Confession time: I've never thought much of George A Romero's movies. To be fair, that's my own fault, as I seem to be watching them in reverse order. I like Land of the Dead well enough, although it felt a bit schlocky for my tastes, rather cheesy. And I've only seen the final act of Dawn of the Dead, so I can't really comment on it. I remember thinking what I saw was very B-movie, there was a lot of gore there and I couldn't see the reason.
That's because George Romero's movies only make sense in the context of the whole.
I've heard it said that Dawn is about crass consumer culture, and how we're all getting to be too materialist - it takes place in a mall, after all. But Romero seemed to use horror as a symbol for greater social ills, not just consumerism - in his stories, zombies are the monster, the miracle, the natural disaster all in one. They are poked and prodded and examined with the detachment of the monster, yet a thinking, feeling miracle at the same time. And when they are grouped together, they are the oncoming storm, the thunderclouds gathering on the horizon.
I just watched Day of the Dead and it was sublime. George Romero has not only a gift for storytelling, but also for getting the most out of his cast and crew - there's not a single performance I could criticise, not a single shot wasted. The story has a simple message but it comes across brilliantly, and there's so much going on despite a relatively short runtime that it's a wonder there are quiet moments at all. Those quiet moments really build up the drama and continue the story, telling us about the divide between soldiers and scientists in this post-apocalypse, the seemingly growing intelligence of Bub (played by Sherman Howard, who does so flawlessly), the somewhat dubious methods used by both sides to corral and examine the zombies. But underneath all that, there's the message: that kindness, above all else, is what will preserve the human race. Whether that's the little things, like Sarah pushing past Miguel's macho exterior to try and help him, rather than let him suffer, or the big things, like John risking life and limb, fighting against the rogue soldiers to help Sarah and Bill escape. Kindness always prevails in Day of the Dead. Though Johnson may die, all the things he taught Bub come into play at the finale when Bub finally enacts revenge in his stead.
I think this is something most zombie movies miss. The movie isn't about zombies; they just happen to be the threat that drives people together. The real conflict comes from the things people do around, with, and to each other as they wait out the storm - a zombie movie is a siege movie, it's trying to wait out the disaster and inevitably failing. It's people trapped together, trying and failing to get along. The zombie movie holds up zombies as a mirror to humanity, both the monster and the miracle - zombie movies are capable of bringing so many elements into one creature. In Day of the Dead we see Bub as the revenant, a spirit of vengeance, acting out and killing on Johnson's behalf. We see the zombies as the wary, cautious, learning creatures; we see the horde as the unstoppable force.
George Romero knew how much zombies could represent, their infinite possibilities. They are at once us and yet so incredibly alien, they are a destructive force yet also an intelligent one. Romero knew how to use zombies, not just as a generic, nebulous threat, but as a lens through which we view the humans around them. And he did this with such heart, and such joy, and such economy of film. He knew what he wanted from a movie, and he made that movie, and he did it for so long and so well that he became the authority on his genre. And others have gone on to write and film their own takes (here's looking at you, Edgar Wright) and so few have managed it even half as well. Zombies are there because they're something to threaten. They're the monster. There's no dimension to them. For Romero, they're anything but the monster. They were the thing the monster was always worse than. They were a neutral party, the force of nature. And I think that's what I admire most about Day of the Dead: the zombies aren't just there. They have purpose. And you can tell just how much care Romero put into this because the credits have a long list of featured zombies. These weren't just monsters, they were characters. George Romero turned the horror movie into an art form, and for that he will be remembered as legend.
RIP George Romero.
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