Dawn of the Dead (1978)
This is my favorite movie of all-time. Not just in the horror genre – any genre.
A decade after the success of Night of the Living Dead, George Romero decided to return to the zombie horror genre -a film genre he most certainly helped create. This time around he decided to add more splices of humor into his usually pure gore and action storyline. Dawn of the Dead has it all. But at its core, it is an emotional drama about four people trying to survive together, against all odds.
The special effects gore is amazing not just for it’s time but for any age of creation. In this film, a legend was born. Meet Tom Savini, the special effects makeup artist in charge of all the good stuff. Soon into this movie you see why it’s so spectacularly over the top with practical blood and gore. It sets the tone and straps you in for one hell of a ride.
Let’s talk about the setting. Our group of survivors ultimately hold up at the Monroeville Mall (outside of Pittsburgh. I’ve been there!). Once they rid the place of zombies and barricade the doors, the place is theirs. They have the keys to the kingdom and can have literally anything they want. But how far can material happiness take us in the end? The movie takes a claustrophobic turn as they realize that maybe hunkering down wasn’t the best option.
One of the best qualities of this classic is that it’s is really fun. Every time I watch it I feel as if I’m starting to go on an adventure of apocalyptic awesomeness. I feel very drawn into this movie, like I’m in it from the very start. I own four DVDs, one Blu-ray, and two VHS copies of this movie. I may be a little obsessed. There was a remake in 2004, of course. While the movie is fairly decent, I wish they would have titled it something other than Dawn of the Dead.
Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you enjoyed the mini horror reviews all October. Maybe I’ll do something next year like this as well. Until then, maybe November will bring a few surprises…perhaps something creepy…something horrific…something original? Muah ha ha…
Vincent S. Tobia 