Day of the Dead
United Film Distribution Company (UFDC) | Release Date: July 19, 1985 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
4
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Slant MagazineEric Henderson
Here, a pessimistic Romero dares to tackle the very essence of man’s inhumanity to man. And in the end, Day of the Dead is every bit as compelling and unsettling as its more lauded predecessors. Read full review
100
EmpireKim Newman
It's an intelligent, well-written, excellently played movie, with top flight gore/horror effects, perverse humour and a provocatively bleak vision. Also, it has the world's first true zombie hero in Bub, who listens to Beethoven and eats people. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonStaff (Not Credited)
Tense rather than terrifying, and with a strong black comic undercurrent, it rests on the mordant observation that zombies or no zombies, chances are the living will tear each other apart. A fitting conclusion to a remarkably astute series, a landmark in the horror genre. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Day of the Dead has a less startling setting, since most of it takes place underground. But it still affords Mr. Romero the opportunity for intermittent philosophy and satire, without compromising his reputation as the grisliest guy around. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Day Of The Dead is more like Romero's scorching 1973 satire The Crazies, in which anarchy reigns and the very concept of heroes dissolves. The action at the end is lurid, made giddily disgusting by Tom Savini's amazing gore effects, and made gripping by Romero's gift for the cold logic of systemic breakdown. Still, some audiences may give up early, fed up with the shrill claustrophobia. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck Bowen
Any real zombie fan knows that political parable and decomposing cannibal corpse gore go together like peanut butter and jelly, but Day of the Dead found the subgenre’s reigning master and poet-in-residence mismanaging the proper ratios a bit. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Fans of the first two films in the series may be a bit dismayed by Day of the Dead's deemphasis of gory action in favor of characterization, but the need to exploit the horror of the situation has passed and the film works by concentrating instead on its implications and possible solution. The standard 1950s sci-fi/horror film conflict between science and the military is also resurrected here, with distinct political overtones. Read full review
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