Dawn of the Dead (2004)
When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, Michael Barry, Lindy Booth, Jayne Eastwood, Boyd Banks, Inna Korubkina, R.D. Reid, Kim Poirier, Matt Frewer, Justin Louis, Hannah Lochner, Bruce Bohne, Tom Savini
Director: Zack Snyder
Running Time: 100 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 18
Action, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Known collectively to its adoring fans as the 'Holy Trinity', George A. Romero's loose zombie trilogy is the alpha and omega of apocalyptic horror. The first film, Night of the Living Dead (1968), marked the birth of the most inventively fertile era of American horror cinema, and the last film, Day of the Dead (1985), marked its death throes - but it is the middle film, Dawn of the Dead (1978), which has always been regarded as the Holy Grail of zombie mayhem, unsurpassed in its economy of storytelling, its cynicism and paranoia, its dark humour, its convincing (and often strangely sympathetic) undead, and its intelligent satire of racial tensions and the values of consumer society.
Now, with films like House of 1000 Corpses, Cabin Fever, and the recent remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the Golden Age of 1970s horror is re-emerging to bring terror to a whole new generation, at a time when the characteristic anxieties of the 1970s - the immorality of the Vietnam War, the mendacity of President Nixon and the omnipresence of terrorist movements - all have strong resonances in the current geopolitical climate. Romero's zombie films have also risen again from the grave, both in a riot of recent Japanese homages to Romero ('Cure', 'Versus', 'Stacy', 'Wild Zero') and in American movies inspired by video games which were in turn inspired by Romero's trilogy (Resident Evil, 'The House of the Dead').
It is, however, one thing to draw inspiration from the Holy Trinity - e.g. transporting Romero's narrative arcs to contemporary England, and transforming his stumbling, braindead zombies into agile, rage-fuelled automata, as Danny Boyle did recently in the excellent 28 Days Later... - but attempting an actual remake verges on sacrilege. Wisely, 'Dawn of the Dead' redux is no slavish imitation, but a whole new dawn. James Gunn's knowing script has torn the guts out of the original, retaining only the shopping mall setting and a few key motifs and lines, with everything else twisted, mangled and deformed beyond all recognition. Racing in at some forty minutes shorter than Romero's original, the pace is breathlessly fast, but then so are the zombies, who run, climb and attack with infectious abandon - and while the first film already had a deliriously speedy opening, the relative calm of the remake's prologue is interrupted with such a sudden and lurching violence that your attention is not so much grabbed as gripped in a stranglehold. There are far more characters (or, to use the proper term, fodder) shacked up in the mall, yet all are nuanced enough for us to care about, or in some cases applaud, their bloody fate. The gentle relationship which develops between policeman Kenneth (Ving Rhames), and Andy (Bruce Bohne), who is trapped on the roof of a gunshop opposite, is an especially well-drawn innovation, subtle and believable even if their only means of communication is handwritten posters.
The script has a deep vein of humour, which is a necessary relief, because overall this is a resolutely gloomy, profoundly pessimistic film, full of disaster and despair - which is just what a good horror film should be. Even the pregnancy of one of the characters, which in the original version symbolised hope for future generations, is here turned into a horrifying perversion that destroys all hope - and the film's shaky handheld coda (intercut with the closing credits) forms a satisfyingly bleak rejoinder to the more optimistic conclusion of the original Dawn of the Dead (and of 28 Days Later...). Yet fans of the zombie flick can rest assured that their world has not quite come to an end - for even if Romero's long-awaited 'Twilight of the Dead' never sees the light of day, there is still Simon 'Spaced' Pegg's self-styled RomZomCom Shaun of the Dead coming very soon.
It's Got: Fast zombies, slow humans, painful tension, a cameo from Tom Savini (make-up artist and actor from the original Dawn...) as a county sheriff ('that is the coolest guy', as one character comments), a bold use of the word 'twitcher', a cafeteria called 'Hallowed Grounds', and the most compellingly bleak portrayal of total societal breakdown since The Time of the Wolf.
It Needs: To be seen without prejudice - it is much, much better than what you might expect of a remake.
Alternatives: Dawn of the Dead (1978), 28 Days Later..., 'Zombie Flesh Eaters', Shaun of the Dead, The Time of the Wolf, 'Mad Max 2'
Summary: Darkly funny, tense and devastatingly grim, it manages to bring a classic horror back to life without stinking of rot. Bust a gut to see it.
