Dawn of the Dead (2004)

A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman, and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers:

George A. Romero, James Gunn (screenplay)

Stars:

Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber

5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Polley	...	Ana
Ving Rhames	...	Kenneth
Jake Weber	...	Michael
Mekhi Phifer	...	Andre
Ty Burrell	...	Steve
Michael Kelly	...	CJ
Kevin Zegers	...	Terry
Michael Barry	...	Bart
Lindy Booth	...	Nicole
Jayne Eastwood	...	Norma
Boyd Banks	...	Tucker
Inna Korobkina	...	Luda
R.D. Reid	...	Glen
Kim Poirier	...	Monica
Matt Frewer	...	Frank

Storyline

Ana, a young beautiful nurse finishes her day-shift at the hospital to return home to her beloved husband, they make love and sleep together. The next day, after her husband is killed by her neighbor next door, he suddenly comes back to life. She discovers the chaos happening in her neighborhood and escapes from her home. Soon after coming to her senses in the woods, she encounters a cop and other survivors, they decide to find safety in a mall. Soon more survivors come, and they learn that if they want to stay alive, they should stick together as the world is overrun by an army of undead. Can they survive the horror in this horrific global chaos? When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth

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Plot Keywords:

mall | nurse | zombie | infection | blood | 

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Taglines:

How do you kill what's already dead?

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong horror violence and gore, language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Universal [us]

Country:

USA Canada Japan France

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Ashbridge's Bay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$108,275 (South Africa) (23 July 2004)

Gross:

$108,275 (South Africa) (23 July 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Strike Entertainment, New Amsterdam Entertainment, Metropolitan Filmexport

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 110 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

By the end of production, 3000 zombie make-up effects had been created.

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Goofs

The call letters for the Milwaukee, WI television station covering the zombie attacks shown on the monitors in the mall were KBEX. The call letters should've started with a "W." For the most part, stations west of the Mississippi begin with "K" and stations east of the river begin with a "W" (like WGN in Chicago and WTMJ in Milwaukee). This mistake is also evident during the opening credits on the sign behind the news anchors and on the microphone of the on-location reporter. However, there are some exceptions to the "K-W rule"; KDKA, the first commercial radio station in the US and its TV affiliate, KDKA-TV, are in Pittsburgh (the rules for naming stations came later). Some stations in cities located on the Mississippi river (such as Minneapolis-St. Paul MN) may have their physical facilities on the "wrong" side of the river. However, all stations broadcasting in Milwaukee start with "W".

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Quotes

Monica: You've got to drive faster, man!

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, intercut with the closeup clips of zombies, there is a very brief clip similar to the infamous Paris Hilton tape, with its telltale green "nightvison" effect.

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Connections

Referenced in Dead & Deader (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Right Time Of The Night"
Written by Peter McCann
Performed by Tree Adams

User Reviews

A Zombie Flick to Remember!!!

Dawn of the Dead

I'm not sure I can recall witnessing an opening sequence quite like the one I saw in Zack Snyder's remake of the classic horror film 'Dawn of the Dead.' Besides being rather lengthy (it's over ten minutes before we see the opening credits), it has a bizarre creepiness about it. There's something about the cinematography employed to show us 'the beginning of the end' that I really liked: that extra long image of the little girl skating away, the skyview of Sarah Polly's car as she rides home from her shift as a nurse, the picture of perfect serenity, and those intimate scenes we see of her and her husband 'the day before.' It all makes it more tragic, when, quite unexpectedly, morning comes, and with it, the end of all that is sane. The pure chaos of the scenario, an outbreak of a dangerous break of a virus that turns those infected into ghouls, comes so suddenly that it grips us by the throat.

This is one hell of a horror movie. Even for someone as jaded as myself, who has become totally jaded to any real horror thrills, I was taken aback by how uncomfortable the movie made me feel. Our heroes, holed up at the now abandoned local mall, join small groups of survivors and find themselves fighting each other as well as the zombies when the plague starts creeping ever close to bringing them all to the brink of annihilation. The zombies have an easy-to-spot weakness: one shot to the head takes them out, but they're extremely fast, and a single bite from them leads to hopeless infection and mindlessness. Although some of the story makes little sense (for instance, if the zombies can only transmit the virus by bite and the heroes are in a mall, couldn't they don the heaviest attire imaginable rather than skimpy t-shirts?), there are lots of great twists and snappy dialogue along with the required creep-outs, gore, and slaughter.

And there's some surprisingly great humor. Easily the most memorable of the light-hearted, break-the-nerves moments is when our heroes are situated atop a roof and challenge a local gun shop owner to take out look-alike zombie celebrities, which he does with ease. It's a much needed laugh to relieve the audience of a lot of built-up jitters.

Overall, this is a remake that actually works. The characters, for all their strength and weaknesses, are decently fleshed out for a horror movie. There a few unexpected surprises that even the most attentive viewer will take pleasure in. And the action moves along at a clean, fast pace. The few holes that exist in the plot and the somewhat unsatisfying conclusion are the only real problem areas, but these are to be expected in the genre. Overall, I definitely recommend it, even to the squeamish. It's messy fun for everyone. And make sure you stay until AFTER the credits roll. You'll be glad you did.

Grade: A-