Dawn of the Dead (1978)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer:

George A. Romero (written by)

Release Date:

24 May 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.

Plot:

Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

Plot Keywords:

Mall | Sequel | Shopping Mall | Pennsylvania | Helicopter

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

David Emge	...	Stephen
Ken Foree	...	Peter
Scott H. Reiniger	...	Roger
Gaylen Ross	...	Francine
David Crawford	...	Dr. Foster
David Early	...	Mr. Berman
Richard France	...	Dr. Milliard Rausch - Scientist
Howard Smith	...	TV Commentator
Daniel Dietrich	...	Givens
Fred Baker	...	Commander
James A. Baffico	...	Wooley (as Jim Baffico)
Rod Stouffer	...	Roy Tucker - Young Officer on Roof
Jese Del Gre	...	Old Priest
Clayton McKinnon	...	Officer in Projects Apt.
John Rice	...	Officer in Projects Apt.

Also Known As:

George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (UK) (closing credits title) (USA) (complete title)
Dawn of the Living Dead
The Zombies (Philippines: English title)
Zombi (Italy)
Zombie: Dawn of the Dead
Zombies
Zombies: Dawn of the Dead (UK) (video box title)

Runtime:

126 min | Germany:156 min (extended version) | Italy:117 min (Dario Argento's European/Italian Cut) | Spain:115 min | USA:128 min (DVD version) | USA:139 min (director's cut)

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (German prints) | Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) (2004) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-18 | Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 (DVD rating) | Australia:R | Chile:14 (video rating) | Denmark:15 (DVD rating) | Denmark:16 | France:-16 (re-rating) | France:X (original rating) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 (original rating) | Norway:15 (re-rating) (uncut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:Open (rating surrendered) (1983) | USA:R (original rating) (cut) | West Germany:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Harold W. Brown Memorial Field - 3926 Logans Farm Road, Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Laurel Group

Trivia:

Gaylen Ross said that the brief scene where she is skating in the ice rink was a near-disaster. She had stated on her resume that she could ice skate, but hadn't done so in nearly 20 years. She admitted in an interview that she was being shouted instructions on how to skate by the rink manager (who was out of camera shot) and stayed on her feet barely long enough to complete a single loop.

Goofs:

Continuity: The blood on Roger's face and hands in the truck scene suddenly disappears after he turns around. When he drives off and starts running zombies over, the blood is back.

Quotes:

[coming across a Zombie storage room]
Roger: Why did these people keep them here?
Peter: 'Cause they still believe there's respect in dying.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 28 Weeks Later (2007)

Here's ONE zombie movie that buries all the others!

There's not much use denying it… George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" is one of the chosen few, absolute greatest horror films ever made and it's fairly unimaginable that a powerful movie like this will ever come out again. Even more than its 1968 predecessor, the landmark known as "Night of the Living Dead", this film contains literally everything to satisfy even the most demanding fan of horror cinema. Some films attempt to reach a maximum level of high tension throughout; some have eminent directors and/or a professional cast; some horrors will distinguish themselves from the rest by providing a lot of gore & gruesome make-up effects and others completely rely on uniquely atmospheric set pieces and filming locations. "Dawn of the Dead" consists of ALL these trademarks and yet a whole lot more! This film more or less begins where "Night" ended, with an alarming increase of zombies that feast their way through America. The opening sequences masterfully capture the growing sense of mass hysteria and disbelief in a TV-studio, where a 'scientist' warns the population not to regard these walking corpses as former family members or friends, but as mere monsters on the constant lookout for human flesh to feed on. These scenes introduce Peter and Francine, who plan to escape the big city in a helicopter. Cut to another very perplexing series of action sequences in which fellow policemen Stephen & Peter battle their way through a zombie-infested apartment building. Eventually these four characters flee together and entrench themselves in a large shopping mall complex. They can fairly easily handle the menace of the zombies here, but the biggest danger comes from typical human greed and selfishness. It's downright amazing how Romero manages to present such an implausible topic like zombie mayhem in such a realistic and incredibly disturbing way. He already did that in "Night of the Living Dead" but "Dawn" is entirely different film all together, since it contains a lot more humor and intelligently subtle society-mockery. The gore is sensational and plentiful (thank you, Tom Savini!) but the film never at one point drags in the tension or bad editing department. It's just, in one word, the perfect horror movie. There exist more than a dozen different versions of this film, which are all worth seeing at least once if only to spot the differences. Particularly recommended are Romero's original director's cut (duh!!) and Argento's European cut. This latter cuts a little on the dialogues and humor, but it features another brilliant soundtrack by Goblin! I could easily write another five page-essay about the genius of this movie, but it would just constantly re-confirm that it's absolute must-see! In case you haven't yet, make "Dawn of the Dead" a priority and also make sure you've got the horror-munchies!