Document of the Dead

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.

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.

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

Well, the one thing I learned from this documentary is that George A. Romero smokes a lot and that he apparently can't give an interview without holding a cigarette in his fingers, whether it's lit or not. Apart from that, this documentary doesn't feature any groundbreaking news or memorable information. I guess that, as usually the case with footage like this, it's a lot more fun to make it than to actually watch it as an extra feature on the DVD. Roy Frumkes probably had the time of his life following and interviewing horror idols like George Romero, Ken Foree and Tom Savini (especially since he was still a student at the time) but for other viewers it's not that interesting. The introduction is rather ingenious, as it shows a comical sketch of the Marx-brothers mocking Pittsburgh (the place where all Romero's movies are set) and than it's just a whole lot of interviews and sequences from "Night", "Dawn" and the modern vampire movie "Martin". The documentary explains how Romero was influenced by the news events of that time and that he's a truly gifted filmmaker with a sixth sense for imaginative camera angles. Stuff we all knew already, in other words. There's some nice trivia about the mall where "Dawn of the Dead" was shot, like for instance, filming was interrupted during the month of December because of the Christmas decoration that couldn't feature in the film. The parts with Tom Savini are also a lot of fun to watch, because he clearly loves his job and was offered a lot of creative freedom by Romero for his zombie make-up in "Dawn". There surely are worse ways to spend 60 minutes of your life, but overall this documentary is not really worth bothering for.

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.