Dead Places
Any self-respecting paramilitary team is going to make sure they are far away from cities when they hole up on a governmentally-thrown-together research project in South Florida... particularly during the undead apocalypse. Our heroes in Day of the Dead managed to find the perfect "sewer" to "rot" in, complete with some interesting exterior locations, to boot.
Where was this place really located, you ask? Well, we would like to inform you that the entirety of the underground bunker/storage facility/missle silo was indeed located beneath the high Florida water table. Unfortunately, we aren't quite able to do that with a straight face. We can, however, present you with a few of the external locations of this fate-laden facility, as well as some other interesting tidbits, courtesy of a lovely little island called Sanibel. Florida, that is.
Despite what one might think, Sanibel island is quite the tourist trap, but it benefits from being just remote and overgrown enough to seem very distant from the nearby Florida shore. The followup shots to the Fort Myers evacuation during the opening sequences of Day of the Dead lead us deep into the wildnerness, over water and brush, to some unknown location, far from civilization, yet still plagued by legions of the dead. It's lovely in Summer, too.
The entirety of the Sanibel Island filming of Day of the Dead took place in a Florida state park known as Bowman's Beach, on the Western shore of the island. This includes the helipad, the fenced in area containing it (along with the faux elevator door, the graves, the fuel tanks, ad nauseum), and the beach itself from the final scene.
Let's have a look. And let's take a moment to acknowledge our friends Eric Kent and Lee Karr for pointing us in the right direction for these particular spots. Thanks a bunch, guys.
DISCLAIMER: It should be noted that although the following locations are technically on public land, some of them are fenced in for a reason. Should you make the trek here, you are at your own peril to disregard latticed, metal objects obviously designed to deter people from entering. Don't pull a Miguel without understanding the potential consequences. Also, for goodness sake, if you're going to park in the public lot for the beach, feed the meter. You have been warned.
The fenced-in area,
looking through the East gate, Westward. The road leads to the helipad
(creating an interesting sperm-like image from overhead). Fuel tanks are
behind the RV and the shed. The windsock is even present, though slightly
less battered than its counterpart in the film.
The South fence, past
the helipad, toward the West end of the field. We can see the fuel tanks,
both old and new, as well as the RV. The edge of the helipad can also
be seen on the ground. The fence seems to be extremely poorly anchored
here, and this is the only viable candidate for the location of the gate
where Miguel sealed the deal and invited all his friends to lunch. However,
no gate is present. The South gate can be reached from a trail that begins
in the parking lot of the state park. The trail was likely an access road
to a Southern gate, twenty or so years ago.
This is the view from
the far West end of the field. The empty area here was likely the location
of the graves, as well as the false top of the elevator shaft. The great
width of the field itself can be appreciated with this shot, though the
hike through the blistering Florida wilderness that it took to get this
shot cannot.
A shot from outside
the gated entrance to the airfield. For all of our ability to assume,
the gate seems absolutely identical to the gate from the film. The pavement
on the access road is new, however. In this particular shot, we are standing
in a small path that leads off to the right. When our heroes scale the
silo ladder and come around to open the gate from the outside, this path
is where they emerge, but in reality, it only goes back a few feet.
Finally, this is as
close as we're going to get for the time being in terms of the final shots
of Day of the Dead. This beach is a literal stone's throw from the airfield
itself, as it occupies the same government land, but the acutal beach
stretches for several miles up and down the Western shore of Sanibel Island.
At the risk of copping out completely, it seem this about covers the beach.
Unless, of course, you're like those few people on the left, who seem
to have decided that skin cancer was a good idea afterall.
All words and images Copyright 2006, Dead Places. Reproduction without express permission is prohibited. Contact.