Land of the Dead (2005)

For many film fans, the evolution of the modern horror film—with its combustible mix of unrelenting scares and sly social commentary—began with a 1968 independent film, shot in black and white on an ultra-low budget (around $100,000). It featured a group of panicked strangers holing up in an isolated farmhouse to elude a throng of attacking, flesh-eating zombies—it was called Night of the Living Dead. The groundbreaking film was directed and co-written by a 28-year-old industrial filmmaker named George Romero, who also served as its cinematographer and co-editor and even appeared in a cameo as a news reporter. The film only grew in acclaim following its release, taking on a life of its own among cineastes, film students and revival house moviegoers. In 1999, Night of the Living Dead was inducted into the United States’ National Film Registry. With that film, a genre was born.

Romero wryly observes, “I’ve always considered myself this guy who happens to be a filmmaker who lives in Pittsburgh. I’m grateful that there is ongoing interest in what I do—I guess, to my fans, I’m sort of a Pancho Villa kind of figure, always just under the radar. But all the films I’ve done, I’ve really cared about, and hopefully there’s some good work in there that people can enjoy. My stuff has had an extraordinary shelf life and I can’t really explain why; partly, I guess, because I’m this rogue guy, but also because some people find what I do interesting—there’s something there, if you want to think about it…something underneath it all.”

Romero continued to use the zombie film as a prism (albeit a truly horrifying one) through which to explore current-day mores in the follow-up features Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). Twenty years have passed since the third film in Romero’s series—and now, the master has returned to the genre he created.

“I started something with Night of the Living Dead that I couldn’t have foreseen,” observes George Romero. “What I have tried to do is to reflect on the socio-political climate of the different eras. The stories are similar, but they are set in different decades. It’s an unusual conceit, but I like being able to make the film current, politically speaking, even though the story is continuous.”

The filmmaker continues, “Land of the Dead is set in a devastated world. There’s no electricity except for places inside the city where people are trying to live normal lives. That is their error…it goes back to the idea of ignoring terrorism and other societal problems outside your own door. They think, ‘If we ignore it, we’ll be okay.’ They’re forming small civilizations on their own, turning their backs, really, on the problems outside. That’s at the core of what the movie is about. The protagonists are the ones that have to go out into the dark side of the world to bring back food, supplies.”

Producer Mark Canton recalls the fast-track genesis of the project: “I’ve always had great esteem for Romero and had been crossing paths with him over the years. Last summer, I was having lunch with George’s agent, who told me that Romero had a script that was ready to go. I read it overnight and called him back the next morning and said, ‘Let’s make it.’ Literally within hours of announcing the production in the trades, Universal, who’d had great success with this kind of picture, stepped up to the plate. And Wild Bunch had been involved on the international side from the get-go. It was a case of announcement in July, deals signed in August and shooting in October. The script and the project had a buzz—with George, the master, at the helm, people were calling us.”

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