Land of the Dead – United States/Canada/France – 2005 – Horror, Psychological
Directed by: George A. Romero
Written by: George A. Romero
Main Players: Dennis Hopper; John Leguizamo; Simon Baker; Asia Argento; Robert Joy
Opening exposition recaps what it means to have the dead walk the Earth. This is not only a local or regional phenomenon. People establish outposts to try and stay alive together. Now, decades into the undead apocalypse, the human society has had to evolve to remain functional, but… so have the zombies?!
Our lurching z-named pals appear to have begun to communicate with each other, and be more aware of their surroundings than the night they came back. The humans have built large, armored and weaponized vehicles and they employ them for raiding parties, led by people like Cholo DeMora (Leguizamo) or Riley Denbo (Baker).
As the zombies begin to form their own sluggish society, how long will it be until they are knocking on the human camp’s doors? What if they use new strategies or tools? Uh oh. Different zombie, different day.
Land of the Dead looks good and is nicely shot by the industry veteran Romero. He continues to update his world and continue psychological themes set in previous films, especially Day of the Dead. Human strife remains as big an issue as the undead, however this time the zombies are also organizing. Soon they will have Homeowners Associations.
The film has edges of dark humor, but it is played seriously by the cast which is the right choice. Zombie carnage is gross and constant, with the practical effects looking fantastic as usual. Gore seekers will find aplenty here.
I like this film just fine, but it is a bit goofy at times as well as a touch slow at others. A slow plot can be okay with a stellar story, but this one is kind of a zombie standard and evolves Romero's world just a bit. It’s worth it still for fans of his work.
There is an Unrated Cut which runs about 3 minutes longer, so ultimately the experience is similar.
See This If You Liked:
Night of the Living Dead (1968; 1990); Dawn of the Dead (1978; 2004); Day of the Dead (1985); 28 Days Later; [REC]; World War Z; Train to Busan (Busanhaeng); The Crazies (1973; 2010); The Return of the Living Dead; Resident Evil (2002); The Evil Dead
Score:
6.5