Written and directed by George A. Romero, Dawn of the Dead is a follow-up to his groundbreaking 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, considered the first modern-day zombie movie. Dawn takes all the greatness of Night, turns it up to 11, and adds a helicopter to whack the top of the skull off a zombie. Yeehaw!
The story opens in a chaotic TV station as its workers try to make sense of the nationwide plague turning the recent dead into flesh-eating monsters. Social order is on the brink of collapse, and traffic reporter Stephen Andrews (David Emge) has a plan for him and his girlfriend, TV producer Fran Parker (Gaylen Ross), to escape in the station’s helicopter. Joined by Stephen’s friend, SWAT team member Roger DeMarco (Scott H. Reiniger), and Roger’s fellow cop, Peter Washington (Ken Foree), they fly away and eventually take refuge in an indoor shopping mall.
This is where the mayhem ramps up as Roger and Peter clear the mall of zombies and loot all the mall has to offer. Lots of commentary on consumerism and every-man-for-himself tribalism, and lots of gore, only eclipsed in disgustingness by watching Roger eat cold Spam with a pen knife. (127 min.)
—Glen Starkey
