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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Day of the Dead (Umbrella) (1985)

Day of the Dead (Umbrella) (1985)

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Released 10-May-2006
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Horror	Featurette-Behind The Scenes TV Spots-3 Gallery-Photo Theatrical Trailer-3 Trailer-The Hills Have Eyes, The Crazies, Maniac Trailer-Last House On The Left
Rating
Year Of Production	1985
Running Time	101:02
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	George A. Romero
Studio Distributor	United Film Distrib Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Lori Cardille Terry Alexander Joseph Pilato Richard Liberty Howard Sherman
Case	?	Starring
RPI	Box	Music	John Harrison

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

A small group of survivors scour the streets in search of the living, but find only dead. The streets are lifeless, stalked by zombies who desire only flesh, leaving the towns derelict. The survivors give up their search, and travel back to their home below the surface, where a group of scientists work together to try and find a solution to the threat that has eradicated most of humanity. But they must also contend with a small, restless army, whose help has been invaluable to their cause but whose masculine rage builds as they continue to lose men to the undead threat while the scientists deliver little results. Tension builds and violence explodes in the ultimate fight for survival that is the Day of the Dead.

The final film in George A. Romero's brilliant, iconic Trilogy of the Dead (no, Land of the Dead does not count, or, to my mind, exist) is the brilliant, iconic Day of the Dead, a completely different beast to the previous films that examines the nature of humanity and the nature of masculine rage, untamed in both human and zombie. An incredibly smart and unusual horror film, it tones down its violence for the majority of the movie while it examines themes of male power and sexual jealousy, before delivering one of the most violent, explicit, effective and realistic gore-packed half hours ever seen on film.

The acting and plot are first rate, and even those who don't care about intelligence in their horror films - particularly zombie films - can celebrate at the incredible rawness of this film, which delivers scene after scene of ghastly horror. Comparing the tepid, bland Land of the Dead, with all of its enhanced CG and megabudget with the violence in this film is like comparing Play School to The Flower of Flesh and Blood - the violence is so graphic and real and observed (the camera never shies away as people we care apart are pulled to pieces) that is has wonderful impact, and never feels over-the-top or cartoonish.

Once again, I'm staying away from discussing too much of what makes this film great; film fans owe it to themselves to see this entire, fantastic trilogy. Even beyond the horror genre, these are fascinating, timeless and powerful films. Interestingly, this is Romero's favourite of the series, despite it often being overlooked in light of the former two, which is really a shame - Day of the Dead is absolutely superb.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video is presented in the original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

This is a very strong transfer that begins looking the worst of the trio, with lack of darkness detail and lots of noise (see 11:36) going hand-in-hand with ugly interlacing and grain issues, but soon pans out to look fantastic after the characters go below the surface.

The gritty, grimy colours are fantastic, and there's high levels of detail in the darkness from about 1/3 of the way in until the end, particularly focusing on the lengthy flee-through-the-dark sequence (which, unfortunately, does contain some low level noise, but it isn't too distracting for the amount of detail). A lack of film artefacts, surprising for a somewhat aged film, and consistently strong detail throughout enhance this viewing experience. You'll be amazed at how good the entrails look.

There are no subtitles.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s).

This is a well mixed though no-frills audio track; the soundtrack, sound effects and dialogue are all clear and audible and the film is extremely effective as is, though I can't deny that surround might have increased the atmosphere even more. However, it isn't required.

The music is much more profound and intense than both of the previous films, partially from experience (from Night of the Living Dead, Romero has grown as a filmmaker, as has his crew), but partially because the tone is so different (the cartoonish elements of Dawn of the Dead are lost with this extremely gritty, nihilistic approach to the material) and it works a treat. The sound is great: simple, but effective.

The dialogue is kept at good levels, and the ambience of the dialogue itself changes the experience and further adds to the atmosphere - the sounds of speech change from setting to setting, and never suffer from sync problems. All in all, the audio track is fine, sufficient for a stereo mix, but without anything extra to speak of.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Behind the Scenes (30:52)

Although this featurette runs longer than the average DVD making-of, it feels short changed compared to the lengthy Dawn of the Dead docos, and doesn't include as much information as I'd like about the film. There's discussion with cast and crew, including a looks at special effects gore and make up, but not a lot else. There's a lack of Romero here, and barely any other discussion about the making of the film. Basically only for die hard fans, and I feel they'll be disappointed like I was. In very weathered VHS-quality 1.33:1.

TV Spots (1:33)

Three TV Spots advertising the film, these are exactly what you'd expect, in 1.33:1.

Stills Gallery

I'm usually not too fond of Picture Galleries on DVDs, but there's a LOT of interesting pictures here, everything from behind the scenes to zombie effects to continuity stills. They're not high res, but they're worth a look.

Theatrical Trailers (1:58, 2:03, 1:09)

These three theatrical trailers are presented in the original aspect ratio 1.78:1 and look splendid, despite being nothing special. The second trailer, in which zombies are watching the trailer with the rest of the audience, who then disappear, is cute, but completely lacking the tone of the film. The final trailer is basically just a teaser, though I like the idea that this is the "most eagerly awaited film in film history".

Umbrella Trailers - The Hills Have Eyes (2:40), The Crazies (2:54), Maniac (3:46), Last House On The Left

Promotional material for more Umbrella releases, these are exactly what you'd expect.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

There is absolutely no contest that the R1 Anchor Bay Divimax special edition of Day of the Dead is the very best DVD package available. With two discs featuring much better special features, commentaries and a DTS track, this stands out above the other R1 and R4 releases available. Though the R0 Arrow Films edition from the UK also includes a lot of these additional features and a lovely PAL transfer to boot, but it lacks the 5.1 DTS audio and has different commentary tracks. R1 is the indisputable winner.

Summary

Day of the Dead is a stunning conclusion to one of the greatest film trilogies ever made.

The video is above average, getting better as the film goes on.

The audio is simple but effective.

Unfortunately, there are few extras.

This underrated gem is one of my favourite horror movies, and a fitting conclusion to Romero's Trilogy of the Dead.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	LG LH-D6230, using Component output
Display	Benq PE7700. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p.
Audio Decoder	Built in to DVD Player, Dolby Digital and DTS. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL).
Amplification	LG
Speakers	B&W LCR 600 S3 (Front & Centre); B&W DM 600 (Rears); B&W ASW500 (Sub)

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