Review: LAND OF THE DEAD (2005)

 LAND OF THE DEAD (2005) US/Canada/France 1hr 33mins

Dir: George A Romero

"I thought this was gonna be a battle... It's a fucking massacre" Mike "the Kid".

"They're just looking for a place to go... same as us" Riley Denbo.

Some time ago the dead took over the majority of the world. Today in a relatively safe city protected by rivers on two sides and a fortified electric fence on the other, the "haves" live in luxury in a posh apartment complex called Fiddlers Green and the "have nots" live in slums outside the complex. Subdued by the rich folks who distract them with gambling houses, drinking and prostitution. A group of "have nots" controlled by the big boss, Mr. Kaufman (Dennis Hopper), led by Riley Denbo (Simon Baker) and his wild card second in command Cholo DeMora (John Leguizamo) go on their final nightly supply run with their team. Riley is planning on getting out of town as soon as possible and Cholo is busy schmoozing Kaufman for a place in Fiddlers Green. Both get severely done over ending up with a disgruntled Cholo threatening the entire city. Meanwhile, Riley notices something is changing within the undead community as they start to show signs of intelligence and begin making their own way towards the city. The question is will the team be consumed by greed, save the city or make a break for it???

This is Romero's fourth tale in his DEAD franchise with a gap of 20 years since the third installment, DAY OF THE DEAD (1985). LAND is loosely based on the much longer original script for DAY and does seem to follow on in that vein albeit in a different setting but still with an oppressive military presence and continuing the concept that the dead are slowly evolving. In DAY we had Dr. Frankenstein teaching/reminding Bub to pick up the telephone and press play on a walkman which later prompted him to salute, then pick up and fire a weapon. Here we have Big Daddy (Eugene Clark), a petrol attendant who still remembers what he used to do and soon learns to ignore the distractions the living use and becomes angry at the way his kind are treated. Deciding to fight back leading his hordes to pick up arms themselves and attack the city. LAND OF THE DEAD covers big issues that Romero incorporates so well into his movies. This concentrates on the class system and racism.

Once again, as with DAY, he easily introduces a great cast of huge personalities and fantastic characters. Hopper as Kaufman is as mean and unforgiving as you would expect but I have so much love for Baker and Leguizamo's characters even though they are so different. Riley is the level headed, calm, reliable one. Whereas, Cholo is bad ass and off the rails. The supporting cast is top notch with Robert Joy, Asia Argento and Phil Fondacaro. Keep your eyes peeled for actor Alan Van Sprang who appears here as Brubaker, a soldier who guards the ammunition and transport as this may not be the only time I mention him in following reviews. The zombies in this (often referred to as Stenches or Walkers) are absolutely fantastic and quickly become as popular as the living characters. Make up and effects, of course, headed up by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger. Nicotero naturally makes an appearance as the Bridgekeeper zombie and Tom Savini makes a come back as his machete wielding biker zombie from DAWN OF THE DEAD. This is the only time a zombie has made a come back in any Romero movie. Eugene Clark is so good as Big Daddy and his main group of zombies; No: 9 (Jennifer Baxter), Butcher (Boyd Banks) and Tambourine Man (Jasmin Geljo) all bring amazing character to their roles. Not to mention the fact that they are all so well thought out. There is a zombie couple that go every where together holding hands, a Tuba player, a zombie kid still in school uniform, a zombie clown and, the well documented cameos of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright as photo booth zombies. LAND contains all manner of gore and extreme violence with one of my all time favourite rewindable zombie bites EVER!!! The part where Manolete (Sasha Roiz) is bit by the seemingly headless priest as he gets in the Jeep. It just fills me with so much joy and I have to watch it over and over again. There are some great explosions and we are are introduced to one of the best props ever... Dead Reckoning is the formidable, armoured vehicle which plays an integral part in surviving zombie attacks. 

The dialogue flows really well and conveys a great sense of panic, anger, remorse and revenge whilst still allowing moments for comedy ("She's not a boy!!" - Charlie) and quiet contemplation ("I always wanted to see how the other half live" - Cholo). The soundtrack is another huge presence here as well. Composed by Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek the main theme "To Canada" appears several times throughout the movie. It seems to me like this tune is to LAND what "The Gonk" is to DAWN.

LAND OF THE DEAD is often overlooked and not given half as much credit for it's clever conveyance of hard hitting subject matters as its predecessors which I think is unfair. I disagree that their interpretation of evolution to the zombies is distracting or a bad thing, in fact I really like it. They haven't changed the zombie aesthetic or character to convey this change. They are still the walking dead, shambling along, feasting on brains and entrails. They still act the way you would expect them to unlike other versions of zombies in many other movies. At some points this hasn't aged as well as the older ones have with some weird costume choices and the unfortunate use of a little CGI blood that perhaps looks a tad dodgy. LAND for me remains my favourite of Romero's later movies in the franchise and earns itself top spot in the cemetery with the full 5 out of 5 brains on the scale!!!

Earlier this year I purchased the recent Blu Ray release of LAND from Fabulous Films which came out in February. It comes as a 2 disc edition. Disc 1 contains the theatrical release with extras including interviews with John Leguizamo, Robert Joy and Eugene Clark about their characters stories. The theatrical trailer and documentary DREAM OF THE DEAD by Roy Frumkes. Disc 2 contains the Unrated version of LAND. The extras include feature commentary from George Romero. The short documentary Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright made called "When Shaun met George" about their behind the scenes experience of LAND. Another documentary "UNDEAD AGAIN: THE MAKING OF LAND OF THE DEAD" and loads of special effects and great zombie videos. Plus much, much more and a wonderful reversible cover illustrated by Graham Humphries. It really is a great release and a must have for any fans of the movie. I believe this release is now widely available through most places. I know it is definitely available to purchase through Amazon. Check it out now!