Island of the Dead
Encyclopedia
Survival of the Dead is a 2009 American film
by George A. Romero
which follows a group of mercenary National Guardsmen who briefly appeared in Diary of the Dead
. The film was first released on DVD
in the UK on March 15, 2010, followed by a video on demand
release on April 30, 2010, followed by a limited theatrical release on May 28, 2010. The movie was met with generally negative reviews.
), who, after a failed raid of sorts that ends in the deaths and reanimation of several fellow National Guardsmen and his getting demoted to Sergeant, deserts his post with Kenny (Eric Woolfe), Francisco (Stefano Colacitti) and Tomboy (Athena Karkanis
). The four go on to rob the protagonists of the previous film
.
Meanwhile, off the coast of Delaware lies Plum Island, home to two feuding Irish families - the O'Flynns and the Muldoons. The former family, led by Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh
), rounds up a posse and kill the undead of the island, learning that the Muldoons, led by Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick) are keeping their undead loved ones "alive" until a cure is found. A brief standoff ends with the Muldoons exiling Patrick and several other O'Flynns, under the suggestion of Patrick's daughter Janet (Kathleen Munroe
).
Three weeks pass. The National Guard deserters find themselves joined by Boy (Devon Bostick
) after an encounter with some fellow zombie-killers, and through Boy and an internet connection they learn of Plum Island - a video that was recorded by Patrick O'Flynn. They head to a nearby dock as instructed, and a gunfight starts between the O'Flynns bunkered down in a fishing shop and Crockett's group. Francisco successfully commandeers a ferry for the group during the battle (Several zombies showing up to distract both sides of the gunfight), biting the finger off of an attacking zombie along the way.
The O'Flynns, except Patrick, are killed by zombies and the deserters board the ferry. Patrick too jumps aboard, kept there by a shaky truce of sorts as the rest of the group takes care of the zombies on board the ferry. Francisco starts to feel sick, having earlier ingested the blood of a zombie. On the trip over, Patrick reveals he sent other strangers over to Plum Island to anger Muldoon and trigger the latter's distrust for strangers. Eventually, the group makes it to the island on a small dingy.
There, they discover that the Muldoons have chained up the zombies in imitation of their previous lives - a mailman puts mail in a mailbox, a logger wields an axe on some wood, and so on. It is revealed that Patrick's daughter Janet is now a zombie, riding around on her horse as she did when she was alive. The living strangers sent over by Patrick have been killed by the Muldoons while the strangers who arrived as zombies were allowed to remain animated. Patrick is disgusted with this and, as he attempts to go into town and gather some allies that did not leave the island from his family, two scouting Muldoons attack the deserters, shooting Crockett and Kenny. The latter dies from his wounds, and is shot in the head by Patrick to prevent reanimation. Patrick heads off.
As Boy works to stitch up Crockett, Francisco's sickness gets worse and he asks to be shot down by Tomboy before he turns into a zombie. She complies, and is then captured by Muldoon. It is now revealed that Janet is, in fact, a twin - Jane, her favored sister, is the zombie on the horse from earlier. Janet helps Crockett out, and she, Crockett and Boy join the O'Flynn group for their attack on the Muldoons. Crockett agrees to come along to exact revenge for Kenny.
A standoff occurs at the bridge of the river that separates the two families' land, and the O'Flynn group with Crockett are captured, while Boy and Janet are pushed off into the forest. Tomboy is released from Muldoon's capture. During her capture she also learns that Muldoon's own wife is now a zombie chained up in his kitchen. Tomboy rejoins the captive group. Muldoon and O'Flynn face off - Muldoon's one wish is to prove O'Flynn wrong about the zombies, hoping to get the creatures to eat something other than human flesh. Muldoon's latest example is Patrick's daughter Jane, attempting to get her to devour a horse. A farmhand, Chuck (Joris Jarsky
), brings out a herd of captured zombies to watch Jane's attempt to eat the horse.
