Survival Of The Dead - Alas, poor George, I knew him well 

And so during these times of zombie movies everywhere you look, the grand master of the genre returns with his latest offering. Depending on what sort of (zombie) movies you like will determine which of George's original saga you prefer the most - if you like your horror `pure' then 'Night of the Living Dead' will be for you, if you like action - see 'Dawn of the Dead,' while, on the other hand, a darker take on the zombie genre goes to the third installment 'Day of the Dead' and finally a more modern `Resident Evil' touch with 'Land of the Dead.'

Then George decided to `reboot' the franchise set in modern times with 'Diary of the Dead.' Whatever you think of it - it bombed. Neither fans of George or new cinema-goers liked it. So... where does he go from there? Does he learn from his mistake and go back to something more successful, i.e. perhaps a combination of 'Night/Dawn of the Dead?'

The answer, sadly, is no.

'Survival of the Dead' is probably the most disappointing film of recent times. Not because it was bad. It's okay. Simply because it could have been so much better. It doesn't have much of a budget, but George is good at working round such limitations. After over thirty years spent making horror movies, this instalment comes across as if it was written by a horror-freshman.

If you've ever gone onto the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com) and looked up movies, sometimes people post in the forums sarcastic topics like `100 things I learned from xxx.' Then they go on to list all the plot holes and things that don't make sense. Unfortunately, 'Survival of the Dead' is one long list of things that don't make sense. Its ultimate downfall is the characters. Not only are they pretty wafer-thin, but they do the most stupid and random things. To start one such list off I'd begin...

1. When most of the world has been killed by zombies, the remaining humans think it's a really good idea to keep them alive

2. Stroking a hungry zombie, no matter how lovingly, will get you bitten

3. If you have six bullets in your gun and there are twenty zombies coming towards you, just use up all your ammunition - the undead will surely give up and not eat you

4. Finally, when the world is going to hell and the dead are coming back to life and attacking the living, it's far more important to kill the remaining humans while dragging up old grievances

You probably get where I'm going with this.

The whole film is just a mess. Characters go from being good to bad to who knows what in a matter of scenes. No one makes any sane decision throughout the whole ninety minutes, therefore leaving you not that bothered when they either turn to zombie chow or shoot each other because they suddenly feel like it.

Is 'Survival of the Dead' the last of George A Romero's films? He probably thought not. I daresay it is. Pity. It could have been so good. 

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Kruger was haunting your nights