Dawn of the Dead (1978)

director: George A. Romero

writer: George A. Romero

starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross

genre: Horror

This second film in the Romero zombie series is one the most adored horror films out there, undoubtedly the best zombie film ever made and one of my top 5 favorite films. Night of the Living Dead started the whole zombie madness and Dawn of the Dead just continued it.

Zombies are slowly taking over cities & towns. Francine (Gaylen Ross) & Stephen (David Emge) two reporters & two S.W.A.T. members Peter (Ken Foree) & Roger (Scott H. Reiniger) are running from the escalation of zombie invasion and hold up in a shopping mall. There they do their best to survive with plenty of food, safety and consumer items to keep them busy. But the Zombies are not the only threat to their lives because as this series has told us that the worst enemies are ourselves the humans.

As in every Romero zombie film, each one has satirical point on society of the time. This one deals with issue of consumerism of the time that was really rising, hence the mall. The ultimate consumer paradise. The irony is that the Zombies would remember the mall as a special place. I wonder why? They were zombies before they even were eating people alive. In many ways Romero was ahead of his time comenting on matters that still didnt have that much affect and dealing within the horror genre. This is why admire him and his films so much. Uplifting the genre with great character stories with a great background of social commentary.

Also another theme of Romero's zombie films with the social commentary/satire is the overall evolution of the zombies. Zombies were not just the villain but evolving characters that would change. There were still a lot to learn from these creatures and lessons that humans could learn from them. Slowly the zombies are now evolving into using tools, like some basic animals can, as well having some sort of recollection of who their were. As well in Romero's trademarks is the enlisting of a strong African-American lead and of a strong women lead which was kind of in fashion back in the 70's with films like Alien and Halloween.

Because its a zombie film its going to have enormous amounts of gore, blood & great make up effects. All done by legend make-up artist Tom Savini. The effects look pretty real it but will bother most people. Its not for the faint of heart. The only problem with the effects is that the zombies look kind of blue sometimes when their supposed to be gray. Bad lighting contributed to this. But for me doesn't ruin the experience.

The original music is done by Goblin & supervised by Dario Argento. It beautifully matches the film to give it a great atmosphere with some gothic tones at times. They had previously scored Supspiria that is one of the best horror scores. Also there is a lot of library tracks in the film that sound corny to many but add to the whole fun of the film. Anybody that is generally into camp wont mind.

A masterpiece in its own right, Dawn of the Dead is still considered one of the best and of highest quality horror films ever made. Seeing this film is mandatory to any movie buff. Blood, gore, social commentary, satirical/slapstick comedy and some of the best zombie effects.The film has got it all. It's one of those landmark films that cant be missed. Because when there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth!

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul