| “When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.” |
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Dawn of the Dead
DVD/APPROX. 127MINS/1978/USA R18+
DVD/APPROX. 127MINS/1978/USA R18+
8.5
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In 1968 Director George A. Romero created one of the most unforgettable zombie movies of all time, this film was called Night of the Living Dead.
This film did not only terrify and shock its audience but it also happened to set of a chain reaction allowing other filmmakers to begin jumping
onboard the zombie bandwagon after Romero forgot to copyright his film. Due to a fall out with a movie company called Image Ten, this landed the
movie into the public domain section. 10 years later this amazing director decided to send a second lot of chills up our spines by creating a sequel
to Night of the Living Dead, this movie is called Dawn of the Dead (1978). This time around the movie was shot in colour and teamed up once
again with special effects artist Tom Savini (who also worked on Romero’s Martin back in 1977) and created another unforgettable zombie
masterpiece. After playing in theatres across America with Dawn of the Dead only having a budget of only $650,000, Romero was able to gross
$55,000,000 worldwide. Horror fans went into a gorehound frenzy, with special effects being so far out of this world, and watching for the first
time zombies taking over the world and ripping apart helpless victims limb by limb. Even 26 Years later, Dawn of the Dead has managed to land in
the remake list where director Zack Synder decided to pay his respect to the legendary director in 2004 and nilly out doing the Romero by spicing
up the storyline, changing the zombies from slow walking pace to fast sprinters and amazing CGI special effects.
Dawn of the Dead begins with a local TV Station in Philadelphia are into a heated debate where a news anchorman (David Early) and a doctor
(David Crawford) are both arguing back and forward about the fact that the dead are returning back to life and eating the living. Two TV station
workers helicopter pilot Stephen (David Emge) and news reporter Francine (Gaylen Ross) decide to get the hell out of the city before the situation
gets any worse by taking the television stations helicopter, while getting supplies and fuelling the helicopter Stephen invites his friend a SWAT
officer Roger (Scott H. Reiniger) who talks Peter (Ken Foree) a SWAT team mate along for the ride. In hopes the four all begin to head west to try
and find a safe place from the flesh eating zombies. Stephen decides to land the helicopter on the roof top of a deserted mall in Pittsburgh, and
get a few hours shut eye before heading back off into the sky. The group soon realizes that they have it good where they are, they begin to clear
out the mall of any remaining wandering zombies, barricade all the entrances by placing the company trucks across the doorways, and making the
mall their new temporary home, while hoping the zombie epidemic will eventually faded away one day. That’s until a viscous booze swilling
motorbike gang (which was an actual motorbike gang called The Pagans which SFX Artist/Actor Tom Savini played the biker leader Blade) breaks
into the mall and begins to loot the department stores for supplies, not caring whether the survivors in the mall live or die. Peter and Stephen
prepare to lock and load, they both deicide to fight back against the biker thieves and protect what is theirs, while Stephens fiancée Francine
(who is 8 months pregnant) locks herself in a small storage room, which she can quickly escape to the roof top encase of a emergency.
If you asked any average horror fan, what is there favourite zombie movie of all time? I guess about 98% of them would definitely say Dawn of
the Dead which is without no doubt the mother of all zombie films. Night of the Living Dead might have started George Romero’s filmmaking
career, but horror fans just can’t get enough of this gorefest cult classic. Personally I have to say I fall into the 2% that doesn’t think this is his
best work ever. I find Day of the Dead (1985) is his best work, I just prefer the storyline and gore far more than this movie. Don’t get me wrong, I
still love this film just that the fact of four people living in a mall doing jack shit for 80 minutes of the film kind of got on my nerves. The beginning of
the movie was breathtaking, and then towards the end of the movie was just simply spectacular to watch. If it wasn’t for special effects artist Tom
Savini doing what he knows best and not holding back with his special effects. I really can’t see Romero’s Dawn of the Dead being the dominant
zombie film ever. It is also obvious that without Romero you wouldn’t have seen Savini, begin able to show off his brain busting “how the hell was
he able to do that?” special effects.
George couldn’t have picked a more outstanding cast, with each of the 4 leading actors bringing their characters to life. The one particularly I have
to say I enjoyed the most was actress Gaylen Ross (to even today she is still looking gorgeous as she did back then), at the beginning of the
movie her character was a quiet, scared, worried about being left alone and trying survive. Slowly through the movie you can see her character
change into more of an independent woman, taking a stand up against the dead, and not fighting to save her own life but also her unborn child’s
life. Ken Foree was another actor whose character blew up on the screen. A talk dark black man, probably the only black man left in the world, who
is fearless, pissed off and angry with what’s going on in the world. David Emge character (flyboy) was a bit annoying from most of the time on
screen, but I have to say when his character came to life was when he became a zombie. To this very day, no other zombie in history has ever had
own its very own unique walk. But most of all Tom Savini whom I can’t forget about most importantly, I was overwhelmed not just by his special
effects, but the way he captured his character Blade, who wasn’t just a mean biker but was instead a bit of a jokester. By mocking and smashing
cream pies into the zombies faces had me giggling like a little kid at a circus. Even though, a zombie film isn’t a zombie film without zombies, so to
the entire zombie cast, I personally would like to thank you for all the hard work and cold sub temperature all nights of making this movie.
