DAWN OF THE DEAD aka ZOMBIES
Written and Directed by George A. Romero Produced by Richard P. Rubenstein
Starring Ken Foree ---- Peter David Emge ---- Steven Gaylen Ross ---- Fran Scott H. Reineger ---- Roger
This is without doubt the greatest horror movie ever made, and we should accept this without any further ado or arguments. You can forget Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street or Scream, this is the one that got them all started.
A follow up to Romero's 1969 classic 'Night Of The Living Dead' see's four main protagonists alone, scared and couped up in a large shopping mall after fleeing the city, with the walking dead everywhere.
Up to the point where the group get to the mall is pretty much run of the mill, social satire, city folks panicking and not wanting to hear what they are being told, TV station controllers sending people out to their deaths just to boost ratings and in the country, Rednecks using the situation for target practice and a huge party.
When they reach themall the style of the film changes, if not the points being made by Romero, and it is here where the film comes into it's own, as we see the group transform from isolated outsiders looking in on a situation to becoming drawn into the world of consumerism that is staring them in the face.
At this point the film could have gone dead, but enter Tom Savini and his gang of hells angels, with only one intent, taking the consumerist goods for themselves. What do they want them for? Where can they use them? It doesn't matter, they just want them, they just need them to remind them of a world that once was.
Overall Romero leaves you with the question 'Who actually is worse, the zombies who only attack the humans, or the humans who attack each other for seemingly no reason at all? O.K the performances from everyone (With the exception of genere fave Foree) are somewhat lacking, but what the hell, this isn't an actors movie, it's Romero's, and what a bloody good job he makes of it as well.
Marks Out Of 10 ======== 10
Martin A. Horton marty@mah0.demon.co.uk
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