You have to be logged in to comment! If you don't have an account register now for free! Your account allows you to post comments and reviews, upload videos and images, access or our forums, write personal blogs, and maintain your profile.
My favorite Romero zombie movie, probably the best he has, or will ever make, loved the storyline and character development/the way they react to their enviroment and survive, they did better with that in this than in the remake. No movie in the genre will ever be able to amount to this one. Not that that's what I want.
Posted By: Bostic101 at 7:02pm, September 13, 2009
Probably even more lame Zombies then Rob Zombie but I respect this classic. When it comes to the walking dead Romero doesn't fail.
Posted By: YoungHorror at 8:24pm, September 12, 2009
Amazing zombie film for its time, and OUR time. Very innovative effects, and impressive cinematography. Just a very good, fun, and clever zombie movie with a feel-good ending.
This is hands down my favorite Romero "Dead" film, the actors were great to me. Especially Ken Foree it was cool to see a minority actually live through a zombie crisis. Great movie by a George A Romero in his prime.
This movie is so amazing, if it were a religion I would pray to it ;) George Ramero is at his best, Tom Savini F-in rocks, the Zombies all kick ass, the mall setting is perfection! Blood, gore, zombies, Ramero, Savini, my favorite quote from any movie, "When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth"! AND I loved the remake... Wow, I want to watch it for like the 20th time after writing this review, haha!
Posted By: nkyphantom at 10:30pm, September 6, 2009
This is also one of my favorites from George A. Romero.
The acting was so so and the zombie costumes were all the same. Blue faced zombies XD
The gore on the other hand was extremely well done for a 1978 film.
An all time zombie classic, great music and atmosphere, my favorite scene is when they're at the airfield.I enjoyed all the different cuts of this film, even with the alternate library scores,this is without a doubt a must see.
actually wasnt a big fan for this movie.
it was a great film and all but it wasnt in my opinion more enjoyable than Zack Snyders reimagining of the Dawn of the Dead.
for an old zombie movie, it was pretty scary and brutal and i give it that but it really wasnt anything to absolutely love.
Good Parts- very entertaining movie, good acting, amazing gore effects (Tom Savini of course), believeable characters (well maybe not some of the zombies), good plot, paced very well and does not drag much
Bad Parts- how does every gun make the same noise?, some effects are a little cheesey and crappy
Overall a great zombie movie that set off a series of early 80s rip offs, an excellent watch
CLASSIC ZOMBIE HORROR, gory and wonderful... I love this movie and think it is just awesome... Any fan of zombies that hasn't seen this is just crazy... Its a must see even for todays viewers
There is just soemthing about this movie. What is it about this movie that makes it so f***ing great? Is it the brillian gore, by Tom Savini? Is it the characters? Is it the atmosphere? Is it the funny zombies with the serious tone? OR is it all of that mixed into the perfect zombie movie?
IF you didn't guess, it is the last one. This is by far my favorite of director George A. Romero's dead series, (Night, Dawn, Day, Land, Diary) and it is a must see classic of the 70's. Though this movie is not for everyone, some people may think it cheezy or really out dated but I don't see it that way, and if your a true lover of the horror genre you will respect it too.
I love the characters in this movie and I really love the music, which you will recognize anywhere you hear it (cough cough Shaun of the Dead :D). But the thing I love the most was the GORE, there is alot but, yes it is alittle outdated, but who gives a flying f***? Tom Savini is a god at his work and I hope he continues doing what he does best.
See this movie is your a fan of zombie movies or great horror movies in general, or if your a fan of George Romero or the music by Goblin. This movie gets an easy 10/10 just for being such a fun and enjoyable, creepy-ish ride. 10/10
Here it is. The best of the Romero Films. Dawn of the Dead. This is my Personal Favorite of all the Zombie films that Romero has ever Done. It starts off great and Jumps right into the action. I don't like retelling the story line, since its been told numerous times. Romero really has a thing with using minorities as his protagonists, and once again I wouldn't have this any other way. It was especially relevant for the time period in which his earlier films were made. Not to mention this film has the best scene to which i call the "blood pressure" scene. Which is only rivaled by the Zombie/Shark Fight in Fulci's Zombi 2. This is very Highly recommended for the story, effects and political/satirical nuances that the film features.
There is not much I can say that has not already been said. I think that it is must see for not just Horror fans but for also film fans in general. It's just well done.
