
Although these eyes failed to see it upon its theatrical release two years ago, Land of the Dead may be the baddest genre film this side of Y2K (of the competition, only Red Eye and Terminator 3 come to mind). A stylistic departure from its more narratively protracted predecessors, this fourth entry in Romero's monolithic horror series is a ruthless, down-and-dirty morality tale, focusing less on the themes at hand than on the actions and reactions that implicitly define them. Romero propels his satire along with so cool and assured a sleight of hand that it's all too easy to mistake its efficiency for laziness, the visual signifiers and allegorical punches of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it breed. A revelatory second viewing notwithstanding, it remains the least of Romero's first four zombie films (with Diary of the Dead to follow later this year), although its potency in the footsteps of such brilliant predecessors calls due attention to its maker's tireless ability to reinvent himself.

Meanwhile, the last throes of humanity have resumed their own battle of the classes. A tiny, makeshift city is safeguarded on two sides by water and on the third by electrified fence, seemingly solid defenses against the mindless undead outside their gates. Inside, the white and wealthy occupy Fiddler's Green, a luxurious skyscraper owned and operated by Kaufman (Dennis Hopper), who provides vices and distractions to the lower classes below whilst fending off the external zombie threat just enough so as to provide himself and his well-endowed customers with the luxuries they desire. For two years Cholo (John Leguizamo) has aided Kaufman in his dirty work in hopes of one day securing his own spot in the Green. When his efforts prove naught, however, Cholo revolts and steals Kaufman's armored battle vehicle, the Dead Reckoning, threatening to shell the Green lest he get his due reward. Kaufman, desperate to regain control over his exploited goods, commissions several other resistance fighters recently arrested for their commotion: their freedom in exchange for Dead Reckoning.

When the zombies prove able to cross the river formerly guarding the city, the shit hits the fan like an employee riot during the Industrial revolution, albeit without strikebreakers on hand to put the workers back into their subjugated places of obedience. As the undead storm the Green to eat the rich, the less pampered of the human survivors prove more capable of handling themselves than those who formerly possessed the means of production. The rich flee into their dead-end world of excess as the proletarians overturn the bourgeois in a Marxian spectacle of revolution. Here, Romero's deconstruction of capitalist society comes full circle; with the system now returned to the hands of its rightful owners, the need for distractions returns to zero. The undead have conquered their true enemy and found their own place of peace at last, and, firing off the last of their starflowers, the now unshackled humans head north to uninfected territory.
Feature: 31 Days of Zombie!
This movie was surprisingly divisive. Responses tended to either be raves or absolute pans. I landed right in the middle, agreeing with many of the points from both camps. I'd love to revisit it and shift towards the positive camp like you.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your work here by the way, kudos on the effort!
Yeah, I was quite disappointing when I first saw it, and it certainly wasn't for lack of any of the "unrated" inclusions, which were pretty superficial on the whole (I only noticed one new major inclusion). I think that, perhaps, many Romero fans were offset by their expectations, for now I think the work here it absolutely brilliant but in a completely different fashion. Hopefully you'll have the same experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kudos. Additional shout-outs from readers would certainly help in the motivation department. ~^
Finally caught this for the first time, and enjoyed it as the next logical step in Romero's "trilogy". I'm constantly surprised at the creative ways he employs to dismember people - the shredded arm sequence was true genius!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your site - keep up the good work.