Day Of The Dead (1985 Film)

''Day of the Dead'' is a 1985 American post-apocalyptic zombie horror film written and directed by George A. Romero, and produced by Richard P. Rubinstein. The third film in Romero's ''Night of the Living Dead'' series, it stars Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy and Richard Liberty as members of a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida, where they must determine the outcome of humanity's conflict with the undead horde. Romero described the film as a "tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society."

Work on ''Day of the Dead'' began shortly after the release of the previous film in the series, '' Dawn of the Dead'' (1978), but was halted when Romero began work on other projects. It was developed as part of a three-film deal with that film's distributor, United Film Distribution Company (UFDC); Romero elected to make the two other projects outlined in the deal, '' Knightriders'' (1981) and '' Creepshow'' (1982), first. Although the filmmaker was given final cut privilege, the screenplay was rewritten multiple times due to UFDC's concerns that Romero's ambitious original vision ― which he described as "the ''Gone with the Wind'' of zombie films" ― would need to be shot with the intention of receiving an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America to ensure its commercial viability; Romero elected to make the film on a lower budget and release it without a rating. ''Day of the Dead'' was filmed in fall 1984, with above-ground scenes in the cities of Fort Myers and Sanibel and underground scenes near Wampum, Pennsylvania. Tom Savini returned to provide the film's special make-up effects; he was assisted by a team of artists that included Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, who later became known for their work on the television series '' The Walking Dead''.

''Day of the Dead'' premiered at Hicksville, New York on June 30, 1985, and grossed $34 million worldwide against a budget of approximately $4 million. Although the makeup effects were praised, the film initially did not match the critical and commercial success of its predecessors; the series did not see another installment until the 2005 release of '' Land of the Dead''. Reception of the film has improved with time, and Romero deemed it to be his personal favorite film in the original ''Dead'' trilogy. Like its predecessors, ''Day of the Dead'' has garnered a cult following and inspired numerous parodies and homages.

The film was remade twice: the first is the 2008 film of the same name, and the second is '' Day of the Dead: Bloodline'' (2018). A television series based on the film began airing on Syfy in 2021, while a stand-alone sequel, ''Night of the Living Dead II'', is in active development.

Plot

A zombie apocalypse has ravaged the entire world. A handful of surviving humans live within a secure underground bunker housing scientists and soldiers in the Everglades. The scientists are trying to find a solution to the zombie pandemic; the soldiers have been assigned to protect them. Dr Sarah Bowman; her lover and soldier Private Miguel Salazar; radio operator Bill McDermott; and helicopter pilot John fly from their underground base to Fort Myers in an attempt to locate additional survivors. They find only a large horde of the undead and return to the base, where they are told that the military detachment's officer-in-charge Major Cooper has died. Sarah becomes concerned over Miguel's worsening mental state.

Dr. Logan, the lead scientist (nicknamed "Frankenstein" by the soldiers because of his grisly surgical dissections of the zombies), believes that the undead plague victims can be made docile and domesticated through training and conditioning. He keeps a collection of captive undead for use as test subjects in a large underground corral in the compound. Sarah vehemently opposes Logan's conditioning research; instead, she wants to search for a possible cure for the virus. Sarah discovers that Logan has been experimenting on the corpses of the dead soldiers, including Major Cooper. Scared that the other soldiers will turn on them, Sarah reluctantly keeps this a secret.

The angry and unstable Captain Rhodes and his soldiers vehemently object to the dangers involved in capturing zombies and keeping them inside the compound. The tension between soldiers and scientists worsens in the face of dwindling supplies, the loss of communication with other survivors, and slow, uncertain progress in the research. During a meeting, Rhodes declares that he is taking command of the base. He only grants the scientists "some" time to prove results and declares that he will execute anyone who interferes with his leadership. He also threatens to abandon the scientists and leave the compound, cutting off their protection from the undead hordes.

