It’s not surprising that George Romero’s latest zombie film, Survival of the Dead, had a hard time getting US distribution. I really enjoyed the film (read my Fantastic Fest review here) but it’s a highly stylized work that is probably more a love letter to Westerns than it is an obvious zombie film. But that’s the beauty of it – Romero uses the genre he created as a way to explore other genres that he loves, and I think he made a fairly strong film while doing so.
American audiences were wondering if they would ever get a chance to see the film, which is getting released in the UK soon. There’s good news – Magnet, the genre arm of Magnolia, has picked up the film. They’re going to do one of their patented VOD launches, putting the movie on your local cable provider’s video on demand a month before it hits theaters. This means you’re not going to have to wait for Survival of the Dead to wend its way through a few dozen arthouses before you finally get to see it.
There’s no firm date on the release, just sometime in the spring. We’ll keep you up to date on when you can enjoy Romero’s sixth zombie film from the comfort of your living room.