Document of the Dead

'Document of the Dead' is an interesting look at the making of 'Dawn of the Dead' and other works of George A. Romero, but despite the subject matter, 'Document...' for me was a little disappointing. Well hyped in the press and by the production crew itself, I couldn't help feel a little sold short by the final package. Admittedly this in part can be explained due to technical difficulties when the film was being made, (see trivia) and we can only guess how much more interesting 'Document...' would have been with those extra 66 shots, but the film has other faults. Sound quality at times was poor, while the voice of narrator Susan Tyrell I found coma inducing, and at times narration was overtly technical to the point of boredom. There was also some repetitive cuts (including a whole rerun of the final credits and time coded footage) that obviously wasn't supposed to be there, though I'm not sure if this was down to the original production team or the video distributor.

Die hard Romero fans will no doubt salivate at the behind the scenes and extra unseen footage, as may curious independent filmmakers and students, but the presentation here will more likely bore unfamiliar, less technically minded audiences. Romero's work, and how he works is in no dispute though, it is fascinatingly interesting. He comes across eloquently while still remaining down to earth and you can't help empathise with his struggle despite his successful track record. Interviews with Tom Savini also help immensely, livening the film with his energy and obvious passion he has for his work.

'Document...' isn't quite the companion to 'Dawn of the Dead' that I was hoping for, but under the circumstances it's understandable, in fact it's a credit to the film makers that it ever got put out there at all! But despite covering some of Romero's other work, Dawn footage is what we were all here for and it's a shame that in the end there just wasn't quite enough.

Fans of the Dead Trilogy have to at least seen this flick twice let alone own a copy in their video library. It is a wonderful look in the early to mid career of George Romero and his work in the art of Horror Movie Making. We take a deep look into not only Pittsburgh, where Romero lived and worked, but Romero himself and the journey into Night of the Living Dead, and the many films to follow. I enjoyed this film for the simple reason that it was shot on film and for a very low budget. It added to the realness of the story and the struggle of an Independent Film Maker and his journey into creating a film that will last for generations.

Given the avowed intentions of George Romero as an independent filmmaker, we can see his zombie epics as no mere tilting at windmills. Rather, Romero can be seen as a reflexive artist: his metaphorical depiction in these films of the constraints on attaining a fulfilling life run parallel to the difficulties he faced in the production process. This documentary charts the trajectory of Romero's career through a period in which access to the means of film production, he acknowledges, has become less possible for like minded independents trying to get a start in the film industry. These struggles are symptomatic of how globalisation has helped foster the libertarian survivalist mentality of "the player", dependent upon multi-skilling, movement and market "freedom" from government regulation and civility/citizenship (or loyalty to and/or lifetime employment by one studio/company). "Day of the Dead" depicts the destructive restlessness of soldiers and 1 mad scientist trapped in a bunker. With no government to sanction their role, they become increasingly mercenary/asocial. Rebellion against regulation is celebrated in the caricatures of BIG GOVERNMENT as Nazis or "the Evil Empire" in 2 of the biggest flagships for these changes; the Indiana Jones and "Star Wars" films produced by major studios. Their return of the "hero" cultivates reliance upon adaptive individual resources ("Han SOLO" indeed!) and changes in consciousness rather than social structures...the teachings of Anthony Robbins echo Yoda. Since the period in which this documentary was made, changes in media cross- ownership have led to films of popular computer and video games. It seems Romero has finally had to follow the trends by making "Resident Evil", if only to finance the concluding installment of his zombie series.

The thing that intrigues me the most about Romero is aside from his down-to-earth attitudes when it comes to film-making and the film-making process, he has pretty much no ego. This is a man who has directed four of the most popular horror films ever made- Night of the Living Dead and its sequels Dawn (my favorite), Day, and now Land, and he doesn't seem to take as much credit for it as he should or a lessor director would. What's also fascinating about the documentary here is that it focuses on two things- Romero's style in his films (here shown as Night, Dawn, and the great vampire film Martin), and the making of 'Dawn', and in the making of Dawn one realizes why he has not much to be very big about- a lot of what goes into the film is improvisation, the work of the actors, and Tom Savini's masterpiece of comic-book/over-stylized violence and zombies. The director of this documentary goes in depth with the style that swarms over Night and Martin, and Romero goes into detail in interviews about his own process, how he writes, directs, and edits, and what seems complicated on the screen really is not.

Basically, if you love the horror genre, or even just Romero's films, it's very worthwhile to check this out, even when some of the narration becomes obvious (or if you would rather watch the films instead of hearing exposition on them). The history of Dawn is fascinating if only as a time capsule, of when malls were in their beginning stages, when make-up wasn't as sophisticated (though maybe not as unique) as today, and when the level of violence in his films was almost unfathomable in those days of post-Vietnam America. It's sort of sad in a way to hear about Romero's problems with making the films he wants to make, as he talks of the problems being a "maverick" in the Hollywood system, but that's how it might always be. But just to see these images, and to see the process and how it unfolds (especially a behind-the-scenes look at one special effect and its length and depth in Two Evil Eyes) is enough to recommend it- it's available with the Dawn of the Dead box-set on DVD, but it also is on TV every now and again. Grade: A

Document of the Dead (1989)

*** (out of 4)

This Roy Frumkes documentary has its main focus on the making of DAWN OF THE DEAD but we get some additional footage about the making of MARTIN and TWO EVIL EYES. Obviously, as the title would suggest, the main focus is on Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD and we get quite a bit of behind-the-scenes footage where we get to see Romero directing as well as answering questions about the movie. It's interesting hearing him talk about the project during various stages of its production. There's a very interesting bit about them having to shut down production due to Christmas and not being able to work around the decorations in the mall. What's so interesting is that Romero used this month off to edit what footage he had but he also reworked the screenplay. It's also interesting that Romero states he shot both endings, although in recent times it has been said that the alternate tragic ending was never shot. Fans of DAWN OF THE DEAD are already going to know many of the stories but most of those stories came from this film. Since the release of this there have been a couple more documentaries but I'm sure us die hard fans would watch all of them and any future ones they decide to make. The stuff with MARTIN and TWO EVIL EYES is included for reasons that I'm not really sure but this too is fun. We get interviews with Romero, his wife and Tom Savini as they discuss TWO EVIL EYES. The best stuff is all the footage of them trying to get a couple of the special effects to work properly. Romero also spends this time talking about the companies, both big and small, who feel they owe directors once they give them money. Fans of Romero, DAWN OF THE DEAD and just horror films in general should enjoy this documentary.