She doesn't, and Janet returns with Boy, giving Crockett and the O'Flynns their weapons back. Janet attempts to reach out to Jane, who bites her twin sister. A gunfight erupts between the two families. Chuck switches sides and gets shot by Muldoon for his trouble. Dying, he releases the zombie herd and is devoured. The gunfight's focus changes to the zombie threat, and they eat and kill most of the ones involved in the shootout.
Muldoon and O'Flynn, each with one bullet left in their guns, create a shaky truce that is immediately broken by Muldoon shooting O'Flynn in the back. A dying O'Flynn unleashes a secret gun stored up his wrist and kills Muldoon. Crockett and his group, fed up with all of the death, attempt to leave the island on the boat they came in on. Janet witnesses her sister actually take a bite out of the horse, and rushes to tell Crockett's group the news, before being shot in the head by her father with his remaining bullet as she has been bit and to show that he has the courage of his convictions. He succumbs to his wounds soon after.
Crockett, Boy and Tomboy refuse to become like the Muldoon and O'Flynn families, and leave the island with the ferry they came in on - the truck they rode in to the dock earlier in the film contains a million dollars they plan to use somehow in the future. Meanwhile, on Plum Island, zombies are seen eating the horse Jane started to eat. The zombified Patrick and Muldoon come up on a hill together, guns in hand, attempting to kill one another once more as zombies. They don't realize that their guns are empty.
Actors Shawn Roberts
, Scott Wentworth
, Amy Lalonde
, Michelle Morgan
, and Joshua Close
from Diary of the Dead
appear in archival footage during the opening moments of the film.
and in Toronto, Ontario with an entirely Canadian cast and crew. Romero cited the tax incentives as a reason to shoot in Toronto. The film was inspired by the 1958 released Western film The Big Country
.
, Venice Film Festival
(where it screened for the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion
), Trinity of Terrors, Fantastic Fest
in Austin, Texas
, and Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
in Montreal
, introduced by George A. Romero. It is the sixth film in Romero's "Dead" series. The film was released on DVD on March 15, 2010 in the United Kingdom
. In the United States it was released on April 30, 2010 for Video on Demand and was aired for one night only on HDNET Movies on May 26, 2010. and a theatrical release on May 28. The film headlined the Texas Frightmare Weekend, which took place from April 28 through May 1, 2010. There was also a screening of "Survival of the Dead" at Madison Square Park, at a Zombie walk
on May, 16, 2010. George A. Romero attended the event, as well as a screening held for the first 300 participants. The film was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on 24 August 2010.
, based on 82 reviews.
has plans to direct two more sequels to Survival of the Dead. He has expressed his desire to film them back-to-back if his schedule will allow it.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
by George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
which follows a group of mercenary National Guardsmen who briefly appeared in Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead is a 2007 American/Canadian horror film by George A. Romero...
. The film was first released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the UK on March 15, 2010, followed by a video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
release on April 30, 2010, followed by a limited theatrical release on May 28, 2010. The movie was met with generally negative reviews.
Plot
The first part of the film follows the actions of former Colonel and current Sergeant "Nicotine" Crockett (Alan van SprangAlan van Sprang
Alan van Sprang is Canadian actor best known for playing Sir Francis Bryan in the series The Tudors and for appearing in the Living Dead films of George A. Romero. He has many other television and film credits.-Filmography:...
), who, after a failed raid of sorts that ends in the deaths and reanimation of several fellow National Guardsmen and his getting demoted to Sergeant, deserts his post with Kenny (Eric Woolfe), Francisco (Stefano Colacitti) and Tomboy (Athena Karkanis
Athena Karkanis
Athena Irene Karkanis is a Canadian actress best-known for her role on The Best Years as fictitious Dominican-American actress Dawn Vargaz.-Filmography:*Chappelle's Show .... Caller...
). The four go on to rob the protagonists of the previous film
Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead is a 2007 American/Canadian horror film by George A. Romero...
.
