kevinolzak

1985's "Day of the Dead" came third in director George Romero's initial trilogy, in the wake of 1968's "Night of the Living Dead" and 1978's "Dawn of the Dead," as downbeat as the former, as gruesome as the latter, interiors filmed in an abandoned mine in Wampum PA, plus location shooting on Florida's Sanibel Island and Fort Myers. This time our protagonists are divided in two, burned out scientists conducting research against impatient soldiers eager to pull the trigger, and the heated clashes that result from isolation in close quarters. Budgetary limitations forced Romero to tone down his initial vision, the most progressive notion the education of undead Bub (Sherman Howard) by certified 'mad scientist' Frankenstein (Richard Liberty), using human flesh as treats when Bub responds accordingly to stimuli (continuing on from "Dawn of the Dead" with its human protagonist retaining living memories after death). Top billing rightly goes to Lori Cardille Rogal, the daughter of Pittsburgh TV host Bill Cardille (channel 11's Chiller Theater), who had been convinced to portray himself back in the 1968 original (receiving special billing in the process). Once again, characterizations are expertly drawn and performances uniformly excellent, special praise going to Sherman Howard, whose silent mime and facial expressions compare favorably to Boris Karloff in the 1931 "Frankenstein." His wide eyed wonder examining everyday items like a telephone, and genuine anguish in finding his mentor's lifeless corpse, help offset the relentlessly nihilistic narrative. With the walking dead acknowledged to outnumber humans 400,000 to one, where do you go from here? (Romero's answer would have to wait 20 years for "Land of the Dead").

1978's "Dawn of the Dead" was the long awaited sequel to George A. Romero's iconic 1968 "Night of the Living Dead," which famously transformed zombies from old fashioned voodoo legends to modern day gut munching, raising the ante on graphic, realistic violence due to Tom Savini's breathtaking makeup effects (as a former Vietnam photographer, he merely recreated the horrors of what he'd seen overseas). Taking place weeks after the events in the previous film, the proliferation of walking dead has escalated to the entire nation, our quartet of protagonists utilizing a helicopter to make their way to Canada by way of Pennsylvania, keeping away from urban areas but in urgent need of gas and supplies. Monroeville Mall east of Pittsburgh offers refuge from the horror, and the longer they stay in this safe space the more they appreciate the goods present at their fingertips, with food and drink, money and clothes, and finally guns and ammo. The opening reels establish the growing horror, audiences stunned to see these ghouls actually bite pieces of flesh from their warm blooded victims, a head exploding from a well timed gunshot, television and radio virtually abandoned as society breaks down in horrifying fashion. From this Romero offers up a humorous satire of consumerism, zombies drawn to the mall after death because it meant something to them in life, with financial support from Italian director Dario Argento, and full creative freedom to compose his screenplay. Just as he did ten years before, Romero draws us in with three dimensional characters that we root for, here reversing the temptation of a downbeat ending because he too grew to deeply care for them. Issued with a rating to avoid drastic cuts, the 127 minute theatrical print has since been expanded upon by an additional half hour, between 140 (VHS) to 155 minutes (Blu-Ray), a massive success that virtually created the whole 'flesh eater' subgenre born in Italy with Lucio Fulci's grueling Richard Johnson vehicle "Zombi 2" aka "Zombie" (US tagline: "We Are Going to Eat You!"). Romero completed "Knightriders" and "Creepshow" before returning to the franchise with 1985's "Day of the Dead."

1980's "Phobia" earned the dubious distinction of being the single worst film in the lauded career of screenwriter/director John Huston, a simple work for hire that he apparently had little affinity or enthusiasm for (shot in October 1979 at the same time as another "Phobia" that finally emerged as "The Nesting," starring John Carradine). Location filming in Toronto even included something of a car chase, though it barely lasted three minutes and concluded with the driver falling to his death from a high girder. With five credited authors (a total of eight!), the promising storyline showed obvious signs of too many cooks spoiling the brew, its most fatal mistake playing out as a whodunit where the culprit was painfully obvious from the start. Hammer great Jimmy Sangster ("The Curse of Frankenstein") was essentially played out in feature films, now working entirely in Hollywood television, while the team of Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, coming off the massive hit "Alien," had their version of an original draft rejected by Huston (their next film was "Dead and Buried," faring better though still no box office success). Topping the cast list is Paul Michael Glaser, one half of the TV cop duo STARSKY & HUTCH, whose smug and detached Peter Ross is a ladies man and a renowned psychiatrist, whose latest endeavor is trying to help five convicted criminals conquer their greatest phobias; Alexandra Stewart has a fear of crowds, David Bolt a fear of high places, Robert O'Ree ("Rabid") a fear of snakes, David Eisner a fear of tight spaces, and pretty Lisa Langlois a not uncommon apprehension about the opposite sex. For all the backstory about how much people admire him, Ross comes off as a real cold fish, and once his patients start to get killed off he utterly fails to show any compassion, let alone remorse. John Colicos as the thuggish police inspector proves rather ineffectual, barking up the wrong tree as he forces one suspect to turn tail and commit suicide. Light on horror and suspense, this extremely minor effort was quickly forgotten and unlamented by all, particularly its director, who went from Canadian horror to full blown Hollywood musical with his successful adaptation of "Annie!"