Walking After Midnight: The Making of Survival of the Dead review.
A hands (and teeth) on look at George A. Romero’s final film.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Streaming exclusively on SCREAMBOX July 26.
Walking After Midnight
Directed by Michael Felsher
Starring George A. Romero
Walking After Midnight: The Making of Survival of the Dead Review
There’s a good chance that Survival of the Dead will be the last of the Romero zombie saga you remember when pressed to name them. Hell…there’s a good chance some non-Romero directed offshoots will slip in there first. It holds several unfortunate distinctions among Romero’s six Dead films. It’s the least financially successful, holds the lowest critical approval, and, most unfortunately, it is the last film he ever made. Those first two facts and figures may make a documentary about the making of said film feel like an odd choice. The third makes it, at the very least, an interesting historical time capsule.
Walking After Midnight takes us back to 2008. The US Presidential election is in full swing. The father of the zombie film is in production for the final time. Thanks to Detroit filmmaker Michael Felsher…we’re right there with him. Felsher’s documentary brings us into the action. It covers the first day of production on a still untitled Dead movie through its festival premiere in Toronto. Most notably, Romero conducts a sit-down interview following the completion of filming.
The timing of these things is important. No one involved knows how badly the eventually titled Survival of the Dead will be received. They aren’t worrying about how poorly it would perform financially. It is, as it should be, about the movie. Given the legendary genre creating master at the helm…it’s also about legacy. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone on set who isn’t excited about their place in a George A. Romero production. We hear their candid thoughts on it straight from the set. While Felsher includes standard sit-down conversations from the set…there are a fair share of quick asides following a take as well.
Which means, above all, we’re getting to watch Romero work. Not just work…but work on a zombie picture. Felsher takes us through several days of production. Feet away from Romero’s own camera. This is invaluable stuff for fans of cinema. To have this type of access to effects tests through completed application…it’s worth its weight in gold. These candid on set moments comprise the majority of Walking After Midnight.
Romero’s post-mortem interview on the production provides far more insight into what he was thinking. It’s here that you can tell he carried reservations about the success of his work this time around. The production was rushed due to the surprise success of Diary of the Dead. Romero, who spent most of his career fighting to get his zombie movies before a camera, knew he could capitalize on Diary’s reception. What he didn’t have, however, was a reason to make Survival. His series had prided itself on targeting whatever it is that Romero wanted to comment on. This time…he put the cart before the horse.
Eventually, Romero explains, he worked out that Survival would be about war. Taking influences from westerns…Survival aimed for a more cinematic style than his previous entry. In a bad omen too on the nose to be believed…it rained on the production nearly every day. Romero lays out the difficulty of the shoot. He often had to walk away from shots he knew he needed and settle for something he could accomplish. There are always compromises, he notes…but Survival was almost entirely built on them.
If George Romero knew he wasn’t getting what he wanted…it didn’t impact his cast and crew. Despite the cold, wet difficulty of the outdoor shoot…this group of people were thrilled by the experience. That’s the difference between being a legendary filmmaker and getting to work with a legendary filmmaker. Romero places most of the blame on the weather…but you get the feeling that he knew this was likely to be his final zombie foray…and that he didn’t stick the landing. You couldn’t tell that to his crew. For them, the making of Survival of the Dead was a career highlight.
Those hoping for extended discussions about Romero’s filmography won’t find it here. Walking After Midnight is strictly about the production of Survival of the Dead. Filmed as it was happening. There are nods, of course. Offhand mentions about the history of the franchise. The legend of which hangs over every smile from every crew member Felsher’s camera catches. You walk away thinking that Romero views things differently. That his final statement was as far away from his opening salvo as it could be. And that he still wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Scare Value
Survival of the Dead is the least of Romero’s zombie saga in a lot of ways. The least well received…least watched…least prepared for the spotlight. While there is no denying that his final zombie film fails to end his saga on a high note…any opportunity to gain a stronger understanding on his thought (and filming) process is more than welcome. Walking After Midnight puts us right in the thick of the film’s production. A portrait of a master at work on something that he never gains full control over.
3/5
Walking After Midnight: The Making of Survival of the Dead Link:
Streaming on SCREAMBOX July 26
