| News Items: |
| Headlines |
| News Briefs |
| Stories |
| Movies |
| Word To Life |
| More News: |
| Vatican |
| Africa |
| Archives: |
| John Paul II |
| Tsunami |
| Election 2004 |
| Charter update |
| John Jay study |
| Other Items: |
| Client Area |
| Links |
| Origins |
| Movie Review |
|
Land of the Dead By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- In 1968, maverick filmmaker George A. Romero scraped together some money from friends and family and shot the low-budget horror classic "Night of the Living Dead." The movie spawned two sequels, "Dawn of the Dead" (1979) and "Day of the Dead" (1985). Now comes "Land of the Dead" (Universal), the fourth chapter of his pulp zombie saga. Set in some apocalyptic near-future, the satire-edged but repulsively violent new film envisions the world as a mostly uninhabitable wasteland overrun with roaming packs of flesh-eating zombies, who have slowly become sentient enough to form an army. Eugene Clark plays Big Daddy, the Spartacuslike alpha-zombie of the lumbering legions, and in a perverse twist, the film's most "sympathetic" character. What's left of humanity is holed up in a class-divided fortified city, lorded over by a ruthless opportunist, Kaufman (Dennis Hopper), from high atop his glass citadel. As the newly organized undead begin to march on the stronghold, all that stands between mankind's survival and total zombification are a handful of hardened mercenaries led by good-guy Riley (Simon Baker), whose motives are not altogether altruistic. Protected within a massive armored vehicle -- the "Dead Reckoning" -- Riley and his crew run retrieval missions, foraging supplies and luxury items from the "outside" world for Kaufman and his fellow well-to-dos, while the masses wallow in misery. As with his earlier films, Romero laces "Land" with his signature blend of morbid humor and social commentary. What distinguishes Romero's cycle from other decom-poseurs, is his clever use of allegory to tap into the current political climate. Nevertheless, while the zombies have "evolved," the campy horror franchise remains a smor-gores-bord of stomach-churning mayhem. Let's hope this franchise -- unlike its reanimated corpses -- will stay dead. The film contains pervasive bloody violence and gore, including graphic dismemberment and cannibalism, some sexual content with brief partial nudity, some drug content, a same-sex kiss, recurring rough and crude language, as well as some profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
| FIND A MOVIE |
|
Looking for a movie review? |