Survival of the Dead

Survival of the Dead - 2010 - 90 minutes - Directed by George Romero
Starring Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, Devon Bostick, Richard Fitzpatrick

Survival of the Dead is the newest entry in that most famous and celebrated (well, at least the original trilogy) series of zombie movies, Romero's Of the Dead work. Spanning from the genre defining Night of the Living Dead through the commercially disappointing but notably underrated Diary of the Dead, Romero's skills have been called into question after every film since 1978's Dawn of the Dead and though some would dispute it, he has never lost his narrative thrust or ability to construct fascinating films, frequently without the benefit of decent acting or studio backing. This time around he's crafted a remarkably effective foundation upon which to showcase the traditionally western elements he's superimposed onto an island off the coast of Delaware.

The film is split into two distinctly disparate sections, one concerning the tensions between the O'Flynns and the Muldoons, two families existing as simply as possible on post-zombie apocalypse Plum island, and the other following a group of rogue National Guards (briefly featured in Survival's predecessor, Diary of the Dead) as they attempt to make their way through the ravaged landscape. The families are feuding due to conflicting ideologies; the O'Flynns believe in destroying the walking dead, while the Muldoons believe in keeping them "alive" in the hopes that they will one day be cured.The two storylines intertwine, of course, when the patriarch of the O'Flynns, Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Walsh), is exiled from the island and his family members are either assimilated or destroyed. He begins offering to take survivors to Plum as a means of stealing their food and goods but is forced into leading the group of guards and newcomer Boy (Devon Bostick) there to stage an invasion.

As no Romero film would be complete without its own set of enduring images (Bub's tests in Day of the Dead, the daughter eating her mother in Night of the Living Dead, the entire layout and concept of Fiddler's Green in Land of the Dead, etc), Survival may have the most haunting one of all. A woman, the lead female character's twin for that matter (a device that seems superfluous and cowardly until Romero proves his willingness to be completely unconventional in a third act 180), is bitten by a zombie and takes to her horse. It is but a fact of life on Plum island that you will continually witness the undead Jane O'Flynn (Kathleen Monroe) riding her horse determinedly over the lush hills and forestry with a ghostly expression adorning her face.

While Romero has never had a great talent for coaxing better than alright performances from mediocre talents, Survival of the Dead boasts some incredibly nuanced acting for a Living Dead flick, especially in the presence of Devon Bostick. Bostick, having already cut his teeth on the excellent Atom Egoyan film Adoration, comes into his own here as a seriously plausible character beset on all sides by extraordinary forces and events. Monroe and Van Sprang both perform admirably as well, and if they are not of the same impact of Bostick it is less their fault and more their function as Romero's tools for social commentary.The primary criticism that faces Romero these days is that he has lost his ability to scare people, that his horror is no longer sudden and jarring but simply heavy handed social criticism with little interest in living up to the standards of modern horror. For me this is not a burden but a boon, Survival of the Dead may not be of the "face in the mirror" tradition, but it is a perfect evocation of the kind of haunting, eerie atmosphere that makes Romero's worlds so much more fascinating than other directors'. That Romero goes to great lengths to craft sequences which would normally depend on horror conventions to provide predictable scares, but instead subverts the situations and gives us the entire picture without resorting to cheap tricks or soundtrack cues.

Survival of the Dead is further evidence (along with each entry in his Dead series which has proven to be one of the most reliably excellent series in horror) of Romero's evolution, still mapping out the unknowns and the unconventional for those too fearful to tread a similar path. Sure the film is not as subversive as his earlier work, but it is a testament to his capabilities that he is able to keep producing high quality work in a field so few find the imagination to build upon. Even the final image, one which I won't spoil for you as it is one of the most rewarding, is so over-the-top but so fitting that it depends on as capable hand as Romero's to make it fit in with the cumulative effect of the film. Say what you will, but if you aren't a staunch supporter of Romero's latest efforts then Romero hasn't been left behind; he's left you behind.
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Survival of the Dead at IMDB.