George A. Romero sort of (re)invented the modern take on zombie movies. Although he was not the first director to bring the undead to the screen, he certainly set the standard for modern zombie cinema, with the first instalment of his zombie-trilogy, Dawn of Dead in 1978. This film is a defined classic; people will never ever look at shopping malls the way they used to. Last year a rather entertaining remake hit screens worldwide. Dawn of the Dead was followed by two more titles: Day of the Dead (1985) and Night of the Living Dead (1990), each film representing a decade. Although set up as a trilogy, Romero decided to add another instalment, representing the new decade, called Land of the Dead.

Really, there isn’t much more going on than a herd of zombies taking over the world. Land of the Dead starts as quickly as it ends. This time, the undead show some sign of intelligence, by showing they are able to communicate (though in their own primitive way) and pick up weapons, rather than sleepwalking their way through the city. A couple of militant humans, led by Riley (Simon Baker) and Cholo (John Leguizamo), plan to get all of them killed. In the meantime a rich industrial called Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) considers himself safe in his huge skyscraper, not knowing the zombies are heading towards his hide-out.

Basically, as was the case with Romero’s other three zombie flicks, the story seems to be an excuse to show as much gore as possible, including 97 ways to kill a zombie, mainly focusing on techniques to crash, smash, chop off and blow off their heads. Knowing what Romero has come up with in the past, you kinda know what to expect. And there’s not much more to it. Land of the Dead lacks any pretence and presents itself as for mere entertainment purposes only. The zombies (including a rather annoying black leader) show more character development and depth than the human actors. There are even some small nods and winks to Dawn of the Dead, including the use of a shopping mall and the devouring of intestines. This is one without much substance. This is all okay. This is master Romero. This is fun. With a 2006 remake of Day of the Dead in the making, the zombie genre (still) seems to be undead.

Directed by: George A. Romero
Starring: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper
Runtime: 93’
Release Dates: US: 24 June, UK: 23 September, The Netherlands: 8 September
Official Website

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