Zombies for Dummies...help
 

I'm sorry, I get so confused with all of the "Day of" movies/threads. I can't keep them straight, don't know which are remakes, the order of the films, which are sequels. I'm just lost.

I know about Night of the Living Dead, George Romero and everything else is a blur. Can someone give me a brief rundown.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) - Directed by George Romero
Dawn of the Dead (1978) - Sequel directed by George Romero
Day of the Dead (1985) - Sequel directed by George Romero
Land of the Dead (2005) - Sequel directed by George Romero

Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Remake directed by Tom Savini
Dawn of the Dead (2004) - Remake directed by Zack Snyder

Once again, everything is easily cleared up with a chart.

Thanks Groucho, for the diagram. It has solved a years-old mystery for me. How did you know I needed visuals?

One more question, the "Return" movies are unofficial sequels. Did they have Romero's stamp of approval, or are they truly considered separate from his series? How are the "Return" movies connected to Romero's? Or are they just other zombie movies?

Well, as you can see the Return movies have the Living Dead title, whereas Romero's films don't.

What they share, besides some references to the film, is producer John Russo (who was coproducer on NoTL) who wrote the original script which was more of a direct seqeul to Night of te Living Dead. When Dan O'Bannon got in charge, he rewrote it as a comedy and moved it away from those films.

Years ago I said that there was a link to Romero's films but people here on dvdtalk said I was wrong.

These are the four essentials. Everything in comparison is shit. ;)

So where does Hood of the Living Dead fall???

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

There is a lot of those crappy zombie films. Like The dead hate the living and so forth. Just stick to the basics unless you really love everything zombie.

Zombie 2 actually works better as a Prequel to Dawn Of The Dead

If you're refering to my "Hood" reference, it was a complete joke. I forgot to add the :lol:

Sacrilege! ROTLD rocks!

Send More cops! :)

Romero and Russo both owned rights to the Night of the Living Dead franchise, but they split up for some reason. Romero took "of the Dead" and Russo took "of the Living Dead". So depending on your point of view, Dawn of the Dead and Return of the Living Dead are both legitimate sequels to NotLD. Storywise, Dawn is more of a true sequel, whereas RotLD acts more like a spinoff (as it even acknowledges the existence of the original film).

If you're familiar with the Elm Street movies, I would say Dawn of the Dead is to A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (or 3, if you prefer to pretend part 2 didn't exist) as Return of the Living Dead is to Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

True, this is zombies for dummies you've got to spell it out for me. :)

So the Living Dead movies are more campy/comedy than Romero's Dead movies?

Pretty much.

So how does Shaun of the Dead fit in? I always see this DVD bundled with Dawn of the Dead at my local Target...

8^B

Yeah, they're pretty much comedy films. To the point that the characters even talk about the Living Dead movies and use them as reference on how to kill the zombies.

Shaun of the Dead too, is a comedy based on zombie movies, kinda a spoof also.

Because it pays homage to it. Not to mention both were Universal. So that's why they are bundled together.

and there's also Zombie 4 adn Zombie 5 which are sequels (albeit not so good ones) to the 2 Fulci films (Zombie 2 and Zombie 3)

Just a question: If I see Dawn, Day, and Land before I see Night of the Living Dead, will it affect my enjoyment? I've already seen the Dawn remake if that makes any difference.

Not at all. Romero never really linked the movies in any real way other than each one involving a Living Dead outbreak. Actually, in both "Day" and "Land" humans seem to have been living with Zombies for a long period of time where "Night" and "Dawn" both seem to occur in the early stages of the said outbreak.

Either way it won't screw anything up for you. Each stands on it's own.

Zombie 4 aka After Death and Zombie 5 aka Killing Birds aren't sequels to anything. They, much like dozens of other Italian horror movies, were given those names just to capitalize on a previous hit movie. There are probably a dozen different films that at some point claim to be "sequels" to Zombi 2, some of which came out well before it. For instance: Christina, Princess of Eroticism is a boring softcore Jess Franco movie that came out in 1973, and has absolutely nothing to do with zombies. For some reason, it was repackaged in the 80s as "Zombie 4: A Virgin among the Living Dead" and a few minutes of Jean Rollin's "Zombie Lake" was spliced into it. :lol:

Don't forget Day of the Dead 2: Contagium http://imdb.com/title/tt0411269/combined

:lol:

So is Contagium is the sequel to the remake, but it's a prequel to the original Day? Or is it unconnected to the remake?

It's supposedly an unofficial prequel and sequel to Day of the Dead (1985). Some of the story takes place before Day of the Dead, and some after it. It has nothing to do with any of the other living dead films, and only considers itself connected to Day of the Dead.

now thats a damn chart...

The Elite Entertainment 'Special Edition' of Night of the Living Dead (1968) is Only $5.99 Free Shipping @

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/redir...fier=ELE001116

Commentary by director George A. Romero and co-writer John A. Russo

Commentary by cast members Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Judith O'Dea

'S. William Hinzman' (qv), 'Keith Wayne' (qv), 'Kyra Schon' (qv), producer 'Russell Streiner' (qv) and production director 'Vincent D. Survinski' (qv)

They actually discuss Night of the Living Dead in the beginning of the 1st Retun of the living dead movie as well.

I know. That's why I said it. Also, that movie connection explains why the Military already had a plan to deal with the problems caused by the "easter eggs".

How are the remakes compared to the originals?

Well, it's all personal opinion, but here goes:

The Night remake is a great film. Well-made, well-acted, great effects. It also puts some nice little twists on the original story (note that Romero wrote the remake's screenplay, and even directed some scenes, as Tom Savini was in the middle of a divorce at the time). However, it doesn't match the sheer artistry of the original. So, I think it is essential zombie movie viewing, but it is a few notches down from the original in artistic vision and visceral impact.

The Dawn remake is fun, but nothing special. If you're curious about it, I wouldn't hesitate to check it out. It is nicely fast-paced and has some great little moments, but it doesn't add up to anything really noteworthy, for my money.

DJ