| “When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.” |
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Dawn of the Dead
DVD/APPROX. 127MINS/1978/USA R18+
DVD/APPROX. 127MINS/1978/USA R18+
10
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Few films, especially zombie flicks, qualify as truly great examples of social satire, and in this case, a film that also ushered in a new era of ground-
breaking gore effects. Behold, I present to you the greatest zombie romp on planet Earth, George A. Romero’s magnum opus, Dawn of the Dead.
I may be biased, being a self-confessed gore hound and all, but I find Romero’s follow up to his equally innovative precursor, Night of the Living
Dead, a much more reflective piece of cinema. Sure, gore maestro Tom Savini was now on board, but this is the first of Romero’s many films that
commented on the Western industrialist world’s leaning, and yearning, for consumer products as a means for extracurricular stimulation. At the
time, and even to this day, Romero views consumerism as an addictive drug, an unnecessary vice that corrupts potentially wholesome people,
sending them down Nowhere Street, and away from their own personal interests.
It’s a shameless assumption, but it’s nonetheless true, and today, where people all over the world are pining for the latest gadget, and have the
salaries to afford them, are relentlessly purchasing obsolete goods only to fork out more money the following year on a not too dissimilar model.
It’s utter stupidity, and to prove that Romero bares no sympathy for compulsive consumers, he gives Ken Foree the most appropriate line in his
film. Just as he’s cocked a beautifully plush rifle, Foree glares down its barrel, saying, “The only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker
with the bread to buy it.”
You’re probably aware of the set up. Two SWAT team officers, one pilot, and one female news reporter, flee the scene of a zombie epidemic,
seeking refuge in a shopping mall. Confronted with a God-awful situation, they soon realise that they have everything they need right under the
one roof, whereby the mall, and its many outlets, provide a sufficient means of survival, sustaining them, both nutritionally and superficially, right
up to the very end.
While holed up in the mall, countless zombies attempt to breach the facility, where most of them eventually succeed, and the foursome is forced to
defend themselves against a horde of salivating zombies, and an army of looters that has also invaded the premises.
Laden with gore that was way ahead of its time, and accompanied with an awesome synth-score by Goblin, Dawn of the Dead not only satirises
consumerism, but also the shopping experience. As soon as they stumble across the “Keys to the Kingdom”, the foursome turns the mall into a
fully functional entity, switching on all the lights, powering up the escalators, turning on the ambient music, and helping themselves to whatever
they want, and the deep irony is that much of the people who frequent these kinds of establishments spend a large portion of their lives, and most
of their hard-earned dough, on items they don’t really need.
The fact that this foursome has free reign in such a facility, especially in a crisis situation, is a big “fuck you” from Mr. Romero, because they’re doing
everything that they shouldn’t be doing, breaking countless laws by driving vehicles in the complex, stealing, loitering, and blowing the shit out of
the living dead. And, the shopping montage that Romero presents about three quarters of the way in is proof that our heroes are living a far more
luxurious life under these somewhat bleak circumstances – even though it’s the end of the world – than they would’ve been living on the outside.
Hell, they’ve even got the resources to build their own makeshift home, and that’s exactly what they do. It just doesn’t get any better than this,
folks!
Revisiting Dawn of the Dead after some 5 years, I was pleasantly surprised that it hasn’t lost any of its appeal. Gore wise, it’s probably equivalent
to an MA in Australia today, because horror films these days tend to border on and venture into ‘torture porn’ territory. The one thing I did realise
and had forgotten about was the ‘feeding’ scenes. Having just reviewed Romero’s disappointing Diary of the Dead, I realised that there were no
scenes that involved any gut munching, and while Day of the Dead – my favourite Dead film – is undoubtedly the most shocking in terms of
onscreen violence, featuring some brilliant feeds, Dawn of the Dead does display some tasty sequences which have become hallmarks of Romero’s
Dead films.
