Dawn Of The Dead Movie Review (2004)

I'll be the first to admit that I get bent out of shape when horror movies are remade. I automatically assume they'll be garbage because generally speaking it's the truth. Fortunately, this remake of George A. Romero's 1978 classic is one of the few that actually get it right. I remember seeing this in theaters and being impressed with how it did its own thing while maintaining the authenticity of the original. Additionally, the cameos made by Tom Savini and Ken Foree help in paying homage to the film they starred in 26 years earlier.

I feel it's worth noting that this is Zack Snyder's directorial debut. Regardless of how you feel about his later work (primarily directing superhero films), he does a solid job here and would even go on to direct another zombie film ('Army of the Dead') in 2021. He pays a lot of attention to detail such as different colors of blood used based on the age and state of decomposition of the zombies. Red blood is used for the "fresher" zombies, brownish/red for the medium-aged ones and blackish blood for the oldest. Conversely, there are some continuity issues, as it seems that there is no set time in how long it takes someone to turn once they're bitten. Some people it's instantaneous while others take hours.

If you've seen the original, you know the gist. During a zombie outbreak, a group of people make their way to a mall in order to protect themselves in hopes of riding out the storm until help can arrive or they can escape on their own. There are considerable differences between the two films such as there being more plot that involves the group being outside the safety of the mall in the remake. There's also a zombie baby, a dog and some souped up buses that look to be the prototype for those in 'Land of the Dead'. The fates of the survivors are ambiguous as they sail away to an island and look to be attacked, but we are not provided any definitive answers.

~TJ