Frank: Did you see that movie, "Night of the Living Dead"? Freddy: Is that the one where all the bodies come to life and start eating all the people? Frank: Yeah...did you know that was based on a true story?
If this film fails to make you do all of the following at least once: laugh, jump, wince and look away from the screen, then you must be dead yourself. It probably won't make you cry, although it does have a doomed romance. I should say right now that it does throw the zombie rule book right out of the window. The only adherence to the lore is that the zombies are risen dead and they eat people (or more specifically, brains). Everything else - forget it; they run, talk, are not stopped by a shot in the head, animals become zombies - they even lay traps for humans. Despite this flagrant disregard for the lore, this is an absolute blinder of a film. It dashes along with such energy and gusto that it can be forgiven everything.
The gratifyingly daft premise is that the events of original zombie flick Night of the Living Dead did actually happen but were hushed up by the military as it was their chemicals (another breach of the lore) that caused it all. Canisters of these chemicals - trioxin 245 - have now mistakenly wound up stored in a warehouse beside a cemetery in Kentucky. Obviously the canisters get opened and all hell breaks loose.
Straight away it is obvious ROTLD is a class apart. For such a frantic film it all begins very low-key - testament surely to the confidence of the actors and director. There are no start credits, no titles, no music, it just begins. For a full 10 minutes simple dialogue very slowly starts to ratchet up the tension. Conversation between two ordinary characters gradually moves from dull work related routines to the more intriguing subject of what is in the basement. James Karen, playing Frank, deserves the credit for making these scenes (and much of the rest of the film) such a success. That expressive face of his when describing the corpses is a treat. Ten minutes in he thumps the side of the canister causing the gas to be released. Now we get the gaudy titles and credits, now we get the cheesy 80's synth soundtrack and now we get to see our first bit of gruesomeness as a zombie starts to thaw.
It is a very difficult trick to make a film both scary and funny. Shawn of the Dead was funny but not scary, as was Brain Dead. The dead trilogy nearly manages it; they are scary but they are not laugh-out-loud funny - more snort sarcastically funny. ROTLD is that rare film that does manage it, although if the sight of two hysterical dimwits clubbing a reanimated split-dog with a crutch doesn't strike you as funny then I suspect you would disagree. In which case may I direct you to other hilarious scenes like a headless corpse blundering around blindly, knocking shelves over onto its Laurel and Hardy style pursuers. Or a severed arm falling out of a bin bag and tearing off someone's trouser leg. And as for the dialogue - there's a wealth of quotable lines; when it is clear the standard destroying the brain trick isn't working like it did in the movie: "You mean the move lied !?!". Scariness is ably catered for too; many edgy "don't go down / out there" moments and lots of barricading in against attacking zombies. There's a chilling moment where an ambulance driver switches on his headlights to reveal a mass of zombies leering through the windscreen. And what about when the heroes can here the pounding and moaning of the cemetery residents trying to get out of their graves - creepy.
An overwhelming sense of "cleverness" pervades ROTLD, it is just so well thought out. There are small details that you may not even notice - a butterfly display is briefly seen; reanimated wings flapping on the pinned down exhibits, Frank remarks how easy it looks to operate the furnace - and later puts this knowledge to use in a most macabre circumstance. The rigor mortis description, the precarious step, Trash's death fantasy, etc. Nice 80's psychobilly / punk soundtrack, too.
Other Points of Interest
Interview with a zombie There is not much studying of zombies in film though this has the potential to be really interesting. Day of the Dead is fascinating when "Bub" is under observation. ROTLD has a captured zombie interrogated and revealing that eating brains takes away the pain of being dead; "I can feel myself rot".
Is Ernie is a Nazi? An interesting idea is that Ernie is some Nazi war criminal in hiding. Perhaps the evidence for this is a little thin but look closely and there are certainly indications he has a background in the German military:
There are odd paintings hanging in Ernie's mortuary; one appears to be two German Officers standing at a card table, the other is of Eva Braun.
He has a great big leather coat and carries a gun which is a Luger.
On his walkman he is listening to German "Marschmusik" - this is military style marching music sung, for instance, by the Hitler youth as they paraded around town.
At one point he remarks in German that the rain is coming down like "einen gutrunken soldat". What he means is "a drunken soldier" although it is incorrectly translated. "Getrunken" does mean "drunk" though only as in the past tense of "drink"; not inebriated.
What is wrong with this film?
Nothing really, apart from some clumsy continuity; the body Ernie is working on in the mortuary disappears altogether - doesn't even come back to life. The gratuitously naked Trash returns to life in remarkably good shape considering she had just been torn to pieces.
The quality of the DVD releases is pretty low; the region 2 UK version has no extra features and is not even wide screen. Region 1 is a little better, it is widescreen and has a director's commentary and other extras, but it only has a mono soundtrack and the picture quality is dirty. Hopefully one day we will see a proper release package with a cleaned up print, cut scenes, etc. The first person to add some pertinent feedback to this review then contact me can have my region 2 copy.
This film has spawned two deeply inferior sequels, and also parts four and five are in production (at the same time)
Favourite Scene:
An axe in the head doesn't stop a zombie, it just pins it to the ground. Now where's that hacksaw?
Favourite Quote:
[Freddy gets more agitated as the enormity of the trouble he's in becomes clear] Frank: Watch your tongue boy if you like this job! Freddy: Like this job !?!
Film Rating: A perfect 5/5
Adherence to THE LORE: An awful 0.5/5
Further Info:
Don Calfa is the actor who played Ernie. He's got a website with some interesting ROTLD shots in it, AND you can buy autographed copies!
ok Written by Guest on 2005-10-24 13:15:57This gets 5......and Land of the dead gets terrible......this is sad......
The Best of the Zombie Movies Written by Guest on 2005-10-31 22:27:30..."Send more paramedics." Is that the first time I ever hear a zombie speak. Although I may be shunned by classic Zombie Fans, this is without a doubt my favorite. I have not seen Land yet, though. I was ashamed to see Freddy and Frank In the crappy and very loosely written Return 2.
best line spoken by the deceased Written by Guest on 2006-11-04 02:21:25When I heard "send more paramedics" for the first time, I was on the floor! I loved it then, and i love it now.
Written by Guest on 2006-11-27 19:32:28To the comment before me... THIS deserved a 5, and Land of the Dead WAS a terrible disappointment. This movie is a cult classic, Land of the Dead will never be.
i loved this movie Written by Guest on 2007-01-24 22:41:11still do.land was awssome. totally differant. much darker. but your wrong. its allready a classic.
trb1998pease Written by Guest on 2007-05-12 09:09:51In the mistakes section it is inaccurate to say that Trash should have been torn to pieces, because in the Return series even the bite to her neck was sufficient enough to zombifie her. It could also be assumed that the embalmed zombie on the table was not exposed to 2,4,5, Trioxin and was only stashed away to avoid taking a chance with it. On another site someone erred in saying that the open lid on the basement canister should have been closed, they forgot to consider that Tarman had to leave the barrel somehow.
rotld is the shit! Written by Guest on 2007-09-17 21:10:51I first saw this movie when i was 8 years old. Still to this day it remains 1 of my favorite movies of all time!!!!!!!! fantastic splatstick movie!!!!!!!!!
Renaldo Written by Guest on 2009-08-04 21:00:18I really enjoyed reading this but one thing really leaped out to me: the first time you bring up the soundtrack you call it cheesy 80's synth ... yet later you call it nice 80's psychobilly/punk.
Concreteguy Written by Guest on 2009-09-01 17:58:51I saw this as a second feature at a drive-in, wan't going to stay, but the first 10 minutes got me hooked...forever. I totally agree with the above review, and thanks for including a translation of the line Ernie speaks as its raining!
molnar andrea arad micalaca bl 356 Written by Guest on 2009-12-10 15:55:38Da este chiar genul de film horror cu zombii.îmi place partea când ies din morminte mai ales scheletul.îmagina?i-v? c? ?i mor?ii din cimitirele noatre ar învia ?i ar umbla în ora?e,ar zgârâia u?ile.chiar ?i bunicii ar ânvia presupun c? nimeni nu ar mai plânge dup? mor?iile lor.dar în filme zombie m?nânc? creier care ei nu au nici stomac. îmi place ?i partea aceea când ernie vorbe?te cu o femeie zombie.un om viu s? vorbeasc? cu un mort.nu mi se pare înfior?tor.
JustAFan Written by Guest on 2010-02-25 17:16:36I have been a huge fan of this movie since I first saw it in '85, but I think there is a bit of misleading information here (not intentional I am sure). I have studied German and what I heard Ernie say was not 'getrunken' but 'eine betriegen soldat' which would mean a soldier betrayer. I could be wrong but it is what I have believed for 25 years and I'm taking it to my grave (hopefully permanently).
Street Punks vs Bionic Zombies 