Disturbed by Rhodes' threats, Sarah discusses the situation with John and Bill. John professes his conviction that the zombie plague is a form of divine punishment against mankind, and suggests that the three of them should take the helicopter, abandon the soldiers, and fly to a desert island somewhere where they could live off the land and start a new life. Logan hopes to secure Rhodes' goodwill by showing him the results of his research. He is especially proud of "Bub", a docile zombie who remembers some parts of his past life and engages in rudimentary human behavior. Rhodes, however, is not impressed and loses more patience with the scientists.

During a zombie roundup mission, a zombie escapes its harness when Miguel loses his focus, resulting in the deaths of soldiers Miller and Johnson. Miguel snaps and attempts to kill the creature, but another zombie bites him on the arm. With John and Bill's help, Sarah amputates and cauterizes Miguel's arm to stop the infection. Rhodes calls off the experiments and demands that all captive zombies be destroyed, as well as denying any further help from him and his remaining men.

Sarah and Bill later go off to get medicine for Miguel, and discover that Logan had been experimenting on Miller and Johnson’s remains. Fearing that Logan has gone insane, Bill decides that they should leave in the helicopter immediately. Rhodes finds out that Logan has been feeding the flesh of his dead soldiers to Bub as a reward for his positive behavior. Furious, Rhodes kills Logan and seizes the remaining scientists and non-military personnel, stripping them of their weapons. Rhodes attempts to force John to fly him and his remaining soldiers away from the base, which John refuses to do. In response, Rhodes kills Logan's assistant Fisher, locks Sarah and Bill inside the zombie corral, and orders Private Steel to beat John into submission.

Back in the laboratory, Bub manages to escape from his chains and finds Logan's corpse. In a display of human emotion, he mourns the loss of his instructor, then picks up a pistol and goes in search of revenge. Meanwhile, a suicidal Miguel heads off to the surface. While the soldiers try to go after him, John knocks out Rhodes, steals his guns, and goes into the zombie corral to rescue Sarah and Bill. Miguel opens the perimeter fence, letting in a horde of zombies, and allows them to tear into him before pressing the elevator remote, allowing the zombies into the complex. As the undead swarm the bunker, Rhodes leaves his men behind to be killed. Chased by Bub, he attempts to escape, but runs into a mass of zombies and is shot in the stomach by Bub, who mockingly salutes Rhodes as the zombies tear him apart. John, Sarah, and Bill make it to the chopper and escape to a tropical island.

Cast

* Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah Bowman, a scientist researching the cause of the zombie outbreak
* Joseph Pilato as Captain Henry Rhodes, an increasingly mentally unhinged soldier and the self-appointed leader of the military group
* Terry Alexander as John "Flyboy", the group's helicopter pilot
* Jarlath Conroy as Bill McDermott, the group's alcoholic radio operator
* Richard Liberty as Dr. Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan, the group's main surgeon and scientist
* Anthony Dileo Jr. as Private Miguel Salazar, Sarah's suicidal lover and one of Rhodes' men (credited as "Antoné Dileo Jr.")
* Sherman Howard as "Bub", a friendly captured zombie taught by Logan to engage passively in human behaviour (credited as "Howard Sherman")
* Gary Howard Klar as Private Walter Steel, one of Rhodes' men
* Ralph Marrero as Private Robert Rickles, one of Rhodes' men
* John Amplas as Dr. Ted Fisher, technician
* Phillip G. Kellams as Private Miller, one of Rhodes' men
* Taso Stavrakis as Private Juan Torrez, one of Rhodes' men/Knock-on-wood Zombie/Biker Zombie
* Gregory Nicotero as Private Johnson, one of Rhodes' men
* George A. Romero as Zombie with scarf (uncredited cameo)

Production

Development

Romero originally intended the film to be "the ''Gone with the Wind'' of zombie films". Following budget disputes and the artistic need to release the film unrated, the budget of the film was cut in half, dropping from $7 million to $3.5 million. This forced Romero to scale back his story, rewriting the script and adjusting his original vision to fit the smaller budget.

