Dawn of the Dead Reviews

Sometimes its difficult to make a good remake, especially if its a remake to George A.Romero's 'Dawn Of The Dead'. This may not be as memorable, as powerful or as funny as the original. However, it doesn't stop this film from being a faster and intense take on a zombie apocalypse .

As a Romero fan, I wasn't very fond of the idea of having running zombies. To me, this form of the undead ruins the idea of what a typical zombie is. The film tries to give intensity to individual zombies. However, this doesn't really top how terrifying a large group of slow moving zombies can be.

Overall,its nothing like the original, but introduces a new, zombie apocalypse with a faster pace. For Horror/Zombie fans, this is a must watch/buy.

Remakes generally suck. And to remake Dawn of the Dead (the penultimate zombie apocalypse movie of its time) would have to beat very high expectations. (Yes, Night of the Living Dead started it all but it moves too slow for most Gen X and Y'ers),

Borrowing from 28 Days Later "zombies-on-speed", Zach Snyder's debut is at its best in its opening sequence of suburban mayhem, including the gripping title sequence (played to Johnny Cash's "When the Man Comes Around") and in the final credits (accompanied by John Carol's "People Who Died"). Like the original, the movie meanders a bit in the middle with a few original "gore" scenes for the zombie diehards. Cameos by Tom Savini, (make-up artist) and Ken Foree (the protagonist) from the original film make it enjoyable for those of us old enough to have been scared out of our mind back in the 70's.

And to top it off, it reiterates one of the best tag-lines of all time:

"When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

The end of western society...
Again.
Or:"I love the smell of zombies in the morning...!"
Entertaining? It's my fav zombie movie.

As far as creating gore, this is a pretty slick movie. Overall, it's a pretty mediocre horror flick. The zombies are way faster and stronger than most you'll see, but they come across far less creepy than their meandering predecessors. The real flaw in this movie is it's ability to create suspense. The real charm of a zombie story is the tension amongst the living, a poor job was done establishing anything here. Of course, the characters were all pretty weak anyway. This was all style, and no substance. Still, you could do worse.

A horrible movie, its cheesy, boring, stupid, and not scary! A group of survivors from a zombie apocolypse try and survive in a mall, but they can't stay there forever. The plot begins with a final destination formula, and then it turns into a video game where they have a bunch of colorful characters all locked up in one mall, it was very stupid. These people may be the dumbest bastards alive, and thats coming from the guy who saw Just Go With It. It may be gory, but even for a zombie movie there isn't much killing, which was a huge disappointment.. Im a big fan of zombie films, but this was just to terrible for my taste.

A group of survivors of a zombie holocaust hide out in a shopping mall which is under siege from a horde of the undead. Zack Snyder's update of George Romero's seminal classic impressed me a lot when I first saw it, but upon a rewatch its quality is obviously a result of its riffing off of the superior idea of another rather than because of its own merits. The most glaring problem for me is the whole "fast zombie" idea. Somehow, it's far more unsettling to be besieged by shuffling, decaying, mindless zombies than the hyperactive speedfreaks we have here, which means the oppressive air of crushing inevitability of Romero's film is sorely missing. As is any semblance of the social commentary and sly wit that coloured the original. The characters are really just a bunch of action movie stereotypes so it's very difficult to give a crap about any of them and it all chugs along at a pace that leaves little room for the building of tension or suspense. It does have some nice ideas; the disturbing zombie crack baby for one, and the inclusion of near cameos by Matt Frewer and the neighbouring gun shop owner Andy make for the most interesting characters in it (which does also kind of highlight the inadequacies of our heroes in comparison). Snyder does fall into the MTV trap of getting too bogged down with slo-mo ammo porn but the action sequences are very well done and the effects are great which makes the film feel far more like a good, solid sci-fi action thriller than a true zombie flick. More Land Of The Dead than Dawn Of The Dead, but if you enjoyed that you'll no doubt enjoy this. And it's the best remake of a Romero zombie film by a country mile.

better than the original, but then... so is every other movie?

Michael: So what's the plan?
CJ: The plan is you drink a nice tall glass of Shut The Fuck Up.

Less of a remake, and more of a reimagining of the original, director Zach Snyder and writer James Gunn have made a film that takes the original's premise ramps it up into the new millennium.

While taking out the social commentary of the original, this version really turns into an action movie...with zombies, and that is not at all a bad thing. And these zombies follow the recent sprinting zombie style, oppose to the barely alive mode.

