Wow!
Mid Season finale of Season 2 caught me off guard. This ranks with the best moments of the entire Living Dead Mythos that George Romero began with 67's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
It also debates why the original Ghoul Maestro's scare meter kinda loses it after the brilliant DAWN OF THE DEAD.
Why discuss Romero's films on a review for this episode of WALKING DEAD? Because it further emphasizes Frank Durabant's attraction to the graphic novels that first and foremost; it's character, character, character that must dominate the drama, to elevate the horror and the tragedy, that will ultimately carry the most impact.
I love DAY OF THE DEAD. But I didn't like it as much at the theater in 1985. The reason was the zombie character 'Bub'. Even though actor Howard Sherman's excellent portrayal of Bub may arguably stand proudly along side Boris Karloff's performance of the Frankenstein Monster, the bottom line is this:
I don't want to understand the social development of zombies.
I want to be scared of zombies! I want to be horrified by them! I want to s#*t my pants at the thought I could be ripped apart and eaten by them. And I want to be justifiably sickened and saddened when a living character is turned into one of...THEM.
That's It !!!
Beginning with DAY', continuing with LAND, and ending with SURVIVAL; Romero stayed committed with character; but lost it with the Zombies; that peaked with LAND'S unbelievable, roaring ghoul leader: Big Daddy.
WALKING DEAD returns the mythos back to Romero's orgins where it should have remained all along. For an AMC TV series; of course there's going to be slow spots as the story unravels. But that only makes the segments such as the barn door incident; and what emerges forth; having a gut punching impact, that stays with the viewer, long after the episode ends.
Nicely edited, with music swelling to an appropriate sadness, this mid season episode ends on a powerful high note. February can't come soon enough.
Mid Season finale of Season 2 caught me off guard. This ranks with the best moments of the entire Living Dead Mythos that George Romero began with 67's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
It also debates why the original Ghoul Maestro's scare meter kinda loses it after the brilliant DAWN OF THE DEAD.
Why discuss Romero's films on a review for this episode of WALKING DEAD? Because it further emphasizes Frank Durabant's attraction to the graphic novels that first and foremost; it's character, character, character that must dominate the drama, to elevate the horror and the tragedy, that will ultimately carry the most impact.
I love DAY OF THE DEAD. But I didn't like it as much at the theater in 1985. The reason was the zombie character 'Bub'. Even though actor Howard Sherman's excellent portrayal of Bub may arguably stand proudly along side Boris Karloff's performance of the Frankenstein Monster, the bottom line is this:
I don't want to understand the social development of zombies.
I want to be scared of zombies! I want to be horrified by them! I want to s#*t my pants at the thought I could be ripped apart and eaten by them. And I want to be justifiably sickened and saddened when a living character is turned into one of...THEM.
That's It !!!
Beginning with DAY', continuing with LAND, and ending with SURVIVAL; Romero stayed committed with character; but lost it with the Zombies; that peaked with LAND'S unbelievable, roaring ghoul leader: Big Daddy.
WALKING DEAD returns the mythos back to Romero's orgins where it should have remained all along. For an AMC TV series; of course there's going to be slow spots as the story unravels. But that only makes the segments such as the barn door incident; and what emerges forth; having a gut punching impact, that stays with the viewer, long after the episode ends.
Nicely edited, with music swelling to an appropriate sadness, this mid season episode ends on a powerful high note. February can't come soon enough.