MovieChat Forums > Day of the Dead (1985) Discussion > Why did Miguel decide to kill everyone?

Why did Miguel decide to kill everyone?

posted 2 years ago by Oskar (300)
7 replies | jump to latest

I used to think "Zombieness" was taking over his mind, but that doesn't really make sense.

[–] Levtones (594) 2 years ago

I think the stress of the apocalypse had completely changed him for the worst. He'd had enough of being treated like shit by the men, and letting the zombies into the complex was his final "fuck you" to them.

[–] Oskar (300) 2 years ago

But murder by zombie?! That's so far that it erases any sympathy for him tbh. Especially as his friends (and girlfriend!) were equally endangered, Plot Armour aside.

A more acceptable fuck you would have been irreparably destroying the elevating platform.

[–] Lord Rake (4469) a year ago

This is one instance where the bad guys were 100% right and the good guys 100% wrong driven by feelings. There was no way to get Miguel back to a normal functioning person and any attempt to do so was diverting time, resources and focus away from other problems.
He was losing his mind from the stress, his motives and thinking after losing his arms don't really matter because he was already gone mentally. Also, you might want to consider that Miguel might have been an ass before his mind went.

[–] OuterSpace (128) 7 months ago

Not quite. He was visibly cracking but not only were no attempts made to take him off duty, they kept putting him in situations where he would be a danger to the people involved, which he ultimately became. If Rhodes and co. sequestered him or did anything Sarah suggested, things would not have ended the way they did.

[–] whynotwriteme (7725) 7 months ago

Miguel was a whiny, insufferable ass from the getgo. No idea what Sarah ever saw in him. She would have been better off with Bill or John.

[–] Lord Rake (4469) 7 months ago

I guess they could have taken him off duty but it would not have helped anything longterm. The isolation and despair of the zombie apocalypse were breaking him down. They would have been right if they'd just cast him out, or after he lost his arm they should have just done away with him. She is so concerned about having gotten the arm off in time but for what? He was useless at that point and possibly infected, the bad guys were right in the sense that he was a lost cause.

[–] OuterSpace (128) 7 months ago

Yeah once he was bitten he was basically finished but both sides were caught in a standoff and there was really no choice but to leave him with Sarah and others, lest both groups start shooting at each other over this guy.

Still, he was clearly becoming deranged and if they weren't willing to take him off duty, at least don't let him handle the pole during the zombie wrangling. They had a much more capable person handling the gate while they were trusting Miguel with their lives...and we see how that went. Coupled with the earlier fiasco, very bad decisions being made.