100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 134: Dawn of the Dead

Director: George A. Romero

Genre: Action/ Horror

Runtime: 137 minutes

Year: 1978

Starring: Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, David Emge, Gaylen Ross, David Crawford, Tom Savini, George A. Romero, Christine Forrest

Description: Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

Review: After the classic from 1968, “Night of the Living Dead”, where the threatening atmosphere was clearly present, this film is more a combination ofaction and horror. You can already see that in the opening scene. There is not as much threat, but a lot of excitement and nail biting moments.

The story revolves around four people. Their characters don’t really go through a development, but their state of mind changes throughout the movie. Peter and Roger are the cops that are able to take over the mall and lock the zombies out. Peter is the calm and balanced one, Roger is the hot shot. Stephen is the pilot of the helicopter, that makes the trip to the mall possible and all three men see possibilities in making the mall their home. The only one seeing the danger in it is Stephen’s girlfriend Fran (‘You don’t see that it’s a prison too. Let’s just take what we need and keep going’). Her objections aren’t taken seriously though, because of the dangers on the road.

Every zombie movie has a different kind of zombie. “Dawn of the Dead” has zombies without any intelligence, they act on instinct. They don’t look scary, but the amount of zombies is very scary. The cause of all this is never explained, probably because “Night of the Living Dead” already did this.

The movie is a worthy sequel to “Night of the Living Dead”. The combination of horror and action is successful and it will probably entertain the non-horror fans as well. For fans of the zombie genre, it’s a highlight.

Rating: 4/ 5