George Romero’s first two entries in the “Night of the Living Dead” series are undisputed horror classics. In 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead” and its 1978 sequel “Dawn of the Dead,” Romero created the template for modern zombie films, redefining the zombie genre and influencing every other zombie-related film, TV show, comic, or video game that came after. 

While Romero’s third entry in the “Living Dead” series, 1985’s “Day of the Dead,” tends to get overshadowed by its predecessors, it’s still an inventive zombie movie and one of Romero’s most underrated works.

Taking place months after nearly the entire world’s population have become zombies, “Day of the Dead” focuses on a group of scientists stationed at a military facility in Florida attempting to find a way for mankind to survive. The researchers come into conflict with the increasingly unhinged soldiers guarding the facility.

Like Romero’s previous “Living Dead” movies, “Day of the Dead” was a box office success when released in 1985, grossing $34.4 million on a budget of $3.5 million. However, some critics felt the movie failed to live up to the standards of “Night of the Living Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead,” with The Dissolve calling it “disappointing.” Other critics found the film to be a memorable depiction of a post-apocalyptic Florida, and a fitting enough conclusion to Romero’s zombie series — which it was, up until 2005’s “Land of the Dead.”