Day of the Dead (1985)

In 1985 this zombie movie virtually went by unnoticed except for many Romero fans. It was virtually dead a week or two after it hit the theaters. Many attribute its failings to the other many horror films released that year including "Re-Animator", "Fright Night", and "Return of the Living Dead". All these movies were R though and day was not. Romero stuck to his guns and made a very gory movie. Unfortunately, when dawn was released there were still many independent theaters, but by 1985 the chains had taken over and one thing chains do is not show movies like this. So it went by unnoticed and those that did notice it usually had nothing good to say about it other than the zombies looked really good. So suffice to say, I wasn't expecting much when I bought this movie except the zombies would look good. However, I am happy to report that I was very pleasantly surprised. The movie mainly takes place in an underground facility though there is the scene at the beginning in the town. I wish there were more scenes above ground as the one there is, is very well done. In the underground facility there is a lot of bickering between some scientists and some army guys who look and act nothing like army guys. Then again who knows how long they have been down there so people are bound to crack. There are also a couple of guys who may be army, but act like civilians and definitely have cooler heads than the rest of them. There is also a doctor who is trying to teach the zombies how to be more docile. All the wildness and arguing eventually leads to a major meltdown which leads to of course zombies penetrating the base and this leads to a very good gory finish. Not quite as good as Dawn, but not as far off as I was lead to believe this movie is very entertaining.