00:00hey guys it's me Bo back once again with another cult movie review thanks for checking out the
00:19video today I'm going to be taking a look at the 1978 zombie horror movie dawn of the dead
00:28this movie has been a personal favorite of mine ever since I first watched it back many years ago
00:36as a teenager I remember I had the film on VHS and it had this really cool green artwork cover
00:45then a couple of years after that the movie got transferred onto DVD with tons of special features
00:53and yeah it's just been a movie that I've kind of continually revisited every so often
01:01recently actor David Emger who played the character Stephen in this movie sadly passed away at the age
01:10of 77 after seeing some of the tributes online dedicated to him it got me thinking about dawn of
01:19the dead I rewatched the trailer on YouTube and came across a channel that had actually uploaded
01:26the full extended version of the film in HD anyways it had been a few years since I had seen this movie
01:35and thought it was kind of the perfect time to go back and check it out again so the film which was
01:43written and directed by George A Romero was the follow-up to his 1968 feature Night of the Living Dead
01:53like the first installment we'd get an outbreak of zombies attacking people this time around though
02:00we get a whole new cast of characters to follow on their journey to survive actors Ken Furry and Scott
02:08Reininger played Peter and Roger respectively two active duty cops on the run along with Stephen
02:17and Francine played by David Emger and Galen Ross we see the group escape the chaos in the city by
02:26stealing a news helicopter and heading north they're evading authorities and stumble upon an abandoned
02:35shopping mall with the chopper low on fuel and the group being exhausted they decide to take refuge inside
02:43they stay for a number of months waiting for the situation to improve but things get complicated
02:52when Roger gets bitten by one of the zombies as soon as Roger gets bitten he knew the game was up
03:00and so did the rest of the group it was just a matter of time before the infection spread and Roger
03:08would fully turn separately an army of bikers led by Tom Savini invade the shopping center looking for
03:18fresh supplies once the bikers gain access to the shopping mall they start looting and completely wreck the
03:26place all the zombies in the surrounding area follow the bikers in and all hell breaks loose the Stephen
03:34character was ultimately responsible for the group's downfall as he initiates a gunfight with the bikers
03:45drawing attention to himself and Peter Stephen got emotional seeing them all being taken over by the bikers
03:54but it wasn't his to begin with yet we see Stephen get so consumed with anger over it like as if he owned the place
04:06and if Stephen hadn't of initiated the gunfight with the bikers the trio would have had a better chance of evading
04:17them all together no doubt it was poor decision making on Stephen's part having the character make such a stupid mistake at such a pivotal moment was Romero's way of exposing the psychological effects Stephen was experiencing at the time
04:41Roger and Peter were trained police officers who had been exposed to heavy violence before the zombie outbreak occurred
04:51Stephen on the other hand was just a helicopter pilot he was a civilian so having him endure what he did would have put a
05:05a serious strain on his mental health you know I have to say dawn of the dead features a strong central cast of actors they all had wonderful on screen chemistry together you know each character had an important part to play in the story and the actors themselves portrayed their characters as likable and everybody fit their role
05:34like a glove the writing was sharp and none of the line delivery fell forced I thought actress Galen Ross in particular did a great job in portraying Francine as a quick thinking capable woman not afraid to stand up for herself
05:56Francine knew her strengths and her weaknesses and in a way she kind of is the heart and soul of the movie really as much as this is a zombie horror flick the movie also contains a lot of social commentary the film quite cynically shows how society would basically crumble in a situation such as a zombie apocalypse
06:24I mean at the start of the film we see the chaos going on in the TV newsroom where Francine works you've got people shouting at one another nobody can agree on anything Francine argues with her boss over the information that's on screen being incorrect while her boss is more concerned about getting viewers to tune into the station
06:52and this film critiques the mismanagement of such a crisis and it does kind of make you wonder how would our own society cope if such a thing ever happened you know later on in the movie there's a really haunting scene where we see a news reporter talking about the zombie outbreak and the possibility of a viral infection
07:21and starts talking about how scientists may seek out a vaccine to treat the outbreak
07:28watching this movie again post Covid the scene holds a lot more weight given what has happened almost like creepy foreshadowing or something there was also George
07:49Jay Romero's take are modern-day consumerism. The zombies that we see in
07:55the mall represent the materialistic masses as they flock to the shops to buy
08:03items they don't really need. The zombies are the mindless consumers and this
08:12point was made rather obvious by some of the dialogue we heard in the film. Once
08:17the group arrive on the roof of the mall they discover the zombies walking
08:22around and Francine questions why they're there. Her partner Steven responds by
08:29saying that the mall was likely an important place in their lives. Now I
08:34have to take a moment to mention the actor and makeup artist Tom Savini. Not only
08:42did he contribute with the makeup and special effects but Savini also
08:46delivered a very memorable performance as the biker blades. Savini's practical
08:55effects that he was able to produce was quite extraordinary for its time. Also
09:02taking into account the limited budget that Savini was working with, also the
09:07onset improvisations needed to fulfill the visuals that we saw. You know it was a
09:13lot of work and Savini was truly a invaluable piece to this project. Savini raised the
09:24bar and rightfully so made a name for himself in the industry. I have to say I
09:31really enjoyed the scene with the police raid on the hotel at the beginning of the
09:36film. Residents from inside the building had been harboring their dead relatives now
09:43zombies. Police cars and SWAT teams all show up outside the building and basically
09:50begin shooting their way in. This was actually where we were introduced to Roger
09:56and Peter before they made their escape out of the city. Once inside people are
10:02running, police are shooting, heads are exploding. It was absolute insanity. At one
10:10point we even see a young rookie cop get cornered by a zombie. Panic sets in when his
10:17gun becomes jammed and suddenly this dead corpse is slowly crawling towards him. We get
10:26these close-ups of the panic on his face as he's struggling to pull out his other gun.
