Dawn of the Dead (2004) Review

How dare they? Seriously – plans to remake George A. Romero’s 1978 zombie classic, Dawn of the Dead?

Absurd, unnecessary and frankly, irritating.

Well, imagine my delight – when in the early part of 2004 – the ad campaign began to circulate for Zack Snyder’s (Man of Steel, Justice League) feature directorial debut.

The trailer immediately set me on edge (I have an innate and irrational fear of zombies) and once opening night arrived, I went to the theatre with a great deal of honest-to-goodness anxiety.

To properly illustrate how deeply this remake affected me – the now legendary prologue of the film (those heart-pounding first 10 minutes) – had me so terrified, that if the film would have continued at that break-neck pace (it mercifully cuts to the opening credit sequence), I quite possibly may have left the theatre.

Does the film hold up the same way? Well, not particularly. But in the film’s defense – it’s now made it into my Top 40 Favorite Films of All Time – and I’ve seen it a minimum of 100 times. So…

Nurse Ana (Sarah Polley) joins several other survivors – including police officer Kenneth (Ving Rhames) – in the relative safety of a secure shopping mall to avoid the danger and rampant death brought on by a massive zombie outbreak in their city of Milwaukee (and eventually, everywhere else). There are the usual character dynamics (in-fighting, poor communication) mixed in with this epic zombie threat. And so we’ll follow this group as they make decisions about potentially spending the rest of their lives besieged inside this consumer paradise, or will they make a choice to attempt escape?

Other than the location of a shopping mall, flesh-eating zombies and a pregnancy sub-plot – the film has very little in common with the Romero original.

Something which has bothered zombie fans (beginning with 28 Days Later) was the idea of (what my older brother termed) “turbo-zombies”. These undead creatures run. Romero wasn’t a fan of this change, but the idea of these flesh-eaters being able to compete in a marathon – actually works for me. While certainly improbable in the real world, it certainly amps up the suspense, the danger and the terror.

And on the topic of the zombies here – the make-up and gore effects are top-notch. Rotten faces, gun-shots to the head and plenty of munching cannibalism – will appease the gore-lover in you. A bit of trivia: the make-up effects are created by David LeRoy Anderson – who is married to A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Heather Langenkamp. If you have a keen eye, you’ll see her name listed in the credits of this film as part of the production crew.

There’s a solid crew of actors present here (including appearances from character actor Matt Frewer and Modern Family’s Ty Burrell), but the best work comes from House of Cards’ Michael Kelly as security guard, CJ. Perhaps it’s the fact that his is really the only character with an actual arc. CJ isn’t the same person in the end of the film, as what he was when we first meet him. Kelly deftly handles the character’s shift in priorities – while never losing CJ’s entertaining and sarcastic realism.

Of course, Sarah Polley does great work in the lead role. She does an amazing job with the horror side of the story, but in some smaller moments – upon additional inspection – she loses me. I have made note of some of her “improv” abilities. In larger group scenes, when there are arguments afoot, her random interjections never ring true. Perhaps a weird thing to call out, but it’s noticeable. Overall though, her performance is quite good.

Ving Rhames gets the chance to not only match his beefy physique with a character who is basically always no-nonsense – but to find some more tender moments for Kenneth. There’s a survivor at a nearby gun shop (you know that’ll come in handy) who develops a “long-distance” bro-mance with Kenneth – and it’s a welcome softer side to a very bloody, violent film. Rhames hits all of these varying notes perfectly.

Appearing in some clever cameos – a few actors from the original film. Tom Savini, Scott Reiniger and Ken Foree show up as various characters on news broadcasts – before that television signal is lost (uh-oh!)

And keep an eye out on other homages to the original film – most notably the name of a clothing store: “Gaylen Ross” – referencing the lead actress from the 1978 film.

There’s a terrible misstep late in the story. It’s a reveal (not for the audience, but for the characters) involving Luda (Inna Korobkina) and Andre (Mekhi Phifer). If you’ve seen the film, you’ll probably know what I’m referencing. It could have been accomplished with a little more grace. In fact, as a writer, I would have taken a different route altogether – which would have been far more devastating – for the audience and the characters. As is, it’s over-the-top and ultimately ineffective.

And what you all want to know… is the film scary? I think so (see my paragraph about the first 10 minutes). But aside from that, there is some terrific suspense, some amazingly creepy and claustrophobic visuals (the shuttle buses) and plenty of “boo” moments to go around.

The film was written by James Gunn – who would go on to great acclaim as the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise for Marvel.

Dawn of the Dead has great gore, terrifying “turbo-zombies”, a solid ensemble cast and some good-old fashioned effective jump scares. It may not hold the same terror as it did with that original viewing (or the lingering dread of the original film, for that matter), but it’s still lots of fun to revisit this flick from time to time.

Dawn of the Dead is available on DVD/Bluray as well as multiple VOD outlets.