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| Dawn of the Dead (1978) |
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  (7/10)
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Runtime: 128 |
| Public Rating: 8.65 (49 votes) |
Director: George A. Romero |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Horror/Zombies |
Year: 1978 |
| Writer(s): George A. Romero |
| Distributor: Anchor Bay |
| Reviewed by: John Ulmer |
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"When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."
Sometimes movies attain cult classic stature for puzzling reasons. I've never understood the success of Dawn of the Dead (1978). At least not as far as to call it one of the best horror films ever made. It's a good movie, with some fine moments, but it's poorly written and poorly directed and poorly acted. It's not masterfully crafted in any way.
Sure, it has a high level of sly social commentary, but it's about as subtle as a blow to the head. The end credits, although amusing, are a sign that the director - George A. Romero - is really pushing these ideas onto us way too heavily. We got it the first time. Enough is enough.
I've never thought very highly of Romero. Night of the Living Dead (1968) is truly one of the best horror films of all time, but it is quite adequately directed - the movie succeeds on its own, not because of its director. And Romero's Season of the Witch
Still, he has to be somewhat credited for starting the zombie craze. Dawn of the Dead was the first of these modern-day zombie movies - more brutal and graphic than its predecessor, and arguably a bit smarter. Some people call it a sequel, but essentially the film is an updated remake, filmed ten years after the first movie with a larger budget, colorized prints, Tom Savini's sometimes laughable creature effects, and so on and so forth.
It picks up right after the first film, despite an unexplained ten-year gap of technology. The zombies are still attacking Pennsylvania, so a pilot, his girlfriend and two SWAT members take refuge in a local mall that is overrun by the slow-moving creatures. "Why do they come here?" Francine (Gaylen Ross) asks. "Some kind of instinct. Memory, of something they used to do. This was an important place in their lives," David Emge tells her.
I hate to break the news, but not all Americans revolve around malls - at least not anyone I know (and my relatives all live in Pennsylvania). But it's symbolism for commercialism in America, and it works, even if the theme is strongly overused.
The film was criticized upon its release in 1978 for being ultra-violent and too gory. It's not. If anything, it's what Romero himself described as "comic book violence" - lots of (obviously) fake and over-the-top blood and gore mixed with quite silly looking zombies. The makeup is often uneven - when one of the main characters reanimates after being killed by a zombie, his face is shriveled and pale and horrifying. All the other zombies can't have such close attention paid towards them by Savini, so they often appear as if they've wandered out of a pool of gray paint.
Many people consider Dawn of the Dead to be one of the finest horror films of all time. As much as I appreciate it as a whole, and as fun as it is, it's also a bit too long for a film of its genre - I gave it a chance but found myself counting many scenes that could have been cut, or at least shortened. I respect the movie, but I have a feeling that the newly-released remake may be more in the vein of my own personal tastes. Plus, the new film has fast zombies. You just can't beat fast zombies.
Note: Dawn of the Dead is now available to purchase on a single disc "Special Edition" DVD, with commentary by Romero and special effects artist Tom Savini, radio spots, commercials, theatrical trailers, a Romero biography, a new 2004 state-of-the-art digital transfer, and more. I bought the DVD but am not overwhelmed by its features - if you're a huge fan of the movie, I suggest waiting until later this year, when the 3-disc DVD is released (presumably around the same time as the 2004 remake's DVD release date).
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