So far George A. Romero has been able to produce film after film in his zombie franchise with expert directing and writing. Both Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) had intriguing and likable characters that quickly hooked its audience into the world at which they fight to survive. Romero seems to be performing a study on the human condition when it comes to solitude. Although each installment has pretty much ended all the same way and has settings similar to each other, the story never feels the same, which is great. It keeps the viewers attention to detail tight.
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| No one messes with the Cap |
The last two settings took place in a house, and then a shopping mall. This time, we are no longer on the ground. Now, viewers will follow a group of survivors that end up taking shelter underground. There we are also introduced to a couple of scientists and a very tiny militia. What makes this particular story line different from the other installments is that Romero starts writing more about the psychological aspects of zombies. The scientists begin to learn that if zombies are treated like kids, they could become obedient. Whoa, that's new. Sadly, nothing would be complete in the story if there wasn't any friction. This friction comes from the militia ran by one heck of captain that needs some chill pills. Not only does he care less for anyone else, but he also is quite trigger-happy. The thing is although these characters are gravitating, they don't feel as magnetic as the ones from the past two films.
Again, the cast to this movie are very much no name actors. Yes, some went on to future projects but others stopped soon after. I don't understand how actors that take part in a widely successful movie, decides to drop out of the film industry. Wouldn't it make sense to continue? Lori Cardille who plays the female lead makes her character very strong and that's commendable. Terry Alexander plays a Jamaican pilot that adds clever dialog to the plot. Joseph Pilato as the hotheaded captain is definitely good as being a total jerk and a coward all at once. Richard Liberty plays Logan, one of the scientists and he is able to make his studies sound quite authentic. And the most interesting character of all is Bub (Sherman Howard), a zombie specimen that Logan uses to show everyone else that they can be controlled. Quite a convincing performance.
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| Learn,...LEARN |
Michael Gornick's cinematography is well done. His shots of the underground tunnel are unique and give a better idea to how much limited room this group has instead of being in a house or shopping mall. The gore is probably more or less the same as Dawn of the Dead (1978) but the finale is possibly the goriest of them all (thanks to Tom Savini's visual effects). If you get queasy, it won't be fun for you. Finally John Harrison's music did work in places while others it didn't. Its difficult to understand why Romero never hired an actual composer for his films except for William Loose from Night of the Living Dead (1968). His score was the best of all three films.
George A. Romero's third entry in his zombie trilogy continues to add new ideas to his self-made genre. His characters feel real and the element isolation is still prevalent.
Points Earned --> 8:10
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