Screwdriver, helicopter, monk girl, bathing suit, and the airport zombies, Dawn of the Dead wouldn’t be what it is without your presences in the
film.
Some of you are probably wondering what the gore factor was like. I have to say right now, the gore factor is off the wall, hell I don’t know where
to even begin. Every limb you can think of is attacked and chomped on, you’ll even witness zombies devouring each other, headshots, machete to
a head, a decapitation by helicopter, beheadings, sledge hammer smashed face, death by screwdriver, disembowelments. Shit I can go on and on,
with the gore factor. Trust me my fellow gorehounds, you’ll definitely get your daily intake of blood and guts when watching this film.
Romero’s first print of Dawn of the Dead basically runs for about 140 minutes, you can watch this version on the ultimate 4 disc edition from
Anchorbay/Starz. Then Italian director Dario Argento who happened to get hold of the negative from Romero and decided to make a few
adjustments by snipping bits out of it, just so it could give the film more acceptable dimensions which created a entirely different version. The
theatrical version runs for about 128 minutes, which is exactly the same run time as this DVD.
The score was all done by music composers Goblin, who has worked with Dario Argento on several films of his. Argento also contributed to Goblin’s
original score as well, which he got most of his inspiration from the atmosphere of the film.
The DVD extras department is a real treat for Aussie Dead fans to now know a thing or two about what exactly happened behind and on set. With
a 75 minute documentary called “The Dead Will Walk” was absolutely to die for. With Romero, Savini, and all the cast and crew, explaining how
exciting it was behind set. You also have 2 audio commentaries: one is with Director George Romero, Tom Savini and Chris Romero and the other
being with Producer Richard P Rubeninstien. Bio/Filmographies, Trailers, Photo Gallery and much, much, more.
Thanks to Umbrella Entertainment for releasing this prized DVD, which now we Aussies are able to now kick back, chug down a few beers and
watch this amazing classic gem. Dawn of the Dead is also playable to our international viewers, since the DVD has been released on region 0
format. Either though this release might not be as good as the Anchorbay/Starz 4 disc release, it’s still highly enjoyable to watch, and also has
animated menus, crispy clean picture quality, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound and being chock-o-block filled with extras to keep any viewer busy
for the next few hours.
This film did not only terrify and shock its audience but it also happened to set of a chain reaction allowing other filmmakers to begin jumping
onboard the zombie bandwagon after Romero forgot to copyright his film. Due to a fall out with a movie company called Image Ten, this landed the
movie into the public domain section. 10 years later this amazing director decided to send a second lot of chills up our spines by creating a sequel
to Night of the Living Dead, this movie is called Dawn of the Dead (1978). This time around the movie was shot in colour and teamed up once
again with special effects artist Tom Savini (who also worked on Romero’s Martin back in 1977) and created another unforgettable zombie
masterpiece. After playing in theatres across America with Dawn of the Dead only having a budget of only $650,000, Romero was able to gross
$55,000,000 worldwide. Horror fans went into a gorehound frenzy, with special effects being so far out of this world, and watching for the first
time zombies taking over the world and ripping apart helpless victims limb by limb. Even 26 Years later, Dawn of the Dead has managed to land in
the remake list where director Zack Synder decided to pay his respect to the legendary director in 2004 and nilly out doing the Romero by spicing
up the storyline, changing the zombies from slow walking pace to fast sprinters and amazing CGI special effects.
Dawn of the Dead begins with a local TV Station in Philadelphia are into a heated debate where a news anchorman (David Early) and a doctor
(David Crawford) are both arguing back and forward about the fact that the dead are returning back to life and eating the living. Two TV station
workers helicopter pilot Stephen (David Emge) and news reporter Francine (Gaylen Ross) decide to get the hell out of the city before the situation
gets any worse by taking the television stations helicopter, while getting supplies and fuelling the helicopter Stephen invites his friend a SWAT
officer Roger (Scott H. Reiniger) who talks Peter (Ken Foree) a SWAT team mate along for the ride. In hopes the four all begin to head west to try
and find a safe place from the flesh eating zombies. Stephen decides to land the helicopter on the roof top of a deserted mall in Pittsburgh, and
get a few hours shut eye before heading back off into the sky. The group soon realizes that they have it good where they are, they begin to clear
out the mall of any remaining wandering zombies, barricade all the entrances by placing the company trucks across the doorways, and making the
mall their new temporary home, while hoping the zombie epidemic will eventually faded away one day. That’s until a viscous booze swilling
motorbike gang (which was an actual motorbike gang called The Pagans which SFX Artist/Actor Tom Savini played the biker leader Blade) breaks
into the mall and begins to loot the department stores for supplies, not caring whether the survivors in the mall live or die. Peter and Stephen
prepare to lock and load, they both deicide to fight back against the biker thieves and protect what is theirs, while Stephens fiancée Francine
(who is 8 months pregnant) locks herself in a small storage room, which she can quickly escape to the roof top encase of a emergency.