A total of five scripts were written as Romero wrestled with the film's concepts and the budgetary constraints. The first draft was over 200 pages, which he later condensed to 122 pages. This is the true original script, and to date no copies of it have come to light. This version was likely rejected because UFDC felt it was too expensive for them to produce even with an R rating. Romero subsequently scaled down the scope of this script into a 155-page draft (often erroneously referred to as the original version), then condensed it again to a 104-page draft labeled the 'second version, second draft' in an unsuccessful final attempt to get the story within budget parameters. When this failed, he drastically altered the original story concept and ultimately produced a shooting draft that numbered only 88 pages.

The film was given a very limited release. This is chronicled in the documentary ''The Many Days of Day of the Dead'' on the two-disc Anchor Bay special edition DVD of the film. Some of the original concepts and characters remain, but the film differs greatly from Romero's original script, as stated by actress Lori Cardille:

Casting

Joseph Pilato was cast as Rhodes, the film's antagonist. As stated by Pilato "He pretty much just gave it to me. I don't know if he auditioned other people, but it was very quick. I came in and it was like, "You got it!." Pilato had acted in two prior films directed by Romero, the first being Pilato's debut '' Dawn of the Dead'' and the second being '' Knightriders''; in between those films he played his first lead role in a film entitled '' Effects''. In an interview Pilato was asked if Romero "had him in mind", Pilato stated that one of the reasons why he got the role was because of the budget being scaled down from 7 to 3.5 million.

Filming

Filming took place in the fall of 1984 at locations in Pennsylvania and Florida. All above-ground scenes were filmed at several locations around Florida, where Romero was living at the time. The opening scene was filmed in the downtown area of Fort Myers, Florida. The fenced in compound with the helicopter landing pad was shot at a location called Bowman's Beach Helistop in Sanibel. Underground scenes were filmed in a former mine shaft located near Wampum, Pennsylvania, converted into a long-term storage facility for important documents. Though the mine maintained a constant temperature of about , its high humidity played havoc with the crew's equipment and props. Mechanical and electrical failures were a constant problem throughout filming, and caused several of special effects leader Tom Savini's props to fail during the filming. Despite these failures, Savini was nominated and won the 1985 Saturn Award for best makeup effects. The remote location also complicated the transportation of crew members and equipment. Cast and crew would often sleep in the mine overnight to avoid the time-consuming travel to and from the shooting location. "Zombie" extras were recruited from among the citizens of Pittsburgh, with preference given to those who had worked on previous Romero films. Extras were paid $1.00 for their services, and given a hat that read "I was a Zombie in Day of the Dead".

Release and reception

Subsequent to its theatrical release, the film has grossed over 30 million dollars worldwide. ''Day of the Dead'' would earn most of its gross revenue when the film was released internationally on VHS format, and later DVD and Blu-ray. This is in contrast to the film's poor box-office reception when it was released in cinemas.

Based on 40 reviews collected retrospectively by Rotten Tomatoes, ''Day of the Dead'' has an 83% approval rating, with a weighted average of 7/10, making it the lowest-rated film in Romero's original ''Dead'' trilogy, with ''Night of the Living Dead'' having a 97% approval rating and '' Dawn of the Dead'' having a 93% approval rating. The website's critical consensus states that "''Day of the Dead'' may arguably be the least haunting entry in George A. Romero's undead trilogy, but it will give audiences' plenty to chew on with its shocking gore and scathing view of society." On Metacritic the film holds a score of 60 out of 100 based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

''Day of the Dead'' had its world premiere on June 30, 1985, and was given a limited release on July 3, 1985. The film saw its wide release on July 19, 1985. Roger Ebert, who reacted favorably to other films of Romero's ''Dead'' series, gave ''Day of the Dead'' one and a half stars; he praised the special effects but was put off by what he referred to as "over-acting" in the movie, specifically that all of the actors screamed at each other for the entire film in a way that was not present in Romero's earlier films. BBC
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