Dawn of the Dead (1978)
When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth
Gory. Explosive. Frightening. Though-provoking. Memorable. These are just some of the words that can describe the original Dawn of the Dead.Ostensibly, a simple tale about the zombie apocalypse at the end of the world, the movie is also a bitter social commentary on our consumer driven society.
The main focus of the satire is that four survivors find sanctuary in a shopping mall while the zombies struggle to get in, and those that are inside wander mindlessly through the stores. The comparison is simple, yet striking: the zombies keep coming to the mall and no one knows why.
That's not the only social commentary in the film however. In an earlier scene at a television station, a producer removes a list of rescue stations from the on air broadcast, as the list has been deemed out of date, and the rescue stations closed. Her supervisor berates her for taking the list off of the broadcast claiming that "every minute those stations aren't up people will stop watching, they'll tune out!" Even at the end of all things, ratings still seem to matter.
There are so many ways to read the subtext of the film. Do the zombies represent all of us? And the mall, consumer culture in general? Maybe the mall represents society and the zombies are analogous to the masses. What then are we to think of the minute cabal of humans that took over the mall and deign themselves lords and masters? Oppressors? Fascists? Oligarchists? And finally, what of the biker gang at the end? Are they the barbarians at the gate, threatening to destroy civilization? Or are they righteous liberators striking against the complacent, and oppressive foursome that has taken residence in the mall? Rarely has a horror film provided such substantial food for thought.
However, all political examinations aside, this also happens to be the most kick-ass, zombie fueled fever dream ever. Heads explode, flesh is ripped, entrails are devoured and a splendid time is had by all. This is the film that put FX God Tom Savini on the map. After Dawn he handled FX on gore classics like Maniac, Friday the 13th Part 1 and Friday the 13th Part 4.
And who has never dreamt of running freely through an empty mall with the run of the whole place? This film is the ultimate fantasy for fans of comic books, video games, horror movies, action movies and black, black comedy. It just so happens I love all of the above.
The first time i saw this film, my mind was blown. I had always been a fan of Night of the Living Dead, but always felt that it moved a little slowly upon repeat viewings. Also, I was an only child for 8 years and spent a lot of time pretending to be hiding and surviving an apocalypse of some sort (I was an odd child...). Watching this movie was like seeing the fantasies dragged up from the deepest recesses of my reptilian brain and thrown on a tv screen. This is gonna sound lame, but this movie feels like home.
Exactly what that says about me, I'll let you decide on your own...
When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth
Gory. Explosive. Frightening. Though-provoking. Memorable. These are just some of the words that can describe the original Dawn of the Dead.Ostensibly, a simple tale about the zombie apocalypse at the end of the world, the movie is also a bitter social commentary on our consumer driven society.
The main focus of the satire is that four survivors find sanctuary in a shopping mall while the zombies struggle to get in, and those that are inside wander mindlessly through the stores. The comparison is simple, yet striking: the zombies keep coming to the mall and no one knows why.
That's not the only social commentary in the film however. In an earlier scene at a television station, a producer removes a list of rescue stations from the on air broadcast, as the list has been deemed out of date, and the rescue stations closed. Her supervisor berates her for taking the list off of the broadcast claiming that "every minute those stations aren't up people will stop watching, they'll tune out!" Even at the end of all things, ratings still seem to matter.
There are so many ways to read the subtext of the film. Do the zombies represent all of us? And the mall, consumer culture in general? Maybe the mall represents society and the zombies are analogous to the masses. What then are we to think of the minute cabal of humans that took over the mall and deign themselves lords and masters? Oppressors? Fascists? Oligarchists? And finally, what of the biker gang at the end? Are they the barbarians at the gate, threatening to destroy civilization? Or are they righteous liberators striking against the complacent, and oppressive foursome that has taken residence in the mall? Rarely has a horror film provided such substantial food for thought.
However, all political examinations aside, this also happens to be the most kick-ass, zombie fueled fever dream ever. Heads explode, flesh is ripped, entrails are devoured and a splendid time is had by all. This is the film that put FX God Tom Savini on the map. After Dawn he handled FX on gore classics like Maniac, Friday the 13th Part 1 and Friday the 13th Part 4.
And who has never dreamt of running freely through an empty mall with the run of the whole place? This film is the ultimate fantasy for fans of comic books, video games, horror movies, action movies and black, black comedy. It just so happens I love all of the above.
The first time i saw this film, my mind was blown. I had always been a fan of Night of the Living Dead, but always felt that it moved a little slowly upon repeat viewings. Also, I was an only child for 8 years and spent a lot of time pretending to be hiding and surviving an apocalypse of some sort (I was an odd child...). Watching this movie was like seeing the fantasies dragged up from the deepest recesses of my reptilian brain and thrown on a tv screen. This is gonna sound lame, but this movie feels like home.
Exactly what that says about me, I'll let you decide on your own...
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
And honestly, in the ranking of Romero's Zombies, this one is third: Night, Day, Dawn, Land.