Dawn of the Dead

From the godfather of zombie movies, comes the sequel to whats considered the greatest zombie movie of all time. Here is Dawn of the Dead. 

Of course being a horror movie from the seventies, it has it's filled with camp feel, cheap gore effects, cheesy acting and a retro, synthesizer filled sound-track. 

The story follows four survivors of the zombie apocalypse of the previous film. By this point the world has now been overrun by the living dead. Society is in chaos and there is little that the public can do to repel this onslaught. Politicians are arguing the right course of action and scientists are baffled. As the heroes escape, they stumble across a shopping mall overrun with the ghouls. Have you ever had a dream of being trapped in a shopping mall, I have and it's a dream like no other. here they take advantage of all the store has to offer, while at the same time constantly barricading it and reinforcing it. As the day's grow longer, we see the survivors grow less and less humane, all the while society crumbles. 

To tell the truth, even though I have seen this film reported in many must see film lists, it's an all right film to say the least. It wasn't bad by any means, but my problem is that going in I expected to be scared from scene to scene. At the start it was promising, whole crowds clambering to survive a police raid while a TV station tries to stay on the air. But the pace slow's gradually, allowing us to breath and take in what we just saw. And of course when we get to the famous mall, we get the famous message of consumerism turning us into zombies. You know what, it's right and it still is accurate to this day. So in some terms the film is less a horror film today, as much as it is a cautionary tale/social satire. Little did Romero know that the message would still hold up today. At it's peak I suppose, it was probably a very scary movie. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that horror is one of the best combinations of drama and comedy. The drama is represented by the sadness and fear caused by the horror and comedy comes from the satire of society and their reactions to certain events. In this form, Romero uses these factors to hammer home the message that he includes in each of his films (Like Aesop's fables each have a moral), eg. racism and consumerism.

But all is not lost. The acting is enjoyable and the characters are memorable, especially Peter Washington, played by Ken Foree (he was on Kenan & Kel), this guy is menacing, intimidating and friendly all at the same time and you know what he is one of those black men that doesn't die first, so you don't know if he will survive to the end! Also you can't beat the effects of the great Tom Savini, still in his hay-day, he crafted some amazing practical effects and make-up, making each shot feel and each splatter heart poundingly real. Yes of course there is the music...I hate it. It's distracting, loud and not very catchy (In fact I wouldn't mind if it was cut from the movie entirely). But man is that finale something. I won't give away much but man it is gut wrenching and gruesome.

So in my opinion, not a bad movie but not one of the best I have ever seen. Might be good for one viewing, but real horror buffs will love it. But you might not want to watch it with your friends, unless they love horror, because it can be a very boring film at times.