After the success of Night of the Living Dead, director George A. Romero tried to move in a different direction, directing five movies in the early 70's, which were mostly horror, with one drama (There Will Always Be Vanilla). However, none of them were as critically or financially successful as Night of the Living Dead. Then, in 1974, when exploring the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, (east of Pittsburg), his host showed him several secret rooms, and commented that someone could survive an emergency in the mall using these passages. Inspired, Romero wrote a film around people holed up in a shopping mall during a zombie apocolypse. However, Romero had difficulty raising funds for this new project. News of a Living Dead spiritual sequel in the works reached Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento, who had been a strong critical advocate of the first film. Argento secured funding for the project, in exchange for international distribution rights, and even invited Romero to Rome to write the screenplay. Argento's brother, Claudio became one of the producers, and Dario helped scored the film. Filming commenced at the Monroeville Mall from November 13th, 1977 to February, 1978. Tom Savini, who had declined to do the effects for Night of the Living Dead after getting drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, was the special effects director, which would start a distinguished career as a horror make-up artist and special effects director. Due to the violence of the picture, the MPAA demanded an X-rating, unless cuts were made. Romero refused to cut the film, and released the film unrated. The film was released under the name Dawn of the Dead in the United States and most English-speaking countries, but in Italy, and most non-English speaking nations, where Argento had the distribution rights, it was called Zombi (with some subtitle at the end). The massive financial and critical success of this film convinced Romero to continue making zombie movies, and it would become a major pop culture touchstone for generations to come.
The film opens at the television station WGON in Pennsylvania, where the news crew is dealing with the current zombie epidemic terrorizing the nation. While the station is airing a discussion on the crisis, staff members Francine Parker (Gaylen Ross) and Stephen Andrews (David Emge, who looks a little like Hugh Laurie) decide to flee using the traffic helicopter. At the same time, Roger DeMarco (Scott Reiniger) and his SWAT team are trying to evict tenants at a housing project, who refuse to give them their dead, despite needing to hand them over to the government. Sure enough, the SWAT team encounters zombies in the projects. After clearing them out, they find that the tenants have placed all their reanimated death in a single pile. While in the basement of the project, he meets fellow SWAT team member, Peter Washington (Ken Foree), who tells him that he could get Roger a seat on Andrew's helicopter. Together, the four attempt to flee Pennsylvania. However, after an attack during a stop for fuel, the four decide to stop at a local shopping mall. There, while they find it teeming with Zombies, they find a secret compartment away from the store, and block it from the zombie epidemic. While Peter and Roger gain supplies, Francine admits her pregnancy to Stephen. After fighting off the hordes, and gaining supplies, they decide to lie low in the mall for a bit. In the rather desperate situation, they actually do have some enjoyment for a bit. However, this is only temporary, and soon, they will found their sanctuary threatened.
This film does its tension very well. The threat of the zombies is very ever present, and our protagonists have to deal with the seeming collapse of civilization, as seen with the lack of any television broadcasts. (How the power is kept on for that long.... I have no idea). At the same time, there are moments of fun and relaxation to deflate that tension, reaching an effective balance,The make-up and pracical effects in this film look fantastic, very realistic and gruesome. The zombies look inhuman, but they aren't as exaggerated as they are on the Walking Dead. The scenes where the zombies consume flesh are very unsettling to watch, because of the visceral special effects. The image of zombies moving like regular patrons in a mall is very amusing (and true to life, if you've ever been in a mall.). Finally, the writing is very good, with smart character, who actually think about their situation, and act reasonable and intelligently.
That said about the writing, the acting isn't that great. Most of the actors give somewhat subdued performances and awkward line readings. The only exception is Gaylen Ross, who gives a decent performance as the female lead, strong and a participant to the action. Other than her, none of the actors are particularly good in their roles. The pacing is, like Living Dead, somewhat stalls slightly in the middle, and doesn't pick up until rhe end. Thus the middle portion, while not boring, is lackluster compared to the beginning and end.
I admit, when I did my short review of Night of the Living Dead on my Facebook a few years ago, I was a bit harsh on it. Over time, I've come to see its genius, and its effeciveness as horror. I'll say this, though. This is the better movie. The shopping mall is a more interesting setting than the home, and the action flows better. If you liked Night of the Living Dead or just enjoy zombie movies in general, and want to see a classic, check this one out.
Next week, we take this film, and do a 180 on it. Shaun of the Dead.
The film opens at the television station WGON in Pennsylvania, where the news crew is dealing with the current zombie epidemic terrorizing the nation. While the station is airing a discussion on the crisis, staff members Francine Parker (Gaylen Ross) and Stephen Andrews (David Emge, who looks a little like Hugh Laurie) decide to flee using the traffic helicopter. At the same time, Roger DeMarco (Scott Reiniger) and his SWAT team are trying to evict tenants at a housing project, who refuse to give them their dead, despite needing to hand them over to the government. Sure enough, the SWAT team encounters zombies in the projects. After clearing them out, they find that the tenants have placed all their reanimated death in a single pile. While in the basement of the project, he meets fellow SWAT team member, Peter Washington (Ken Foree), who tells him that he could get Roger a seat on Andrew's helicopter. Together, the four attempt to flee Pennsylvania. However, after an attack during a stop for fuel, the four decide to stop at a local shopping mall. There, while they find it teeming with Zombies, they find a secret compartment away from the store, and block it from the zombie epidemic. While Peter and Roger gain supplies, Francine admits her pregnancy to Stephen. After fighting off the hordes, and gaining supplies, they decide to lie low in the mall for a bit. In the rather desperate situation, they actually do have some enjoyment for a bit. However, this is only temporary, and soon, they will found their sanctuary threatened.
This film does its tension very well. The threat of the zombies is very ever present, and our protagonists have to deal with the seeming collapse of civilization, as seen with the lack of any television broadcasts. (How the power is kept on for that long.... I have no idea). At the same time, there are moments of fun and relaxation to deflate that tension, reaching an effective balance,The make-up and pracical effects in this film look fantastic, very realistic and gruesome. The zombies look inhuman, but they aren't as exaggerated as they are on the Walking Dead. The scenes where the zombies consume flesh are very unsettling to watch, because of the visceral special effects. The image of zombies moving like regular patrons in a mall is very amusing (and true to life, if you've ever been in a mall.). Finally, the writing is very good, with smart character, who actually think about their situation, and act reasonable and intelligently.
That said about the writing, the acting isn't that great. Most of the actors give somewhat subdued performances and awkward line readings. The only exception is Gaylen Ross, who gives a decent performance as the female lead, strong and a participant to the action. Other than her, none of the actors are particularly good in their roles. The pacing is, like Living Dead, somewhat stalls slightly in the middle, and doesn't pick up until rhe end. Thus the middle portion, while not boring, is lackluster compared to the beginning and end.
I admit, when I did my short review of Night of the Living Dead on my Facebook a few years ago, I was a bit harsh on it. Over time, I've come to see its genius, and its effeciveness as horror. I'll say this, though. This is the better movie. The shopping mall is a more interesting setting than the home, and the action flows better. If you liked Night of the Living Dead or just enjoy zombie movies in general, and want to see a classic, check this one out.
Next week, we take this film, and do a 180 on it. Shaun of the Dead.
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