OK, Dawn of the Dead.
First of all, I have to say that I normally don't like films with this degree of blood and gore-- a matter of personal taste I guess. But in this particular film, I feel all the gore is necessary to the atmosphere of the film. This is not the '50s vision of zombies sort of just pointlessly staggering around with arms outstretched-- it shows WHY people would be afraid, in graphic detail sometimes. But the blood and guts stuff is very quick, and certainly must satisfy horror fans who are into it. Doesn't particularly bother me in this instance.
Also, I'm REALLY not a zombie-flick fan in general... but you know what? I REALLY LOVE THIS MOVIE. I'm not even that sure about WHY I like it so much, although it probably has a lot to do with the really fun concept of being holed up in a shopping mall with the entire place to oneself, especially in the '70s. More about that later.
I must admit that normally when I watch this film (I have it on DVD), I'll skip the opening scenes at the television station and the carnage in the apartment buildings and whatnot. The film drags a bit in the first 20 minutes or so, but to be fair it's actually really necessary to show the end of civilization as we know it, to see society disintegrating in the face of the apocalyptic threat that is the zombie "disease". It's ABSOLUTELY ****ing necessary to show the gradual breakdown of morals and ethics and whatnot, as shown by the increasingly extreme viewpoints of the people discussing the events... it's just that I get bored in these first scenes.
The film DOES start rather abruptly, there's not a lot of background to the main characters (Flyboy, Peter, Roger, and I think the chick is named Francy or something.. they don't call her by name much), but in these opening scenes we get some sort of idea of what these people are doing, why they're fleeing, how they come together, etc. A little abrupt but not by today's standards.
Little things really stand out to me, like when they're fleeing in the helicopter and come across some guys who are trying to escape the area in a boat... one of the dudes from the boat asks if anyone has any cigarettes to share, and all the main characters say "No". Then as they are lifting off in the chopper, you see 2 of them lighting up. Now, this is a tiny little detail, but I love this bit-- it shows how selfish they already are, from the get-go, just in case the point didn't get made when they chose to take off in the first place. It's not as though I would do any different or that I blame them-- it's merely illustrating the reality of the decision.
I really love the way Romero portrays the mob mentality of people when we move into the "escape" section of the film, and we reach the Redneck Hunting Jamboree. He really makes people in general look ridiculous, and this part of the film makes me laugh every time I see it.
Once they finally make it to the shopping mall is where the film really begins, and it's what I usually FF to, LOL. It's the "meat" of the film, or the brains, if you prefer.
Romero's satire of the then-burgeoning consumer culture is the funniest and most accurate statement about the degeneration and dehumanization of our society that I've ever seen. See, THIS is why I love horror films-- the best ones, IMO, are ones that are metaphorical commentaries on the darker aspects of human existence. I know that's a coked-up geek thing to say, but in this case I'll stand behind it anyway. Around this time in the 70s you had these huge shopping malls being constructed, and I think the portrayal of these places being filled with mindless zombies stroking the glass display boxes with big wide eyes is very clever and apt. The slide-whistle-laden mall muzak sets the tone for the absurdity of the situation.
I gotta say, I do miss the late '70s. Even the chocolate brown/white colour scheme of the place is inviting to me, LOL... certainly something you don't see a lot of anymore. When I first saw this film a few years ago, I was really struck by nostalgia-- in particular, seeing the Penney's dept. store, with the old logo and everything. Wasn't "J.C." yet I guess. The architecture of the place SO reminds me of local shopping malls that were built in the late '70s and early '80s, the painted brick and the almost non-existent decor is something that I actually miss for some strange reason. These local malls have all been spruced up in recent decades, and look nothing like this anymore, so this must be a purely nostalgic reaction on my part. And I'm NOT SORRY!
All right, I've just realized how long this ****ing post is already, so I'll try to keep the rest to a minimum.
I have to say, I'm always disturbed by the infection of Roger. He's my favourite character, and it's always upsetting to me for some reason, LOL. When I first saw the film, I actually yelled "NO!". At the TV. I wanted Flyboy to get killed first.
But here we come to the part of the film I love the most-- the raiding of the mall and the VERY cool scene in the arcade where they play the old video games and the projection games. I don't know of any other record of that driving game they show in it, although I VAGUELY remember seeing the game back in the '70s. I LOVE that ****. In fact, I could have gone for another 5 minutes of them just going through various shops and grabbing merchandise.
The death of Roger is the real end of any sort of morality in the film, which is an important point in the plot, underscored by the suggestion of one of the talk-show guys insisting that eating the dead is the only chance for survival. Great filmmaking IMO.
From here on in, the emptiness of their existence in the "dream" of consumerism/materialism is explored, with the soulless boredom of Flyboy, Francy, and Peter depicted with an excellent soundtrack punctuating their pointless existence.
Then we come to the final act of the film, the attack by the marauders. This scene really shows them battling for survival, a battle initiated by Flyboy's aggressive greed which of course he pays for. More carnage here, but then again it's pretty much deserved. At this point I have very little sympathy for anyone involved, which is sort of the point I think.
Of course I am glad when the ending is fairly up, because I've grown to like the remaining characters, but we've seen their journey from normal people into their descent into survivalist mode, and are left without any sort of clear message about their behaviour-- which is how it SHOULD be, IMO. I really hate heavy-handed messages or films which punish all of the evil and reward all of the good, because that's just not ****ing reality and I find those sort of sentiments to be cloying and irritating.
So I wind up really loving this movie. It's the only zombie movie that I even like enough to own, and I've actually considered buying the big special edition version of it, especially since I recently saw it on sale for $16. It's the only one that I'd actually recommend to other horror fans, and I watch it every 6 months or so. If even just to watch the video games and the merchandise "shopping" sprees, and to watch that big fat dude in the shorts flopping into the mall fountain, which always makes me laugh.
The fat dude in the shorts, the older dude in the sweater vest, and the nurse are definitely my fave zombies, BTW.
I think that's enough babbling from me about this film.
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Originally Posted by creepntom
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