Movie Review: Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead

It's been a very long time since I've seen the original Dawn of the Dead, but I remember one thing about it: I wasn't too impressed. The film has been a cult classic since its release some 25 years ago, and George Romero's name became synonymous with B-movie horror. But regardless of its underground popularity, I was still at a loss as to just why anyone would choose to do a remake involving name actors and a significant budget. Needless to say, I was even more astounded when I dismissed the movie on opening weekend (in favor of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Taking Lives) and it jumped to number one at the box office. The latter, of course, explains why I gave in and saw Dawn of the Dead this weekend.

The movie posters say that, "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth," but the movie never attempts to explain the horrific epidmic that suddenly takes place one otherwise ordinary day. On the other hand, it's what happens that's important, not how or why. Within minutes of its opening, the film turns into a juggernaut of terror. Ana Clark (Sarah Polley) goes to sleep a young married woman with endless possibilities before her, and wakes to the utter horror of cannabalistic zombies killing virtually every uninfected human they encounter. Running for her life, she meets Kenneth (Ving Rhames), a police officer who has also survived the initial carnage. Together, they're traveling toward what television announcers have indicated is a safe shelter when they run into another small group of survivors including Michael (Jake Weber), Andre (Mekhi Phifer), and Andre's very pregnant wife, Luda (Inna Korobkina).

After comparing notes and learning that they're all but surrounded by ravenous zombies, they decide to take refuge in a suburban shopping mall. The security guards at the mall, who are apparently the building's only occupants, hesitate to let the travelers in. Eventually, they're convinced to grudgingly offer them at least some temporary shelter. But the zombies, who are wandering the streets in crowds of hundreds, and then thousands, can't help but find the small knot of humanity. And if they do, no one will survive.

I've read that the violence in Dawn of the Dead actually had to be toned down to get its R rating, and I can believe it. While it's not possible to say in a movie of this type that the violence is gratuitous - the violence is, in fact, largely the point - it is pervasive and graphic. Kudos to the make-up and special effects crews who created such incredibly realistic scenes of death, mayhem, destruction, and horror! What also sets this updated Dawn of the Dead apart from the stereotypical "slasher" movies is the interaction between the characters and the level of acting the players have brought to the effort. Ving Rhames is a tough guy, but events peel away the layers until you can see the humanity of his character; Sarah Polley, previously best known as an indie queen, clearly conveys Ana's horror and loss. In a part that could have been entirely over the top, you can almost see Polley's Ana hitch up her mental bootstraps after she decides to do her best to survive. I particularly enjoyed the performance given by Jake Weber; I loathed both the characters of Steve (Ty Burrell) and CJ (Michael Kelley), something that could not have happened if the men in the roles didn't do a much better than average job.

On the whole, the script of the new movie (at least as I recall the original) is less trite. It is, of course, patently obvious that a good deal more money ($30 million, in fact) was spent on this second effort. The money almost certainly went largely into the make-up effects, and I'm hard pressed to say it wasn't well spent. If you're a Dawn of the Dead fan, check out this remake to see the movie Romero might very well have made himself if he'd had the wherewithal to do it then. And if you're a horror movie fan of any kind, you should know that it doesn't get much more horrible than Dawn of the Dead.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Dawn of the Dead is rated R for "pervasive strong horror violence and gore, language, and sexuality." This is a hard R which rarely goes below that intense level. Dawn of the Dead is wholly inappropriate for children under the age of 14 or so (I was appalled to see a father bring in two boys, about age 10 or so, to see this movie), and isn't appropriate for anyone of any age who might be bothered by very violent and bloody death. Me? I liked it. But if you've read many of my previous reviews you're already well aware that I'm a serious horror fan, so I couldn't help but appreciate a horror movie - finally! - that delivered some real horror.