RETRO REVIEW: DAWN OF THE DEAD

"When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth."

Dawn Of The Dead is arguably the definitive zombie movie. It's the movie that all zombie movies aspire to be when they grow up. Dawn Of The Dead follows 4 survivors as they hole themselves up in a shopping mall while the world outside effectively goes to hell. There's Peter: The hardened National guardsman with a heart of gold, Roger: The sharpshooter and all around cowboy, Steven: The everyday police officer, and Francine: The newswoman who is arguably the toughest character in the group. They plan to fortify the mall as a stronghold until the zombie crisis ends but the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry which they do to entertaining and tragic effects here.

Dawn Of The Dead abandons the grainy and surrealistic black and white of the former Night Of The Living Dead for a wider range of color (All The better for you to see the blood with , my dear). Aided by the superb special effects by Tom Savini the buckets of blood and gore gush freely before our horrified eyes.

Dawn Of the Dead addresses just about every theme ever seen in a zombie movie from human nature to the question of who the real monsters are. There is so much crammed into the 127 minute run time that it's just about impossible to pick up on every little detail and subplot making 2nd and 3rd viewings just about a guarantee. This time around George A. Romero places the zombies right in the foreground as the center focus of the movie, but also introduces several intriguing themes about society, greed, and human nature. This makes for an excellent mixture of fun, bad-assedness, and emotion that all come together to form the best Zombie movie I've seen so far.

From it's chaotic opening in a newsroom gone mad to its final closing scene at the shopping mall that has been run over with hoardes of zombies, Dawn Of The Dead consistently proves why it has been often praised as the best zombie movie out there. In fact, Dawn was so good that a successful remake was made in 2004. While the remake is good for different reasons (Better special effects, more action, cooler looking zombies), if given the choice between the 2 I'd have to say go with the 1978 version anytime.

While Night Of The Living Dead is more important to the zombie genre than Dawn, Dawn did pave the way for the contemporary zombie films we know and love today, giving this one an importance all its own. Dawn Of The Dead is a fun thrill ride through the depths of Hell that only George A. Romero could create. It all makes for another must-see film for any die-hard zombie buff.

4 Stars/ 5 Stars