CS Daily Archive > Weekend Read > 03/19/04

Dawn of the Dead

Reviewed by Matthew REynolds

James Gunn
Based on the 1978 film written and directed by George A. Romero

This remake of George Romero's zombies-in-the-mall cult classic lives up to its lineage while improving on the sense of dread of life in a world of the dead.

There's something indescribably horrific about those moments in an end-of-the-world film when things first start to break down. It's not the very first scare, and it's not the eventual screaming masses. It's those moments when everyone is first dealing with hysteria, and unsure of what is happening,

In Dawn Of The Dead, the very contemporized remake of George Romero's 1978 sequel to his original Night Of The Living Dead, it's the scene where our protagonist (Sarah Polley) stumbles out of her suburban home and glimpses her neighborhood. Cars are wrecked in the street, a house is burning, and, most disturbingly, two people chase a third into a garage. It's the beginning of the end, and it's not taking place in some haunted mansion or spooky woods that you wandered into. It's on your street, and all the streets thereafter. You haven't gone to the horror, the horror has come to you. And you can't escape it.

With that disturbing scene, Dawn sets the stage for a very frightening and entertaining new horror film. In terms of quality, it's more in keeping with The Ring than last year's remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The blistering opening credits show a montage of video clips (all the more terrifying because you can't tell when actual riot footage has been used) and culminates with troops at the White House mowing down human invaders. In short order we realize that the world is pretty much finished -- except for our band of heroes, who seek refuge in a huge abandoned mall (continuing the consumers-as-zombies theme of the original).

Those heroes include a tough cop (Ving Rhames), a good-natured nice guy (Jack Weber) who discovers he has more courage than he realized, the worried husband (Mikhi Pfifer) of a pregnant wife, and the power-tripping head of some SWAT guys who attempt to run the show (Michael Kelly). Eventually, they're joined by a dozen other survivors, and then it's just a matter of who gets out alive -- and where could they go, in a world full of hungry zombies?

The great thing is, Dawn is scary as hell. Not only are you filled with dread at the very prospect of this scenario, but there is plenty of suspense. In fact, there's so much suspense that you're half-relieved when the scare finally does come. Those maddening moments -- such as the scene where someone lies on her deathbed and you're anxiously awaiting her return to life -- remind you of the great thing about horror movies. You don't have to reinvent the wheel each time; a scare is a scare.

And the filmmakers have not forgotten their predecessors, either. There are a number of loose homages to the original Dawn: a specific image of a head exploding, for example. One of the mall stores is even named Gaylen Ross, after the actress from Romero's original film. Although that original is near and dear to hearts of many horror film buffs, viewing it is more of an exercise in nostalgia than genuine horror. (And it has nothing to do with the time period: The Exorcist was five years the original Dawn's senior, and is hands-down superior.)

The inevitable comparison is to last summer's 28 Days Later, and the comparison is apt. They're similar in the way that two consecutive college football games are similar. From a few paces back, they're almost the same movie. But the details are different, and they're both so good at what they do, you should forgive them their similarity. They're both improvements on Romero's original Night of the Living Dead. Both have zombies who run instead of comically stagger, and both feature squealing and intense bloodletting. The dead are much more serious, and dangerous, these days.

The new Dawn does a pretty good job of getting you involved with the characters among the action. There is a sophistication to it; it's a sure step beyond the old slasher formula, where the jerk gets his bloody desserts. Surprisingly, and happily so, there are some relatively unexpected character turns which make the movie that much more absorbing between scares.

Overall, there is a grimness to these apocalyptic horror films which exceeds the immediate danger of the zombies outside. There's a sense of futility -- each victory doesn't move you closer to safety, it just buys you a few more minutes before the next attack. In the beginning, the audience was ready to laugh -- they were expecting the camp moments that defined the original. But it wasn't too long before the laughs stopped as the terror set in. And that was all part of the plan.

While James Gunn's script obviously owes much to George Romero's original film, the new Dawn of the Dead takes the best of the old and mixes it with modern elements to create an effective and scary film. The greater threats, faster zombies, and interesting character moments allow the new film to rise above its parent's cult status.

Dawn of the Dead
Universal Pictures
Rated R
Running time: 100 min.
Opening Friday, March 19, 2004

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Matthew Reynolds is a former journalist now working in feature film development. He is not responsible for items lost or stolen during the reading of this review.

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