LAND OF THE DEAD (2005)

Romero's still got it! It's been about 20 years since Day Of The Dead hit the horror scene, but George A. Romero hasn't lost any of his edge over that period. He still shoots his films with that same trademark claustrophobic feel that all of his movies have, especially his zombie ones, and his dark pessimistic writing style is still intact. Combine those skills with his flare for dark comedy and they add up to another great installment in his living dead series.

The basic plot, as in all of his zombie films, is essentially the same. A group of humans shack up somewhere isolated and fend off impending zombie doom. Each of Romero's zombie movies follow this formula but as each one got released, the setting and scope got bigger and more ambitious. This is definitely true of Land Of The Dead which is by far Romero's biggest and most ambitious zombie film to date. This time around the zombies are getting smarter, and have a leader that's enabling them to learn. The series has now gone from a house, to a mall, to an underground military installation, and now to an entire city. While his other films tackled race and consumerism among many other things, Land takes on social class, mainly the rich and powerful vs. the working poor. I've always greatly admired the clever way Romero interjects scathing social commentary into his zombie films, and Land Of The Dead does this better than any of his previous entries. There's some great lines and this is some of Romero's best writing to date.
Once again Romero had little money to work with and as usual it didn't stop him from turning out another great horror film. The blend of makeup and computer effects is practically perfect. Most modern directors go insanely overboard with C G and end up hurting their final product, but Land Of The Dead keeps the computer stuff to a minimum. When effects are used, they're done seamlessly and don't take away from the action occurring on the screen. The makeup effects are good but there not on the same level of the outstanding job done in Day Of The Dead. That said, Romero' zombies are still the best looking by far, and the most scary. Speaking of scares, there are more than a few in Land Of The Dead, and most of them are very effective. The gross out gore and zombie feasting are accounted for as well, although I would imagine much ending up on the cutting room floor in an attempt to secure a US R rating (Interestingly the British Board of Film Censorship rated the film 15 with out any cuts. Work that one out!). Even so, Land Of The Dead is far more violent than almost any other movie out in recent memory, and there will be an unrated DVD to look forward to as well, which I'm sure will bring out the gore in full effect.

The only area where Land Of The Dead is lacking in comparison with Romero's previous zombie classics is the way in which he gives the film its atmosphere. The other entries were all about creating feeling through the shots, lighting, and score, while in Land the atmosphere is driven more by the setting and dialogue. The camera shots are still there but they are not as deliberate as you might expect from Romero. This is more fast paced, like an action film. The score is effective but it's only used sporadically, while his previous efforts relied heavily on the musical ambience. These are very minor gripes as the methods Romero uses in Land Of The Dead do prove to be very effective. The zombie ravaged world created for this film is magnificent. The decaying city looks perfect and is a fantastic setting. The dialogue also adds to the mood and the characters are all pessimistic, and in a world ravaged by zombies, who wouldn't be. I wouldn't be, a world plagued by zombies is what I pray for every night before I go to sleep, but I think normal people would be very depressed, and this is shown perfectly in the film. Simon Baker does an excellent job as Riley, a man who seems to want to get away from the zombies just as much as he does regular humans. He even makes a statement on how people aren't really living and how people are no better than the flesh eating monsters. Baker is a highly underrated and underused actor and I expect to see him get bigger roles in the future. John Leguizamo is very good in a calm, restrained performance as Cholo. Asia Argento playing Slack, delivers a good performance as well. Dennis Hopper is very funny as the evil, rich leader of the nightmarish city. All in all it's a very solid cast that appear to have a very good on screen chemistry.
In summary, Land Of The Dead is a nonstop action-gorefest done in a way only George A. Romero knows how. Romero always seems to elevate his game when it comes to his undead films. He's made other nonzombie movies that turned out pretty good like Martin, Creepshow and Knightriders to name but a few, but something about these flesh-eating ghouls takes him to a different level. If you're a fan of zombie movies, horror films, action pics, or even just good movies in general, you should do yourself a big favor and go see Land Of The Dead. It may not be as good as Day or Dawn, but it's pretty damn close, and I look forward to watching it again and again, thousands of times just like I did the others.