Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Film Details
Director: George A. Romero
Run Time: 139 Mins (Extended Cut)
Cast: Ken Foree, David Emge, Gaylen Ross, Scott H. Reiniger, Tom Savini, Randy Kovitz.
Synopsis
As hordes of zombies flood the United States, a group of survivors hold up in a shopping mall to try and escape the horrors that await outside.
My Review
George A. Romero’s iconic zombie flick was unfortunately slightly underwhelming. Admittedly, I am 47 years late to the party, but in my opinion, it fails to live up to its reputation as an all time classic. Ultimately that’s down to one thing only, the zombies themselves! I understand that it is considered a low budget film and with that, you expect certain dips in quality, but the undead were the most useless and unthreatening iteration of zombie that I have ever seen and considering it’s my favourite sub genre of horror, I’ve seen a fair few! The make-up design is simply unforgivable here, humans painted slightly blue and so lazily executed that often the hands are a completely normal colour compared to the face. I accept slow paced zombies, that’s common place in many films, but these zombies could literally have hold of you and the characters could finish their drink before having to fight them off. A project such as this, is only as good as its zombies and if you remove the threat, you remove the excitement.
Now, it isn’t all doom and gloom! I understand the themes of capitalism and the hypnotic nature of materialistic items, that particular subtext is nicely executed. But unfortunately that isn’t what I switch on a zombie film to see. It’s complimentary, it’s great if the basics are done well, but if not, it’s like putting a cherry on top of a mouldy cake. Fortunately, Peter was a fantastic protagonist and someone who grows on the audience with each passing minute and Ken Foree simply steals the show. I also appreciated seeing the transformation of the mall to suit the apocalypse. I just love seeing how different characters adapt to that environment; putting up the false walls, creating the vent tunnel system for navigation, utilising the lorries to reinforce the doors…that part was excellent and it elevates the immersion for me, as I begin to invent my own approach to a zombie outbreak. So all in all, I still found enjoyment from Dawn of the Dead, but ultimately it only affirmed my love and preference for Zack Snyders remake instead.
My Rating: 6 out of 10
Thanks for reading.
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