Meanwhile, off the coast of Delaware lies Plum Island, home to two feuding Irish families - the O'Flynns and the Muldoons. The former family, led by Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh
Kenneth Welsh
Kenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his...
), rounds up a posse and kill the undead of the island, learning that the Muldoons, led by Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick) are keeping their undead loved ones "alive" until a cure is found. A brief standoff ends with the Muldoons exiling Patrick and several other O'Flynns, under the suggestion of Patrick's daughter Janet (Kathleen Munroe
Kathleen Munroe
Kathleen Munroe is a Canadian actress.Munroe was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and currently resides in Los Angeles. She studied cinema at the University of Toronto. She won the 2010 ACTRA Award for Outstanding Female Performance. Munroe writes and plays music. She speaks fluent French.- Filmography...
).
Three weeks pass. The National Guard deserters find themselves joined by Boy (Devon Bostick
Devon Bostick
Devon Bostick is a Canadian actor, best known for playing the lead role in the Atom Egoyan-directed film Adoration and Rodrick Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies.- Life and career :Bostick was born in Toronto, Ontario...
) after an encounter with some fellow zombie-killers, and through Boy and an internet connection they learn of Plum Island - a video that was recorded by Patrick O'Flynn. They head to a nearby dock as instructed, and a gunfight starts between the O'Flynns bunkered down in a fishing shop and Crockett's group. Francisco successfully commandeers a ferry for the group during the battle (Several zombies showing up to distract both sides of the gunfight), biting the finger off of an attacking zombie along the way.
The O'Flynns, except Patrick, are killed by zombies and the deserters board the ferry. Patrick too jumps aboard, kept there by a shaky truce of sorts as the rest of the group takes care of the zombies on board the ferry. Francisco starts to feel sick, having earlier ingested the blood of a zombie. On the trip over, Patrick reveals he sent other strangers over to Plum Island to anger Muldoon and trigger the latter's distrust for strangers. Eventually, the group makes it to the island on a small dingy.
There, they discover that the Muldoons have chained up the zombies in imitation of their previous lives - a mailman puts mail in a mailbox, a logger wields an axe on some wood, and so on. It is revealed that Patrick's daughter Janet is now a zombie, riding around on her horse as she did when she was alive. The living strangers sent over by Patrick have been killed by the Muldoons while the strangers who arrived as zombies were allowed to remain animated. Patrick is disgusted with this and, as he attempts to go into town and gather some allies that did not leave the island from his family, two scouting Muldoons attack the deserters, shooting Crockett and Kenny. The latter dies from his wounds, and is shot in the head by Patrick to prevent reanimation. Patrick heads off.
As Boy works to stitch up Crockett, Francisco's sickness gets worse and he asks to be shot down by Tomboy before he turns into a zombie. She complies, and is then captured by Muldoon. It is now revealed that Janet is, in fact, a twin - Jane, her favored sister, is the zombie on the horse from earlier. Janet helps Crockett out, and she, Crockett and Boy join the O'Flynn group for their attack on the Muldoons. Crockett agrees to come along to exact revenge for Kenny.
A standoff occurs at the bridge of the river that separates the two families' land, and the O'Flynn group with Crockett are captured, while Boy and Janet are pushed off into the forest. Tomboy is released from Muldoon's capture. During her capture she also learns that Muldoon's own wife is now a zombie chained up in his kitchen. Tomboy rejoins the captive group. Muldoon and O'Flynn face off - Muldoon's one wish is to prove O'Flynn wrong about the zombies, hoping to get the creatures to eat something other than human flesh. Muldoon's latest example is Patrick's daughter Jane, attempting to get her to devour a horse. A farmhand, Chuck (Joris Jarsky
Joris Jarsky
Joris Jarsky , also known as Joris Jorsky, is a Canadian stage, film and television actor who has received recognition for being a versatile actor, and is known for his role as Marty Strickland in the series Vampire High....
), brings out a herd of captured zombies to watch Jane's attempt to eat the horse.