If you asked any average horror fan, what is there favourite zombie movie of all time? I guess about 98% of them would definitely say Dawn of
the Dead which is without no doubt the mother of all zombie films. Night of the Living Dead might have started George Romero’s filmmaking
career, but horror fans just can’t get enough of this gorefest cult classic. Personally I have to say I fall into the 2% that doesn’t think this is his
best work ever. I find Day of the Dead (1985) is his best work, I just prefer the storyline and gore far more than this movie. Don’t get me wrong, I
still love this film just that the fact of four people living in a mall doing jack shit for 80 minutes of the film kind of got on my nerves. The beginning of
the movie was breathtaking, and then towards the end of the movie was just simply spectacular to watch. If it wasn’t for special effects artist Tom
Savini doing what he knows best and not holding back with his special effects. I really can’t see Romero’s Dawn of the Dead being the dominant
zombie film ever. It is also obvious that without Romero you wouldn’t have seen Savini, begin able to show off his brain busting “how the hell was
he able to do that?” special effects.
George couldn’t have picked a more outstanding cast, with each of the 4 leading actors bringing their characters to life. The one particularly I have
to say I enjoyed the most was actress Gaylen Ross (to even today she is still looking gorgeous as she did back then), at the beginning of the
movie her character was a quiet, scared, worried about being left alone and trying survive. Slowly through the movie you can see her character
change into more of an independent woman, taking a stand up against the dead, and not fighting to save her own life but also her unborn child’s
life. Ken Foree was another actor whose character blew up on the screen. A talk dark black man, probably the only black man left in the world, who
is fearless, pissed off and angry with what’s going on in the world. David Emge character (flyboy) was a bit annoying from most of the time on
screen, but I have to say when his character came to life was when he became a zombie. To this very day, no other zombie in history has ever had
own its very own unique walk. But most of all Tom Savini whom I can’t forget about most importantly, I was overwhelmed not just by his special
effects, but the way he captured his character Blade, who wasn’t just a mean biker but was instead a bit of a jokester. By mocking and smashing
cream pies into the zombies faces had me giggling like a little kid at a circus. Even though, a zombie film isn’t a zombie film without zombies, so to
the entire zombie cast, I personally would like to thank you for all the hard work and cold sub temperature all nights of making this movie.
Screwdriver, helicopter, monk girl, bathing suit, and the airport zombies, Dawn of the Dead wouldn’t be what it is without your presences in the
film.
Some of you are probably wondering what the gore factor was like. I have to say right now, the gore factor is off the wall, hell I don’t know where
to even begin. Every limb you can think of is attacked and chomped on, you’ll even witness zombies devouring each other, headshots, machete to
a head, a decapitation by helicopter, beheadings, sledge hammer smashed face, death by screwdriver, disembowelments. Shit I can go on and on,
with the gore factor. Trust me my fellow gorehounds, you’ll definitely get your daily intake of blood and guts when watching this film.
Romero’s first print of Dawn of the Dead basically runs for about 140 minutes, you can watch this version on the ultimate 4 disc edition from
Anchorbay/Starz. Then Italian director Dario Argento who happened to get hold of the negative from Romero and decided to make a few
adjustments by snipping bits out of it, just so it could give the film more acceptable dimensions which created a entirely different version. The
theatrical version runs for about 128 minutes, which is exactly the same run time as this DVD.
The score was all done by music composers Goblin, who has worked with Dario Argento on several films of his. Argento also contributed to Goblin’s
original score as well, which he got most of his inspiration from the atmosphere of the film.
The DVD extras department is a real treat for Aussie Dead fans to now know a thing or two about what exactly happened behind and on set. With
a 75 minute documentary called “The Dead Will Walk” was absolutely to die for. With Romero, Savini, and all the cast and crew, explaining how
exciting it was behind set. You also have 2 audio commentaries: one is with Director George Romero, Tom Savini and Chris Romero and the other
being with Producer Richard P Rubeninstien. Bio/Filmographies, Trailers, Photo Gallery and much, much, more.
Thanks to Umbrella Entertainment for releasing this prized DVD, which now we Aussies are able to now kick back, chug down a few beers and
watch this amazing classic gem. Dawn of the Dead is also playable to our international viewers, since the DVD has been released on region 0
format. Either though this release might not be as good as the Anchorbay/Starz 4 disc release, it’s still highly enjoyable to watch, and also has
animated menus, crispy clean picture quality, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound and being chock-o-block filled with extras to keep any viewer busy
for the next few hours.
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