External Links
Official Web Site
Dawn of the Dead at the IMDB
Comments20 Comments |
| I have just finished seeing The dawn of the dead and i must say this movie is a real zombie Masterpiece. When i first sat down in the cinema i expected a movie that would contain lots of laim actors trying to pretend they were zombies and a real sensation of emptyness that would make anyone feel like saying "yes, the movie is good, but it needs something extra". But The Dawn of the dead is really one hell of a movie, it has a lot of real life action, reactions and planning that any human could do in that situation, the ending was just predictable but no one wants a movie to end that way =P hehehe. if i had to give an opinion about the movie in its general aspects, hey, its shure a good zombie movie, worth a shot |
| Comment by:- Juan Pablo | | 29 April 2004 | ip: logged |
| I am a long-time fan of Romero's Dead movies. I also have a deep. dark fear of zombies. That being said, i tend to watch zombie flicks with a critical eye. I wasnt apprehensive about this version, but i was ready to give the riot-act if it fell short in any department. It didnt. I adore this movie. I knwo many people who have panned it for the fast zombies. i like the old slow ones myself, but there is no denying that having a dead cannibal barreling towards you in a sprint godamn scary. The characters are identifiable. The acting is good. the plot is good. the end is wonderfully dark. or is it? How the movie ends depends on wether or not you watch the credits. Dont sit through them, and they live. Watch them, and it's up in the air, but lets be real, they were screwed. Asidefrom the before-mentioned cameo by Tom Savini (who is also in the original), there are two others from the Romero version that crop up in the new one. Keep your eyes peeled for Peter and Roger. ;) |
| Comment by:- Vodstok | scaredyet.net | 08 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| low IQ movie with low IQ fans indeed |
| Comment by:- Even a trained monkey will make something better | | 29 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| Having watched the movie, I can see that the movie is giving secret messages to the people at the beginning.I find this a most provocative, unfair and cunning tactic which can be used to provovate the christian people over the muslims.Film starts with the nurse going home and sleeping with her husband then just in the morning at 6:37(Should I say John6:37), her daughter attacks them and the nurse calls 911(Should I say September 11).Ofcourse the camera zooms over the phone while she is dialing so that the numbers can be more visible to pass the message to the people. After all she goes out and the world is full of zombies.All of a sudden film scripts get in the middle . Wait hang on a minute, muslims are praying in Mecca. How does this relate to this movie?Wait wait a news speaker is in Istanbul(I recognize the mosque Hagia Sophia) then she is being attacked by the zombies where a woman with a black islamic dress is appearing at the back ground.As well as this the news are giving a message saying the "virus is spreading". Watch the song script at the back ground giving lots of messages. Let me open the messages for you: There is a virus called "Islam" which is turning the people to the zombies and they are spreading and spreading. They will eat us alive.Once get bitten by that islam, you will be infected by it. So keep away from it.Come to Jesus Christ (John6:37) and remember September 11.If We don't deal with it, this will cover the earth and We will be in trouble. When you see a person infected,We need to destroy it by shooting in the brain(just as in Iraq). Well the movies are the biggest gun that the hollywood uses to effect the people.There are hundreds of hidden messages used in the films to brain wash the people.What a shame!Islam embraces the Christianity and Judaism but people do not read Qur'an objectively to understand it. Because people choose to read Stephen King to fill their spare time not the holybooks then they blame the religions due to their illeteracy.Today's materialistic society is not supported by any religion in the world. Unfortunately, people are thinking that the chrisitanity supports this materialistic nature of the people. No my brothers and sisters, no religion except evil supports today's materialistic life style so stop using the name of christianity falsely and wake up!As you are trying to cause a fight between the muslims and christians and making the christianity a partnership to your materialistic world.No matter how much we have some minor contradictions, our books and life styles are similar in many ways.So stop causing a problem in the world.The ones who planned this september 11 are so cunning that they deliberately chose the date 9-11 to provocate the people against islam whenever they call 911. No muslim could think of such evil.No muslim could do such thing to make the people hate islam.That is enough for the people who can understand. |
| Comment by:- Cinali | | 08 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Ohh I almost forgot. The God is so great that He knows what people will do to attack the religions of God.So even for this movie, the God gives us a sign in Quran in the following verse: Surah Hucurat 6:12. O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting) . And fear the God. Verily, The God is the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful. Although the flesh eating is a symbol of backbiting which is not desired in Islam, You can still get that the God shows flesh eating as a dirty and hated thing to the muslims. |
