Dawn of the Dead
Reviews
John Chard
Come on, man. You must've heard the priest say something about life and death. George Romero fans feared the worst, another one of his sacred original zombie trilogy films was being remade, this even though the remake of Night of the Living Dead didn't disgrace itself. As it happened, the fears were unfounded, for Zack Snyder and his team crafted one of the best horror remakes going. The premise follows Romero's wonderful version, a mysterious epidemic is causing the populace to turn into undead zombies, the bite of which transfers the illness to another. A small group of survivors make it to the Crossroads Mall and hole up there whilst trying to keep at bay the zombie hordes, but inner fighting threatens the group whilst they know they can't stay there for ever. Right from the off the film grabs you around the throat, it's a blistering and terrifying opening which brings heartbreak and terror in equal measure. It also announces to us that these zombies are different to Romero's, these suckers can run, and run fast. After some chaos and blood, the introductions to our survivors is set up and the pic settles into a superb group dynamic situation, where machismo and brains meet dumb and dumber, all while little devilish moments trickle away in the background. It's the focus on the survivors that really lifts it to greater heights, how they variously react to their plight, there's good thought gone into the screenplay (James Gunn). The natural progression of this type of film calls for horror moments, and Snyder deftly slots them in when the pic needs them, which again brings about scenes of terror and genuine heartbreaking moments. Some neat cameos will be cheered by fans of Romero's work, while the cast are superb here, with Sarah Polley the standout fulfilling the believable promise of the character as written. A remake that is its own beast yet still pays homage to what inspired it, and good at both! Now that's a rare thing in horror! 8/10
Kamurai
Great watch, will watch again, and can definitely recommend. Granted, if you're not a zombie fan, you're probably not even considering this one. Then you have the great argument about infection vectors (this is pretty classic, bite infection transfer), and slow vs fast (this movie is fast) zombies. I'm basically just pointing out why we can't have nice things, people argue about it. This has a great cast: Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley and Jake Weber in particular. The production value was definitely present, and not just in renting a mall to trash, or even just the zombie practical effects. The large scale scenes look amazing, and the details on the various infections are fascinating to watch. And sure, there is lots of quality gunfire (foley is good) and shooting zombies for people you are just in it for the action. While it's actually got some good (if dark at times) humor to it, it's not "Warm Bodies". Of course the presence of zombies / apocalyptic situation / lack of central authority gives us great philosophical opportunity to discuss what life means and see how people behave, but this leans more towards survival strategy aspects. If anything, I think that is where the "flaw" is in this movie: (most of) the characters are relatively competent so it detours some from typical movie formula relying on the characters to make mistakes to progress the story, but more of there is just a hopeless unending storm of bad things happening to them, it's honestly a little refreshing. This is probably one of my favorite zombie movies, and I don't even like running zombies.
Andre Gonzales
Awesome awesome movie. Loved this movie since the first time I ever seen it. Lots of zombies, and a lot of killing. One of the best zombies movies ever made in my opinion.
Filipe Manuel Neto
**A low-budget film, but where everyone tries to do the best they can.** Generally, I don't like films with the living dead, although I've seen several in recent times. This was one of them. Out of nowhere, the characters are thrown into a total apocalypse where people become zombies that they don't know how to kill. The protagonist is a young nurse, who immediately loses her entire family in the first moment. That makes us instantly like her. From then on, we hope that she will save herself and find other survivors to form an alliance with, which inevitably happens when she finds a shopping mall. Zack Snyder directs this film and delivers a very competent and well-made story, which manages to captivate the audience with a convincing and structured story. The film is, moreover, a remake of an original by George A. Romero, but it is really worth seeing this film for what it is, without comparisons. Technically, the film was well edited and has good sets, costumes and makeup, and a pleasantly stable pace that doesn't leave us thinking about things too much. Of course, there are obvious clichés and logical flaws in all of this, such as the fact that some things never stop working (running water, electricity, etc.), but I forgave these problems. The cast doesn't have any particularly big names, perhaps it was a conscious and deliberate decision to make this film with lesser-known actors, with whom everyone could identify more easily. Sarah Polley is the protagonist and does a very decent job, as do Ving Rhames and Michael Kelly. It is noted, however, that the entire film was made with very low budgets and that there is some amateurism and improvisation in the work of the cast and technical team. Still, weighing things up, it's not a bad film and everyone did the best they could do.
Movie Recommendation
Land of the Dead2005-06-18The world is full of zombies and the survivors have barricaded themselves inside a walled city to keep out the living dead. As the wealthy hide out in skyscrapers and chaos rules the streets, the rest of the survivors must find a way to stop the evolving zombies from breaking into the city.More...
Dawn of the Dead1978-09-02During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.More...
Club Dread2004-02-27When a serial killer interrupts the fun at the swanky Coconut Pete's Coconut Beach Resort -- a hedonistic island paradise for swingers --- it's up to the club's staff to stop the violence ... or at least hide it!More...
The Devil's Rejects2005-07-22The murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape the vengeful Sheriff Wydell, who is not afraid of being as ruthless as his target.More...
Night of the Living Dead1990-10-19In this remake of the classic 1968 film, a group of people are trapped inside a farmhouse as legions of the walking dead try to get inside and use them for food.More...
30 Days of Night2007-10-17This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only the small town's husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction.More...
The Crazies2010-02-26Four friends find themselves trapped in their small hometown after they discover their friends and neighbors going quickly and horrifically insane.More...
Day of the Dead2008-04-08When a small Colorado town is overrun by the flesh hungry dead, a small group of survivors try to escape in a last ditch effort to stay alive.More...
