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 | b movie | midnight movie | four word title | 

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Taglines:

Death isn't what it used to be.

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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

The first horror film to be nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival since 1932's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

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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

Referenced in Missing Reel: Zombies! (2014)

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Soundtracks

MAKE IT OR BREAK IT
Written by Charlie Finlay
Courtesy of Charfin Music

User Reviews

Another let down... From Romero

Man, where do I begin? Survival of the Dead. it could have easily been one of Romero's best, since his beloved Dawn of the Dead, but what went wrong? what did he miss? what moment did he not seize? After getting my UK Blu-Ray I was sort of reserved in what i was going to think about this flick. I mean I thought the trailers looked corny, the feel amateur, even for Romero's standards, but I was willing to give it a go none the less.

Survival should have been the next DAWN of the DEAD. It had the set up, it had the locations, but it missed the story and the vibe. The film is skewered by a weak cast and an even weaker storyline.

Survivals western vibe and feel just seems so out of place and wasted. What should have occurred was trying to rebuild life on Plum island, what should have happened was an exploration of the rebuilding of humanity, something Romero has yet to touch upon in any of his Dead films... which is a goddamn shame.

I will say Survival is slightly OK. I still think Diary is the best of his newer zed flicks, and Survival is way better than Land but it is still a weak film, in fact Romero's 3 newest entries are all weak and devoid of the magic originally on display in Night Dawn and Day. When Romero gets back to that magic he will regain what is lost in the zombie genre, but with him sticking to the cheap thrills and half-assed writing I think his fall from zombie grace will be harder than even he will ever imagine.

These newer entries only seem to alienate his fan-based and this smart zombies back story he is trying to shove down our throats isn't working with the fans. Romero needs to get back to plain and simple story telling. Story telling that will show us why we followed him all these years, but this rushed production, dialog and all around feel is what is giving his series a bad name.

Survival will deliver on the gore, even on its corny moments, and it tries really hard to engage the audience with its characters but it falls apart because the cast and screenplay aren't strong enough.

in the end... another disappointing zed flick from the grandfather of the modern zombie.

George, if you read this... go back to Dawn, and look at it again and give us a film like that... that is what we want, and we know you have it in you, but if you set out to make another disaster like this it may be time to fold up the directors chair.

5 out of 10

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