| Comment by:- cinali | | 08 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| I am very disappointed in the comments posted by Cinali. So much so that I HAVE to concur about the movie's "message". There are so many points I could use, but I'll just stick to the obvious. Furthermore, let me add a statement that should have been fairly obvious from the beginning: THIS IS JUST A *^$^ING MOVIE!!! This is a movie is attempt at creating a great zombie film for this generation as well as paying homage to one of the greatest horror movie innovators of all time! Look...I have nothing against Muslims (I know it was only the barbaric extremists that were involved in 9-11. Like Islam, or any other religion for that matter, Christianity has more than fair share of bullies. Trust me. I know.) and appreciate Cinali's intentions, but I just more than a little ticked every time someone tries to make something out of nothing. Perhaps Cinali should take a cue from Twisted Sister's Dee Snider when he testified during the 1980s' public hearings regarding the questionable content on their music. He was testifying because of one of the songs he wrote for a friend who was going under the knife in the hospital was being misinterpreted as song about maiming and brutality. He said (to some extent, perhaps not exactly in these words, but the meaning is there) "If a person went looking for (in this song) brutality, he would have found it. If someone else went looking for surgery, he would have found that as well." The same statement can applied here as well. I'd prefer it (and I'm sure many other horror fans would as well) if Cinali would go focus his energy for protest into something that ACTUALLY WARRANTS IT! |
| Comment by:- Dadrien P. | | 14 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Dear Dadrien, How do you relate the scene of muslims in the mosque at the beginning of the movie?Subsequently,How do you relate the second mosque shown at the background in the scene when zombies are attacking?Why is the second scene from a mosque as well? Why did not they show the capital city of few countries e.g.Paris,London.I watched many movies and they do that in these sorts of movies.They always show at least 4-5 capital cities from around the world. There may be two motives behind this. One of them is using the current muslim propaganda to be discussed in the media to make a record sale and rental of the movie.Second of them is to really intending to do politics. I was reading an article over the internet last day and one of the actors in Lord of the Rings were mentioning that they put something in to the movie against muslims. He was saying that the white western culture is being wiped so we wanted to give a support with this movie.I am an objective person not an attacking person here. I show respect to all my christian friends. My wife was a catholic christian when I got married to her. I wish from the God that these people did not mean any of what I had written, I am wrong and you are right Dadrien! |
| Comment by:- cinali | | 20 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| For once i would like to see the good guys win in a zombie movie. |
| Comment by:- Bob | | 20 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Blimey, Cinali, you are a weird one! I never cease to be surprised by muslim paranoiacs! It would take too long to dismiss your arguments completely and frankly I have better things to do, but here are just a couple of corrections for you: 1. Of course she dials "911", that is the telephone number for the emergency services (yes, I know that "999" also works, but, probably with a view to export to the USA, the filmmakers decided to go with the far more widely used international version of the emergency code which is currently being introduced into the UK anyway). No conpiracy there! 2. I would have thought that the inclusion of shots of Turkey would have pleased you. After all, if there had not been images from muslim countries included, I'm sure that you would have been asking why not! (Yes, I know that Turkey isn't precisely "a muslim country", it's a secular state - hooray!). By the way, Hagia Sophia is NOT a mosque. It was buily as a church. Following the rise of the byzantine empire, it became a church. It is now a museum and has been for a considerable number of decades. Please get your facts right. Please try to be happier and less paranoid. If I may offer a little advice, try a little less religion and a little more rationalism - it works for the rest of us! love Raggs xx |
| Comment by:- Raggs | | 22 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Have not seen the new release on the movie, but I can tell you that it orginaly came out back in around 1976-1978. |
| Comment by:- Tina | | 30 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| man ur all some twisted mofo's. You yanks and you muslims are just as bad as eachother. Each are quick to jump the gun about anything u see and quick to tell everyone u know possible. I notes the archival footage in the beginning of the movie who gives a ****. it helps create an atmosphere of massive panic and alarm as all the people run out of mecca. What i though was worse was the priest talkin in the movie. Defonitly a cathlic religious take on the "appocolipse" of humanity as an intention of gods wrath. his comment of the same sex marriages and stuff pretty far out shiz. Now i dont even know why im writing this but to get some things clear. What we see in this movie is questionable only in our thinking that this movie is a mirror of society or that now society will attempt to mirror the movies horrific nature jonny c |
