The second release in Anchor Bay's outrageously titled DIVIMAX Series (remember, this is just a fancy way of saying we transferred this film to DVD) is the oft-orphaned Romero zombie flick, Day of the Dead. While Day had indeed been previously released on DVD from Anchor Bay, they've spruced this release up with some new audio, video and extras, as they tend to do when they've double dipped. While this release is not without its problems, I have to tell you that it's still a fantastic set and THE release of Day of the Dead to purchase, which should ultimately leave fans satisfied.

A couple of months ago I would've thought that a synopsis for Day of the Dead wouldn't have been necessary. However, after speaking to people about the recent release of 28 Days Later I've come to realize that far too few of the "younger generation" are familiar with Romero's work and his existing Dead Trilogy. While I enjoyed 28 Days Later (to an extent) it's still worth noting how much of that film was not only lifted from Romero's walking dead films, but also so many others.

Picking up shortly after where Dawn of the Dead had left off, we're introduced to a new band of survivors that are held up in an underground compound. Having just returned from an excursion to find any sign of more survivors, it's evidenced right from the get go that whatever's left of civilization is finally beginning to break down. While in Dawn of the Dead there was a lot of blood soaked tongue in cheek humor and a bit of lightheartedness, Day of the Dead is the start of the final emotional downward spiral and in turn is a fairly dark and demented film. Not really any one of these characters are particularly likeable, they're very disagreeable and constantly at each other's throats. In addition to the break down, there's the scientific element of trying to understand the mind of the living dead as Dr. Logan (Richard Liberty) spends his days slicing and dicing specimens open trying to find exactly what it is that makes the walking dead tick. One of his favorite specimens is a zombie named Bub (Howard Sherman) who oddly enough has an ear for classical music. The living dead aren't their only problems though as the survivors square off against each other, and their chances of survival are even thinner sans teamwork.

It pains me to hear people lashing out against Day of the Dead when it truly is an important piece to Romero's trilogy of Dead films. Sure the budgetary restrictions, MPAA and frightened investors forced Romero to cut back on his original vision, but still, Day of the Dead has the same logical progression at heart that it would have had under any other circumstances. Dawn of the Dead gave us one stage of acceptance as the characters dealt with the invasion of the living dead the only way they knew how. In Day of the Dead, society (or what's left of it) had reached the final straw, and the emotional breakdown had truly begun. When you think about Romero's ideas for a 4th Dead film, the complete acceptance of the living dead and the fact that we have to try to lead our lives among them and deal with their existence in our daily lives, it makes complete sense. I'm much more inclined to believe that Romero had this whole thing planned out from the start, rather than to believe the George Lucas claim, that he had envisioned the Star Wars saga looking the way it does today back in '77.

More sophisticated in many ways than Dawn, Day of the Dead is a much slicker looking production, another factor that divides fans. Some feel the look works for the film while others prefer the day-glo antics of Dawn. One things for sure, Tom Savini's effects are much more gruesome as are the actual zombies themselves with greater detail and character. Day has a bit more talk then Dawn as well, but towards the final act, when the shit really does hit the fan there is no shortage of the red stuff or chunks of flesh. The films score by John Harrison (Creepshow) is quite often taken under fire as well, but certainly not by me. While I dig the Goblin score and library music from Dawn of the Dead, I really love Harrison's synthesized soundtrack to Day of the Dead and think it compliments the film nicely.

Picture quality is a marked improvement over Anchor Bay's previous disc. The 16X9 image definitely helps and colors exhibit a vast improvement with deeper black levels and much more accurate blood reds. Audio options include Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS and a standard Dolby Stereo Surround mix. The absence of the films original mono is quite regrettable but it's worth noting that the new remixes stay pretty true to the films original mono with nice depth and virtually no use of the surrounds. Also, the rumors you have heard are indeed true, there are a few moments of "looped" dialogue, but the instances are so few and far between that it's hardly even something worth discussing. I'm sure that purists will be pissed, but it takes a well-trained ear to pick up on these things, the casual viewer will probably not even notice. In the end, it really just doesn't matter, nor does it make a heck of a difference. Anyway, not like the color corrected Halloween DVD that also seems to have fans in an uproar.

Extras on the first disc include two feature length commentaries. The first with George Romero, Tom Savini, Production Designer Cletus Anderson and actress Lori Cardille which I found to be a great listen. The second track with filmmaker Roger Avary is mostly forgettable, comments on the film from a fan boys perspective. Disc 2 brings home the mother load with The Many Days of Day of the Dead a 39-minute documentary featuring behind the scenes footage and current interviews with the cast and crew, it's a great piece. Nest up are 31 minutes of behind the scenes footage courtesy of Tom Savini, consisting mostly of FX footage and zombie make up applications. Some of these stories we've heard already many times over (especially if you've seen Scream Greats; although the story of the fridge getting unplugged never gets old). There are also plenty of still galleries, trailers, TV spots etc. to keep you busy as well. DVD Rom features include the original full version of Romero's script, which includes many scenes that were never filmed. The die cut digi-pak design is cool, but I have to wonder how well it will hold up over the years. I really dig the note-pad liner notes found inside provided by Michael Felsher of Anchor Bay. From an artistic standpoint, it's very cool looking and Felsher's notes are definitely worthwhile.

Aside from the audio faux pas, this edition of Day of the Dead comes highly recommended. If you're on the fence about this one, there's no better time than the present to rediscover one of the true greats in horror history.