George A. Romero’s zombie classic “Dawn of the Dead” will rise in a trio of area theaters once again to celebrate a milestone anniversary.
The film, which is the second in the renown directors series of genre-defining zombie flicks, turns 45 this year and will return to theaters across the country in April and May.
Locally, the film will screen at Gardena Cinema, which will screen the film in 3D, the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Los Angeles and in Orange County at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana.
“I love this film. I think it has some of the greatest effects of all-time in terms of the gore and the sequences in particular, with zombies ripping people apart look unbelievable, better than anything you see on screen now,” said Trevor Dillon, director of programming and special events at the Frida, who jumped at the chance to screen the film, which is very rarely seen in theaters.
“We’ve never had the chance to play it and we’ve never been able to. I’m very surprised more theaters aren’t playing it,” he said.
The film followed Romero’s 1968 masterpiece “Night of the Living Dead,” which pretty much revolutionized the horror film genre and sparked the zombie craze that remains extremely popular today.
“I think ‘Night of the Living Dead’ really set the tone for the modern zombie movie and then ‘Dawn of the Dead’ then really pushed it forward,” Dillon said. “If ‘Night of the Living Dead’ set up the pins, ‘Dawn of the Dead’ knocked them all down.”
While the first film followed seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania who are under assault by flesh eating zombies, “Dawn of the Dead” went further into the genre by exploring the larger-scale effects of a zombie apocalypse on an entire society. The storyline follows a group of people who barricade themselves in a mall after a mysterious virus spreads all around them, turning those who are bitten into rabid, flesh-hungry creatures.
“It went into a way more political area, it’s more violent, it’s in color, it’s commenting on American consumerism but it’s also entertaining,” Dillon said.
The North American gala premiere of ‘Dawn of the Dead’ took place on April 12, 1979 at the Gateway Theatre in downtown Pittsburgh before it was released nationwide. At the Frida a couple of weeks before its early April screening, Dillon was busy putting up film posters at the theater and said he expects a sold out house at all three screenings inside the Orange County theater. He is also planning on having horror-themed vendors on-site during the screening.
Dawn of the Dead
Where: The Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth Street, Santa Ana. Showtimes are 7:45 p.m. Friday, April 12-Saturday, April 13 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14. Tickets are $12 at thefridacinema.org.
Gardena Cinema, 14948 Crenshaw Boulevard, Gardena. Showtimes are 2:30 pm, 6 p.m. and 9:30 pm on Saturday, April 27 and at 6:00 pm and 9:30 pm on Sunday, April 28. Tickets are $15 at eventbrite.com.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 700 W. 7th Street, Suite U240, Los Angeles. Showtimes are 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 12 and 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 16. Tickets are $10 at drafthouse.com. This location is almost sold out.
For more information and more locations, go to dawn45.com.