| Comment by:- jonny c | | 04 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| There are alsa images of a lorry driven against the crowd and the police in India (they are not christians nor muslims); images with the capitol being attacked, disturbs in LA...I don,t think it matters. It´s only a film, a Zombie film.... It´s not directed for all the audience, we are a minority. Perhaps we can see more subliminal messages in a commercial film... |
| Comment by:- Zap | | 12 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| And all the people (As Steve tells)who are sent to the CHURCH of Santa Verbena die...So there is a message also that christianism is not the salvation? |
| Comment by:- Zap | | 12 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| that movie was very creative and i enjoyed giving money for that movie it scared the life out of me and my friends |
| Comment by:- scoobi | | 15 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Yes, it´s a great film but some people likes to see ghosts where there are not. |
| Comment by:- Zap | | 17 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| My mom rented this on DVD just last week... and you know what scared me the most? The NEWS REPORTS, of all things! (The ones they show in the DVD menu before the movie starts, and while Johnny Cash's song is playing in the opening) So, basically, I was scared before my parents even pressed "play". I figured that this is why: I watch the news a lot (even though I'm only sixteen, hey! Why not?), and the news is supposed to give you the FACTS. A sense of REALITY. And that's what I got from it. I've always been afraid of the living dead. I hate going past graveyards, even though I know that no one's going to pop out from underground... Zombies are scary! All in all, pretty good movie. I'd like to see the original. ^_^ I just wish the good guys could win once in a while in a zombie movie! |
| Comment by:- Andrea | | 20 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| ummmm... it was a horror movie, and if you found religious undertones in it, you were looking WAY too hard. There is a box of Alphabits out there with the name of the new messiah. Go find it. |
| Comment by:- Vodstok | scaredyet.net | 30 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| looking way too hard is funny. it's right there, any muslim would recognise it just as any christian is sure to be brainwashed by it when associated with the images they are bombarded with on cnn et al. americans are clearly being brainwashed, how else do u explain attacking iraq? it's not just this movie, but a flash of muslims praying among flashes of zombie terror is pretty obvious. its sad no one cares more but not surprising. do u know they have proven subliminal messages work? so why are u not concerned when u are blatanly being exposed to them? dont u get angry? on the other hand, from another point of view the scene of muslims praying peacefuly and then being hit by the virus could be a metaphor for western culture brutaly trying to infiltrate a peaceful society. hmmm. |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 11 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| So I needed to see a zombie movie to be prejudiced against people from the middle east? Good thinking. Honestly, that's about as dumb as Omarosa saying the white chick called her the "N" word when all she said was "your the pot calling the kettle black". Shut the hell up and can it. If everyone would give up their pathetic religions there would be one less thing to divide people. It's dumbasses who want to believe their god is the only god that refuse to NOT be prejudice. Screw yourselves religious people. Okay, it was a good movie. Not better than the first, but it had great effects and it didn't bother me that the zombies were fast. I'd post my e-mail, but I don't need a bunch of religious people emailing me with their hypocritical comments. |
| Comment by:- SBG | | 11 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| Actually, it has been proven that subliminal messages DO NOT WORK unless they are used in a specifically controlled experimental environment, not at home watching a DVD. I refer you to this website which uses SCIENCE, not belief to prove this. http://www.realscienceofsuccess.com/Subliminal.htm If you did your own thinking and research, instead of just watching the news at 6, you would find a wealth of information downplaying the actual effect that subliminal messages have on people. This 911 thing is pure BS as well. If you were in an emergency would you not call 911? Or would you decide to not call b/c you don't want to disrespect those who died on 9/11/01? Give me a break. Now I know those who posted here will not read this since my comment is coming almost a full year after the last comment. However, I just saw the DVD for the first time about 2 weeks back and I am still kind of haunted by the sheer despair this movie causes if you watch the credits. However, I guess since I never watched the first part of this horror trilogy I don't know what caused the zombies to come about. I was just confused at the beginning of this movie where there are just zombies everywhere and there's no reason given for why they are there. Great horror flick with an ending that stays with you if you have compassion for human life. |
| Comment by:- irock | | 02 December 2005 | ip: logged |
