 Ordinarily studios don't even bother showing horror movies to critics in advance of their release. But director George A. Romero, who has become a virtual legend in the film business with such fright films as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, is obviously an exception, since he commands the kind of respect that other film makers of that genre only dream of. It's all evident in many of the reviews of his latest film, Land of the Dead. "The godfather of the modern zombie flick shows us how it's done right: With fleet pacing, well-timed shocks and a stealthy satiric edge," writes Gene Seymour in Newsday. David Hiltbrand in the Philadelphia Inquirer declares: "The zombie king ... returns with his most ingenious and ambitious zombie film yet." Bob Strauss in the Los Angeles Daily News hails the movie as "certainly the best-crafted film Romero has ever made." But Bob Longino in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution isn't about to accept Romero's credentials as a master filmmaker, writing: "Aside from the sick ick, there's really not too much 'master' going on here." And while Steve Persall concludes in the St. Petersburg Times: "Romero originally planned a trilogy; this fourth movie takes us to the flesh trough one too many times", the major critics are, ingeneral, lauding "Land of the Dead" as Romero's best and freshest work. |
