Bela Lugosi's Not Dead (Dawn of the Dead [2004] (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Dawn of the Dead [2004] (DVD)
Date:	20/02/05 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High octane, Lots of action

Disadvantages: Occasional cliche, Doesn't always add up

If there is one thing that’s synonymous with horror movies it’s zombies. Over the years, they’ve come a long way from their spiritual home in Haiti, what with the black and white “White Zombie” from 1932 terrifying audiences through the unique talents of Bela Lugosi to the George A Romero dynasty of movies established in the 1960’s and 70’s. Perhaps the best known Zombie flick is the 1978 outing of “Dawn of the Dead” which mixed a combination of shuffling, flesh eating zombies in a modern-day holocaust with a biting satire of American consumerism. 26 years on and Zack Snyder was charged with a directorial attempt to re-create and improve upon a seminal movie in the echelons of horror classics.
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Director: Zack Snyder
Cert:18
Run time: 100 mins

Main cast:
Sarah Polley – Ana
Ving Rhames - Kenneth
Jake Weber – Michael
Mekhi Phifer - Andre
Ty Burrell - Steve
Michael Kelly – CJ
Kevin Zegers - Terry
Michael Barry - Bart
Lindy Booth – Nicole
Jayne Eastwood – Norma
Boyd Banks – Tucker
Inna Korobkina – Luda
R.D. Reid – Glen
Kim Poirier – Monica
Matt Frewer – Frank
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Ana is a hard working nurse whose just finished her shift. Oblivious to the big increase in hospital admissions going on around her together with the panicked messages of anarchy on the radio, she toddles off home to get some sleep. Her daughter appears to be unwell when she gets home but the family hit the collective sack and Ana’s husband is awoken at 6.25am by the shadowy figure of their daughter standing on the landing. As he goes to attend to her she flies at him ripping large holes in his flesh via her new found desire for human meat. Ana manages to scramble out of the house and into a dysoptian nightmare of marauding zombies and desperate survivors.

For anyone that’s encountered a zombie flick before then the plot will be easily recognised. In this case, Ana meets up with a small band of survivors, small band take refuge in a shopping mall, shopping mall becomes the focal point of a zombie army, small band needs to find a means of escape before the substantial entourage break in and eat them. OK, it’s hardly Pulitzer Prize writing but it’s a pretty faithful recreation of the original 1978 movie albeit there are some significant differences thrown into keep the viewer on his/her toes.

Clearly, the most obvious difference is the depiction of the zombies themselves. Up until now, directors have shown zombies as slow moving, shuffling characters with as much comedy value as the intended horror that comes with a white-eyed, dishevelled spectre that has the IQ of a crane fly. Ironically, the rom-zom-com “Shaun of the Dead” released at more a less the same time as DOTD utilises this very image with it’s own adaptation of the zombie movie. In our case, the zombies are no slouches with the ability to run fast - very fast. The director emphasises this often using silhouettes on walls just before the latest crowd of zombies pour forth and occasionally catch up with their prey.

Otherwise, the zombies remain as dim as their predecessors and it’s in this that one of the movie’s anomalies comes to light. With an ongoing exchange going on with a fellow survivor who happens to be marooned on the roof of a building within binocular range, messages are exchanged via a board with words daubed in red paint. However, having been bitten and turned, the zombie sniper still manages to daub one last message when we are led to believe that zombies are incoherent amoebas capable only of a single-track desire to bite and eat uninfected humans.

Zack Snyder is a relative newcomer and together with a generally unknown cast does a great job. He certainly gets the best out of the costume department. With as much gore as you could possibly want, the infected aspect of the movie is often brought home by the studio’s use of yellow skin with a plethora of pustules on many of the zombies. There's no real explanation as to what the disease/infection is or how it came about with that particular detail left to the viewer's imagination.

There’s no shortage of blood shed during the numerous murderous exchanges with the human carnivores although Snyder does pay homage to the tongue-in-cheek quality of the original with the use of music. At one stage, a group of survivors is fleeing from a further attack by taking refuge in a lift. As the lift rises, “I’m All Out of Love” plays in the background with the tensed out characters quietly swapping sideways glances. This exemplifies the light relief given at times during the relentless barrage of action. It's also that section of the movie set in the shopping mall that generally corresponds with the original movie although the danger posed by the antagonists holds considerably more threat this time around.

There are some outstanding set-pieces in DOTD. The bizarre sub-plot involving a survivor giving birth to a baby after having been bitten is shot with some menace as the resultant post-pregnancy is hardly one for the family photographer. The large number of extras called upon give great value for money with any number of zombie creatures shot, maimed, decapitated and generally blown-up. Such is the viciousness of the monsters in the movie that the audience can’t help but celebrate the latest zombie being bumped off despite the apparent callousness of the act. I thought the scenes with the make-shift armour plated bus were particularly good with some highly imaginative methods of repelling the zombie hordes.

As mentioned above, the cast is made up of unknowns and whilst the acting is good enough, the only minor gripe I had was the over-night renaissance of CJ the security guard from being the selfish, paranoid fly-in-the-ointment one minute to good guy with a heart of gold the next. The script line calling for the security guards to imprison the main characters is a little hard to grasp although you just know it won’t last and that the tables will be turned soon enough.

For a horror movie, there is the usual cliché inherent in both script and acting but notwithstanding, DOTD is a high octane, roller coast ride of a movie with a gripping finale (catch the closing credits for a pessimistic view of the future). Large tracts of the movie are taken with a claustrophobic slant on the original as all contact with the outside world is lost with no planes in the sky, no traffic on the roads and a radio silence that leaves the audience clueless as to what will eventually happen as the movie draws to a close. You won’t need a degree to realise that most of the main characters will get rubbed out as we go along but this is the horror genre and we aren’t in it for Oscars.

Overall, I would honestly say that the re-make of “Dawn of the Dead” is an explosive homage to Romaro’s masterpiece and one that blew me away for the most part. I would thoroughly recommend to lovers of action/horror movies. You’ll be gripping your seat whilst viewing and looking over your shoulder for days afterwards. Just don't get bitten by a someone with mainly yellow skin and piercing eyes!

Thanks for reading

Marandina

Dawn of the Dead is available on DVD and VHS via all the usual outlets. It retails at £8.97 and £12.99 respectively as an indicator.

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