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June 27, 2005
 
RUTHERFORD ON FILM: ‘Land of the Living Dead’ Nearly D.O.A.
 
by Tony Rutherford
Huntington News Network Columnist
 
Huntington (HNN) -- How many times will filmmakers pit the world against bone and flesh crunching zombies? Answer: As long as the box office numbers churn big bucks.
 
Except for refinement in the grisly (need a hand, perhaps, a few legs?) special effects, “Land of the Living Dead” initially has the inklings of a gutsy post-apocalyptic thriller awakening favorable memories of “Escape from New York” or “The Omega Man.”
 
Yet when watching a horror flick, I often permit audience reactions (or lack thereof) to influence the direction of my thumb. In this case, I sat near the front row and except for a few brave popcorn devourers, the auditorium stayed silent except for zombies munching on their dinners. Director George Romero has a reputation for pushing the edge. With “Land,” he did not venture forth from the heartland.
 
Although “Night of the Living Dead” (the original black and white version) classically scared on a low-low budget, Romero created a moderate degree of empathy for those who had not been bitten by the dead. The second flick, “Dawn of the Dead,” splattered too much red stuff, but had an eerie and creepy setting of a deserted shopping mall where those hiding from the zombies called home. “Dawn” had a provocative undertone --- here were people who could take anything within the walls of a deserted material Mecca, yet be it a Rolex or designer threads, affluence meant nothing as gasoline, bullets and food became the wrecked civilization’s commodities for survival. “Day” sent survivors into an underground maze constructed for salvation from a nuclear attack. A few characters had depth, but Romero showed off intestine wrenching, stomach emptying effects that left one pale from the savagery.
 
To his credit, the fourth installment has toned down the zombies tearing apart their meals, but frankly no one seems to give a damn about any of the characters.
 
Succinctly, the latest human sanctuary encompasses a city for the super rich surrounded on two sides by rivers and on the third by a fence (think walled city i.e. Jericho or Troy). The suits rule from the penthouse of a mighty tower where life goes on as it was before zombies took over the world. On the streets, struggling nearly homeless working class members beg and barter. Attempting to move up the ladder, brave mercenary souls like Riley (Simon Baker) and his crew board a super hardened tank, leave the city’s walls, and search for supplies and toys for the wealthy. One dude brings back a cart of champagne hoping this will sway the head rich dude Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) into allowing him to purchase a condo in the tower. Just to ensure more overwhelming odds, the dead zombie brains have started evolving meaning a bullet to the head sends them to hell, but they learn by imitation and the dead have no need to worry about swimming, drowning or walking ON water.
 
The sub plot has greater potential than the casual bands of stanching zombies ( A+ to the mask designer!) marching onward for wealthy flesh delicacies. Romero fails to give us some solid scenes of the suits and skirted ladies basking in their terminal delusional lives of plenty. Hopper commands like a sultry mafia don, but fares less nobly when he’s grabbing cash, cash , cash to take where, where , where?
 
As for the heroic mercenaries, spider-web hose clad Slack (Asia Argento) opens eyes but emotive bonding stays moderate with Riley (Simon Baker). That’s why despite my love for the post-apocalyptic genre, “Land of the Dead” leaves my emotions mute and my thumb down (but still attached to my hand).