Release Date: September 2, 1978

Written and Directed by: George A. Romero

Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Crawford, David Early, Richard France, Howard Smith, Daniel Dietrich, Fred Baker

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Plot:
Picking up where NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD left off, and still offering no explanation of why the dead are walking the earth, DAWN plunges headlong into one of the most violent and original horror films ever made. After securing an apartment building overcome with flesh-eating zombies, two Philadelphia area SWAT team members, Peter (Ken Foree) and Roger (Scott Reiniger), flee to a television station, where they escape in the station’s helicopter with Francine (Gaylen Ross) and Stephen (David Emge), two station employees. Seeking refuge from the zombies and the ensuing hysteria, they land on top of a Pittsburgh area shopping mall, despite the fact that the undead seem to be flocking there. What begins as a stop for supplies becomes a longer stay as the four become embroiled in a futile war within the mall to keep their flesh to themselves and remain alive.

Review:
Director George Romero returns with a sequel to Night Of The Living Dead and titles it Dawn Of The Dead. The man has a vision for old school horror films and he does a good job with Dawn Of The Dead. It delivers most of what you look for in a horror film, blood, gore and at times scares.

Dawn Of The Dead has some solid direction especially for its time. The camera shots are well done and sets the tone and mood nicely to give the audience that tension that is always in favor for horror films. The zombies are realistic and not over the top because quite frankly zombies are humans, not a monster as some may see it. They are humans, but humans with a hunger for human flesh.

Romero strongly wants the audience to feel disgusted, ill and disturbed of the horror film. Most of the time when reactions as such happen, it simply means the horror film worked. In this case, Dawn Of The Dead does work in those aspects without a doubt. It captures the attention of the audience with graphic scenes of blood and gore.

The script for Dawn Of The Dead however, could have been better, although its not bad there was not variety or much to offer. The main problems with the script was the repetitive processes that the actors would have to endure. While Dawn Of The Dead concentrated on the characters, it went overboard on the same things in other words. We the audience had to witness the characters kill off zombies over and over again. While the blood and gore is appealing to horror fans, it grows old because it wasn't the first time it occurred.

Besides the obvious factors that can be noticed in the film like pink blood, flesh being eaten that looks like rubber and humans being thrown that clearly can be identified as dummies, the look of the film is dominant throughout and doesn't disappoint. With that said, in matter of film quality and how other films looked in 1979, Dawn Of The Dead falls short in that it definitely should look more professional then it demands.

The flaws within Dawn Of The Dead are not what is in the script, but more of how it was written and how the film seemed to differ in changing situations frequently. While it did nothing of that sort and stayed equal throughout the film, its a fun time to have with the film. You are not going to find major originality in Dawn Of The Dead, but you will find that its entertaining and honest.

While the films direction and screenplay has been discussed, the score is no stranger to my ears. None other than the amazing horror filmmaker Dario Argento wrote the music along with The Goblins for Dawn Of The Dead. The Goblins which are always associated with Dario in some way, deliver a very eerie sensation and feeling to the film. There is always originality and different interesting sound with these filmmakers.

The additions that Romero received from other people such as Dario elevated the film quite a bit. There is more here than just your average horror film. Its just the few problems that it had avoided it from being a classic, which in my view Dawn Of The Dead doesn't fall under. I saw no need to repeat scenes that were of the same structure and Dawn Of The Dead unfortunately was a fan of that.

George Romero knows how to direct there is no doubt in that, but perhaps some harder work on the script would have made Dawn Of The Dead a must see. However, in its own right Dawn Of The Dead is a good sequel and there is still thrills to have with the film in many places. Once you look at Dawn Of The Dead as a whole, it turns out to be a good film, its just nothing to brag about.

Dawn Of The Dead

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