BBFC report on Day of the Dead (1985)

[krakenslayer]

Day has always been one of my favourites, if only as it's the darkest of them IMHO. And the effects are stunning too. I agree. It's always been a favourite of mine, although I definitely recall a time (around the turn of the millennium, when I first got into these films) when it was less than loved by a lot of fans. The criticisms were mainly lack of action, less well developed characters, and an ambiguous ending. I understand the complaints, even though I don't agree with them. As regards more footage, I'll swear I've hear Romero stating what you see is basically everything shot. Which is a shame of course, because it would be great to see some extended scenes added to it. Yeah, I'm pretty sure there are no unseen sub-plots or action set-pieces. I still can't find the Romero interview I seem to remember, but I did find the following snippet on a fan site. It seems like whoever wrote that get the info from the same source I did, because a lot of the details ring bells for me (the hanged zombie, the strobing effect, etc.) although I am sure I've never read that FAQ before, and still reckon I heard it from Romero himself, or at least another major crew member (no, NOT Jim O'Rear! Haha!) It might have even been when I saw him in person at an interview session before the Land UK premiere in Edinburgh. That would explain why I can't find it online. Not sure, though. Were any scenes cut? There were deleted scenes, but that footage did not stick around. The original work print was 126 minutes and had to be trimmed down to 105 minutes at the most contractually. Aside from some bits of dialogue throughout (as if there is not enough talk), there were some gore/zombie shots cut out. A few zombie scenes were removed including a hung zombie that editor Pat Buba realized looked as if it had committed suicide after he became one (which wouldn't make sense), and a bridal shop scene where a zombie woman stares out a window with a live boa constrictor around her neck. The latter scene wasn't used due to the strobing effect resulted from a camera loading glitch. There was a few seconds of the zombie carrying Torrez’s head into the crowd closeup. These scenes are preserved in stills however. One zombie shot by Steel (the fifth one in the lab) before he kills himself is edited out (likely for better pacing with the score…or for poor acting on the extra's part? You decide!) If that's right, the movie was about twenty minutes longer initially, but with a few exceptions, it was mostly just longer takes of currently existing scenes.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Thanks for this, great read. What tickles me pink in laughter is that by todays standards... Day of the Dead is tame, and if made today would have probably passed without cuts, and most likely a 15 Certificate, as opposed to the dreaded 18.

[krisvds]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there are no unseen sub-plots or action set-pieces. I still can't find the Romero interview I seem to remember, but I did find the following snippet on a fan site. It seems like whoever wrote that get the info from the same source I did, because a lot of the details ring bells for me (the hanged zombie, the strobing effect, etc.) although I am sure I've never read that FAQ before, and still reckon I heard it from Romero himself, or at least another major crew member (no, NOT Jim O'Rear! Haha!) It might have even been when I saw him in person at an interview session before the Land UK premiere in Edinburgh. That would explain why I can't find it online. Not sure, though. If that's right, the movie was about twenty minutes longer initially, but with a few exceptions, it was mostly just longer takes of currently existing scenes. Could be my mind playing tricks on me, but that shot of the woman with the snake around her neck staring out of a window exists as a 'promo' photo or something. I remember seeing something like that not so long ago ... Perhaps the guys and girls on Dr. Logan's Chop shop could clear this one out because I'm fairly sure that's where I saw said picture. EDIT: And cleared up thanks to Martin Cumiskey over at the Chop Shop. The woman with the boa IS in the film. You can make her out around the 5.27 - 5.30 mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTpbJCVNHro However she was also used in publicity shots ... This could have led to the confusion. Once again Dr.Logan's Chop Shop delivers.

[MinionZombie]

I wouldn't say that an "18" certificate is "dreaded" at all ... the NC-17 is in America, for various entrenched moronic reasons ... but the UK-18 rating has no stigma at all attached to it. The only thing is that, naturally, it limits the audience, so you might have a cut by the distributor (where an uncut higher rater is available) so they can bump it to a lower rating to get more cash. Then again, Dredd is rated 18 in the UK and it went to #1 at the UK Box Office (the last time that happened was 2010 apparently) ... sure it would have made more at a 15, but by the looks of it you could never cut that movie satisfactorily for a 15 anyway. Recent examples are The Woman in Black (trimmed from a 15 to a 12A to cash-in on the Harry Potter fans), The Inbetweeners Movie (trimmed from an 18 to a 15 in a couple of scenes, and it then became the highest grossing UK comedy of all time in cinemas), and The Expendables (which trimmed 2 seconds to achieve a 15, from an 18 - a mere twist of a knife in a man's neck). It's becoming quite regular now, and while I can totally understand it from a business sense, I fear they might be going a bit far with it - Taken 2 has been decidedly trimmed to get a 12A (!!!) rather than a 15 (the first film was a 15, and later an extended 18 rated version was released, which was only different in one scene - the big torture scene with the nails in the knees etc - our 15 rated version had loads more in it than the American PG-13, which seemed to have shedloads of violence and grim-ness sliced out).

