies) go hand in hand. Romero is credited as being the grandfather of the zombie movie, and his latest incarnation, Survival of the Dead is released on X-Box Live, Playstation Network, and soon in theaters, but has the zombie king reclaimed his thrown after a few lackluster performances, or has he simply faded into obscurity?
Survival of the Dead takes place some time after Land of the Dead, and has some typical zombie elements, such as the ability for zombies to jump out of nowhere, plenty of gore, and some sick humor. The big element of Romero's earlier work that seems to be missing however, is the social commentary. While Dawn of the Dead is famous for the undertones in the movie, this movie seems to lack any such undertones, and rests on it's script and used premise, which is hardly sturdy.
The movie seems to simply be a retelling of the old Hatfields and McCoy's tale; a tale of two families feuding on an island, with zombies. I would love to say there is more, or that it is an allegory for something, but sadly, it's just about two Irish families that argue over the proper method of disposing zombies.
The cast is pretty weak, the delivery is rough and the script is very rudimentary. The grandfather of zombies seems to have spent a couple hours on the script, and hoped to rather progress zombie carnage, for he seemed to work very hard at the different headshots for zombies, using CGI, stop-motion and good old fashion latex. The CGI seemed promising, but not quite there. There seemed to be similar scenes of zombie carnage to the first few movies he's done, leaving me wanting something new.
Overall, there are plenty of zombie movies out there better than Survival, and movies far more entertaining. I would recommend you avoid this one, and hope Romero learns from his now several failures and returns to his former glory sooner rather than later.
