Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead is a 1985 film from the USA, directed by George A. Romero, running 100 minutes. reelscum files it under zombie and splatter.
- Year
- 1985 · 1980s films
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Director
- George A. Romero
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- canon (13/100)
- Also known as
- George A. Romero's Day of the Dead · El Dia de los Muertos
Defined in the glossary: Zombie, Splatter
The bleakest Romero. Bub is the only sympathetic character in it.
The bleakest and most claustrophobic of Romero's original trilogy. A handful of soldiers and scientists bunker underground as the dead rule the surface, and the real horror is the humans tearing each other apart in the dark. Bub, a partly-domesticated zombie learning to remember, is the only sympathetic character in it.
It was too grim and gory for audiences in 1985 and has been reappraised since as maybe Romero's angriest film. Tom Savini's effects are his career best. The claustrophobia is the point.
Nihilistic, talky and upsetting. The trilogy's dark heart.
Trailer
The numbers
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Where to watch
Legal options in USA
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The cycle in depth
- Gut-munchers: the Italian zombie boom, 1979 to 1983
There was no first one. Argento recut Romero, Fulci forged the sequel, and Italy spent four years feeding the British censors.
Filed alongside
Dawn of the Dead
A shopping mall, four survivors, and Savini's finest hour.
The Return of the Living Dead
Punk soundtrack, running zombies, and the film that invented 'BRAINS'.
Braindead
Jackson before the trilogy. The lawnmower scene ends the argument.
Re-Animator
Where the effects and the writing finally matched. Jeffrey Combs is perfect.
Zombi 2
A zombie fights a shark. Fulci's splinter shot is still the worst thing here.
White Zombie
Lugosi, Haitian folklore, and the first zombie film. No eating involved.
The Beyond
Makes no sense whatsoever and is Fulci's best film. Dream logic, fully committed.
Bad Taste
Shot at weekends over four years by Jackson and his friends. Astonishing.
I Walked with a Zombie
Val Lewton doing Jane Eyre in the Caribbean. Beautiful and barely horror.
The Evil Dead II
Remake and sequel at once. Raimi discovers slapstick and never looks back.
The Toxic Avenger
Troma's only good film, and the head-crushing is still funny.
Ichi the Killer
Miike hands out sick bags at the premiere and earns every one of them.