Land of the Dead (2005)

The final lighting scheme gives the outside world a bluish tinge that adds to the feeling of death and decay. By contrast, the scenes in Dead Reckoning employ a warmer hue adding to the sense of life and hope.

After her own discussions with Baszak and Greywal, costume designer Alex Kavanagh started to put ideas in play. “The zombies have been dead for a while so their clothing must suggest that,” explains Kavanagh. “Their colors are de-saturated, muted. We over-dyed anything that the zombies are wearing—for example, anything blue was dyed with orange, gray and brown for a murky look.”

The citizens of the ghetto sport a textured and layered look. These are streetwise, colorful characters—hookers, gamblers—so a decision was made that the colors of their costumes suggest the feel of a market. “Colors, patterns, textures, layers—a lot of the people are very poor so the clothing is worn and has been repaired frequently,” continues Kavanagh.

As the mercenaries, the ones who venture outside the ghetto for supplies, Riley and his team are the “coolest” of the citizens, according to Kavanagh. To make them stand out from the rest, Kavanagh utilized leather, sporting equipment and other materials to suggest each character’s idiosyncratic attempts at protection. “They are wearing a lot of motorcycle gear, leather, whatever they think they need to prevent zombie bites and eventual infection,” explains Kavanagh.

Argento appreciated Kavanagh’s attention to detail: “I like what Alex did with the characters. It’s very minimal but believable at the same time, especially in the scenes in the arena. It’s a freak show, with weird people everywhere, but Alex was able to make it work.”

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Land of the Dead attempts a balancing act for its writer/director, whose overriding aim is to satisfy hard-core enthusiasts of the genre, as well as introduce new audiences to his zombie universe. “What we are trying to do is let George be the best he can be with the genre that he created. He’s the master of what he does. The passion for this genre is unbelievable, and it’s all because George figured out a way to create a world that was scary, horrific, hip and cool. He’s remains that guy,” comments Canton.

Grunwald agrees, “Zombies have always been my favorite movie monster, because they’re not exotic. They’re the people next door. They’re us. Frankenstein is a creature of science, and Dracula is a creature of myth and legend. Zombies are just normal folks. That’s where their power to scare comes from.”

Goldmann adds, “We live in a violent society, which has always been a part of George’s films. What’s really scary about zombies, though, is not just that they’re violent creatures—they’re relentless. They call up all those nightmares as a child, trying to run away from something that just keeps coming and never stops.”

Romero closes, “My films are not at all traditional horror films, slashers or anything. I just think of them as stories, basically—people stories underneath it all. The early horror films, as beautiful as they were, were about a crisis that could possibly destroy the world; it was all about restoring order. The real horror in my films is that order is never going to be restored.”

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