Day of the Dead (1985)
Written and directed by George A. Romero

The Inherit the Wind of zombie movies offers much more in the way of people debating the existential quandary of zombie infestation than anything like kick-ass, bone-rattling zombie horror. The first two-thirds are exceptionally talky, with almost no zombies at all, so when the zombies finally start wreaking havoc, you're so bored that there's simply no payoff.

Many people defend Day of the Dead on the grounds that it's the crucial conclusion of Romero's Dead trilogy, but that's about as substantial an argument as saying The Matrix Revolutions ought to be admired simply for completing a good tale. In both cases, the last installment is painfully underwhelming compared to what came before, and in the case of Day of the Dead, there isn't much inherent merit to the film itself that allows it to be appreciated on its own. It's mostly a lot of mediocre actors shouting at each other.

Not helping at all is the completely incongruous soundtrack, which sounds like it was composed on a Yamaha DX-7 for use in a corporate training video. Therefore, even the climactic moments come off more like Effective Project Management of the Dead.

The zombies are terrific, and the gore, when it happens, is outstanding. And while I'm all for psychological and sociological dissection of the zombie dilemma, I'd rather not just hear about it. The original Dawn of the Dead provided more subtext and allegory through its visuals—Day is so stagey it may as well be a re-enacted Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Hm, come to think of it, a movie about Lincoln and Douglas debating about zombies would be pretty entertaining, as long as both Lincoln and Douglas were also zombies. It could be called The Zombie Dilemma.

Review by La Fée