Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
The zombie apocalypse has hit Earth. Two personnel from a TV station and two policemen set off in a helicopter to find a safe place to hide out. Their search leads them to a shopping mall where they manage to find a place that, while not zombie-free, is quite secure. So far, so good.Written by
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Many effects were thought of on the spot. Tom Savini created many effects (such as the arm in the blood pressure tester) with no preparations whatsoever. See more »
Goofs
When Peter talks to Stephen at one point, his hand blocks his mouth. Moving away for a few seconds, however, it can be seen that Peter's lips do not match the words on the audio track. See more »
The zombies overrun the mall throughout the course of the end credits. See more »
Alternate Versions
There are three main versions of the film.
-The U.S. Theatrical Version, which George A. Romero considers his definitive cut of the film, runs 127 minutes and was the version released in American theaters in 1979. It contains a mix of both Goblin's soundtrack and several library tracks.
-Dario Argento's cut, released in Italy under the title ZOMBI, and also known as the European Version, runs 118 minutes. It removes several scenes, mostly anything humorous, emphasizing the horror and action, and has more extensive use of the Goblin music.
-The Extended Version or Cannes Film Festival Version runs 139 minutes (this version was erroneously called the 'director's cut' when Elite Entertainment released it on laserdisc). It was assembled to premiere at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival and is something of a workprint. It contains many extended scenes and the soundtrack is almost entirely library tracks. All three versions have been made available on Anchor Bay's DVD box set, the Japanese Happinet/Stingray Blu-Ray box set, and Arrow's UK Blu-Ray box set. See more »
Some people believe that "Dawn of the Dead" is the greatest zombie film ever made. I respectfully disagree. While it is certainly "one of the best", I am a firm believer that its predecessor, "Night of the Living Dead", deserves that honor. Be that as it may, this movie essentially takes up where "Night of the Living Dead" left off. The zombies have multiplied to an extent that society has broken down and chaos has emerged. In this environment, four humans (3 men and 1 woman) have escaped by helicopter to an abandoned shopping mall. Realizing that this is a good place to hide out, they decide to make it their temporary home. It has food, liquor, guns and ammunition. It even has an arcade for entertainment. Their main task then, is to secure the mall to keep the zombies out. Once this is accomplished though, the zombies on the outside continue to want to get in. And they never quit trying. Unfortunately, the zombies aren't the only ones who want to get in. At any rate, rather than give away the entire storyline I'll just say that this film has plenty of blood and guts for the hard-core fans of this genre. It also has some humorous scenes interspersed throughout as well. And while some of the humor is a bit over-the-top, it just seems to fit in for some reason. The acting is decent and the director (George A. Romero) is probably the world's greatest expert when it come to this kind of film. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I think that most zombie fans would probably say the same thing.
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Some people believe that "Dawn of the Dead" is the greatest zombie film ever made. I respectfully disagree. While it is certainly "one of the best", I am a firm believer that its predecessor, "Night of the Living Dead", deserves that honor. Be that as it may, this movie essentially takes up where "Night of the Living Dead" left off. The zombies have multiplied to an extent that society has broken down and chaos has emerged. In this environment, four humans (3 men and 1 woman) have escaped by helicopter to an abandoned shopping mall. Realizing that this is a good place to hide out, they decide to make it their temporary home. It has food, liquor, guns and ammunition. It even has an arcade for entertainment. Their main task then, is to secure the mall to keep the zombies out. Once this is accomplished though, the zombies on the outside continue to want to get in. And they never quit trying. Unfortunately, the zombies aren't the only ones who want to get in. At any rate, rather than give away the entire storyline I'll just say that this film has plenty of blood and guts for the hard-core fans of this genre. It also has some humorous scenes interspersed throughout as well. And while some of the humor is a bit over-the-top, it just seems to fit in for some reason. The acting is decent and the director (George A. Romero) is probably the world's greatest expert when it come to this kind of film. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I think that most zombie fans would probably say the same thing.