Survival of the Dead-George a Romeros (Blu-ray) (2009)

"The tone this time out is primarily comic.  Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
""Lousy times make lousy people," someone opines, and maybe that's the point Romero's trying to drive home.  Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Editor's Note 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 hesitating to put a bullet between their eyes; the Muldoons balk at the prospect of killing their gut-munching loved ones, instead opting to care for their rotting kinfolk until scientists find a cure for the undead scourge. As the division between the two families grows deeper and wider, Crocket and his men realize that on Plum Island, the zombies are the least of their worries.

	Kenneth Welsh
	Richard Fitzpatrick
	Alan Van Sprang
	Devon Bostick
	Kathleen Munroe
	Athena Karkanis - Co-Star
	Stefano Dimatteo - Co-Star
	Eric Woolfe - Co-Star
	Joris Jarsky - Co-Star
	George A. Romero - Screenwriter
	Adam Swica - Director of Photography
	Robert Carli - Composer
	Stephen Barden - Sound
	Jill Purdy - Sound
	Francois Dagenais - Special Makeup Effects
	Julian Richings - Co-Star
	Wayne Robson - Co-Star
	Gregory Nicotero - Creative Consultant
	Gregory Nicotero - Special Effects
	George A. Romero - Director

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he film pulses with the writer/director's signature blood-black humour..." 02/23/2010

Los Angeles Times
3 stars out of 5 -- "Romero is using better actors than in the past....The menu includes new and creative ways to make heads detonate..." 05/28/2010

Sight and Sound
"Romero and his effects team have lost none of their relish for dark grotesquerie..." 07/01/2010

The Hollywood Reporter 7 of 10
George A. Romero's latest zombie fest, "Survival of the Dead," is a polished, fast-moving, entertaining picture whose mainstream success will depend on audiences' tolerance of its tendency to become an abattoir of extreme carnage...Zombie aficionados will feast on the inventive and often funny ways that the genre king -- with the help of special effects makeup artist Francois Dagenais and visual effects supervisor Colin Davies -- contrives to show heads exploding and bodies being blown apart...True to the form with savvy cultural points, clever wit and a nice twist on what might happen to the newly deceased, "Dead" should make a tidy boxoffice killing...Romero keeps his script simple and direct. The world is in crisis, with 53 million people dying each year but refusing to stay dead. The deadheads, as they're now called, feed on live humans, who then become deadheads. And so on...On Plum Island off the coast of Delaware, two Irish families, the O'Flynns and the Muldoons, are continuing their lifelong feud by disagreeing on how zombies should be treated. Rascally O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh) is all for blowing them to pieces, no matter that they were once members of the family. Stern Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick) believes they should be chained up and held to await the development of a cure...As the film opens, the feud has exploded, and Muldoon puts O'Flynn onto a boat to return to the mainland. There, meanwhile, a small band of soldiers led by Sarge (Alan Van Sprang) has turned outlaw, robbing others to stay supplied with food and ammunition and reducing deadheads to dead bodies whenever they encounter them...They are seeking a relative safe haven, and through a quick series of events, they end up going to Plum Island with the exiled, vengeful O'Flynn in tow, little knowing that besides having deadheads to worry about they are now heading into a violent turf war...Made in Canada with a Canadian cast, the film is expert in all areas, with Sprang a plausible leader and Welsh and Fitzpatrick old hands as the two faces of Irish charm. The mayhem includes heads responding explosively to the effects of fire extinguishers, flares and blades, besides the usual assault weapons. It's surprisingly good fun. - Ray Bennett