Zombie : Le Crépuscule des morts-vivants

Thoughtful if unsubtle epic follow-up to Night of the Living Dead was one of THE influential movies of the late 70's; pity, then, that the people it influenced paid more attention to the amped-up gore than to the sense of contained hysteria that makes what should be tough going (there are basically three scenes in this movie: zombies attack people, people attack zombies, people stand around talking) a uniquely involving and provocative self-analysis of the zombie film.

The symbolism is, well, not delicate. Just in case we missed it the first time, the trope that the mall attracts the zombies "because it was an important place to them" is repeated for our rumination. But the overall sustained atmosphere, inside and outside of the banal environment of the shopping mall, is by far the film's salient contribution; even when there is no obvious action onscreen, there is the threat of an attack to come, and the clock is clearly ticking on the four protagonists during their idyll. Moreover, it takes the conspicuously familiar and catapults it into an apocalyptic situation, creating a powerful sense of displacement.

The violence, which is primarily what draws people to or repels them from this movie, comes on strong, but quickly becomes monotonous (as it is, the vast majority of the violence in the movie is inflicted against the zombies rather than by them, though is none the less repulsive for that); the scariest part of the movie is how plausible it makes the concept of total disintegration of what we perceive as civilization. The soundtrack, highlighting pulsing, insistent synthesizer chords, contributes much to the onscreen tension, which the action choreography is exemplary. An unlikely masterpiece.

When you want brutal, look no further, but when you also want to see perhaps the greatest of all comic-book movies not based on a comic-book, it's in George Romero's original take on his continuing mythology. It's not just one of the towering horror films, or horror comedies (what will a poor dead fellow do when the escalator starts?!) but one of the great sequels, more ambitious and ass-kicking than its predecessor, with a filmmaker more confident and technically proficient with his abilities.

Romero didn't originally want to do *any* sequel to his original 'Night', but after a visit by some friends to a soon-to-open mall nearby his hometown of Pittsburgh, it struck a chord as to who would be coming here – and what so much consumerism in one place would mean. "Why do they come here?" one of the four survivors that happens upon this mall swarming with these flesh-eaters asks another. "This meant something to them. Instinct, maybe. This was an important part of their lives," he responds.

I don't think necessarily Romero meant to show the film as any sort of 'This is what will happen!" type of social horror thing. It's more about, this is where we are at NOW, and in that sense, though broader and a whole LOT bloodier, it holds a place right next to a film like Network as one of the magnificent satires of its time and place, and as much about what the public is like. Romero acts as both pessimist and optimist in this world though; past all the chopped limbs, exploding heads (oh yeah!), Tom Savini stunt and make-up and intestines ripped apart, what holds up the film for me is seeing these four characters come to grip with the horror they've made for themselves, holding up in this "paradise" of a mall.

Balls-to-the-wall horror, social horror, and some genuine paranoid horror stuff (note to self, never try and fire a gun at a single zombie when in a dark room full of electrical wiring and pipes), and plenty of rock and roll attitude, this is a personal favorite and the most entertaining horror film of its time. And the Goblin music soundtrack… yummy.

Dawn of the Dead is a brilliant film. You gotta love those zombies. I loved the bit where one of the bikers arm got stuck in the blood pressure machine and the zombies ate him alive. If you're going to see it, make sure it is the Director's Cut.

This is one of the better horror films you'll ever see. The 2004 remake was an absolute bore-fest I thought. In all truth I've seen a ridiculous amount of zombie films, from the modern era all the way back to the many classic black and white films. I'm pretty sure I've nearly seen them all at this point. To me there simply is no better zombie film than this. Some Romero fans claim Night of the Living Dead is his best, but to me that was just part of his warm up to this, his true zombie masterpiece. 8/10.

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.