Document of the Dead

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.

DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD has a promising idea behind it: the making of horror classic DAWN OF THE DEAD. Yet it only features a bit of footage centering around DAWN OF THE DEAD, which is not that interesting. Other footage revolves around MARTIN, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and TWO EVIL EYES. Tom Savini is interviewed, but seems bitter in most of the footage. Romero seems like a nice, down-to-earth guy and gives valuable information about low-budget filmmaking, distribution, and ratings problems. Only three of the four DAWN leads are interviewed and not in-depth at all, which was of interest to me. Some nice bits about DOCUMENT is a Calgon soap commercial by Romero's 60s company featuring none other than NIGHT stars Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman!; also are some alternate takes of some scenes in DAWN (the scene of zombies breaking through the apartment complex barricade is longer and scarier; dialogue in the scene of subduing a black female zombie) that make me wonder if they appear in ANY cut of the finished product? I'd love to know, they really are more effective. Susan Tyrell, a personal favorite, narrates the whole thing. I love her voice, so it's nice to hear her. Select scenes from NOTLD and MARTIN are featured, but what are they doing here? It's as if director Roy Frumkes ran out of DAWN material and improvised in the editing room! Overall, DOCUMENT is recommended only to hardcore Romero and Savini fans; then again, I'm a hardcore fan myself and I STILL didn't like this. Oh well, give it a try, but don't expect a masterpiece.

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

A great film if you fall into one of three catagories: a) Horror movie fan, b) more specifically, a George Romero fan, or c) a film student. Basically what this movie boils down to is a look into the world of horror film production. It follows the development of the movie Dawn of the Dead from pre- to post-production. Provides a fascinating look into how exactly a film is shot and put together into its final form. I had heard of this film's existence shortly after I became a rabid Romero fan, and when I bought I was expecting a great supplement to the classic film. I have to admit I was a little disappointed after first viewing. While the movie concentrates on Dawn out of all of Romero's movies, I was left wanting more.