Survival of the Dead (2009)

On an island off the coast of North America, local residents simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to return their un-dead relatives back to their human state.

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer:

George A. Romero

Stars:

Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alan Van Sprang	...	Sarge
Joshua Peace	...	D.J. (as Josh Peace)
Hardee T. Lineham	...	Lieutenant Vaughn
Dru Viergever	...	Soldier Zombie
Eric Woolfe	...	Kenny
Shawn Roberts	...	Tony (archive footage)
Scott Wentworth	...	Professor Maxwell (archive footage)
Amy Lalonde	...	Tracy (archive footage)
Michelle Morgan	...	Debra (archive footage)
Joshua Close	...	Jason (archive footage)
Mitch Risman	...	Drooling Zombie
Kenneth Welsh	...	O'Flynn
Julian Richings	...	James
Wayne Robson	...	Tawdry
Kathleen Munroe	...	Janet / Jane

Storyline

In the Plum Island, off the coast of Delaware, the long feud between the families of the patriarchs Captain Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh) that intends to eliminate the zombies and Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick) that intends to keep his undead relatives waiting for a cure culminates with O'Flynn expelled from Plum. Meanwhile in the continent Sarge "Nicotine" Crocket (Alan Van Sprang), Chuck (Joris Jarsky), Cisco (Stefano DiMatteo) and Tomboy (Athena Karkanis) are plundering and seeking a safe place to stay. When they rescue the young Boy (Devon Bostick) from group of sadistic hunters, Boy decides to join the group and suggests them to head to Plum Island since he had heard a O'Flynn's broadcast inviting people to move to the island. When Sarge and his team arrive in the island, they are attacked by Muldoon's men and they see that the place is crowded of undead. Sarge's friend Chuck is killed and they decide to fight against Muldoon.

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Plot Keywords:

2000s | grindhouse film | midnight movie | four word title | island | 

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Taglines:

Survival isn't just for the living.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong zombie violence/gore, language and brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film marks the first time that a character from a previous Living Dead film returns to star in a sequel, with Alan Van Sprang as Sarge "Nicotine" Crockett having been seen in Diary of the Dead (2007), and also playing Brubaker in Land of the Dead (2005). The only two other times this has come close to happening was Tom Savini reprising his role of Blades from Dawn of the Dead (1978) as a cameo in "Land of the Dead" in zombie form, and Joseph Pilato playing an unnamed police captain in "Dawn of the Dead" returning to play Captain Rhodes in Day of the Dead (1985).

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Goofs

(at around 21 mins) In the back of the armored car when the boy shows the soldiers the video on his iPhone the cellular carrier name on the screen says "Rogers" which is a Canadian company. The movie was filmed in the Toronto area but the story at that point takes place in Pennsylvania where AT&T would have been the cellular carrier for the iPhone.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sarge 'Nicotine' Crocket: [voice-over] Last time anyone counted, fifty-three million people were dying every year, a hundred-fifty thousand every day, a hundred and seven every minute, and that was in normal times.

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Connections

Follows Land of the Dead (2005)

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Soundtracks

AN EYE FOR AN EYE
Written by Robert Carli
Courtesy of Chez Bob-Chez Bob Music

User Reviews

Nothing on Dawn but miles better than Diary

As an avid watcher of zombie movies, particularly George A. Romero's Of The Dead movies, I was optimistic for this latest instalment. Survival of the Dead is Romero's sixth Of The Dead movie, but after 2007's disappointing Diary of the Dead it's beginning to show that he's running out of ideas.

Survival of the Dead does try to put an original spin on things though, with a group of people attempting to get the zombies to feast upon something other than human flesh. It's an interesting idea, too bad it isn't played out as well as it could be. The acting isn't as bad as in Diary of the Dead, despite its relatively low budget feel and slow story progression, it manages to outdo Diary of the Dead in literally every way.

Another major flaw: it's not scary at all. Romero's previous Of The Dead instalments (we'll forget Diary) have all been, at least, a little scary. This, sadly, is where Survival fails. There isn't anything even remotely scary here, and the jumps are far in between and very, very few. Romero leaves the scare factor box well and truly unchecked.

As you may have gathered, it's not terribly amazing stuff, but the cast all play likable characters and there's enough gore in here to satisfy. Nothing on Dawn of the Dead but miles better than Diary of the Dead.

http://www.ukmore.tk/

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official site [United States]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 2010 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Untitled Romero Project

Filming Locations:

Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$43,757, 30 May 2010

Gross USA:

$101,740

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$386,078

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blank of the Dead Productions, Devonshire Productions, New Romero

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1