 First up, I HATE Night Of The Living Dead - it's boring, preachy & annoying; Dawn remains a classic (flaws becoming apparent after the initial worship wears thin); Day is effectively laughable. It seems Romero's attitude toward "The Industry" set the f*** you, anti-social tone that permeates the film - a rare breed, the result of an anti-sellout ideal made flesh. Of course it wouldn't be a Romero flick without the usual attendant flaws: attempts to deliver some "education" whilst throwing the blood around & the fact that This Viewer ALWAYS warms to the very characters George is asking us to hate (or dislike strongly) - in this case, the scene-stealing corrosive performance of Joe Pilato (Rhodes...). How can people say THIS is boring?! Well, I suppose it can be, BUT - Night is (very) boring, Dawn's mid-section is boring... The "talky" moments are great - with characters spewing classick lines that predate (& remain superior to) the would-be "wit" of a Tarantino. Now: The Gore - there will never be a film to rival Day's Hardgore Horror approach (Peter Jackson's bad "comedy" films - you know the ones - don't count). The scenes of bodily distress caught here, only serves to remind how vital & "out-there" this film was (& still is). Though, I must add that Day is VERY sexist: not one (living) woman is ripped apart, shot, dismembered, gutted, skinned, bitten, eaten or otherwise; I thought you were a Liberal George, how about a few female victims next time around (Resident Evil or Twilight Of The Dead??). Deserving of it's rep with various Censorship Boards (all together now - BOOOOOOOOOO), Day is a statement of bloody intent - one of the few enduring horror films (the other two are Demoni/Demons & Re-animator) from a time when the genre served up it's best as a parting shot. It's "rival" (at the time) Return Of The Living Dead (a dated, unfunny attempt to go for the no-gore mainstream - 'though Part 3 is GREAT...) fancied itself as a Punk Rock Horror Movie; bulls*** - Day is THE Punk Rock Horror Movie: nasty, alienated, cynical, with a two-fingered salute to popular concerns. Believe It... About the author: I am a Very Bored Person, so write: unpop@bigpond.com You may read another review, submit your own, or return home. |