It never gets old, and Ive seen it at least 300 times! No exaggeration!! It doesn't get any better than this! PERIOD!
Posted By: That Dead Guy at 9:25pm, February 24, 2009
Yes, yes YES!!
Stunning from start to finish, Dawn of The Dead is an unquestionable horror masterpiece!
Tom Savini applies his FX genius to this one to chilling effect, he even plays a small but unforgettable role as a crafty biker.
George Romero is in top form here; his pacing is relentless, claustophobic, and overwhelming (everything you want in a zombie flick). The acting is top notch, especially a badass Ken Foree performance.
If you've never seen this, I recommend this highly!!
Posted By: Necronatalusz at 10:47pm, February 22, 2009
my favorite movie. Best zombie/ Romero film ever.
Its iconic and so much fun to watch. It combines opposite feeling like terror and joy and you get an eerie feeling watching the walking dead but that feeling gets canceled out by the amazing mall music playing in the background. It has a great plot, great location and amazing director. Romero defined the zombie genre and this is his best work.
And i cant stand people talking about the make-up and special effects, I mean come on its 1978. There faces are grey not completely blue. Like i said best zombie movie ever. you must see this movie!
Good story and somewhat scary atmosphere, but the blue zombies and orange blood look so fake, even for its time, which makes it a comedy more than a horror film .
ok this movie is bad with the zombie colors and the blood does bother me it's too orange =| but the story is bad ass i mean bikers vs the hero's then they get whats comming to them it's bad ass to the max
Posted By: nightmaric at 8:25pm, December 11, 2008
SamuelRisenhoover I agree with you. This personally isn't the best movie I've seen. I've seen worst but the whole blue zombie thing is just cheesy. I know I'll get bashed to but I think the remake was WAAAAYYYY better.
Well, I have seen this movie about five times, and everytime, I wonder to myself what all the hype is. I continually rewatch to try and see if there is something more to get, or if there is something that I am missing. It isn't a bad movie, but it is nothing that spectacular either.
Man, I know I'm gonna get bashed for this, but honestly I don't know what else to say... I was ecstatic to watch this film as I saw pretty much everyone of the reviews reflecting the best score one can give on BD. Some even claiming this as the best zombie film ever made. Wow was I disappointed... maybe if someone's idea of a good horror film is terrible, stupid scoring through out the entire film, totally unbelievable characters, and worst of all chessy ass zombie makeup (Blue Faces WTF?), these fucking zombies are retarded, I will give it credit for being original for it's time, but the zombies in his first film were better than this? Come on now, is this what all the hype was about, the fucking remake was twice the movie this was... pardon me, all the hard core romero fans but he has not impressed me once, with any of his films
Posted By: gorehound62 at 10:41am, November 15, 2008
the best of the dead films, and romeros best film. tom savinis greatest acheivement as well. i think that seeing this film the first time is what got me into horror movies at a very young age. while not acheiving the same status as night, this is still a great movie in terms of gore, scares, atmosphere, and one frequently missed point, satire. it is our first instinct when we become mindless zombies to find the nearest shopping mall. ken foree is great as always as one of the main characters. outstanding.
I've racked my brain trying to finally decide on my favorite horror movie. For me it comes down to one thing....repeated viewings. In my collection there are many movies, especially horror movies, that I have watched multiple times. I have seen Halloween sooo many times it's ridiculous. Evil Dead? Let's just say I didn't get out much when I was in high school. Texas Chainsaw? Alien? The list goes on and on...
However, the original Dawn of the Dead is incomparable. The combined viewings of my original VHS copy, the first DVD copy, and the 3 cuts of the Ultimate Edition set have truly set a benchmark that no other movie I own can compete with. Dawn is, without a doubt, my favorite horror movie. Something about people trapped in a deserted shopping mall just strikes a nerve with me...I can't explain the fascination. I may even stop in Monroeville next summer to visit the damn mall even though it doesn't look the same anymore.
I gave "Night" a 10 because of it's impact on the horror genre and the atmosphere the movie creates, but Dawn still surpasses it's predecessor in my opinion. The gore, the setting, the story, the awesome music (both the Goblin score as well as the cheesy library tracks)...this movie has everything I could want in a movie, let alone a horror movie.
If you are looking for the personification of the "Zombie Movie," Dawn is the be all, end all. Everything else is a pretender to the throne...
