Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Land of the Dead (2005) - Romero returns to the dead with strange, underwhelming results

6/11/2019

Land of the Dead (2005) - Romero returns to the dead with strange, underwhelming results

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Signed by the filmmaker, a promising, apocalyptic, dark poster for George A Romero's Land of the Dead

Some zombie fighters are corrupted by money; the ruler of the last, barricaded human city, Kaufman tries to save himself; and the zombies have gotten brainy!

Land of the Dead is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker George A. Romero (There's Always Vanilla (1971)), whose 13th feature it is. It is the 4th in Romero's six-entry Dead movie series, following zombie classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), masterpiece sequel Dawn of the Dead (1978) and underground horror great Day of the Dead (1985). As may be indicated in the plot capture above, the film presents a fairly confusing narrative.
The evolution of the zombie genre is also evident in Land, as there are no longer any uncertainty of where to shoot zombies dead (in their heads.) But the film pales compared to the better horrors of the past as well as of its time, - and it isn't really scary, mostly just slimy and gross.
Simon Baker's (Heartbreak High (1996, TV-series)) protagonist could hardly be any duller, and John Leguizamo (The Hollow Point (2016)) plays an idiotic Hispanic part. Pointing up in the cast, however, are the lovely Asia Argento (Traveling Companion/Compagna di Viaggio (1996)), and Dennis Hopper (Nails (1992, TV-movie)), who makes yet another wicked villain here.

Related posts:

George A. Romero: Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror (2000, TV documentary) - Great bio-doc of master filmmaker Dario Argento (interview subject)
Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Romero and Savini hash up a superfluous remake (writer/executive producer)
Day of the Dead (1985) - Romero's underground-set zombie classic
Creepshow (1982) - Fun, campy horror anthology from King and Romero
Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death!

Romero answers 10 questions in this video

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 46.7 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.11 times its cost)
[Land of the Dead premiered 18 June (Las Vegas CineVegas Film Festival, Nevada) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place in Ontario, Canada, including Toronto, and in Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, from October - December 2004. It is the first in the Dead film series to get an MPAA rating; some gore was toned down in the theatrical version for the R rating. The film opened #5, behind holdover hit Batman Begins, new release Bewitched, holdover hit Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and new release Herbie: Fully Loaded, to a 10.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 20.7 mil. $ (44.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 3.8 mil. $ (9.5 %) and Japan with 2.7 mil. $ (5.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Romero returned with Diary of the Dead (2007). Baker returned in Something New (2006); Argento with a voice performance in Live Freaky, Die Freaky (2006) and physically in Marie Antoinette (2006); and Hopper in House of 9 (2005). Land of the Dead is certified fresh at 74 % with a 6.64/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Land of the Dead?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

6/11/2019

Land of the Dead (2005) - Romero returns to the dead with strange, underwhelming results

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