This is the first work that George Romero worked on with a studio (Orion Pictures), instead of his independent production system. Considering the firm and avant-garde conventions of the zombie film genre expressed in his so-called “Dead Trilogy,” which started with Dawn of the Dead (1968), this film is quite refined and may seem too plain. That is why it received less attention compared to other works of his. Still, its metaphors regarding the world of the zombies remains unchanged. Allan (played by Jason Beghe) is paralyzed after a car accident, and stays at home in his wheelchair. He is basically locked in his own body. His scientist friend Geoffrey (played by John Pankow) introduces Allan to a monkey named Ella, which was injected with the culture fluid of a human brain cell to become highly intelligent. Although Ella helps and communes with Allan, at some point, she shows extreme aggression toward those who make Allan angry. Created from humanity’s evil ambition and animal testing, Ella is neither an animal nor a human. She is a new, hybrid, and unidentified species. Beyond serving as a representative who expresses and puts into action Allan’s anger, Ella puts action to her own desires and rage. Ella, who moves beyond human control and becomes a subject of fear, may not be a typical zombie character, but she still fits as a variation on the form. The film is shadowed by the shock felt when a friend becomes an enemy, and by the nightmarish fear that figures like Ella may already exist inside every human being and may exist forever. (JEONG Ji-hye)