She doesn't, and Janet returns with Boy, giving Crockett and the O'Flynns their weapons back. Janet attempts to reach out to Jane, who bites her twin sister. A gunfight erupts between the two families. Chuck switches sides and gets shot by Muldoon for his trouble. Dying, he releases the zombie herd and is devoured. The gunfight's focus changes to the zombie threat, and they eat and kill most of the ones involved in the shootout.
Muldoon and O'Flynn, each with one bullet left in their guns, create a shaky truce that is immediately broken by Muldoon shooting O'Flynn in the back. A dying O'Flynn unleashes a secret gun stored up his wrist and kills Muldoon. Crockett and his group, fed up with all of the death, attempt to leave the island on the boat they came in on. Janet witnesses her sister actually take a bite out of the horse, and rushes to tell Crockett's group the news, before being shot in the head by her father with his remaining bullet as she has been bit and to show that he has the courage of his convictions. He succumbs to his wounds soon after.
Crockett, Boy and Tomboy refuse to become like the Muldoon and O'Flynn families, and leave the island with the ferry they came in on - the truck they rode in to the dock earlier in the film contains a million dollars they plan to use somehow in the future. Meanwhile, on Plum Island, zombies are seen eating the horse Jane started to eat. The zombified Patrick and Muldoon come up on a hill together, guns in hand, attempting to kill one another once more as zombies. They don't realize that their guns are empty.
Cast
- Alan van SprangAlan van SprangAlan van Sprang is Canadian actor best known for playing Sir Francis Bryan in the series The Tudors and for appearing in the Living Dead films of George A. Romero. He has many other television and film credits.-Filmography:...
as Sarge "Nicotine" Crockett - Kenneth WelshKenneth WelshKenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his...
as Patrick O'Flynn - Kathleen MunroeKathleen MunroeKathleen Munroe is a Canadian actress.Munroe was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and currently resides in Los Angeles. She studied cinema at the University of Toronto. She won the 2010 ACTRA Award for Outstanding Female Performance. Munroe writes and plays music. She speaks fluent French.- Filmography...
as Janet O'Flynn and Jane O'Flynn - Devon BostickDevon BostickDevon Bostick is a Canadian actor, best known for playing the lead role in the Atom Egoyan-directed film Adoration and Rodrick Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies.- Life and career :Bostick was born in Toronto, Ontario...
as Boy - Richard FitzpatrickRichard FitzPatrickGeneral Richard FitzPatrick , styled The Honourable from birth, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, wit, poet, Whig politician and ‘sworn brother’ of the illustrious statesman of Charles James Fox...
as Seamus Muldoon - Athena KarkanisAthena KarkanisAthena Irene Karkanis is a Canadian actress best-known for her role on The Best Years as fictitious Dominican-American actress Dawn Vargaz.-Filmography:*Chappelle's Show .... Caller...
as Tomboy - Stefano Di Matteo as Francisco
- Joris JarskyJoris JarskyJoris Jarsky , also known as Joris Jorsky, is a Canadian stage, film and television actor who has received recognition for being a versatile actor, and is known for his role as Marty Strickland in the series Vampire High....
as Chuck - Eric Woolfe as Kenny
- Julian RichingsJulian RichingsJulian Richings is an English-born Canadian actor. He appeared in over 50 Canadian films and 20 separate television series.-Life and career:...
as James O'Flynn - Wayne RobsonWayne RobsonWayne Robson was a Canadian television, film and stage actor best known for playing the part of Mike Hamar, an ex-convict and sometime thief, on the Canadian sitcom The Red Green Show from 1993 to 2006, as well as in the 2002 film Duct Tape Forever.Robson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia...
as Tawdry O'Flynn - Joshua PeaceJoshua PeaceJoshua Peace also known as Josh Peace is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles on Devil as Detective Markowitz and in the films Cube Zero, You Might as Well Live and Survival of the Dead.-Filmography:*Unlucky as Bob...
as D.J. - George StroumboulopoulosGeorge StroumboulopoulosGeorge Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic...
as Talk Show Host
Actors Shawn Roberts
Shawn Roberts
-Life and career:Roberts was born in Stratford, Ontario on April 2, 1984. He started with playing the wolf in a school play of "Little Red Riding Hood" award-winning screenwriter Robert Forsythe and his friend's father helped him get a role in Emily of New Moon...
