Day of the Dead

Underground Horror

Main Cast: Lori Cardille, Joseph Pilato, Richard Liberty, Howard Sherman

Director: George Romero

The third movie in George Romero’s series of zombie flicks, this one takes place (mostly) in an underground military base. The rather ragged soldiers, led by the crazed Rhodes (Pilato), face off against the white-coated scientists, led by the vague and also a bit crazed Dr. Logan (Liberty). The scientists are trying to figure out what animates the corpses, and perhaps find a way to either stop them or reverse the process. The soldiers just want to kill them and survive.

Actually, most everyone in this place is unpleasant. Even the heroine Sarah (Cardille) is rough, blunt, and yells far too much. I couldn’t really root for any of them, except for the radio engineer who takes solace in his bottle, and the Jamaican helicopter pilot. The rest are, of course, zombie fodder. Speaking of… one zombie is, in fact, the most noble character of them all: Bub (Sherman). I enjoyed his last scene, which is ironic and a perfect gesture at his nemesis.

Of course, you know the “the dead” will eventually break into the seeming impregnable base. We all know it. And we also know that most of the people are going to turn into zombie chow. But the movie does pause long enough to develop the characters, however unpleasant. And the effects are gruesome, the zombies shambling and as ugly as ever, and the blood gushes most pleasantly. Pretty good as these things go.