Land of the Dead
Dir: George A. Romero
2005
***
20 years after George A. Romero brought us Day of the Dead (seen as the final film of his first Zombie trilogy), Land of the Dead brings a new chapter and the start of a new and very different trilogy. Zombies have now taken over and the living live in small secure cities. Essentially, people have got used to living with the apocalyptic situation as best they can but with some taking full advantage. The class message is clear from the beginning, a relief that George A. Romero still has it and has kept up the good fight. The big difference here is the Zombies. They seem to represent an inevitable fate for those that do wrong, Avenging Angels almost. In the first trilogy, the hero has always been Black, continuing the message of the first film following America's racial unrest at the time. In Land of the Dead, the zombies are lead by a Black leader and this is obviously intentional. You start to wonder who the real bad guy is and what the zombies actually represent, the phrase 'Eat the rich' popped into my mind instantly while watching. I'm not sure the film was executed as well as the original films though, it's an entertaining enough Zombie film but it's far below George A. Romero's usual standards. There isn't the same feeling of dread or impending doom as there is with his previous work and better Zombie films have been filmed since. It's enjoyable, but George A. Romero himself has set the bar higher than this.