 A film in three minutes, Day of the Dead. When you stop and think about some of the horror genre's most tried and tested classic archetypes, what images spring to mind for you? The terrifying serial killer with awful deformities and seemingly unstoppable zeal? Murderous werewolves or seductive vampires motivated by some twisted curse of nature? But then there is what arguably has become the most iconic and mass produced creature to come out of the entire horror mythos, namely the zombie. And if there is one filmmaker whose body of work is as much a part of the great pantheon of zombie cinema as one that has shaped and defined it for decades, then that person would be George A Romero, with one of the best examples of his zombie filled craft being his 1985 cult classic, Day of the Dead. Acting as the third instalment in Romero's Night of the Living Dead series, Day of the Dead story takes place in a remote underground bunker in the Florida Everglades, where what few survivors are left desperately attempt to find a cure for the zombie apocalypse that has plagued the earth. However, tensions slowly boil over between Dr. Sarah Bowman, played by Laurie Cardil, and the psychotic Captain Rhodes, played by Joseph Palato, who challenges the disturbing and unorthodox methods of Dr. Logan, whose manic attempts at training a docile zombie known as Bub put into question his scientific method and very own sanity, whilst the wider team slowly begins to turn on each other. It's safe to say that if you are weak of stomach, then Day of the Dead probably won't be easy viewing, as all of the rotting, stinking and disintegrating ingredients that make a classic Romero zombie film are present here. Maker Perfect's wizard Tom Savini collaborated with Romero once again after the mega successful Dawn of the Dead to provide another stomach churning feast for the eyes, which at times leaves you awestruck, if perhaps also deeply unsettled. But rather than the walking undead, it's the living characters that provide much of the film's true tension, as the twisted, deteriorating personalities of the survivors gradually begin to fall apart. Palato's over-the-top performance as the demented Captain Rhodes steals many of the film's best lines. However, Laurie Cardil's turn at portraying the steely, determined and resourceful Sarah makes her one of the horror genre's most under-appreciated heroines. This character tension too is helped greatly by the use of a claustrophobic environment of a former mineshaft, where the majority of production took place. The film's bleak setting, combined with an excellent and perfectly retro 80s score composed by John Harrison, cements the cult classic reputation of what the director himself has said was his favourite film in his zombie trilogy. A movie whose impact still makes all zombie fans smile and reminds us why George A. Romero truly is the father of zombie cinema.