Survival of the Dead

Survival of the Dead (DVD) (*)

~~$30.99~~ $24.97

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Venice Film Festival

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
86 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2009 and produced in:
Canada ( USA, Canada )
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
George A. Romero

Written By:
George A. Romero

Actors:
Devon Bostick ..... Tomboy
Athena Karkanis ..... Janet / Jane O'Flynn
Kathleen Munroe ..... James O'Flynn
Julian Richings ..... 'Nicotine' Crocket
Alan Van Sprang ..... Seamus Muldoon
Richard Fitzpatrick ..... Patrick O'Flynn
Kenneth Welsh ..... Francisco (as Stefano Colacitti)
Stefano DiMatteo ..... Talk Show Host
George Stroumboulopoulos ..... Chuck
Joris Jarsky ..... Sally Muldoon
Heather Allin ..... Tawdry O'Flynn
Wayne Robson ..... Lem Muldoon
Matt Birman ..... Good Old Boy #2
Michael Rhoades ..... Kenny
Eric Woolfe ..... Zombie #5
Zeljko Kecojevic ..... Beth Muldoon
Philippa Domville ..... Zombie #2
Jerry Schaefer ..... Muldoon Zombie Hunter
Wayne Curnew ..... Police Officer Zombie
Craig Dawson ..... Drooling Zombie
Mitch Risman ..... Talk Show Stooge
Pete Zedlacher ..... Construction Worker Zombie
Salar Madadi

Synopsis:

The master filmmaker George A. Romero continues to reinvent the modern horror genre with a zombie film that draws new battle lines between the living and the dead. It's been less than a week since the dead began to walk, and the world has gone to hell. The rule of law is disintegrating. The military is in chaos. A war-weary band of soldiers goes AWOL, convinced they'll be better off on their own. Led by Sarge, a tough, chain-smoking guardsman, their only ambition is to survive. They are lured to a remote island that promises to be the last paradise on earth, only to discover that even here, miles away from civilization, there is no escape from a world at war. The battle that follows overtakes everyone on the island, living and dead, and poses a new meaning for the word, "survival". Told with Romero's iconic sense of humour and keen eye for the fault-lines in contemporary culture, George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead expands and intensifies the zombie universe for which he is celebrated.

Director George A. Romero's epic sequel to his legendary Night of the Living Dead has firmly established itself as the equal of its ground-breaking predecessor. Though shot in 1978 -- ten years after the first films' release -- Dawn's story begins as if the events in Night had happened only a few months before: after shambling armies of the recently-dead take over every major city -- seeking warm human flesh for food -- the U.S. government imposes a state of martial law, sending in special National Guard units to attack and destroy zombie infestation where they find it. Two members of one such unit, Peter (Ken Foree) and Roger (Scott Reiniger) have been tasked to overthrow a nest of zombies in a Pittsburgh housing project (one of the film's most explicitly gory scenes). When the job turns ugly and Peter is forced to terminate his own berserk, racist commanding officer, the pair decide to split the outfit with the help of his friend Stephen (David Emge), a traffic pilot for WGON-TV, and the station's floor manager, Stephen's girlfriend Frances (Gaylen Ross). Together they steal the station's helicopter and head for less-populated areas, but after some narrow scrapes with flesh-hungry redneck ghouls in the country outside Harrisburg, they opt for a more secure hideout. Eventually they find the perfect solution: a massive, sprawling shopping mall. After the lengthy process of purging the building of zombies is complete, the four secure themselves snugly in the miniature city, consigned to live out their lives in a dull but cushy consumer's paradise... but the arrival of a menacing gang of nomadic bikers proves that this is not to be. With their survival instincts weakened by a mallful of toys and trinkets, the crew are again forced to face grim reality as they face both living and undead foes in a final battle. Romero's excellent, multi-layered story combines high-adventure heroics, three-dimensional characters and explicit gore (by the always masterful Tom Savini, who plays a small role as a leering biker) to excellent effect. The subtext comparing the glassy-eyed behavior patterns of the ghouls to those of American consumers is clear, but not overdone: "It's some kind of instinct," Stephen comments, observing the zombies' attraction to the mall; "This was an important place in their lives." Despite the glimmer of hope offered by the film's closing scene, the outlook for humankind is grim. Perhaps it is Frannie who best expresses Dawn's outlook for humanity: "We're not gonna make it, are we?" Several versions of this film are available on video, including a faster-paced European version edited by overseas distributor Dario Argento and a "Director's Cut" with a great deal of exposition restored (though Romero is quoted as having preferred the unrated cut released initially to U.S. theaters). The shooting script also contains a more downbeat ending, which was never filmed.

Filmmaker George A. Romero unleashes the sixth film in his Dead Series with this gut-munching shocker surrounding a clash of ideals between two factions of inhabitants on a remote island after a zombie outbreak.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 01 April, 2010.