If you haven’t seen Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, you should be ashamed of yourself. This is one film - whether you’re into zombie flicks or not -
that quite frankly, needs to be in your collection. I wouldn’t recommend renting it. Buy the muthafucka!!!
breaking gore effects. Behold, I present to you the greatest zombie romp on planet Earth, George A. Romero’s magnum opus, Dawn of the Dead.
I may be biased, being a self-confessed gore hound and all, but I find Romero’s follow up to his equally innovative precursor, Night of the Living
Dead, a much more reflective piece of cinema. Sure, gore maestro Tom Savini was now on board, but this is the first of Romero’s many films that
commented on the Western industrialist world’s leaning, and yearning, for consumer products as a means for extracurricular stimulation. At the
time, and even to this day, Romero views consumerism as an addictive drug, an unnecessary vice that corrupts potentially wholesome people,
sending them down Nowhere Street, and away from their own personal interests.
It’s a shameless assumption, but it’s nonetheless true, and today, where people all over the world are pining for the latest gadget, and have the
salaries to afford them, are relentlessly purchasing obsolete goods only to fork out more money the following year on a not too dissimilar model.
It’s utter stupidity, and to prove that Romero bares no sympathy for compulsive consumers, he gives Ken Foree the most appropriate line in his
film. Just as he’s cocked a beautifully plush rifle, Foree glares down its barrel, saying, “The only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker
with the bread to buy it.”
You’re probably aware of the set up. Two SWAT team officers, one pilot, and one female news reporter, flee the scene of a zombie epidemic,
seeking refuge in a shopping mall. Confronted with a God-awful situation, they soon realise that they have everything they need right under the
one roof, whereby the mall, and its many outlets, provide a sufficient means of survival, sustaining them, both nutritionally and superficially, right
up to the very end.
While holed up in the mall, countless zombies attempt to breach the facility, where most of them eventually succeed, and the foursome is forced to
defend themselves against a horde of salivating zombies, and an army of looters that has also invaded the premises.
Laden with gore that was way ahead of its time, and accompanied with an awesome synth-score by Goblin, Dawn of the Dead not only satirises
consumerism, but also the shopping experience. As soon as they stumble across the “Keys to the Kingdom”, the foursome turns the mall into a
fully functional entity, switching on all the lights, powering up the escalators, turning on the ambient music, and helping themselves to whatever
they want, and the deep irony is that much of the people who frequent these kinds of establishments spend a large portion of their lives, and most
of their hard-earned dough, on items they don’t really need.
The fact that this foursome has free reign in such a facility, especially in a crisis situation, is a big “fuck you” from Mr. Romero, because they’re doing
everything that they shouldn’t be doing, breaking countless laws by driving vehicles in the complex, stealing, loitering, and blowing the shit out of
the living dead. And, the shopping montage that Romero presents about three quarters of the way in is proof that our heroes are living a far more
luxurious life under these somewhat bleak circumstances – even though it’s the end of the world – than they would’ve been living on the outside.
Hell, they’ve even got the resources to build their own makeshift home, and that’s exactly what they do. It just doesn’t get any better than this,
folks!
Revisiting Dawn of the Dead after some 5 years, I was pleasantly surprised that it hasn’t lost any of its appeal. Gore wise, it’s probably equivalent
to an MA in Australia today, because horror films these days tend to border on and venture into ‘torture porn’ territory. The one thing I did realise
and had forgotten about was the ‘feeding’ scenes. Having just reviewed Romero’s disappointing Diary of the Dead, I realised that there were no
scenes that involved any gut munching, and while Day of the Dead – my favourite Dead film – is undoubtedly the most shocking in terms of
onscreen violence, featuring some brilliant feeds, Dawn of the Dead does display some tasty sequences which have become hallmarks of Romero’s
Dead films.
If you haven’t seen Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, you should be ashamed of yourself. This is one film - whether you’re into zombie flicks or not -
that quite frankly, needs to be in your collection. I wouldn’t recommend renting it. Buy the muthafucka!!!
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