Day of the Dead (1985)

A small group of military officers and scientists dwell in an underground bunker as the world above is overrun by zombies.

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer:

George A. Romero

Stars:

Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lori Cardille	...	Sarah
Terry Alexander	...	John
Joseph Pilato	...	Rhodes (as Joe Pilato)
Jarlath Conroy	...	McDermott
Anthony Dileo Jr.	...	Miguel (as Antonè DiLeo)
Richard Liberty	...	Logan
Sherman Howard	...	Bub (as Howard Sherman)
Gary Howard Klar	...	Steel (as G. Howard Klar)
Ralph Marrero	...	Rickles
John Amplas	...	Fisher
Phillip G. Kellams	...	Miller
Taso N. Stavrakis	...	Torrez
Gregory Nicotero	...	Johnson
Don Brockett	...	Featured Zombie
William Cameron	...	Featured Zombie

Storyline

Zombies rule the world, except for a small group of scientists and military personnel who reside in an underground bunker in Florida. The scientists are using the undead in gruesome experiments; much to the chagrin of the military. Finally the military finds that their men have been used in the scientists' experiments, and banish the scientists to the caves that house the Living Dead. Unfortunately, the zombies from above ground have made their way into the bunker.

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Plot Keywords:

military | scientist | bunker | experiment | florida | 

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Taglines:

The Dead have waited. The day has come.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Film Distribution Company (UFDC), Laurel Entertainment Inc., Dead Films Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 96 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The lowest grossing film in George A. Romero's "Dead" trilogy. Nonetheless, it's gained a cult following over the last two decades.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, the calendar on the wall show the month of October, beginning on a Tuesday. At the end of the movie, her November calendar begin on a Monday. Unless they skip several years, November should begin with a Friday.

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Quotes

[first lines]
McDermott: Nothing, nothing at all.
Sarah: Send again.
McDermott: I've been sending up and down the coast from Sarasota to the Everglades and still getting back the same dead air. There's nothing! There's nobody or at least nobody with a radio.
Sarah: All right then let's set down, we'll use the bullhorn.
McDermott: Set down? Wait a minute, that's not in our contract!
Sarah: It's the biggest city within 150 miles and we're going to give it every chance.
McDermott: Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Sarah: Set down, John!
John: I'll set us down. But I won't leave my ...

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Connections

Referenced in Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125"
(uncredited)
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Berliner Philharmoniker, Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien with Gundula Janowitz,
Waldemar Kmentt, Walter Berry, Hilde Rossel Majdan
Conducted by Herbert von Karajan

User Reviews

A long-time sufferer of the "Alien 3 Syndrome"

"Day of the Dead" is a film that is an unfortunate sufferer of the "Alien 3 Syndrome". And, no, I don't classify those that are affected by the syndrome to be disappointing final entries in a trilogy. To suffer from "Alien 3 Syndrome", you must follow two exceptional films, and the entry that has preceded you must be so exciting and action-packed that when you dare take a grimmer, more deliberately paced approach to your material, you will become universally reviled, with many people failing to notice that you have more than your fair share of merits on your own. In fact, "Day of the Dead" has a LOT of merits - even more than the film that its syndrome is based on. While it doesn't quite approach the greatness of "Dawn of the Dead", it is still an intelligent, first-rate horror effort and stands as one of the best genre films of the 80s.

In this final entry of George Romero's "Living Dead" trilogy, the walking dead supposedly outnumber the humans by a ratio of 400,000 to 1. Twelve people who have devoted themselves to studying and wiping out the zombies hole up together in an underground missile silo, and for all we know, these could be the last twelve living humans on the face of the planet. Most of these people don't capture our sympathy like the foursome who holed up in the shopping mall in "Dawn". Half of them are gung-ho soldiers who seem to take great pleasure in threatening the scientific team, and Romero spends much of the first half focusing on the bickering and intense conflicts between these people. In fact, for over an hour, the hordes of living dead get very little screen time, as the story focuses on the tension between the characters, and the efforts of an off-the-wall scientist to train a captured zombie named Bub to act human. Compared to its predecessors, this long section of the film may seem slow and talky, but it is always interesting and, for the most part, effectively performed by its unknown cast. Besides, it all eventually leads up to a corker of finale when the zombies finally invade the compound, and most of the humans become showcases for the brilliance of Tom Savini, who outdoes even himself in the gore F/X department.

While most of this material is very grim, "Day" ironically has the most hopeful, upbeat conclusion in the trilogy - which, alas, is its only major shortcoming. The quick transition to the final scene is so abrupt and unexpected that the audience feels cheated, leaving the impression that the production ran out of money before the whole climax could be filmed. Indeed, Romero has often expressed his unhappiness about being underfunded for this project, which prevented him from creating a truly definitive final chapter for the trilogy. But while "Day of the Dead" may not quite be the ultimate finish to one of the greatest trilogies of all time, it is still a very satisfying conclusion (at least until Romero gets funding for his long-rumoured "Twilight of the Dead"). It may not be popular among everyone, due to many unfair comparisons to its superior predecessors, but on its own, it is about as good as horror films get.