Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...
... to the third instalment of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" in which I aim to recommend something wonderfully wicked for you to watch EVERY WEDNESDAY between now and October 31st !!
Having begun this series of posts with a look at "Night of the Living Dead", for the first episode of "Wicked Watch Wednesday", and then followed it up with "Dawn of the Dead" last week, it seems only right to suggest the 1985 sequel to those films as the subject matter for this followup post. Those of you who read those earlier posts may recall my mentioning that "Night of the Living Dead" (NoTLD) may well have been the original inspiration for the (current) popular TV series, "The Walking Dead", and that "Dawn of the Dead" could easily pass as a 'blueprint' for some of the storyline(s) in that particular zombie-based television series. This third film in the original "Trilogy of the Dead", was clearly also a source of inspiration for "The Walking Dead", with it's scientists in underground bunkers, dwindling supplies, loss of communication with other survivors and someone to entertain the idea of the zombies (eventually) becoming domesticated. Despite being released to U.S. audiences in July 1985, it was over a year later (12th September 1986) before the film hit British cinemas but, when it did, here is the poster which would have greeted cinema-goers in the UK when it first screened on these shores:-
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ORIGINAL BRITISH QUAD POSTER.....................IMAGE SOURCE: VeryAware.com
Once more directed by George A. Romero, but this time starring Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Richard Liberty, Jarlath Conroy and Anthony Dileo Jr. (amongst others) plus Sherman Howard (credited as 'Howard Sherman'), in the role of 'Bub' (a docile zombie). The film follows the exploits of a small group of scientists and military personnel who reside in an underground bunker while the world above is overrun by zombies. The scientists are using the undead to perform a series of gruesome experiments, much to the chagrin of the military, but are themselves banished to the very caves that are being used to house the undead when the military discover that some of their own have also been used in these experiments. Meanwhile, the zombies from above ground have got into the bunker... but, can anyone escape now 'The Dead' have waited and (it seems) their day has come?!! Anyway, for those yet to see this "cult classic", here's a brief taster courtesy of the original trailer:-
If you'd like to know more there's a full list of the cast & credits on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) listing for "Day Of The Dead", FOUND HERE, which also includes a full storyline / plot summary as well as box office stats, technical specs & much more. For die-hard fans, there is even more information to be had from the Wikipedia Page for "Day Of The Dead", VIA THIS LINK, which may help to fuel your appetite for (yet) another screening. Although, if you're as much of a fan as I am, you probably won't take too much persuading to watch it again !!
As with many of the films I've highlighted thus far, the best recommendation I can make as to which of the available Roku channels you could use to watch this movie is to suggest "YouTube" as your first port-of-call on account of the vast number of horror movies which, thanks to this channel and it's associated apps, are now readily available to stream via your Roku player(s) whenever you choose.
YOUTUBE.......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
If you haven't already added it to your channel selection, you'll find "YouTube" listed among the "Internet TV" channels in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store and you can easily add it to your Roku player(s) by navigating to the built-in 'Channel Store' from the home screen and scrolling through the options until you see the (above) channel icon. It's completely FREE-TO-ADD as well as being FREE-TO-VIEW so, once you've located it in the list of channels, just click the "OK" button on your Roku remote to select it and then click "OK" again where it says 'Add channel' to install it on your Roku player(s). Having done that, it's simply a case of launching the channel via the 'Go to channel' option & navigating the on-screen menu to play "Day Of The Dead" on your Roku which, for the record, runs to 1h 40mins and can be found at:-
LINK TO MOVIE: "Day Of The Dead (1985) George A Romero" on 'YouTube'
PLEASE NOTE:- That whilst this particular 'YouTube' video does feature English-language audio for the soundtrack (as you might expect) it also CONTAINS EMBEDDED SUBTITLES in a foreign language that, as far as I can tell, CANNOT BE REMOVED prior to watching. So, if this is likely to be a problem for you, I suggest you seek out an alternative means of watching. Personally, I have no aversion to the subtitles & suffer little distraction as a result... however, others may feel differently !!
