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More Updates on George Romero's Island of the Dead
October 6, 2008
Source: Ain't It Cool News
by Kevin Powers
It's hard to say anything bad about this guy, after all he is the father of one of my favorite genres of cinema, but I'm wondering if George Romero is loosing a bit of his appeal. We've known for some time that the man who started the zombie obsession back in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead has an untitled project - AICN calls it Island of the Dead - slated for 2009. And just recently, we received word that, indeed, shooting has begun in Ontario, which surrounds inhabitants of an island off the coast of North America who must decide whether to kill or preserve (for a cure) their re-animated dead relatives. The primary cast for the film has also been revealed, which is made up of folks you probably don't know, save for maybe character actor Kenneth Walsh, and some brand new set photos have popped up over on AICN.
Obviously, anything Romero does is a welcome addition to the this genre, but I can't say this news of his next project particularly interests me. After seeing Land of the Dead in 2005, I was honestly a bit disappointed. Sure, the film had its camp and the societal commentary and was classic Romero, but it wasn't nearly compelling as I'd hope. Zack Snyder's 2004 remake of Romero's Dawn of the Dead was actually the last really good zombie film I've seen (if memory serves). Romero's most recent, Diary of the Dead, was lacking, too, and garnered less than $700K at the boxoffice. For Diary, Romero claimed that "[he] wanted to do something about emerging media," motivated in part by the YouTube generation. Should the icon really be chasing trends? It seems that Romero's desire to comment on America through his particular taste for horror is diminishing his work and dare I say his reputation.
So is Romero grabbing at straws by making another ___ of the Dead movie? For me, I long for the likes of World War Z and other properties that have smartly elevated the genre. Even 28 Days Later (not 28 Weeks Later, mind you) was a pretty well-done take on the genre. Romero would seem to somewhat disagree with these off-shoots, those that have blurred the line between the un-dead and viral outbreaks, at least for the fact that zombies can't run. But I'm not here to hate on the guy, "I love man!" as Joe Biden would say. But as I debate my own interest, I wonder what others are thinking about Romero's latest?
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Reader Feedback - 16 Comments »
1
The people in the 28 Days/Weeks Later movies were NOT ZOMBIES! They beat and puked on people. Occasionally throwing in a bite here and there. Never ate people though. I'm a fan of Romero, hope this movie is better than the last two. I just had to vent about the other stuff, sorry.
Richard on Oct 6, 2008
2
I guess that's kind of the point…that the traditional idea of "zombie" has evolved…as World War Z calls them, "the re-animated"…folks in 28 Days and all that were dead and came back to life, but beyond that didn't have the traditional characteristics of a Romero zombie…but dead, then not dead all the same 
3
I'm excited for it. I love zombie movies and George Romero, and unlike most people I loved Diary of the Dead becuase it was campy and cheesy like the original NotLD. So I will most defiantly be excited to see this one…
CSpuppydog on Oct 6, 2008
4
Meh, to me the 28 Weeks Later ones where zombies. They stayed alive whent he helicopter cut some of them up. Crazy Humans dont do that. They also did eat flesh sometimes to. I always thought it was the exuse to make his movie different.
Land of the dead was terrible. Romero need to learn that people wont pay for his cheesy crap anymore. He need to get with the times and make a good zombie movie. The fact its called Slaughter Beach makes me know ,like Land of the Dead it will be cheesy, with cheesy deaths, and the same boring slow zombies. (Slow are fine, his are just elderly slow)
I like the Dawn remake because I cared if they lived or died. I could care less is Romeros cookie cutter ones died in land of the dead. And come on Romero, you can pay for atleast one good actor.
I hate romero fanboys to. He was great in his time, but not now adays.
If I want a good zombie movie, I'll wait for the WWz movie. Which was realisitc and no Romero cheese. Doubt Brad Pitts company will mess it up either.
Ryan on Oct 6, 2008
5
I know people like to hate on Land of the Dead but it was way better than Diary of the Dead.
Heckle0 on Oct 6, 2008
6
Props to Heckle0.