Twisted2004-02-27Recently promoted and transferred to the homicide division, Inspector Jessica Shepard feels pressure to prove herself -- and what better way than by solving San Francisco's latest murder? However, as Shepard and her partner, Mike Delmarco, soon discover, the victim shared a romantic connection to her. As more of Shepard's ex-lovers turn up dead, her mind starts to become unstable, and she begins to wonder if she could be the very killer she's trying to track down.More...
Shaun of the Dead2004-04-09Shaun lives a supremely uneventful life, which revolves around his girlfriend, his mother, and, above all, his local pub. This gentle routine is threatened when the dead return to life and make strenuous attempts to snack on ordinary Londoners.More...
The Divide2012-01-13Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.More...
Diary of the Dead2007-05-26A terrified group of college film students record the pandemic rise of flesh-eating zombies while struggling for their own survival.More...
Dreamcatcher2003-03-21Four boyhood pals perform a heroic act and are changed by the powers they gain in return. Years later, on a hunting trip in the Maine woods, they're overtaken by a vicious blizzard that harbors an ominous presence. Challenged to stop an alien force, the friends must first prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians by a military vigilante ... and then overcome a threat to the bond that unites the four of them.More...
28 Days Later2002-10-31Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain.More...
Night of the Living Dead1968-10-04A group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls.More...
28 Weeks Later2007-04-26Twenty-eight weeks after the spread of a deadly rage virus, the inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught, as the virus has killed everyone there. Six months later, a group of Americans dare to set foot on the Isles, convinced the danger has passed. But it soon becomes all too clear that the scourge continues to live, waiting to pounce on its next victims.More...
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole2010-07-10When a young owl is abducted by an evil Owl army, he must escape with new-found friends and seek the legendary Guardians to stop the menace.More...
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre2003-05-21After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a chainsaw-wielding killer and his family of equally psychopathic killers.More...
Casualties of War1989-08-18During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.More...
Army of the Dead2021-05-14Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble: venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.More...
Similar Movies
28 Days Later
2002-10-31Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain.Saw
2004-10-01Two men wake up to find themselves shackled in a grimy, abandoned bathroom. As they struggle to comprehend their predicament, they discover a disturbing tape left behind by the sadistic mastermind known as Jigsaw. With a chilling voice and cryptic instructions, Jigsaw informs them that they must partake in a gruesome game in order to secure their freedom.Star Trek: Generation...
1994-11-18Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves at odds with the renegade scientist Soran who is destroying entire star systems. Only one man can help Picard stop Soran's scheme...and he's been dead for seventy-eight years.The Terminator
1984-10-26In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?In China They Eat Dog...
1999-09-10Arvid is an ordinary bank clerk who lives a rather unassuming life with his dear girlfriend. But his life is turned completely upside down when he bravely manages to avert a robbery against the bank where he works.King Kong
2005-12-12In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.28 Weeks Later
2007-04-26Twenty-eight weeks after the spread of a deadly rage virus, the inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught, as the virus has killed everyone there. Six months later, a group of Americans dare to set foot on the Isles, convinced the danger has passed. But it soon becomes all too clear that the scourge continues to live, waiting to pounce on its next victims.Resident Evil
2002-03-15When a virus leaks from a top-secret facility, turning all resident researchers into ravenous zombies and their lab animals into mutated hounds from hell, the government sends in an elite military task force to contain the outbreak.Resident Evil: Apocal...
2004-09-10As the city is locked down under quarantine, Alice finds out that the people that died from the previous incident at the Umbrella Corporation have turned into zombies. She then joins a small band of elite soldiers, who are enlisted to rescue the missing daughter of the creator of the mutating T-virus. Once lack of luck and resources happen, they begin to wage an exhilarating battle to survive and escape before the Umbrella Corporation erases its experiment from the face of the earth.Night at the Museum
2006-12-20Chaos reigns at the natural history museum when night watchman Larry Daley accidentally stirs up an ancient curse, awakening Attila the Hun, an army of gladiators, a Tyrannosaurus rex and other exhibits.The Vanishing
1993-02-05The boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.Dead Human Collection...
2005-09-02Inspired by 70s Horror movies and real crimes, Dead Human Collection is a bloodbath that follows a deranged Serial Killer and his sadistic habits.Shanghai Knights
2003-02-06When a Chinese rebel murders Chon's estranged father and escapes to England, Chon and Roy make their way to London with revenge on their minds.The Towering Inferno
1974-12-14At the opening party of a colossal—but poorly constructed—skyscraper, a massive fire breaks out, threatening to destroy the tower and everyone in it.Escape
2024-03-15Ten sex trafficked young women are taken from an island resort by a violent criminal gang for shipping to an overseas client. A young nurse and feisty dancer hatch an escape-plan, finding themselves in the desert fighting for survival against ruthless traffickers.Bram Stoker's Dracula...
1992-11-13In 19th century England, Count Dracula travels to London and meets Mina Harker, a young woman who appears as the reincarnation of his lost love.Cat People
1982-04-02After years of separation, Irena Gallier and her minister brother, Paul, reunite in New Orleans. When zoologists capture a wild panther, Irena is drawn to the cat – and zoo curator Oliver to her. Soon, Paul will have to reveal the family secret: that when sexually aroused, they revert into predatory jungle cats.After Death
1990-07-27A woman goes back to the island where her parents were killed. They had been working on a cure for cancer and accidentally raised the dead by angering a voodoo priest. With the woman is a group of mercenaries and they meet up with some other researchers. They raise the dead again and all hell breaks looseVersus
2000-10-23A group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman and an escaped convict have met, in The Forest of Resurrection, the 444th portal to the other side. Their troubles start when those once killed and buried in the forest come back from the dead.Nurses for Sale
1971-08-26Hamburg ship captain Markus Jolly is hired to transport a vaccine to a Latin American port, but when the precious cargo is stolen by mobsters, he is falsely accused of engineering the theft.