Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 100
minutes
Year:
2004
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael
Kelly, Kevin Zegers, Michael Barry, Lindy Booth, Jayne Eastwood, Boyd Banks,
Inna Korobkina, R.D. Reid, Kim Poirier, Matt Frewer, Tom Savini, Ken Foree
Description: A group of
survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies,
take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.
Review: In 1978, George A. Romero created a classic in the horror genre with “Dawn
of the Dead”. While American society is collapsing due to the large-scale
appearance and multiplication of zombies, four people get stuck in a large shopping
mall, surrounded by a large number of living dead. For a while they manage to survive
there by using the facilities there, while the building is surrounded by an
increasing number of zombies. “Dawn of the Dead” distinguished itself from the
bulk of the horror genre by its unique blend of suspense, action, humor,
horror, satire and humanity. In that sense, the film remains unsurpassed to
this day, and absolutely does not need a remake. The remake, then, is not
really a remake, but rather a revision of the original that goes its own way. The
question then, of course, is: does it remain a good film?
The film begins with a
mini-portrait of the life of nurse Ana, which can be called somewhat monotone
and routine. Soon, however, her quiet little life is disrupted by the fact that
Ana’s blood-stained neighbor girl sinks her teeth into Ana’s husband, causing
him to turn into a zombie as well and then attack Ana. She just barely manages
to escape. When she’s outside, she sees that the entire city is in chaos. Buildings
are on fire, people are fleeing or being eaten by zombies. The entire country
and possible the entire world is in turmoil and dead creatures are roaming
everywhere.
The opening titles
underscore the chaos in which humans find themselves. Ana meets other survivors
and together they decided to hide in a huge shopping mall, trying to survive
there.
The zombies in “Dawn of the
Dead” are fast and strong and have developed a slight hunting instinct. Partly because
of this, the pace of the film is fast too. Other features include the
obligatory, clichéd scare moments, which fortunately do no dominate the film
and are limited to a modest number. Debuting director Zack Snyder does a great
job with the suspense and scare and even added footage during the credits,
which give a different spin to the story.
“Dawn of the Dead” manages
to keep the tension, which is not hindered by the humor and action that also
appears in the film. What is most preserved from the original film, is the
humanity. While the zombies surround the mall, all sorts of things are
happening inside the mall that barely have anything to do with the threat outside:
power games, betrayal, selfishness, cynicism, bravery, compassion, love, you
name it. The credibility of the characters allows the viewers to identify with
them and experience their fears.
Fear and suspense is
therefore what “Dawn of the Dead” delivers, the film is very effective and in
that sense a successful horror film. It’s actually one of the best horror film
of its decade.
Rating: 4/
5
