Day of the Dead (1985 film)


Day of the Dead is a 1985 American post-apocalyptic zombie horror film written and directed by George A. Romero, and produced by Richard P. Rubinstein. The third film in Romero's Night of the Living Dead series, it stars Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy and Richard Liberty as members of a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida, where they must determine the outcome of humanity's conflict with the undead horde. Romero described the film as a "tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society".
Work on Day of the Dead began shortly after the release of the previous film in the series, Dawn of the Dead, but was halted when Romero began work on other projects. It was developed as part of a three-film deal with that film's distributor, United Film Distribution Company ; Romero elected to make the two other projects outlined in the deal, Knightriders and Creepshow, first. Although the filmmaker was given final cut privilege, the screenplay was rewritten multiple times due to UFDC's concerns that Romero's ambitious original vision ― which he described as "the Gone with the Wind of zombie films" ― would need to be shot with the intention of receiving an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America to ensure its commercial viability; Romero elected to make the film on a lower budget and release it without a rating. Day of the Dead was filmed in fall 1984, with above-ground scenes in the cities of Fort Myers and Sanibel and underground scenes near Wampum, Pennsylvania. Tom Savini returned to provide the film's special make-up effects; he was assisted by a team of artists that included Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, who later became known for their work on the television series The Walking Dead.
Day of the Dead premiered in Hicksville, New York on June 30, 1985, and grossed $34 million worldwide against a budget of approximately $4 million. Although the make-up effects were praised, the film initially did not match the critical and commercial success of its predecessors; the series did not see another installment until the 2005 release of Land of the Dead. Reception of the film has improved with time, and Romero deemed it to be his personal favorite film in the original Dead trilogy. Like its predecessors, Day of the Dead has garnered a cult following and inspired numerous parodies and homages.
The film was remade twice: the first is the 2008 film of the same name, and the second is Day of the Dead: Bloodline. A television series named after the film began airing on Syfy in 2021, while a stand-alone sequel, Night of the Living Dead II, was reported to be in active development.

Plot

Seven years after the events of Dawn of the Dead, the zombie apocalypse has ravaged the entire world. The societal structures that used to safeguard civilization have mostly vanished, leaving the scattered remnants of human survivors vastly outnumbered by the zombie populations. A handful of scientists and soldiers live within a secure underground missile bunker in the Florida Everglades. The scientists are trying to find a solution to the zombie pandemic; the soldiers have been assigned to protect them. Dr. Sarah Bowman, soldier Private Miguel Salazar, radio operator Bill McDermott, and helicopter pilot John fly from their underground base to Fort Myers in an attempt to locate additional survivors. They find only a large horde of the undead and return to the base, where they are told that the military detachment's officer-in-charge Major Cooper has died. Sarah becomes concerned over Miguel's worsening mental state, but he lashes out at her until she stops trying to help him.
Dr. Logan, the lead scientist, believes that the undead plague victims can be made docile and domesticated through training and conditioning. He keeps a collection of captive undead for use as test subjects in a large underground corral in the compound. Sarah vehemently opposes Logan's conditioning research; instead, she wants to search for a possible cure for the virus. Sarah discovers that Logan has been experimenting on the corpses of the dead soldiers, including Major Cooper. Fearful that the other soldiers will turn on them, Sarah reluctantly keeps this a secret.
The soldiers range from decent and workmanlike to mean-spirited and confrontational, especially the unstable Captain Rhodes. Rhodes vehemently objects to the dangers involved in capturing and maintaining zombie specimens, and tension between soldiers and scientists worsens in the face of dwindling supplies, the loss of communication with other survivors, and slow, uncertain progress in the research. During a meeting, Rhodes declares that he is establishing martial law under his command in the compound. He only grants the scientists "some" time to prove results and declares that he will execute anyone who interferes with his leadership. He also threatens to abandon the scientists and leave the compound, cutting off their protection from the undead hordes, though he cannot rebut Logan's sarcastic asides that the soldiers have nowhere to run to and no way to stop the zombies on their own.
Disturbed by Rhodes' threats, Sarah discusses the situation with John and Bill, who reside in an RV at the far end of the tunnels and bluntly tell her they do not believe in anything she and the scientists are trying to accomplish. John professes his conviction that the zombie plague is a form of divine retribution against mankind, and suggests that the three of them should take the helicopter, abandon the soldiers, and fly to a desert island somewhere where they could live off the land and start a new life. Logan hopes to secure Rhodes' goodwill by showing him the results of his research. He is especially proud of "Bub", a docile zombie who remembers some parts of his past life and engages in rudimentary human behavior. Rhodes, however, is not impressed and loses more patience with the scientists.
During a zombie roundup procedure, a zombie escapes its harness when Miguel loses his focus, resulting in the deaths of soldiers Miller and Johnson. Miguel snaps and attempts to kill the creature, but another zombie bites him on the arm. With John and Bill's help, Sarah amputates and cauterizes Miguel's arm to stop the infection. Rhodes calls off the experiments and demands that all captive zombies be destroyed, as well as denying any further help from him and his remaining men.
Sarah and Bill later go to the operating theater to gather medical supplies for Miguel, where they find that Logan has been experimenting on Miller and Johnson's remains. After discovering evidence that Logan has drifted into insanity due to his failure to civilize the zombies' baser instincts, Bill decides that they should leave in the helicopter immediately. Rhodes finds out that Logan has been feeding the flesh of his dead soldiers to Bub as positive reinforcement for his behavior. Furious, Rhodes kills Logan and seizes the remaining scientists and non-military personnel, stripping them of their weapons. Rhodes attempts to force John to fly him and his remaining soldiers away from the base, which John refuses to do. In response, Rhodes kills Logan's assistant Dr. Fisher, locks Sarah and Bill inside the zombie corral, and orders Private Steel to beat John into submission.
Back in the laboratory, Bub uses his newly developed intelligence to free himself from his chain restraints and later discovers Logan's corpse. In a display of human emotion, he mourns the loss of his instructor, then picks up a pistol and goes in search of revenge. Meanwhile Miguel, whose self-control has finally snapped, heads off to the surface. While the soldiers try to go after him, John knocks out Rhodes and Torrez, steals their guns, and goes into the zombie corral to rescue Sarah and Bill.
Outside, a suicidal Miguel opens the perimeter fence, letting in hundreds of zombies, which surround him on the missile elevator platform. As they begin tearing at him, he activates the elevator control box, lowering the ravenous zombies into the complex. As the undead swarm the bunker, Rhodes leaves his men behind to be killed. Chased by Bub, he desperately attempts to escape, but runs into a mass of zombies and is shot in the stomach by Bub, who mockingly salutes Rhodes as he is torn apart. John, Sarah, and Bill make it to the chopper and escape to a tropical island.