[krakenslayer]

Thanks for this, great read. What tickles me pink in laughter is that by todays standards... Day of the Dead is tame, and if made today would have probably passed without cuts, and most likely a 15 Certificate, as opposed to the dreaded 18. Yeah, it has been passed uncut on several submissions over years, up until quite recently. It retains its 18 certificate, however. A lot of stuff does get passed at 15 now, but I think Day remains an 18 due to the prolonged and painful nature of the gore (e.g. soldier getting his head ripped off, his vocal cords stretching and warping his scream). They actually publish their guidelines now, and you can get away with brutal violence at 15 only as long as the film doesn't dwell on the infliction of pain, which I think Day does more than any other film in the series. It's fine though, an 18 cert is nowhere near the kiss of death the NC-17 is in the states. Dredd is an 18, and it's number 1 in the UK chart right now.

[shootemindehead]

Thanks for this, great read. What tickles me pink in laughter is that by todays standards... Day of the Dead is tame, and if made today would have probably passed without cuts, and most likely a 15 Certificate, as opposed to the dreaded 18. Um, I dunno DJ. I think 'Day of the Dead' would still get an 18 cert today. It's seriously grim and those gore scenes still pack a real punch. In fact, they're probably the best zombie munching I yet to see. But, you're right in a way. A lot of what we saw as kids with 18 certs (NC17) would be out at a lower cert these days. 'Aliens', for example. There's no way that wouldn't pass at 15 today.

[MinionZombie]

Yeah, it has been passed uncut on several submissions over years, up until quite recently. It retains its 18 certificate, however. A lot of stuff does get passed at 15 now, but I think Day remains an 18 due to the prolonged and painful nature of the gore (e.g. soldier getting his head ripped off, his vocal cords stretching and warping his scream). They actually publish their guidelines now, and you can get away with brutal violence at 15 only as long as the film doesn't dwell on the infliction of pain, which I think Day does more than any other film in the series. It's fine though, an 18 cert is nowhere near the kiss of death the NC-17 is in the states. Dredd is an 18, and it's number 1 in the UK chart right now. Um, I dunno DJ. I think 'Day of the Dead' would still get an 18 cert today. It's seriously grim and those gore scenes still pack a real punch. In fact, they're probably the best zombie munching I yet to see. But, you're right in a way. A lot of what we saw as kids with 18 certs (NC17) would be out at a lower cert these days. 'Aliens', for example. There's no way that wouldn't pass at 15 today. My Gaelic-dwelling brethren speak sense and speak well. As far as I'm aware, Aliens is still an 18, and yes - Day of the Dead will remain as an 18 because of 'dwelling' on violence. That's the reason behind those 2 seconds of trimmed/reinstated-for-home-release footage was sliced out of The Expendables. The violence is generally fleeting in that film, but that moment proved to dwell on the infliction of violence/pain - plus knives are a touchy subject in this country. Now - Rambo - on the other hand very much dwells on violence, exceedingly so, and naturally that's an 18. Now, Night of the Living Dead was an 18 in the UK, but it's now a 15 - which makes sense. Sometimes a reason for a lowered rating is the perceived 'diminished impact with age' - The Terminator used to be an 18 in the UK (and was often shown on TV heavily censored), but a few years back it was dropped to a 15 (and is now shown on TV uncut). Dawn and Day though, because of protracted gore moments, will remain "18" for as long as the guidelines deem that level of violence/gore only suitable at 18. And, as I and others have previously stated, an 18 rating doesn't have any stigma attached to it socially, unlike the NC-17 (which I think is daft and America's moral guardians need to chill out on the NC-17 rating). Ratings range from country-to-country though. For instance, Battle Royale is rated 18 in the UK, but in Japan it was (at the time controversially) rated 15.

[Andy]

Day has always been one of my favourites, if only as it's the darkest of them IMHO. And the effects are stunning too. As regards more footage, I'll swear I've hear Romero stating what you see is basically everything shot. Which is a shame of course, because it would be great to see some extended scenes added to it. Give it another 3 years and you might get a 30th anniversary edition