Survival of the Dead (2009)
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 83
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 58
Survival of the Dead offers glimmers of Romero's savage wit, but not nearly enough to make up for his unusually uninspired directing and a lack of new ideas
Average Rating: 4.2/10
Critic Reviews: 21
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 19
Survival of the Dead offers glimmers of Romero's savage wit, but not nearly enough to make up for his unusually uninspired directing and a lack of new ideas
liked it
Average Rating: 2.4/5
User Ratings: 7,451
Movie Info
A group of rogue soldiers seek shelter from the zombie apocalypse on scenic Plum Island, only to become caught up in a bitter feud between two warring families. Sarge Crocket (Alan Van Sprang) and his motley crew of military abandoners are searching for a safe place to rest when they cross paths with Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh). O'Flynn has been banished from Plum Island, where his family is locked in a longtime quarrel with the Muldoons. The O'Flynns see the flesh-eaters as subhuman, never
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Alan Van Sprang
Sarge -
Kenneth Welsh
O'Flynn -
Kathleen Munroe
Janet/Jane -
Devon Bostick
Boy -
Richard Fitzpatrick
Muldoon -
Athena Karkanis
Tomboy -
Stefano Di Matteo
Francisco -
Joris Jarsky
Chuck -
Eric Woolfe
Kenny -
Wayne Robson
Tawdry -
Julian Richings
James
ADVERTISEMENT
Survival of the Dead Trailer & Photos
All Critics (87) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (58) | DVD (6)
Even Romero's staunchest fans might conclude their hero is going through the motions here. Yes, almost like a zombie.
What we've got here is a just a B-movie western with buckets of gore, which might be fine coming from a Romero wannabe but not from the genuine article.
George A. Romero's entertaining new zombie feature shows that you can't keep a good man down.
Steeped in fan-pleasing gore but woefully thin on ideas, originality (beyond new zombie-offing methods) or directorial flair.
Survival of the Dead almost never snaps into focus. Even its oxymoronic title doesn't work. It feels marginal, like an extended footnote.
Placidly photographed and lacking in urgency, Survival shows us the living flailing at fate and the dead just flailing.
Are George Romero's late-career ghoul operas fatigued retreads of his seminal zombie classics, or eccentrically satirical twists on the genre tropes he pioneered? Survival of the Dead isn't about to clear things up.
full review at Movies for the Masses
"A man dies, he gets stupid," someone observes in the film. Maybe if a man makes too many films about the dead, the same fate awaits him. Mr. Romero, you are on notice.
Romero has freed his story up for a lighter, more amusingly misanthropic take on the worst tendencies of people.
An exercise in beating a dead horse as well as eating a dead horse, the film demonstrates that the metaphorical usefulness of the zombie genre has reached a state of near rigor mortis, if not putrefaction.
The creator is still driving his old Model-T to the ground.
A sad confirmation of if not George Romero's complete creative bankruptcy then certainly his wildly diminished gift for imparting glancing metaphorical dread.
Maybe it's due to the fact that Romero's work never struck me as particularly exciting or important in the first place, but I mostly enjoyed this newest entry.
Survival is crawling with weird ideas that make no sense, but Romero treats them as gems of life-changing import.
Big set pieces showing how atrophied Romero's cutting and tactical framing have become is depressing to anyone who has valued his films for more than just splatter.
...fast, often witty...
At last finds the great Romero with nothing new to say about zombies.
Feels like one of those goofy old Star Trek episodes in which Kirk and Spock go back in time to make some sort of baldly allegorical point.
..has at least one great image: a zombie woman on horseback endlessly galloping around the island like some Gothic, Bronte-inspired ghost.
A decent zombie film
A more cerebral means of cinematically satiating one's wanton bloodlust craving!
Audience Reviews for Survival of the Dead
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Survival of the Dead yet.
What's Hot On RT
Pictures from a zombie nation
Woody Allen in San Francisco
See the Desolation of Smaug trailer!
Where does This Is the End rank?
Latest News on Survival of the Dead
June 9, 2010:
Five Favorite Films with George A. RomeroSince the release of "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968, George A. Romero has been earning his...
May 28, 2010:
Critics Consensus: Sex and the City 2 Lacks "Sex" AppealThis week at the movies, we've got a royal adventure (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, starring...
March 5, 2010:
Friday Harvest: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Toy Story 3, and more!Happy Friday Harvest, a weekly round-up of the best pictures, posters, and videos that have become...
Featured on RT
- Video Interviews with Cast & Crew of Monsters University 0
- Digital Multiplex: 21 & Over, Quartet, and More 1
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Jack the Giant Slayer and Quartet 21
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Man of Steel Sets June Record 101
- Weekly Ketchup: Man of Steel Sequel In the Works 186
- Five Favorite Films with Joss Whedon 125
- Bonus Footage of the Cast & Crew of Man of Steel 1
Top Headlines
Foreign Titles
- George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead (UK)
- George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead (CA)










Top Critic