Movie Review: George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead is the sequel to George Romero's cult classic Night of the Living Dead. Dawn of the Dead picks up inside a TV News Studio that is in chaos as the men, and woman are trying to get news out to the public about what exactly is going on, and where they should be going to get help. We then meet a small group of people who decide to take off in the Stations News Helicopter to look for a safe place to hide out in.

This simple set-up is proceeded by the four friends landing at an abandoned shopping mall for which they fortified, and set-up a place for them to stay as the outside world goes crazy with the devastation the dead are causing. They carry on life as if nothing is wrong in their shopper's paradise until one day when a gang of bikers find them, and decide they want the mall for themselves. Our hero's are faced with a violent group of bikers, but also the bloodthirsty zombies that make their way into the mall as well. The final minutes are action packed with our hero's fighting for their lives, and their effort to get out of the mall before it's too late.

George Romero went with unknown actors for the parts in Dawn of the Dead, and at times the acting isn't that good, but thank god the actors are likeable. That makes a world of difference in making us feel sorry for them when the terrible things happen to them on screen. The acting isn't great, but Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, David Emge, and Gaylen Ross pull it off.

This is a much bigger movie than Night of the Living Dead, but George Romero was still faced with a low budget like most of his films, but he pulled it off with flying colors. His direction isn't flashy, but it's solid, and it gets the job done. Plus George knows a thing, or two about making some great set pieces during the movie involving the zombies, and humans.

Overall this is a classic horror movie with social commentary sprinkled throughout. It's gory, violent, but it has something to say besides just showing us horror, and that's what sets Romero's zombie movies apart from the others out there. I highly recommend.