10:30You know it's quite a scary moment and eventually the cop is able to shoot this
10:37dead corpse crawling towards him but seconds later he takes his own life. You know
10:43that was a close call but the officer survived so you think everything's gonna be
10:49okay. The next he turns the gun on himself and I guess the character must have been in
10:57complete shock, not thinking. It was a really dark moment interwoven with all this chaotic
11:04blood splatter. I mentioned the limited budget already but I want to give credit to director
11:11George J. Romero for delivering such an ambitious project on such a limited budget. When you think
11:20about it, Dawn of the Dead had a much larger scope compared to its predecessor, Night of the Living Dead.
11:27Romero took his original premise and zombie mythology and expanded it. He took his ideas to a new level
11:37with this story showcasing the wider effects of the outbreak. For example, the police raid on the
11:45hotel. We saw how the authorities would handle such a situation with their use of deadly force.
11:53You know, before doing some research online, I assumed that the film had been made on a budget of
12:01maybe three to four million. Finding out that the budget was actually less than one million
12:07million. I mean, that really surprised me. That demonstrates just how competent of a director
12:14George J. Romero was. And so, dislikes for Dawn of the Dead 1978. My main dislike for this movie would be
12:27the original Romero score that he used for the film. Now, don't get me wrong, the score does its job
12:35in places. And who doesn't love the end credits scene?
12:44It's very memorable. And mixing such kooky themes with some of the dark, violent imagery gave the film a
12:53very dreamlike vibe. And, you know, I can't fault that. But there were some musical cues in the film
13:05that felt really dated, even for a movie from the late 70s. From what I've read online, Romero,
13:14in post-production, used music from a stock library. And I feel exactly the same way with Romero's first
13:22zombie film, Night of the Living Dead. That score, as well, was at times just overly dramatic when it
13:29didn't need to be. But I give that movie a pass, given it was a black and white 60s movie. With the Dawn of the Dead
13:37soundtrack, it just wasn't much of an improvement. And, you know, I think Dawn of the Dead is far superior to
13:43Night of the Living Dead in so many different ways. But with the soundtrack, I, yeah, I just wasn't that impressed.
13:52You know, I could be wrong, but I get the impression that the whole music element wasn't really a major factor
14:01for Romero until he got into the post-production phase. Also, having seen the alternate Di Argento version
14:09with the additional Goblin music, the theatrical version just lacks for me.
14:17Another dislike I wanted to mention was the blue and grey makeup used for the zombies.
14:27At times, it felt a little over the top. And, yeah, I just thought, you know, they could have done a bit better, surely.
14:38It's weird because throughout the film, we see some really cool makeup effects on specific zombies.
14:46Like, for example, when we see Roger finally turn into one of the undead, and we see his body rise up from the bed,
14:54his decrepit white face, the whole makeup, it looked brilliant.
15:00You know, I don't want to be too critical on that because I think it may have come down to, you know, budgetary reasons.
15:05You know, we've got so many extras. Let's just put them all in grey and blue makeup, whatever it is.
15:09Whatever works, right?
15:11So it seems that the producers clearly focused their efforts on key zombie characters
15:18while giving everyone else a more default grey complexion.
15:24And with the film also being now transferred to, you know, HD 4K,
15:29there are certain moments in the film you can clearly see the kind of poor makeup effects.
15:35And so, ratings for Dawn of the Dead.
15:39I'm going to be rating this movie a strong 7.5 out of 10.
15:45For me, Dawn of the Dead is a movie that I continually revisit every couple of years.
15:51It's extremely rewatchable, and no doubt one of the very best zombie movies ever produced.
15:58Night of the Living Dead and Romero's later sequel, Day of the Dead, were much darker and despondent.
16:06This movie, on the other hand, has a way more vibrant and energetic feel to it,
16:12which was very refreshing for the genre.
16:15This may sound harsh, but Romero, in his later years, could only dream of producing a movie this good.
16:23It's an excellent horror movie, a superior sequel, and a movie that I highly recommend.
16:32I'm sure many of you guys have seen this movie.
16:34I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
16:37That is all from me today, guys.
16:39I hope you all enjoyed it.
16:41I will be back very soon with more cult movie reviews.
16:44Don't forget to subscribe, and yeah, I'll see you very soon.
Be the first to comment