"When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."
George Romero's Dawn of the Dead remains one of the best zombie movies ever made. It has a richness to it that I haven't found in other entries in this particular sub-genre. It's a fantastic mix of end of the world mayhem and subversive satire.
The film opens with Frannie (played by Gaylen Ross), a news producer trying to cope with the onslaught of the zombie apocalypse. The newsroom is in chaos as outdated information is being reported out as news anchors argue over what is happening. She is waiting for her boyfriend, Stephen (played by David Emge) to return. Stephen is a Helicopter pilot and has a plan to try and get away. Meanwhile, we are also introduced to two SWAT team members, Peter (played by Ken Foree) and Roger (played by Scott Reiniger), who are part of an operation to clear out an apartment building full of zombies. Roger is supposed to leave with Frannie and Stephen and after bonding with Peter a bit he invites him along. The four depart after stealing the television station's helicopter and begin searching for a place they can escape the zombie onslaught only to realize it is literally everywhere. Looking for a place to stop and rest, they come across an abandoned shopping mall and land on the roof. Initially, they were just looking for a place to rest momentarily and gather supplies but come to realize it may be the ideal refuge.
The quartet set about clearing out the zombies that are wandering around the mall, lock the doors and block the entrances from the outside to keep any more from getting in. From there, they have free reign of the mall and all the goods it holds. The raid the stores for appliances and the sporting good store for guns and ammo. They set up a nice oasis for themselves in the survival shelter area on the upper floor of the mall. They also build a false wall to over up the entrance to their area of the mall so should anyone stumble across the mall, they would hopefully never know they are there.
The film is a loose sequel to Romero's Night of the Living Dead, but also functions as a stand-alone film. It is also a very different film with a both a larger and a more intimate scope. What makes this film so successful is in the four main characters and their distinct, individual personalities. You can't help but love them and want to root for them. By limiting the cast to four central characters, you get to know them well and get attached to them and naturally want to see them survive. I also loved the way the character of Frannie asserts herself, stating she is on the same level as the three boys and refuses to play den mother. The film allows the characters time to grow within their situation, which opens the film to some clever satire on consumerism, as the characters start to feel like they're losing themselves as they become more and more settled in the mall, bringing more and more goods into their shelter. Of course, shots of zombie wandering in and out of stores around the mall also contribute to this theme.
But the film also has a sense of fun to it as well to break up the bleakness of other parts. As the four characters are getting set up in the mall, running around dodging the shuffling zombies, you get the feeling that in a way they're having the time of their lives. At one point, they take a car that's on display within the mall and use it to zip around as they lock the place down. I always loved that energy that it brings the film and it felt true to me that people would enjoy the freedom of going on the sort of a shopping spree, which of course ties back into the consumerism themes that are apparent in the film.
Overall, Dawn of the Dead, remains one of the best zombie movies ever in a large part due to it's fully developed characters and a smart script, also written by the film's director George Romero, that gives it a sort of richness that one does not expect in the horror genre.
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