In my hurry of posting comment, I accidentely rated Dawn of the dead (remake) as 1/10 but actually I wanted it to rate 10/10.
Coming to the original, I know many of the George Romero fans will hate me for that but hey everybody has a choice.
According to me I will rate this movie 6/10. Yes, it gets marks for originality but I personally do not find slow moving zombies terrifying. Secondly, I didn't find make-up on zombies too good either. Personally, I find make-up on Day of the dead (George Romero) far more superior but it is understandable as it was still 1978 when this movie was made.
All in all this movie was pretty good and entertaining although I wasn't scared a least bit. It was definitely ground-breaking movie in its time (not the best zombie movie though but does rate in top 10). Worth a watch.
Posted By: Darkened Soul at 10:46am, September 25, 2008
Dawn of the Dead is the movie that pretty much got me started with horror...if not that then my love of zombies came from this film..
It's remarkable...
Posted By: RedSabbath at 1:23pm, September 20, 2008
Even though George Romero is credited with the
birth of the modern-day zombie in 1968, it's real debut can go all the way back to 1932 with White Zombie featuring Bela Lugosi. But I think what Romero introduced that got him the credit was the zombie's cannibalistic need of living parts, be it flesh or brains along with the disease factor of if you get bitten alive you'll end up walking dead like them. It also didn't hurt to be one of the first films to have a multi-racial cast featuring an African-American as group leader which of course in '68 was pretty rare indeed. Yeah, Night Of The Living Dead deserves this honor even if technically it isn't quite true.
But it wasn't until almost ten years later Romero
really put the zombie in pop-culture with the much heralded Dawn Of The Dead in 1978. This film took the trapped survivor scenerio of NOTLD up a notch by putting in the more modern day setting of a typical American pleasure, the indoor shopping mall. DOTD, while offering pretty much the same living character design, this time made the zombies more in number, appearance, and graphic actions. It was this film with instead of it's shades of gray now bursting in bloody color that put the Zombies on the map permanently. It's a great film that not only fleshes out the characters at a good pace (though at times it does seem a little too detailed in that department), but truly shown that zombism has no cultural bounds. Not only did the Americans just eat up this new genre, but on the opposite side of the world, Europeans did so even more, especially the film-making members of Italy.
When Romero wanted his film to be presented over there, he enlisted the help of Italian filmaker Dario Argento to re-edit it for Italian audiences. Argento slimed down bits of comedy & slower dialouge, gave it a faster soundtrack, and
changed it's name to Zombi. This may have been one of the most important effects this film ever could of have. Not only was the film an even bigger success overseas, but it inspired many
Italian filmmakers to continue what Romero started. Before Romero even thought of his 1985 third installment Day Of The Dead, Italian director Lucio Fulci brought a year later his unofficial (yet honored by Romero himself) sequel called Zombi 2. This film showed what the worldwide Zombie outbreak was doing half a world away from that mall. But this time the zombies were far more graphic and the gore and pacing were turned up by leaps & bounds. It was this
film along with Dawn that gaveway for the Italian Zombie craze of the 1980's. Like how the Italians created their own successful version of the classic American Western ten years earlier, they
once again did it but with our Zombies. What followed was a barrage of great Zombie films that never seemed to be carbon copies of Romero's then two classics, but new ways of defining the genre.
Unfortunately by '85 with Day Of The Dead, Romero seemed to be beaten at his own game by them with Day's lackluster audience response (though over time, it in itself has become the classic it deserves). But all of this couldn't of happened without Romero & his original update of Dawn Of The Dead. It was that film that launched a thousand ships filled with the living dead.
Without a doubt, this is one of the most exhaustive DVD releases any one film has ever received, and it's completely deserved. The film that started the Zombie craze that still lives to this day, gets an amazing FOUR disc set that shows you every little piece of it's history and formations. With this set you get THREE different versions of the film: the US theatrical, the extended Directors Cut, and the rare Dario Argento European cut known as Zombi. Each version
has it's own merit and differences that never, ever feels like release overkill. And all has been fully remastered to the hilt, with different commentaries for each equally entertaining (though it would have been nice to have an Argento one for the European cut). No lack of movie presentation here, you get it all.
