Released in 1978,
Dawn of the Dead is the sequel to the 1968 cult classic "Night of the Living Dead", and was written and directed once again by horror filmmaker George A. Romero, who has been hailed as the
father of modern
zombie cinema.
The story is set just a few weeks ahead of the events of the first film. The unknown force that is raising the recently deceased is still persisting. As more
people are being killed and eaten by the walking corpses - only to become flesh-eating zombies themselves - the world has started to fall into a state of disarray. The end is on the horizon.
Four
people - a traffic helicopter pilot, his girlfriend from the WGON news studio, and two national guardsman - take off from their responsibilities in the traffic helicopter and take refuge inside a shopping mall that is crowded with the living dead. Through a series of spine-chilling sweeps throughout the shopping mall, as they gather supplies and kill the zombies, the four manage to secure the mall as their own safe haven. A monument to decadent consumerism and a barricaded fortress all in one...
But as
time passes, they begin to see that the mall has become their prison, rather than their salvation...
The make-up effects and its dated style are probably the most noticeable attributes of the film (which reportedly only cost $1.5 million dollars to produce).
Even so, with its apocalyptic vision, social commentary on consumerism, bits of dark humor, and its sickening scenes of abundant
blood and gore (compliments of make-up effects
wizard Tom Savini),
Dawn of the Dead was well recieved by audiences of the late 70's (especially in Europe, thanks to distribution efforts by
Italian filmmaker Dario Argento).
This cult classic has been hailed as the greatest zombie film ever made. Over the decades, it has been imitated, blatantly
ripped-off, even remade (
2004's
Dawn of the Dead). But with the exception of the first film, nothing has ever come close to achieving the greatness that
Dawn has earned.
Quotes for Dawn of the Dead (1978)
"...When there's no more room in
Hell, the dead
will walk the
earth." - Peter, with survivors in the mall
"Every dead body that is not exterminated, becomes one of them. It gets up and kills. The people it kills get up and kill!" - Dr. Foster, appearing on the T.V. news program in the beginning scene