Michael: Truck's not gonna make it to Fort Pastor.
Steve: No, forget the truck. That place is fucked, man. Bloodbath city.
Kenneth: How do you know?
Norma: We just came from there.
Kenneth: Is everyone there dead?
Steve: Well, dead-ish.
Kenneth: Is everyone there dead?
Steve: Yeah, in the sense that they all sort of, uh... fell down... and then got up... and started eating each other.

An interesting cast composites the survivors including indie movie queen Sarah Polley, Mekhi Phifer, Ving Rhames as a guy who you know wont have problems dealing with anything, and Jake Weber as level headed Michael who knows how to get a handle on things.

Michael: There is no other place to go!
CJ: Well, that's YOUR problem, not mine.
Kenneth: How about I put my foot up your ass, will that be your problem?

Sticking with the same premise, we follow a small group of survivors to a deserted mall after an outbreak of undead begin to inexplicably roam the earth. From there the survivors must deal with the stress that comes with the end of the world, as well as make as many head shots as possible.

What helps is how much dark humor and fun moments there are in this movie, it is definitely one of the more fun horror movies of recent years, complete with some sweet gore shots, some pump you up action moments, one-liners, and a neat visual style to go along with it. Very entertaining.

The County Sheriff: Danny, put another round in that woman over there! Look! She's a twitcher!

I'll always associate the Dawn of the Dead remake with my freshman year in college. Myself and a few of my friends had a great time in the theater watching it, and checking it out again a few years later, it's still a fun time. I credit it and 28 Days Later for really bringing the zombie movie back in an awesome way.

Dawn of the Dead does almost everything right. There are some really horrifying events, plenty of scares, a good cast of characters played by capable actors, lots of action, a few moments of levity, and tons of zombie mayhem. It avoids the overwhelming deluge of heavy-handed social commentary that so many zombie movies drown in (Land of the Dead, anyone?), but it's also not just a completely shallow experience.

You can't really go wrong with Dawn of the Dead if you're even slightly a fan of the genre. It starts with a bang from the very beginning, and rarely lets up the intensity. See it.

Dawn Of The Dead has got to be the best horror remake ever. Zack Snyder has done a fine job of refurbishing George A. Romero's classic film. The result is a film that is well executed with plenty of scares, gore and good acting. Now like every seasoned horror fan, I absolutely love George A. Romero, I see the original Dawn Of The Dead as one of my personal favorites of his, and course view it as a horror classic. Zack Snyder delivers a new intriguing twist on Romero's classic film, and he crafts the strongest remake since Cronenberg's The Fly. A work of incredible horrifying filmmaking makes this remake a film to be seen by hardened horror fans. A very well done film thats action packed, thrilling and scary, Seeps the basic elements of Romero's classic, but gives it a bloodier upgrade. The result is truly impressive. Dawn Of The Dead is gross, gory and scar, exactly what a remake of this stature needs. The film possesses traits that many of today's remakes don't possess. I love zombie films, and this is the best zombie film since Shaun Of The Dead and 28 Days Later. Zack Snyder has crafted a fine horror remake that will be viewed in horror circles in the years to come as a classic. Not only that, but as a correct way as to how to successfully make a remake that doesn't suck. It's very rare that a remake is almost as good as the original, but in the case of Zack Snyder re invisioned film, he delivers a film thats almost just as good as the original, and he manages to create with this remake something different in the process. Dawn Of The Dead is one of the few horror remakes that does justice to the original, and in time it will be seen as a horror classic. Good gory fun and worth watching. A near flawless remake.

a remake only in the loosest sense, this film is almost entirely different from the original aside from the setting. this is actually one of my favorite zombie films. the film takes more unexpected turns than most of the genre, and although it would have been fun to see the characters explore the mall a bit more like they did in the original, most of this film was executed rather well. a great zombie movie.

