DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)

 Got a chance to catch this classic down at the drive in last weekend. It's hard to look at this one objectively since I've loved it ever since I was a wee teen. The fact that it was the final installment to director George Romero's dead trilogy(until he screwed around and made another inferior one) was enough reason to celebrate it's existence. Of course knowing the back story it's hard not to be disappointed that, due to budgetary reasons, his full vision for what was supposed to be the final chapter isn't quite materialized here. What you do get though is a bunch of amazing pre-CGI fx work, people get ripped apart before your very eyes, an over the top performance by the great Joe Pilato(who would go on to play that fake Dean Martin in PULP FICTION and unfortunately not much else of note) and the first zombie hero in the series, Bub(Sherman Howard, who I once saw at a convention asleep at his table). So if you overlook the pretty stagnant setting and not very subtle anti-military tone this one is a true gore-lovers trip.
 Romero would follow this with LAND OF THE DEAD in 2005 which I recall being entertained by at the time but never feel the need to re-watch it unlike the first 3 films. 
 There was a DAY OF THE DEAD 2: CONTAGIUM in 2005 which has nothing to do with this one except for stealing the title.  There's also a terrible-looking 2008 remake that I never bothered watching and from the trailer looks less like any kind of actual remake and just another stupid modern-day zombie flick. And finally there's DAY OF THE DEAD: BLOODLINE in 2018 which actually does look like a remake but I'm not sure why anyone would bother watching it.