, Scott Wentworth
Scott Wentworth
Scott Wentworth is an American actor currently living and working primarily in Canada.After starting his career in New York City, he began a long association with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the 1985 production of The Glass Menagerie...
, Amy Lalonde
Amy Lalonde
Amy Ciupak Lalonde is a Canadian-born television personality from Pelham, Ontario. She holds a degree in drama and history from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.Lalonde appears on the television channel SCREAM...
, Michelle Morgan
Michelle Morgan (actress)
Michelle Morgan is a Canadian actress and singer.She is featured in the drama series Heartland as Amy Fleming's older sister Lou on Canadian television and in the 2008 zombie horror film Diary of the Dead...
, and Joshua Close
Joshua Close
Joshua Close is a Canadian actor.-Filmography:*The Pacific as Edward Sledge*The Dead Sleep as Tim*Diary of the Dead as Jason*Full of It as Kyle Plunkett...
from Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead is a 2007 American/Canadian horror film by George A. Romero...
appear in archival footage during the opening moments of the film.
Production
The film was independently produced, and distributed by Artfire Pictures. It had a budget of four million USD. This is Romero's sixth 'Dead' film. On July 21, 2009 it was announced the full title of the film is George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead. Romero shot the film in Port Dover, OntarioPort Dover, Ontario
Port Dover is an unincorporated community and former town located in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada on the north shore of Lake Erie.The community was the subject of an American raid during the War of 1812, on May 14, 1814....
and in Toronto, Ontario with an entirely Canadian cast and crew. Romero cited the tax incentives as a reason to shoot in Toronto. The film was inspired by the 1958 released Western film The Big Country
The Big Country
Meanwhile, Terrill insists on riding into the canyon. Initially, Leech refuses to accompany him, and the other men follow his lead. However, after Terrill rides out alone, Leech catches up with him. The remaining hands again align themselves with Leech by following. The group soon rides into a trap...
.
Release
In September 2009 George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead was screened at the Toronto International Film FestivalToronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
(where it screened for the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
), Trinity of Terrors, Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of The Iron Giant and Secondhand Lions. The festival focuses on genre films such as horror,...
in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, and Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma was known as the Montreal Festival of New Cinema and New Media until 2004. Founded in 1971, by Claude Chamberlan and Dimitri Eipides, it is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal and features independent films from around the world...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, introduced by George A. Romero. It is the sixth film in Romero's "Dead" series. The film was released on DVD on March 15, 2010 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In the United States it was released on April 30, 2010 for Video on Demand and was aired for one night only on HDNET Movies on May 26, 2010. and a theatrical release on May 28. The film headlined the Texas Frightmare Weekend, which took place from April 28 through May 1, 2010. There was also a screening of "Survival of the Dead" at Madison Square Park, at a Zombie walk
Zombie Walk
A zombie walk is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes...
on May, 16, 2010. George A. Romero attended the event, as well as a screening held for the first 300 participants. The film was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on 24 August 2010.
Reception
Currently, Survival of the Dead has a "Rotten" rating of 29% on the website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 82 reviews.
Box office
Survival of the Dead was released to twenty theaters on May 28, 2010 to and opening weekend gross of $43,757, averaging $2,188 per theater. As of August 1, 2010, the film has taken $101,740 and $41,451 internationally, bringing the total gross to $143,191.Possible sequels
Director George A. RomeroGeorge A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
has plans to direct two more sequels to Survival of the Dead. He has expressed his desire to film them back-to-back if his schedule will allow it.