bigjonpimpjuice

I saw Survival of the dead last weekend at Fantastic Fest and I still have mixed feelings about it. Romero basically invented the genera so I do think he has earned the right to do whatever he wants with his creation but I still came away disappointed. The story follows some of the soldiers who robbed the kids in diary of the dead and their quest to find a safe place. The soldiers and a teenager they pick up find an armored car and decide to drive to Delaware to meet someone who is advertising passage to a safe place. Once they arrive they are double crossed by O'flynn and are forced to steal a ferry and escape with O'flynn to Plum Island. Once they arrive they find out o'flynn has been banned from the small island because he has been fighting with the Muldoon family who believe that the living dead should be kept "alive" until a cure is found or they can be taught to eat something that's not them. The movie itself is fun and the concept is great too but some things just seen un Romero like. For one the zombies are never a threat to anyone. They are also very high functioning like in land of the dead. For example there is a zombie who rides a horse. The acting is also somewhat spotty. There are parts where it seems very b movieish and at times the story just really does not make much sense. It is all very funny when it does but that use to a more serious zombie film will be a little surprised. (Big time spoiler) The final thing that really ruined the movie for me is that one Zombie does decide to take a bit out of a horse and then other zombies follow suit. I know this is part of the zombie evolution but to me it just seemed wrong and against the whole concept of the living dead. I mean in Day of the dead dr. Frankenstein had to kill one of the soldiers just to have treats to train Bub. Why have zombies take that step? Maybe it is just that nobody wants to see an innocent horse get eaten alive, they want to see the guy who was kind of an ass get bit from behind after bailing on his friends. In conclusion: It's Romero! Go see it but don't expect it to be your new fav.