Extras? Damn, you got them! Documentaries, commercials, trailers, stills, photos, home movies, easter eggs, God this thing is packed! In fact, I couldn't even think what it's missing. All enclosed in a great box-set with wonderful artwork and an errie front cover to boot. Hell, it even comes with a comic book, for cryin' out loud. Now I know Anchor Bay/Starz is known for double-dipping their audience, but it has never been as necessary as this one. If you own any of
their previous releases, sell them & add it to the pot to get this. Something of this quality to me has only been seen for a franchise, not a single film release, so you can tell just how impressive this set is. So if you're a fan of ANY level to the original Dawn Of The Dead, or the genre of Zombies itself, your collection's NOT complete yet! I have never given a DVD release a full 10 before & I feel once you get this you will too.
(RedSabbath Rating:10/10)
Such a great movie. The remake was trash compared to this. Great storyline, great effects, just great everything. Night and Dawn are by far the best zombie movies out there.
"Dawn of the Dead is concrete proof that extreme gore and violence doesn't always equal a dumb movie and that the two can make very nice bedfellows indeed. This film is a rare thing in that it will please both gorehounds and fans of art cinema, and there isn't a vast amount of films that do that. Aside from doing what I've just mentioned, this follow up to Night of the Living Dead established George Romero as a household name in many a gore fan's home and his trilogy of zombie films will ensure for ever more that the name 'Romero' and the zombie film will always go hand in hand. The plot of this film follows four survivors of the zombie apocalypse that has ensued after the events of Night of the Living Dead as they hold up in a shopping mall to try and hide from the events going on in the outside world. However, this poses another problem, as once their home has been built up in the midst of the atrocities; will our hero's be able to give up all that they have built?
The commentary on society and the trappings of consumerism that Romero appears to be keen to implement in his film come off as being somewhat muddled, due to the fact that it's lost under the reality that what we see our hero's doing makes absolute perfect sense. This, however, is where the genius behind the commentary comes into play; it's a depiction of what people within a consumerist society would do in this situation, which makes the commentary all the more potent. Despite it being a film about zombies, Romero implements a sense of realism into the proceedings, which works due to the fact that he never overindulges in anything. Sure, the gore towards the end is over the top; but even that is realistic as it is what you would expect a zombie massacre to be. Because of his sense of realism, we are able to care for the characters that Romero has presented us with, even though we really know little about them. The audience is able to put themselves into their situation and we are constantly given the feeling that we are actually involved in the events on screen. This makes the ending of the movie more potent by way of the sense of security that Romero has lulled you into throughout the movie, and at the end; we really feel for what is happening to our characters and even though we want to see the massacre happen (as that's why we're watching the film at the end of the day), we sort of don't want to see it at the same time. This kind of mind-game isn't carried off successfully very often, but Romero has it down to an art form here.
The movie benefits massively from a great score by Dario Argento's house band, Goblin. In fact, with the obvious exception of Suspiria; I would even go as far as to say that this is their best work ever. The score blends so well with the happenings on screen that it's impossible to have one without the other. Some films have a superfluous score, or one that doesn't add anything to the film; but it's undeniable that the score of Dawn of the Dead not only adds to what we're seeing, but 'makes' it. As many people will be tuning in to see gore, I am pleased to tell you that this film doesn't disappoint in that respect. It's one of the goriest films ever made, with many sequences reaching a level of disgustingness that is rarely seen in cinema (intestine dinner, anyone?). As you are probably aware, Tom Savini did the make-up effects for Dawn of the Dead and it is the film that made his career and established him as the gore guru that he is often seen as today. The film is also notable for a certain line that has been quoted more times than any other line uttered in any other horror movie. I am of course talking about the fabulous; "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth".
Dawn of the Dead is undoubtedly one of the most important films ever made. It inspired a barrage of rip-off's that are still being made today and it stands tall on many a horror fan's list of favourite horror films. Dawn of the Dead is one of the most recent films to inspire a remake and, unfortunately, it turned out to be terrible. Not that it matters, as the original is where it's at; and this film is an undeniable masterpiece." --The_Void, imdb.com
this is absolutly one of my favorite romero's works of zombies. i have not seen the diary movies yet. but i own every zombie movie made by romero and he is the only one that still sticks to the original zombie rules. and he should be crowned for the best zombie movies ever.
My all time favorite horror movie!!! the best horror movie ever made. This film is why Romero is one of the greatest directors alive today...too bad about the DIARY films!!!
Best Romero film ever. Especially this version the others are good but can never live up to the standards of this one because the time period the film was made.
