Let's Nitpick Dawn Some More: Time of Outbreak

[FoodFight]

As far as the "old people exercising" in the mall theory goes, that program was in fact in place back when the movie was made, including at the Monroeville Mall. But this is not relevant here, as even if they opened the main doors for this purpose, we still need more explanation as to why the stores were never opened with no sign of attack Actually, it is relevant, as the walkers are allowed in before the businesses open, just as i stated in my first post in this thread. My view is that the mall was vacated between the opening of the main doors and the business openings-a small window indeed. As to the evidence of attack, it may have happened in the parking lot, giving people cause to exit elsewhere. Therefore, no blood on the premises and a relative lack of shamblers on the inside. Actually I think it's more of a convenient plot device to allow the main characters unfettered access to the gunshop and to avoid the necessity of clearing every store.

[sandrock74]

There were no DVD players in 1978. VHS and Betamax were very new, very expensive products. I'm not sure if they'd even be available at a mall in small-town PA. They did spend alot of time watching TV, but it was to emergency broadcasts. It's been awhile since I read the novelization; wasn't there a movie theatre in it? And they were watching black and white televisions at that! I know color televisions were around by then obviously, but technology wise, we've come leaps and bounds since then!

[krakenslayer]

There were no DVD players in 1978. VHS and Betamax were very new, very expensive products. I'm not sure if they'd even be available at a mall in small-town PA. They did spend alot of time watching TV, but it was to emergency broadcasts. It's been awhile since I read the novelization; wasn't there a movie theatre in it? Go back and watch the movie again. In the later scenes, before the raiders arrive, when they have filled their living space with luxury furnishings and items scavenged from the mall, there is a large top-loading videocassette player beneath their TV set. I think it's possible that the mall was attacked during the day, while the mall was open. Probably during the same day that Johnnie and Barbra were driving to the cemetery, when things were just starting to go wrong. Think about it, there doesn't even have to be a struggle, no one was really thinking of shopping when such a national emergency was taking place - a lot of stores might have closed due to staff failing to show up for work, a couple of stores (and therefore the mall itself) might have open their doors but very few customers came in... Then, in the afternoon, when the mall was almost deserted apart from a few store workers, security, and some die-hard customers, some zombies shambled through the front doors. The security guys closed the shutters and locked down the stores to keep the walkers from advancing any further into the mall, and then evacuated the remaining staff and customers via emergency exits. Maybe one security guard got bitten and became the boiler room zombie, but everyone else got out okay and took off home to be with their families. Or maybe word came through the emergency networks to go to rescue stations and "leave your places of residence, no matter how secure or well stocked". The security guards who were looking after the place said "fsck this!" and hit the highway without bothering to lock the doors.

[sandrock74]

I think that its pretty clear that when the mall was evacuated(?) or abandonded(?), everything was shut down but no one bothered to lock the outer doors. Whoops! I had always imagined that the mall was in the process of being locked down and everyone (workers) sent away until such time that the national crisis had passed. I figured that they clearly got the interior stores locked up but then something happened to make everyone take a powder before locking down the mall proper (i.e. the outer doors). Something that caused everyone to panic and run for it. The lack of signs of an attack made me think it was something they saw, rather than experienced. I always figured someone saw a few zombies out in the parking lot and they started to panic and it spread and everyone ended up running for it. A "screw the mall" mentality quickly spread as everyone essentially abandoned their post and ran for their cars and left. Well...everyone except the janitor in Penneys and the security guard in the boiler room. They could have been the "loyalists" who were trying to see their job thru to the end or could have offered to stay behind to let everyone else escape. One of them got bit, turned and attacked the other. These events would explain the outer doors unlocked, the pristine condition of the mall and the two zombies in "safe" areas of the mall. That's all I have ever been able to come up with. I could be all wrong.

[EvilNed]

They could have been the "loyalists" who were trying to see their job thru to the end or could have offered to stay behind to let everyone else escape. One of them got bit, turned and attacked the other. A loyalist janitor? After that damn Sharpe-marathon I just had, I just picture a die-hard disciplined Janitor, with the code of honor of a stereotypical officer. "Duty above all else!" he barks as he refuses to stop cleaning the floors, despite the numerous zombies closing in on him.

[sandrock74]

A loyalist janitor? After that damn Sharpe-marathon I just had, I just picture a die-hard disciplined Janitor, with the code of honor of a stereotypical officer. "Duty above all else!" he barks as he refuses to stop cleaning the floors, despite the numerous zombies closing in on him. Good point. Maybe he was "special" and didn't understand the danger? Who knows.

