Survival of the Dead (2009)

I attended the North American Premiere of "George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. When the master himself decides to make a new "...of the Dead" movie, you know you can expect certain things: great kills, visual effects, shocks, and gore. Where it goes from there depends on plot and cast. So here's the premise: a zombie western set on an island off the coast of Delaware. Anyone else might pitch that story idea and have a door slammed in the face. But this is George A. Romero. Only he could pull it off, and he does it. Directing from his own script, Romero has made a movie unlike anything he's done in thematic terms. There are great kills, of course. But there are plenty of new elements that will surprise moviegoers.

The Muldoons and O'Flynns have been feuding for generations. They've turned little Plum Island into a war zone. But when faced with an enemy from outside their clans, new strategies must emerge. Outsiders eager to do battle with that enemy also invade their territory, and everyone must take sides. The actors do not take a back seat to the visual and special effects by any means. Veteran character actors lead the Irish clans with Seamus and Lem Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick and Matt Birman) facing Tawdry, Patrick, and James O'Flynn (Wayne Robson, Kenneth Welsh, and Julin Richings). Kathleen Munroe wins the viewers' hearts as Janet O'Flynn, Alex Van Sprang and Athena Karkanis are standouts as renegade soldiers, and 17-year-old Devon Bostick infuses just the right amount of naiveté into the "young boy" (he's nameless) who tags along, and whose bravado provides much of the film's comic relief.

Cinematographer Adam Swica is able to stretch the film's budget with mostly exteriors and night shots. A surreal hybrid of period piece and present day (or future?) allows costumes, art direction, and sets to inhabit any world at any time. Is this the Old West? Ireland? The location says Delaware but the film was shot in Ontario. The fact is, it's all the above, and doesn't matter -- Romero, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, is well aware of the metaphorical nature of his films and never takes himself too seriously. The result is simply loads of fun.

Fmovies: A military group that has turned into bandits during the zombie infestation decides to follow an online infomercial and tries to make it to the peaceful island it promises. At the harbor they realize they have been ambushed by the guy pitching the island. He robs the potential clients and dumps them on the island, which is nothing but zombie-free.

Earlier in the movie we meet this guy O'Flynn, a fisherman on the island. He's runs one of the two Irish clans on the island. His nemesis is Seamus. When zombies infest the island, O'Flynn opts to eliminate them all while Seamus wants to keep them "alive" and chained. They kick O'Flynn of the island leaving his daughter behind.

Now the military guys make it to the island followed by O'Flynn who sees this as an opportunity to avenge himself from Seamus. They find that Seamus is trying to domesticate the zombies, enchained and treated like cattle or horses. His special project is trying to teach zombies to eat animal meat and not human. So far he has been unsuccessful.

Eventually we have the confrontation between the two clans plus the zombies in a bloody and brutal outcome.

As all Romero movies, this one is smart, sometimes funny and with plenty of zombie violence. Even what should be a lame scene, Romero manages to make it interesting. He's particularly good as showing human interaction. And of course there is the usual criticism of human inhumanity in how they treat the zombies. The last minutes are particularly entertaining for those who are into gore. The only problem I have with this movie is that the final zombie mayhem is presented as a comedy. It's unnecessary and doesn't suit the violent tone of the content. Otherwise this is classic Romero in a quickly paced and gory zombie movie.

Survival of the Dead impressed me. I have been reading a lot of negative reviews about this movie. I ordered the movie from Amazon's video-on-demand and plunk down some money to check it out (since no theater within a hundred miles was showing it). After spending about 90 minutes watching the movie I thought the money was well spent. Too bad this movie didn't get a wider release because I felt that it deserved one. I was put off originally by the film's trailer because the action seemed very amateurish and the sound effects were sub-par. All that was corrected in the movie.

Sarge, the US National Guardsmen from "Diary of the Dead" (featured briefly in the beginning of the film) laments about having to become a highway robber and a brief internet superstar. After a violent encounter with some demented local yahoos, Sarge and his squad head off to find a place of safe refuge. A beacon of sorts has been sent out on the web by Patrick O'Flynn, an islander who is in a bloody feud with another family (the Muldoons headed by Seamus Muldoon) over what to do with the living dead),

O'Flynn AKA Captain Courageous (along with his fellow outcasts) have became pirates and have been robbing those unlucky or foolish enough to head out to the dock. But Sarge and company foil O'Flynn's scheme and sail off on an abandoned ferry boat. O'Flynn manages to jump on the boat (after a brief and violent clash dispatches his "crew"). Without a destination, Sarge turns to O'Flynn who suggests that they head back to his home island and reclaim it for the O'Flynns. Out of options, will Sarge team up with O'Flynn and get involved in a clan war or will he and his squad continue to look elsewhere?