4 stars

Penance for not having seen the original George Romero directed zombie walk aside, this similarly authentic horror film packs the zombies in shoulder to shoulder, with original scenes including the birth of a zombie baby, and a lost dog's retrieval. Amazing stuff.

awesome, bloody, and entertaining

This is the best zombies film of the year - the cast is excellent, the cinematography and editing exciting and innovative, and the makeup and "creature" effects are top notch.
The plot is pretty straightforward, and relies mostly on cliché themes to move the story along.
As Ana, Sarah Polley convincingly plays a waif turned survivor with just the right amount of emoting. She is strong and vulnerable at the same moment, trying to remain reasonable in unreasonable times. Jake Weber also fits this bill as Michael, a man with a shady past full of regret who tries to fill others with hope while remaining a stark realistic. And Ving Rhames' performance clearly commands the most attention.
Director Zack Snyder moves the horror film along briskly and effectively, keeping the action scenes tight and the dramatic scenes quiet.
Horror remake of George A. Romeo's 1978 Dawn of the Dead.

Watch it on TV, lost first quarter of this movie, but turns out to be an interesting movie... I didn't realize that this one was a Zack Snyder's... Well, I must say Snyder is doing a great job in this movie, especially for the ending, love that...

A brilliant modern day zombie film. Not seen the original yet, but this has the same appeal as 28 days later. A great cast, modern take on the genre with good gory effects. Well worth checking out.

I was a little horrified when I heard they were remaking this film. firstly, what gives you the audacity and secondly, how can you improve on the best? The simple answer is you can't. That said, Snyder made it quite clear that this is a loving homage to the genres that is based on the original film but is not really a remake. He did a good job too, he might not be the most original director in the world but he is a faithful fan done (and doing) good.

Returning from a busy day in the hospital, Ana spends time with her husband when a neighbours daughter comes into the house and attacks her husband. He dies before returning to life and attacking Ana. She runs and escapes in her car, driving through a neighbourhood rife with violence and fires. After crashing her car, she hooks up with a group of armed survivors who take refuge in a mall. The group settle in and fortify their position as an army of the undead gather outside.

Before I start my review, let me just say that this will be biased as I am always easily won over by zombie movies. The fact that they just keep coming (fast or slow), lack character and only want to kill really just freaks me out. So I tend to get easily scared by the genre (even if `enjoy' is perhaps not the right word) and be easily more negligent towards their faults. Despite telling myself that I wouldn't bother with this film as it would scare me, I went for it anyway in a fit of `confront your fears' type of stupidity! The film starts with a creepy opening and pretty much manages to keep the pace up for the whole film. It, like the zombies, moves fast and brutally throughout and is very, very tense.

Others have complained about the lack of gore - however I found the graphic exploding heads to do that more than enough for my tastes! Better than gore is the atmosphere. The use of news footage is not original but it succeeds (along with the aerial view of the town) in creating the impression of a world turning to sh*t. I don't know about you but this scares me and the film did it well. The speed of the zombie attacks makes for a thrilling ride and it did make me very tense - Snyder managed to make the whole film a threat (especially for a first time director) and I honestly have a very stiff neck a day after seeing this simply because my body was tensed up for the whole film!

The pace of the film also serves to cover the real problems in content and plot. Unlike the original there is no satirical swipe on consumerism - the fact that the zombies are just wandering aimlessly around the mall like they used to in life is pretty much ignored here - but times are very different now I guess. The plot itself also has quite a few stupid moments where the characters act in a way you know they wouldn't in real life. For example people go on suicide missions for little real reasons and you can tell that the script is just doing it to create more action. However, when you are into it, these things don't really seem to matter. The film may be a little silly when you think about it but it does have a good ending - downbeat and realistic (or at least as realistic as it can be!) and left me with no hope of a happy ending - in this regard it is everything that `28 Days Later..' is not.

The cast is good even if the script places their characters secondary to the action. Polley is used to slightly more substantial roles but still does well here. Rhames is lumbered with a religious background that is never explained, but he is a great presence throughout. Weber is the standout role however. His character is a slightly less cartoon version of Evil Dead's Ash. He is the unwilling hero but yet he seems to accept all the obstacles he comes across. He also manages to be one of the group that the audience cares about - most of them are fodder and we know it! Phifer is a good actor but seemed too `gangster' to really be driven to this degree by his family. The rest of the support cast are mostly just there to get eaten but they do OK.

Overall this is not a great film - but it is an effective one. As a film it lacks subtext, comment and plot logic. However as a thriller it is fast paced, gripping and tense with a satisfyingly bleak conclusion. Snyder does a good job as a first timer and creates an atmosphere that is gripping even if it lacks originality. Like I said, I don't deal with zombie movies very well and am easily scared but I reckon that this should satisfy many a Saturday night thrill-seeking crowd even if it does nothing for your brain apart from it's risk getting eaten.