Meanwhile, to add a little more of that cinematic experience, here's a few of the other posters that movie-goers would have encountered depending on their particular location around the world:-
Meanwhile, to add a little more of that cinematic experience, here's a few of the other posters that movie-goers would have encountered depending on their particular location around the world:-
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ORIGINAL USA POSTER.....................IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art
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ORIGINAL FRENCH POSTER............IMAGE SOURCE: FlickFacts.com
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ORIGINAL GERMAN POSTER.............IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art
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ORIGINAL JAPANESE POSTER...........IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art
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ALTERNATIVE JAPANESE POSTER...IMAGE SOURCE: Wrong Side Of The Art
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ORIGINAL SPANISH POSTER.............IMAGE SOURCE: FlickFacts.com
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For further movie memorabilia pertaining to "Day Of The Dead", I suggest that you visit a website called "Homepage of the Dead", FOUND HERE, where you'll find everything from posters, t-shirts, lobby cards, movie stills, button badges, DVD covers & much, MUCH MORE from around the globe. Another interesting site containing further DVD Cover / Poster images, as well as 'Fan Art Posters' for the "Day of the Dead" movie, comes in the shape of "FlickFacts.com" and their dedicated page for the "Day Of The Dead" movie can be found VIA THIS LINK. Those of you who make the effort to pay them a visit will find that the site contains one or two items not found on the "Homepage of the Dead" and/or "Wrong Side Of The Art" websites... which should appeal to die-hard fans !!
Finally, to round-off this third instalment of "Wicked Watch Wednesday" on 'Day Fifteen' of the annual 'Countdown To Halloween', comes a few more FRIGHTENINGLY FUN FILM FACTS for you... in addition to directing the movie "Day of the Dead", George A. Romero has a cameo role in the film (just as he did in "Dawn of the Dead" before it) only this time he plays the role of a zombie seen pushing a cart, in the foreground of the picture, during the final zombie feast. He can be seen only from the waist down... but can be easily identified by his trademark plaid scarf which is wrapped around his waist !!
Another interesting, if somewhat gross, fact is that the blood and entrails used in certain scenes from this movie were actually real... I kid you not !! Pig intestines and blood were procured from a nearby slaughterhouse for just that purpose. However, at some stage during the filming, the refrigerator that was being used to store the blood & intestines was unplugged by custodial staff. This led to the entrails starting to spoil which, in turn, caused most of the personnel involved to be physically sick. Having said that, the odour may have added a further sense of "realism" for the actors involved in those scenes !!
The gross-outs were not all "accidental" either... because, during a holiday break in filming, make-up artist Greg Nicotero used the realistic and gruesome model of his own head (as used in a laboratory scene in the film) to play a practical joke on his mother !!
As for the location(s) used... the underground facility was not merely a "soundstage", as you might expect, but (rather) a former limestone mine (near Pittsburgh) called, 'The Wampum Mine', which you may be interested to learn is today being used as a 2, 500, 000 square foot "subsurface storage facility" now known as the 'Gateway Commerce Center'... could be the ideal place to store your Hallowe'en props & decor, if you happen to live in the area?!!
Another interesting, if somewhat gross, fact is that the blood and entrails used in certain scenes from this movie were actually real... I kid you not !! Pig intestines and blood were procured from a nearby slaughterhouse for just that purpose. However, at some stage during the filming, the refrigerator that was being used to store the blood & intestines was unplugged by custodial staff. This led to the entrails starting to spoil which, in turn, caused most of the personnel involved to be physically sick. Having said that, the odour may have added a further sense of "realism" for the actors involved in those scenes !!
The gross-outs were not all "accidental" either... because, during a holiday break in filming, make-up artist Greg Nicotero used the realistic and gruesome model of his own head (as used in a laboratory scene in the film) to play a practical joke on his mother !!
As for the location(s) used... the underground facility was not merely a "soundstage", as you might expect, but (rather) a former limestone mine (near Pittsburgh) called, 'The Wampum Mine', which you may be interested to learn is today being used as a 2, 500, 000 square foot "subsurface storage facility" now known as the 'Gateway Commerce Center'... could be the ideal place to store your Hallowe'en props & decor, if you happen to live in the area?!!
In the meantime, for those of you seeking even more tidbits of trivia from the "Day of the Dead" movie, you should check out the detailed listing on the IMDB website, FOUND HERE, where you will find an abundance of interesting film facts that should keep you occupied for quite some time !!
Anyway, that's all for today... just remember to come back in 24-hours for 'Day Sixteen' and more Hallowe'en-themed content, courtesy of "Another CreatureFeature Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku", when I will reveal the next devilish drink for "Toxic Tipple Thursday", and (again) this time next week for another "Wicked Watch Wednesday" as we continue our "Countdown To Hallowe'en" 2014...
Fangs (as always) for reading !!
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