The social commentary is not as heavy handed as it was in Diary of the Dead but the themes of religion, Catholicism and fundamentalism are present along with the clash of old and new ideals. Another concurrent theme that appears in the Dead Series is the lack of cooperation and communication. Many people have complained about the lack of danger from the living dead. As the movies in the series continues it seems that they have become more of a nuisance instead of a threat whilst the real danger comes from amongst ourselves.

Highly recommended.

Survival of the Dead fmovies. As an avid watcher of zombie movies, particularly George A. Romero's Of The Dead movies, I was optimistic for this latest instalment. Survival of the Dead is Romero's sixth Of The Dead movie, but after 2007's disappointing Diary of the Dead it's beginning to show that he's running out of ideas.

Survival of the Dead does try to put an original spin on things though, with a group of people attempting to get the zombies to feast upon something other than human flesh. It's an interesting idea, too bad it isn't played out as well as it could be. The acting isn't as bad as in Diary of the Dead, despite its relatively low budget feel and slow story progression, it manages to outdo Diary of the Dead in literally every way.

Another major flaw: it's not scary at all. Romero's previous Of The Dead instalments (we'll forget Diary) have all been, at least, a little scary. This, sadly, is where Survival fails. There isn't anything even remotely scary here, and the jumps are far in between and very, very few. Romero leaves the scare factor box well and truly unchecked.

As you may have gathered, it's not terribly amazing stuff, but the cast all play likable characters and there's enough gore in here to satisfy. Nothing on Dawn of the Dead but miles better than Diary of the Dead.

http://www.ukmore.tk/

Man, where do I begin? Survival of the Dead. it could have easily been one of Romero's best, since his beloved Dawn of the Dead, but what went wrong? what did he miss? what moment did he not seize? After getting my UK Blu-Ray I was sort of reserved in what i was going to think about this flick. I mean I thought the trailers looked corny, the feel amateur, even for Romero's standards, but I was willing to give it a go none the less.

Survival should have been the next DAWN of the DEAD. It had the set up, it had the locations, but it missed the story and the vibe. The film is skewered by a weak cast and an even weaker storyline.

Survivals western vibe and feel just seems so out of place and wasted. What should have occurred was trying to rebuild life on Plum island, what should have happened was an exploration of the rebuilding of humanity, something Romero has yet to touch upon in any of his Dead films... which is a goddamn shame.

I will say Survival is slightly OK. I still think Diary is the best of his newer zed flicks, and Survival is way better than Land but it is still a weak film, in fact Romero's 3 newest entries are all weak and devoid of the magic originally on display in Night Dawn and Day. When Romero gets back to that magic he will regain what is lost in the zombie genre, but with him sticking to the cheap thrills and half-assed writing I think his fall from zombie grace will be harder than even he will ever imagine.

These newer entries only seem to alienate his fan-based and this smart zombies back story he is trying to shove down our throats isn't working with the fans. Romero needs to get back to plain and simple story telling. Story telling that will show us why we followed him all these years, but this rushed production, dialog and all around feel is what is giving his series a bad name.

Survival will deliver on the gore, even on its corny moments, and it tries really hard to engage the audience with its characters but it falls apart because the cast and screenplay aren't strong enough.

in the end... another disappointing zed flick from the grandfather of the modern zombie.

George, if you read this... go back to Dawn, and look at it again and give us a film like that... that is what we want, and we know you have it in you, but if you set out to make another disaster like this it may be time to fold up the directors chair.

5 out of 10

Once upon a time, I remember back to when I was about 12, when I sat in absolute terror in my own home watching a grainy, poorly -scored,low budget zombie flick. It was easily the most scary movie I had ever seen. It was the now famous Night of the Living Dead. Over the years, as Romero's name has become almost synonymous with the zombie genre, I keep expecting him to rise to the occasion again and deliver a piece of cinema that keeps me awake at night. He has not done so. Sitting through Land of the Dead in great disappointment and almost as much with "Diary", I wanted to give old George another shot with "Survival". What a mistake. Never a real moment of tension or fear. Way too much comedic moments (at least I hope they were INTENDED to be funny) and a lackluster plot out of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. I think he has been churning out these movies with little concern that he can do wrong. I hope he is finished ruining the genre that he started because folks, I am gonna say it: He Doesn't Have IT Anymore. Like an old man that has a family that lets him keep driving and he becomes worse and worse, someone has to step in and say: enough!