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Movies / On DVD / Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead

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Dawn of the Dead (1978)

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Reviews Counted:37

Fresh:35

Rotten:2

Average Rating:8.4/10

Consensus: One of the most compelling and entertaining zombie films ever, Dawn of the Dead perfectly blends pure horror and gore with social commentary on bourgeois society.

Runtime: 6 hrs 25 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Picking up where NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD left off, and still offering no explanation of why the dead are walking the earth, DAWN OF THE DEAD plunges headlong into one of the most violent and... Picking up where NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD left off, and still offering no explanation of why the dead are walking the earth, DAWN OF THE DEAD plunges headlong into one of the most violent and original horror films ever made. After securing an apartment building overcome with flesh-eating zombies, two Philadelphia area SWAT team members, Peter (Ken Foree) and Roger (Scott Reiniger), flee to a television station, where they escape in the station's helicopter with Francine (Gaylen Ross) and Stephen (David Emge), two station employees. Seeking refuge from the zombies and the ensuing hysteria, they land on top of a Pittsburgh area shopping mall, despite the fact that the undead seem to be flocking there. What begins as a stop for supplies becomes a longer stay as the four become embroiled in a futile war within the mall to keep their flesh to themselves and remain alive. The film's relentlessly disturbing and innovative gore effects are one reason to see DAWN OF THE DEAD, but those who can stomach the endless barrage of blood and gnarled zombie faces will be rewarded--and possibly surprised--by what the film says about human nature and life within a consumer-based culture. Any aficionado of horror is likely to place the film high on their list of revered cinema. [More]

Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross

Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, Tom Savini, David Crawford, George A. Romero, David Early, Richard France

Director: George A. Romero

Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriter: George A. Romero
Producer: Richard P. Rubinstein
Composer: Goblin

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Dawn of the Dead

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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This is both a fine straight-up horror and an archly sly comment on consumer society.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/24/07
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Undoubtedly the zombie movie to end 'em all.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Grim, gruelling but beautifully shot, this is intelligent, sophisticated horror.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/10/04
David Hughes
David Hughes
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
01/16/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

As a blend of horror, action, tension, and humour, it stands in a class of its own.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Almar Haflidason
Almar Haflidason
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Romero's script is banal when not incoherent.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 5 Comments
10/07/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This sequel to Night of the Living Dead (1968) abandoned the shadowy black-and-white creepiness of its progenitor in favor of a brightly lit color canvas that was bigger, broader, and bloodier.

Full Review Source: Cinefantastique | comment Comment
07/23/08
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
Cinefantastique

Romero's framing of social ills via his rotting, walking metaphors is ingenious but it's the more subtle, unspoken statements that register with the greatest force.

Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
10/29/07
Rob Humanick
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth

Romero, who was his own editor this time out, keeps the scenes clipped and purposeful.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/29/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

In a rare league of ingenious horror films that are utterly timeless...

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
07/10/07
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Dawn of the Dead abandons easy scare tactics in favor of a darkly satirical assault on bourgeois culture, traditional notions of masculinity, and rampant consumerism.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/29/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Romero's sensibility approaches the Swiftian in its wit, accuracy, excess, and profound misanthropy.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
03/29/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

I still get queasy thinking about the biker and the blood pressure machine!

comment Comment
04/15/05
Michael A. Smith
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review

Romero's apocalyptic vision looks more like prophecy than fiction.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
11/11/04
Marco Lanzagorta
Marco Lanzagorta
PopMatters

Dawn of the Dead is one of the best horror films ever made -- and, as an inescapable result, one of the most horrifying. It is gruesome, sickening, disgusting, violent, brutal and appalling.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 2 Comments
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Classic zombie comedy-drama

comment Comment
10/11/04
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Dawn of the Dead’s most unsettling aspect is in how it shows us how little we’ve changed as a culture.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
08/30/04
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

Upon a second viewing, Dawn of the Dead is still just as scary and just as relevant (more so than the remake).

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
03/29/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

For my money, John Carpenter's Halloween, released the same year, is smarter, sharper, and more influential.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment 3 Comments
03/18/04
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Dawn of the Dead

May 19, 2008: Romero's Dawn of the Dead Rising in 3-D Opens in new window
Thanks to a process called "dimensionalization," George A. Romero's Dawn for the Dead will see re-release in 3-D. More...

March 13, 2008: Top Ten Death Proof Exploitation Films: the films that wouldn’t die.
Exploitation films are B-grade gold for those who like it rough, sleazy and thrill-packed. More...

March 07, 2008: Guide of the Dead - An RT Romero Retrospective
As Diary of the Dead hits cinemas, we sit down with George A. Romero to talk retrospectively about what has come from his zombie opus, the Dead series, and what the future has... More...

February 15, 2008: George A. Romero on Diary of the Dead: The RT Interview
With sequel talk already on the horizon, RT chats up horror legend George A. Romero about zombie movies and the latest addition to his Living Dead series. More...

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