Cast

  • Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah Bowman, a scientist researching the cause of the zombie outbreak
  • Terry Alexander as John "Flyboy", the group's helicopter pilot
  • Jarlath Conroy as Bill McDermott, the group's alcoholic radio operator
  • Sherman Howard as "Bub", a friendly captured zombie taught by Logan to engage passively in human behavior
  • Joseph Pilato as Captain Henry Rhodes, an increasingly mentally unhinged soldier and the self-appointed leader of the military group
  • Gary Howard Klar as Private Walter Steel, one of Rhodes' men
  • Ralph Marrero as Private Robert Rickles, one of Rhodes' men
  • Anthony Dileo Jr. as Private Miguel Salazar, Sarah's suicidal lover and one of Rhodes' men
  • Richard Liberty as Dr. Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan, the group's main surgeon and scientist
  • John Amplas as Dr. Ted Fisher, technician
  • Phillip G. Kellams as Private Miller, one of Rhodes' men
  • Taso N. Stavrakis as Private Juan Torrez, one of Rhodes' men
  • Greg Nicotero as Private Johnson, one of Rhodes' men
  • George A. Romero as Zombie with scarf
  • Michael J. Tomaso as Mailbox 22 football player zombie
  • Mike Ancas as head-ripper zombie

    Production

Development

Romero originally intended the film to be "the Gone with the Wind of zombie films". Following budget disputes and the artistic need to release the film unrated, the budget of the film was cut in half, dropping from $7 million to $3.5 million. This forced Romero to scale back his story, rewriting the script and adjusting his original vision to fit the smaller budget.
A total of five scripts were written as Romero wrestled with the film's concepts and the budgetary constraints. The first draft was over 200 pages, which he later condensed to a shorter page count. This is the true original script, and to date no copies of it have come to light. This version was likely rejected because UFDC felt it was too expensive for them to produce even with an R rating. Romero subsequently scaled down the scope of this script into a 155-page draft, then condensed it again to a 104-page draft labeled the "second version, second draft" in an unsuccessful final attempt to get the story within budget parameters. When this failed, he drastically altered the original story concept and ultimately produced a shooting draft that numbered only 88 pages.
The film was given a very limited release. This is chronicled in the documentary The Many Days of 'Day of the Dead on the two-disc Anchor Bay special edition DVD of the film. Some of the original concepts and characters remain, but the film differs greatly from Romero's original script, as stated by actress Lori Cardille: