Survival of the Dead (2009) starring Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, Devon Bostick directed by George A. Romero Movie Review

Survival of the Dead (2009)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Alan Van Sprang in Survival of the Dead (2009)

Oh Look More Zombies

As America deals with the devastation of the zombie outbreak the residents of Plum Island also find themselves dealing with things, their way. Whilst the O'Flynn clan lead by Patrick (Kenneth Welsh) believe that all zombies should be killed the Muldoon clan under the leadership of Seamus (Richard Fitzpatrick) feel they should be kept alive and chained up until a cure can be found. Into the mix comes mercenary Sarge (Alan Van Sprang) with his team who find the dangers on the island are not just the zombies but also the feuding clans.

I am no zombie expert but when I look at things there was a time when George A. Romero was the king of these movies and then the interest in zombie movies died for a while until a new generation who grew up on Romero's movies came along and brought zombie movies back to life and with them Romero himself who started making them again. Unfortunately whilst Romero's movies from his zombie second coming are okay they are nothing special with the new wave of directors who grew up on his zombie movies actually doing a better job of making the living dead fresh.

Kenneth Welsh in Survival of the Dead (2009)

That brings me to "Survival of the Dead" which has a nice idea of feuding families on an island, reminiscent of the outlaw clan and the lawman from many a western, but ends up just another zombie movie. The trouble is that whilst we have these feuding clans and then the mercenaries lead by Sarge tossed in to the mix the whole zombie side of "Survival of the Dead" is ordinary. Yes there are some creative scenes but for the most it almost feels generic with a case of see a zombie and shoot them through their heads, job done.

Now in truth Romero's zombie movies have rarely scared me but "Survival of the Dead" seems to be completely devoid of anything close to a fright. Every zombie scene seems like it is there to show of a special effect as we see one head explode after another whilst if you want to get creative a fire extinguisher is good for making eyes pop out. But it all feels like it has been done before not only by Romero but by others who have done it better.

What this all boils down to is that "Survival of the Dead" might entertain and interest a real expert in Romero's zombie movies. But for those who are just looking for some zombie entertainment will find this all too ordinary.

Tags: Zombie Movies


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