As dead people continue to slowly take over the world, four survivors- TV newscaster Fran (Gaylen Ross), her helicopter flying boyfriend Stephen (David Emge) and two SWAT soldiers Peter (Ken Foree) and Roger (Scott Reiniger) – take sanctuary in a giant shopping mall, sealing the doors and creating a microcosm world as well as a hideout.
Directed by the great George A. Romero, this zombie film is fantastic to watch, and is about as “real” as a zombie movie can get. Being filmed during 1978, the mall that our survivors reside in is filled with some of the best late-seventies garb, including an ice rinks, mink coats, and, or course, escalators.
The zombies themselves aren’t very scary in this film. They are slow, green, and seem relatively stupid. Human greed and over-confidence seems to kill of our survivors, not the scheming of the zombies. In the opening sequence, one soldier die due to his prejudice, and we also get to see the awesome make-up artist Tom Savini create a pretty realistic head explosion as the zombies invade the inner city projects.
Like the rest of Romero’s zombie films, the focus is on how ordinary people react in extraordinary situations. As in “Night of the Living Dead”, Romero makes one of the heroes an African American, which I think is great due to the fact that most heroes in the 1970’s weren’t minorities, and if they were, they were played by Richard Roundtree.
This year is the 25th anniversary of “Dawn of the Dead”, and I’m curious if any digital reissue will be available. I hope so, but this film does have a “UK” flavor to it, and might seem a little long to keep the attention of the newer, “bloodier” horror fans.
POST #1000!!!!!!! I feel like one of the big boys!!!
Directed by the great George A. Romero, this zombie film is fantastic to watch, and is about as “real” as a zombie movie can get. Being filmed during 1978, the mall that our survivors reside in is filled with some of the best late-seventies garb, including an ice rinks, mink coats, and, or course, escalators.
The zombies themselves aren’t very scary in this film. They are slow, green, and seem relatively stupid. Human greed and over-confidence seems to kill of our survivors, not the scheming of the zombies. In the opening sequence, one soldier die due to his prejudice, and we also get to see the awesome make-up artist Tom Savini create a pretty realistic head explosion as the zombies invade the inner city projects.
Like the rest of Romero’s zombie films, the focus is on how ordinary people react in extraordinary situations. As in “Night of the Living Dead”, Romero makes one of the heroes an African American, which I think is great due to the fact that most heroes in the 1970’s weren’t minorities, and if they were, they were played by Richard Roundtree.
This year is the 25th anniversary of “Dawn of the Dead”, and I’m curious if any digital reissue will be available. I hope so, but this film does have a “UK” flavor to it, and might seem a little long to keep the attention of the newer, “bloodier” horror fans.
POST #1000!!!!!!! I feel like one of the big boys!!!
