Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Movie Information:

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Directed by: Zack Snyder Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Written by: James Gunn Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, Michael Barry, Lindy Booth, Jayne Eastwood

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures Dawn Of The Dead (2004) U.K. Distributor: Entertainment

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Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Synopsis:

A re-envisioning of George Romero's apocalyptic horror classic, "Dawn of the Dead": An unexplained plague has decimated the world's population--and yet, the dead aren't dying. They've become zombies, stalking endlessly in a quest to feed on the flesh and blood of the few remaining living. A ragtag group of desperate survivors in a Wisconsin town seek refuge in a large indoor mall, where they must learn not only to protect themselves from the ever-increasing zombie horde, but also to co-exist with each other as a last bastion of humanity. Sealed off from the rest of what used to be the world, the group uses every available resource, in their against-all-odds fight, to remain alive and human.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Movie Review:

A plague is spreading, killing millions in its wake but it doesn’t stop there. Once an infected person is dead, they return to life as flesh hungry, homicidal killers. As the world falls into hell, a group of survivors hold out in a shopping mall but it won’t be long before the hordes of undead come looking for fresh meat.

As original ideas continue to elude Hollywood, they return again to the horror archives and update a classic of the genre, George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.

As the sound of zombie’s stirring in their graves greets this news, the undead can return to their eternal rest, as the movie isn’t the travesty that it so easily could have been. This is blood soaked, head splattering, flesh eating horror entertainment and has everything a good zombie flick should have. The killings are gruesome, the undead are deadly and everyone of the cast has an equal chance of dying. What more do you want from a horror flick?

The cast make the movie what it is. The excellent Sarah Polly proves again that she is an actress to watch. This is a very natural performance from her which makes Ana a very believeable character. She reacts to the situation as you’d expect people to but she is never too overly dramatic or foolhardy. Ving Rhames is as good as ever with another commanding performance as no nonsense police officer Kenneth. This is a man you would want with you in a crisis. Jake Webber is one of those actors that you always recognise and can never put a name to. Hopefully this movie will push him more into the limelight. Mekhi Phifer does well with his small but important role. The support is also good but most of them are just potential food for the slaughter.

A lot of the plaudits have to go to first time director Zack Snyder. He paces the movie extremely well throwing in shock after shock at a relentless rate. He hardly ever telegraphs any of his scares, with zombie and killings coming from every conceivable standpoint putting you on the edge of your seat throughout. The look of the movie is also very good with fast cuts and quick reveals making it all the more frightening.

The film is not without its problems however. Firstly this isn’t a movie that needed to be remade and it will struggle to grab the attention of purists and Romero fans alike. The film also misses the main point of the original, man’s obsession with commercialism to the point that they would return to the hub of that addiction, the shopping mall, even in death. Finally the overly energetic zombies are a complete rip off from Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later but this does increase the menace of the masses of flesh-hungry undead.

Dawn of the Dead is a blood soaked, late night horror flick that is extremely entertaining, even if it does steal all its ideas. It might bring nothing new to the genre but this a fright fest that is still a cut above most of the current horror flicks that Hollywood has turning out of late.

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Dawn Of The Dead (2004) review written by: Jamie Kelwick