[Philly_SWAT]

Originally Posted by Philly_SWAT ...We are shown no theater in the movie, it seems as if our heros would have watched some movies, as there were DVD players in existence, and if VHS/BETA were in existence, there use was still sparse... There were no DVD players in 1978. VHS and Betamax were very new, very expensive products. I'm not sure if they'd even be available at a mall in small-town PA. They did spend alot of time watching TV, but it was to emergency broadcasts. It's been awhile since I read the novelization; wasn't there a movie theatre in it? That was a mis-type on my part, which I would think the context of what I was saying would point out. I meant to type as there were NO DVD players in existence.

[SRP76]

We can nail down a date. The attack on the mall (or lack of it) happened in late September or early October. I don't have my DVD anymore, so someone's going to have to help me out here (get busy, people. ): When Roger and Peter are fumbling through the control station (where they get the keys), you can see a hand-written highschool football schedule propped up on the desk. We see that the first few games are marked as wins or losses, with scores. This means someone was there, following the local team. The collapse had to happen sometime after the last "updated" game. Anyone with the DVD handy can check that scene, and tell us exactly when it happened... EDIT- I just checked the version that's on youtube, and it's way too blurry to see anything. So a home DVD is the only way we'll get to the bottom of this.

[ProfessorChaos]

*to the rescue* from this scene you are talking about, the football schedule has pencil marks next to every date until november 4th. there is something blocking the rest of the schedule, but there are two lines that read "parents' night" and "homecoming". hard to tell if those two events were taking place during the next two games or if those were just notes added at the bottom of the schedule. so, we're looking at sometime after november 4th.

[SRP76]

Alright, that sounds about right. Assuming the November 4 game had a result, the great break-in had to happen the night of November 5 at the earliest (which would be a Saturday night; highschool football is played on Friday nights). This would put our heroes' arrival about 3 weeks later (given the movie-opening rant), in late November (around the 26th or 27th). That would fit pretty well with Fran's pregnancy and homemade calendar we see later.

[Yojimbo]

Alright, that sounds about right. Assuming the November 4 game had a result, the great break-in had to happen the night of November 5 at the earliest (which would be a Saturday night; highschool football is played on Friday nights). This would put our heroes' arrival about 3 weeks later (given the movie-opening rant), in late November (around the 26th or 27th). That would fit pretty well with Fran's pregnancy and homemade calendar we see later. But we are assuming that the calendar was up to date at the time of the breakdown/break-in. I have seen lots of maintenance rooms with out of date calendars still up on the walls, albeit usually because the lecherous janitor likes to tool-girl on that particular calendar, but still. One of the things I wonder about is what the hell is the Ruger Blackhawk .22 that Stephen finds in the maintenance room desk doing there? Is it always there? Was it there for the crisis? I used to think that maybe it was the security officers, but a single action .22 seems a rather odd security piece.

[sandrock74]

Alright, that sounds about right. Assuming the November 4 game had a result, the great break-in had to happen the night of November 5 at the earliest (which would be a Saturday night; highschool football is played on Friday nights). This would put our heroes' arrival about 3 weeks later (given the movie-opening rant), in late November (around the 26th or 27th). That would fit pretty well with Fran's pregnancy and homemade calendar we see later. Huh...so our heroes would have come across the mall on or around Thanksgiving then.

[bassman]

Perhaps the stores were locked and the mall itself was unlocked because it was an abandoned rescue station like all the others we hear about at the beginning of the film? Just a thought... I always assumed that other people had tried(and failed) to survive in the mall before our four heroes got there. Or maybe the security guard or some other zombie unlocked the mall with their past memories?

[sandrock74]

Perhaps the stores were locked and the mall itself was unlocked because it was an abandoned rescue station like all the others we hear about at the beginning of the film? Just a thought... I always assumed that other people had tried(and failed) to survive in the mall before our four heroes got there. Or maybe the security guard or some other zombie unlocked the mall with their past memories? Thats a lot of unlocking then! I guess Bub and Big Daddy were there to guide them along.

[SRP76]

That couldn't have happened. The keys to the locks were on the keyring that Roger found in the control room. No amount of "they evolve" is going to convince me that a zombie got the keyring, went around the mall unlocking all the main doors, then shambled back to the control room, and left the keyring right where it belongs. And then toddled off again, back into the mall. No way in hell.