Wednesday, August 2, 2017

F This Movie! 399 - DAY OF THE DEAD with Dave Parker

Filmmaker Dave Parker joins Patrick for a discussion of George A. Romero and his influential zombie classic. Choke on it!



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5 comments:

  1. I actually just revisited this film over the past weekend and, unfortunately, found it pretty dull. I remember thinking that when I first saw it as a kid too and hoped that I had missed out on something special with the rewatch. Yes, the Savini stuff is amazing, even groundbreaking, but it takes so damn long to get to it with nothing but people bitching and screaming at each other for the first 2/3's of the film. By the final act, when things ramp up, I wasn't invested in anything or anyone. I don't think the film does a very good job of building to the climax. It's like they had amazing ideas for the practical effects and finale and then stretched 10 minutes of a script into an an hour of waiting to show those off. I have absolutely no problem with this approach, as I am a huge fan of so called "slow burn" Horror, but it has to be an interesting journey to get there and to me this was a bunch of people yelling at each other as noted in the podcast.

    Surprisingly, I didn't love the score either. I thought it was fine, but nothing really stood out to me as it being as good as I've read from other people's praise.

    I know I'm in the minority here, but this is just one of those I didn't connect with, again. I was even hoping the podcast would shed some light on what I am missing, but most of what was discussed is what I didn't like minus the Savini stuff. Oh well, still a great listen. I dug "The Hills Run Red" though!

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  2. Love the podcast. This was a nice listen. I very much enjoy this film. What I think would make it superior is if the story raised the stakes in the bunker. I'd love for there to be greater tension between people that want to stay to find a cure and people that want to split to a deserted island and reboot humanity. Even better is if they were to get absurdly close to a cure right at the social breaking point. What if there was only enough fuel to fly the helicopter one-way to an island or a round trip to pick up a critical cure component?! Anyways, I enjoy the film's social message of "sometimes it's best to quit and start fresh." It's summed up perfectly by the John the pilot in his great monologue. Also, McDermott is the best character ever, even if he is guilty of committing the ultimate movie sin of throwing away a flask once the booze runs out. -Alex W.

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  3. Very interesting discussion, as much as I'm conflicted, I agree with Dave: The restrictions of the budget may have in fact turned Day of the Dead into an even better movie.

    The original script is here (I think this is real):
    http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/day/script.html

    Also interesting to hear about Children of the Living Dead. That movie is so bad it has to be seen to be believed, there is a moment of unintentional hilarity that puts the Mac and Me Wheelchair GIF to shame.

    Loved the podcast as always, hope Dave can come back in future episodes.

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  4. I really have to thank Patrick for allowing me to be on his show. I love this show!!! I would love to come back and talk about anything I could, and promise I'll work on the audio gliches. Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to listen to me blather on. It all came from the heart, and for my undying love of George A. Romero. I am not sure if it was apparent, but that love runs very deep and without George, I wouldn't even continue to try to make movies.

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