Jimmy Tritone on Oct 6, 2008
7
amen to heckleo. Land of the Dead at least was entertaining and made sense. there were way too many deaf amish people with scythes in diary. island of the dead is probably gonna suck balls, but I will still buy it. also 28 months later is gonna rape, and so is zombieland. first showing should just become a zombie movie news site
tashawnda on Oct 6, 2008
8
A mention of Joe Biden and mindless zombies in the same article. Totally appropriate. The similarities are uncanny!
tommyturner on Oct 6, 2008
9
Four words…SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Awesome zombie flick.
John on Oct 7, 2008
10
Gotta agree that 'Shaun' is a great zombie flick that follows the rules of zombie flicks. 28 Days and 28 Weeks were 'infected' not reanimated. They got the infected by the virus and became carriers. They never died. Loved 28 Days AND 28 Weeks. Nice twist on the relentless horde, but a zombie movie, it ain't.
ScottyR on Oct 7, 2008
11
THANK YOU SCOTTY R
Richard on Oct 7, 2008
12
Someone mentioned Joe Biden… As you all know I am head of the Film Actors Guild, and well as a Political enthusiasst I have a question…
Is Biden the Turd Sandwich and Palin the Giant Douche or the other way around??
Alec Baldwin on Oct 8, 2008
13
I use that South Park reference everytime someone asks me why I don't vote. lmao.
JL on Oct 8, 2008
14
I really like Land of the Dead. Sure it's got its flaws, but, It's still my 3rd favorite Romero Zombie movie right after Dawn, and Day. But, I have to admit, I felt ripped-off when I bought Diary of the Dead. Diary just didn't feel like a Romero Zombie film to me. I watched it twice so far and it just seems like a movie that someone else made and then slapped George's name on it. It just didn't feel right. My main gripe is that it was lacking good Zombie carnage, it didn't have hardly any interesting characters, and it got way too inane in some spots, and then way too preachy in other spots for my tastes. Having said that, I am glad to hear that Romero is working on another Zombie movie, and especially glad that it is not a sequel to Diary, which I heard rumors they were considering doing. Thank god they opted for another idea, because one film in the Diary approach is enough in my opinion. I just hope that this Island of the Dead is a whole lot better than the last one.
Dan Walimaa on Oct 27, 2008
15
Bleh. What's all this about 28 Days and Weeks not being zombie films? They were obviously made to fit into the genre, so they decided to have a different take on their infected. It's still a once human-now nearly mindless creature that wants to kill you for one reason or another. I thought 28 Days Later was probably the best film I've seen that fits in the genre.
But yeah, yeah. Romero. I'm not looking forward to this Island of the Dead. Land of the Dead was a step down from Night, Dawn, and Day. However I don't really think it was all that bad either, could have been much better though. As for Diary of the Dead… That was a very large disappointment, for me at least. There are rumors that Island of the Dead is going to continue off from Diary of the Dead, I hope these are false.
NickQ on Nov 10, 2008
16
Oh Ye of little faith. "Land of the Dead" is actually a very smart film. It is not his best zombie effort but it is still a worthy entry into the series. I was a bit disappointed the first time I saw it, but it seems to grow on me more with each viewing. "Diary" is a different animal entirely. It seems to work better as a stand alone piece and not as an entry into his loose quadrilogy. As a Romero zombie flick it is weak, but held up against the zombie sub-genre as a whole, it is a decent (B to B+ maybe?) film. It was lacking the trademark violence and was not all that frightening, but was still a thought provoking (albeit not-too-subtle film). Granted there was a bit of cheese (see: Amish), but does anyone remember the original "Dawn"? That film was about 50% cheese and it is widely regarded as Romero's magnum opus. Even the ghoulish and dark "Day" had a fair amount of EC-style humor ("Choke on 'em!").
I have no doubt that this next film will be, at a minimum, a smart and entertaining piece of work. What we tend to forget is that Romero is making the film he wants with limited studio interference. He has worked outside, inside and been screwed over by a system that is only interested in turning a huge profit, not in making any sort of political or social statement. And besides, the dude is pushing 70 and is still out there doing his thing and, from what I can tell just by watching his movies, he is having a ball doing it. So before you hate, think about this stuff and compare what Romero has done and continues to do with all the other crap that is out there.
PS- I can't defend all his stuff though. "The Dark Half" has never really done it for me.
PPS- Still, it's better than anything most of us could have made on our scaringest day if we had an electrified scaring machine (to paraphrase Homer Simpson).
Zach Rocker on Nov 25, 2008