DAWN OF THE DEAD (remake 2004)

In all honesty this remake is pretty good, production values are great and the violence and gore is top notch. It just misses something. It follows a fairly similar story line and progression to the original "Dawn of the Dead" but something about the souped up special effects leaves me feeling like I miss the "Good old Days" so to speak.

The plot itself follows a few small groups of people who after the zombie apocalypse have holed up in a shopping mall in an effort to survive. Obviously with the situation unfolding around them the tensions mount and relationships between the parties are strained... one by one they are picked of by the hordes of zombies surrounding and breaking into the mall to feast on the survivors. There are slight plot differences, enough to keep it interesting and updated for current fans but no major departures from the original story line.

One thing that really annoyed me about this film was the fast moving zombies, to me zombies are supposed to be slow, sluggish and brain dead, where as these zombies run around like Olympic sprinters and seem to be able to master more complex operations than the zombies featured in the original film.

That aside, I really don't have any problems with anything else the film has done and in a way its probably a necessary evil as I'm sure it exposed a whole new generation of scare fans to the work of George Romero.

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NIGHT OF THE LIVNG DEAD (1968)

This is George Romero's ground breaking zombie flick from 1968.   

Shot on Black and White film, and filmed on what can only be described as a shoe-string budget this film is singlehandedly responsible for bringing zombies as we know them today  (as opposed to the haitian/voodoo zombies in movies like White Zombie that had previously been depicted in movies until then) into the mainstream of modern culture and spawning countless zombie films just like it, some better and many immeasurably worse. It is also the earliest film I can think of that uses explicit gore, levels of gore which now have been rendered "cute" by todays standards but were revolutionary by late 60's standards.

Basically the plot revolves around a scenario where the dead are coming back to life and a small group of survivors are trapped in a farmhouse left to defend themselves with whatever weapons they can find, while the undead around them are literally "chomping at the bit" to take a bite out of them.

While much of  it now would be considered outdated and the special effects used rather plain this is still quite a watchable film and something that you could use to introduce your kids to the world of horror without traumatizing them. Featuring none of the over the top gore that the following films in the franchise (Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead etc....) were renowned for, this can probably be considered one of the safer films for the horror newbie, where I guess hardened gore-fiends might find the pace of this one a bit slow.

Over all its a great watch, and historically important to gain an understanding where the zombie infection first took a hold on mainstream cinema audiences

It is presented below in all its glory on you tube for those that haven't had the pleasure!

For more great horror movie reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis

DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)

Day of the Dead

Day of the dead marks George Romero's third outing into the world of the undead the first of course being Night of the living dead waaaaay back in 1968, then Dawn of the Dead in 1978 and now this one...

From what I gather Night of the Living Dead gained some notoriety for its gore content, well this would have given those same cry babies a coronary attack! The gore content has been upped ten fold from NOTLD and is another step beyond Dawn of the Dead, the gore and special effects are looking great which results in one hell of a blood bath, and fun ride for the viewer!



The movie itself fasts forwards to a point where zombies have taken over much of the free world the last remaining humans some military and some research staff have been isolated in a military bunker / research facility type thing and trying to figure out how they are going to survive. Despite the fact the undead have decimated the world population the research staff are still conducting experiments on how the zombies work, and trying to domesticate them. This of course sits at odds with the military staff, and results in tension between the last of the humans and creates a cool sub-plot to the story. In a way this is really cool as it analyses the zombies and allows the viewer to understand what makes them tick, their memories of their past lives and the instincts that keep them hunting human flesh. I think its a good departure from the first two films and gives the horror fan a more cerebral look at the zombie. Some might think the film is a little slow paced, as it is fairly long... but for the conclusion of the original zombie trilogy I think its fitting.

Over all its a fun, but more intelligent look at the brainless undead creatures we have all come to love. Definately worth a watch for any gore / zombie fan!

We managed to find  a good copy of this on you tube so go check it out while you can!

Also be sure to check out our reviews of George Romero's work on later films Night of the Living Dead  and  Dawn of the Dead


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