Land Of The Dead: Film Review

FILM TITLE: LAND OF THE DEAD

DIRECTOR: GEORGE.A.ROMERO

YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 2005

GENRE: HORROR

BRIEF PLOT OUTLINE:

While the wealthy live in sealed skyscrapers and the poor fend for themselves on the streets. The living dead wait outside ready to feast. Protecting the human race is an enormous tank called Dead Reckoning, led by Riley and his team. But when Riley loses command of the tank to an insane man bent on destroying the city, he must save it from Dead Reckoning. While the living dead who walk beyond the walls of the city begin to develop new abilities and become a threat to mankind.

WHICH TWO SCENES IMPRESSED YOU THE MOST? WHY?

I feel that the opening sequence of the film was impressive as it helped to set the mood and tone of the film. Through this series of news bulletins the film is able to stand on its own, not needing the audience to have seen previous films such as ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ and ‘Day Of The Dead’. Personally I think that the flickering close up shots of body parts worked well with the parallel sounds (that were reminiscent of a broken light). I also think that the typography in this opening sequence created a harmony with the rest of the visual effects, as it also appeared to be slightly grubby and aged. Furthermore, the low-key lighting in the opening was used to great effect as it helped to make the body parts slightly more eerie, this was due to the fact that shadows were created and you were left feeling that you couldn’t see the whole picture.

The other scene that I found impressive was the scene was when the Slack was in the cage fight with zombies, I think that this was mainly impressive as it shows Charlie (who is outside the CDI and slightly mentally disabled) becoming a male hero as he shots ‘the short fat little man’. I think that it was interesting how cinematography is used in this scene, with a point of view shot being used to highlight the target, this helps to focus the action as the viewer is now aware of who is doing what even though they are watching two different action plots. I also think that it is interesting how Slack both conforms and breaks the CDI by kicking the cage to move Riley out of the way, she goes from being a female victim who is in distress to being the final girl and conforming to her stereotype.

HOW HAS WATCHING THIS FILM HELPED YOU UNDERSTAND THIS GENRE OF FILMMAKING? WHICH FEATURES ON THE GENRE CHECKLIST DID YOU SPOT IN THE FILM? WHEN? HOW?

Watching this film has helped me to understand this genre of filmmaking as it has made me realize just how violent it can be made. I think it has also made me appreciate how extreme special effects can be used in a horror to create emotion.

Features such as quick montage editing can be seen in the fight scenes, this helps to create a feeling of energy and action. As the shots get quicker the heart speeds up, this allows the audience to get more into the action. It also makes the pace of the film speed up and adds interest for the viewer, this can be particularly useful as the pace of slow monsters can become taxing, by cutting the shots together quickly there appears to be more tense action than there would normally be.

Collision cutting is also used both during and before an action sequence this helps to add emphasis to the action and helps to increase the theme of isolation. Cutting between the upper and lower class, helps to add to the anti-consumerist feelings that are shown in this film, it shows an extreme version of the ‘real’ world, where the rich are staying rich and the poor are being kept poor.

A theme that is explored regularly during the film is the fear of death, Riley is the main person who shows the theme of death, and he is the only one who appears to feel the death of the boy at the beginning of the film. He is also portrayed as the male hero, this is first properly seen when he saves Slack from fighting in the ring with the zombies.

WHICH ASPECTS OF THE FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO INCLUDE IN YOUR OWN TRAILER? WHY?

In my trailer I would like to include a sense of violence, however I would not like to do it to the extent that is seen in this film. I feel that my trailer would benefit more from restricted narration that on screen violence, I think that this would make my trailer more accessible to a wider range of people while including the undertones of violence. I think that restricted narration could also be more effective as it would allow the viewers imagination to be free and picture a death that is more violent than what actually happened.

I would also like to include the political under-tone that can be felt in Romero’s films, I think that by watching this film I have been able to see how to hint in a subtle way towards political and social messages.

WHICH ASPECTS OF THE FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO AVOID IN YOUR OWN TRAILER? WHY?

I think that I would like to avoid the amount of body horror and special effects that can be seen in this film in my own trailer, though I feel that this is effective in this film due to the slow moving monsters (zombies). I think that it would this level of body horror would feel out of place especially as I will be focusing on restricted narration, creepy locations and low key lighting.

WHAT WAS THE BEST ASPECT / MORE ENJOYABLE MOMENT IN THE FILM? WHY? CAN YOU RECREATE THIS IN YOUR OWN FILM? HOW?

I think that the best aspect of the film was the way that the class war was portrayed, I felt that this made the film more individual and relatable and helped to define the auteur style of Romero. Though this war seemed fairly stereotypical, with the upper class using other people to do their fighting for them I felt that it added an extra dimension to the film as it was no longer just zombies vs humans. I also think that this helped the audience connect to and back a character (in particular Riley and Charlie) as they were seen to be the ones who were just trying to escape the system, this incorporates the theme of isolation because while the characters are isolated in their desire to leave the audience backs them therefore joining them in their desires. While I felt that this gave the film an interesting angle I don’t think that I would be able to recreate it in my trailer.

HOW DOES THE FILM SHOW THE INFLUENCE OF ITS AUTEUR? HOW DOES IT SHOW THE DIRECTOR’S FILMMAKING STYLE AND SOUL? GIVE EXAMPLES OF THREE SCENES FROM THE MOVIE THAT SHOW THEIR AUTEUR STYLE.

Romero’s anti-consumerist tendencies can be seen in the shopping scene, just after Choro says that all he cares about is money he gets attacked, this is meant to portray a message that there is more than just money and while you only care about money no good shall happen. I feel that this message gets accurately portrayed, especially as they had been told to get out of the city due to the lack of fire works. In this scene Romero gets Choro to kill the zombie attacking him with a head shot, this has become a signature style of Romero’s and has more of a visual impact throughout the films. Choro’s blind consumerism then gets another human bitten as he orders him to pick up some blades that he has just dropped, yet again this zombie is killed with a head shot. The guy who has just been bitten kills himself in the attempt not to turn into a zombie yet again shooting him self through the head.

Links to anti-racism can be seen throughout the film, such as when Big Daddy (the black zombie-style man) is taking lead of all the other zombies. He is also almost portrayed as a hero when he pushes some of the zombies out of the way of being shot, however, this heroism is put on hold when he stamps on the face of one of them after his head has been shot off, though this could be taken as him putting an end to his suffering. Another point where anti-racism can be seen is when he takes the gun from one of the humans who are speeding past on their motor bikes, this gives him equal power to the rest of the humans and gives him power over the zombies reinforcing the fact that he is their leader.

In Charlie’s character Romero is able to break the CDI, because though he is described as being ‘mentally retarded’ he is a good shot and is beneficial to the cause. When Charlie is offered a different gun he says that he doesn’t normally need more shots, while the guard is taking this statement as a joke Romero knows that he means he is an excellent shot, and he will shortly prove his point. This helps Romero promote equality as he is telling the guard and others not to judge a book by its cover.