Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 remake of the 1978 Romero zombie film of the same name, directed by Zack Snyder and starring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer.
In 2004 Zack Snyder did the seemingly impossible – directed a remake that was as good, if not better, than the film it’s based on. The success of Dawn of the Dead is due in no small part to Snyder’s graphic novel-like visual style, and the fact he simply based his remake on George A Romero’s original, rather than attempting to do a scene-by-scene re-creation.
From the brilliantly tense opening sequence (capped by the inspired music choice of Johnny Cash’s When the Man Comes Around), to the nail-biting conclusion as the heroes smash their way out of the mall in souped-up courtesy shuttles, everything about the film just works.
I love the way Snyder implies the chaos is worldwide through a series of news flashes played during the opening titles. Through a mixture of quick cuts of zombies mauling people and stock news footage of riots and natural disasters, we get a sense that the world is doomed before the story focuses entirely on our survivors in the mall. The breakdown of authority is handled nicely by showing secret service guys overrun while ushering the President to a helicopter outside the White House.
The nods to the original Romero trilogy are subtle and brilliant – like the TV news helicopter and the van crashing into the gas station, and of course make up guru Tom Savini’s cameo as the TV Sheriff and Ken Foree looking decidedly creepy as a TV preacher. But the departures are where the film truly shines.
I like the departure from the slow, shuffling Romero zombies to the frantic sprinting zombies. It gives the scenes immediacy and ups the scare factor considerably. It was a bold move by Snyder, and paid off in spades given it’s now become an accepted part of the whole zombie genre. There’s also the zombie plague being more virus-like rather than supernatural, which works well and leads to nice, tense uncertainty among the characters as they are not entirely sure who among the dead will rise, and who will stay down.
The other part of the film that could have been sink but winds up swimming laps is the memorable characters and great cast. Sarah Polley is a great ‘everywoman’ hero as nurse Ana and Ving Rhames is fantastic as the cop, Kenneth. Medium-guy and the others are also great, my favourite is CJ (Michael Kelly) the mall security guard. At first he is a complete tosser, but redeems himself admirably as the film goes on. He gets some of the film’s best lines (“I’ll kill each and every one of you to stay alive.”) and arguably the film’s best death scene.
Another inspired departure from the original is the inclusion of Andy, the gun store owner across the parking lot. I love his relationship with Ving Rhames, the white board communication, and the wrong-but-oh-so-funny celebrity zombie game they play. It’s one of the film’s best moments.
While the big set pieces are wonderfully staged and brilliantly executed, I love the film’s quieter moments. One of my favourites is when Sarah Polley goes to get medical supplies from a closet, and while she has a moment alone, quietly breaks down and cries. It’s superbly acted and a wonderful character moment, the fact she pulls herself together before returning to the group is great and speaks volumes about her character – she maintains the illusion of strength for the benefit of the group at first, but it’s nice that as the film goes on, her strength grows. She’s easily the film’s best (or at least most well-rounded) character.
Another small moment that always makes me laugh is Medium-guy wandering through the sports store and the fact he decides a freakin polo mallet is a better weapon than a crowbar. Yeah…um swapping gauge steel for a piece of balsa wood? Makes a lot of sense.
Of course no good horror film would be complete without a character you ‘love to hate’, and that role is filled by the incredibly obnoxious Steve (played brilliantly by Modern Family’s Ty Burrell). From the moment he enters frame you can’t wait to see what grisly end they have in store for him. He’s a smarmy prick and lets everyone know it. He immediately condescends to everyone in the group, while making himself right at home with a huge grin you just want to slap off his face. And what’s more he’s the only member of the group who still gets laid while in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. And he spends the entire time Patrick Bateman-style – filming himself with a camcorder. God I wanted him dead.
The other character I really enjoyed was Bart, one of the other mall security guards. He doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but what a colossal whack-job. At first he seems quite stupid and harmless (the moment where he slings his gun holster on over his underwear is hilarious, made more so by CJ’s reaction to it), but his true colours show in a couple of key moments – firstly his oblivious and woefully disrespectful comments about banging the chick from Dairy Queen, then his remark about ‘someone should show her how to use it’ (referring to Ana’s mouth). But most telling is his reaction to ‘Ben Cosine’. He has a quietly callous disregard for the ‘twitcher’ in the fountain - a former colleague of his. These moments show what he’s really made of – he’s a sociopath. His end cannot come soon enough, and it’s satisfyingly gruesome.
In a lot of ways, zombie apocalypse stories feature a bit of ‘wish-fulfilment’ – the characters are suddenly freed from all societal constraints and personal responsibilities. These films ask us the audience to ponder: ‘what would you do?’ No more bills to pay, no more boring jobs to attend, no more saving for a rainy day or having to behave responsibly to avoid offending people or going to jail. Dawn of the Dead covers this in a brilliant montage (set to a fantastic Richard Cheese cover of Disturbed’s Down with the Sickness) that sees characters’ indulging in the various pursuits the mall offers. It’s not quite what I’d do (find the nearest pharmacy, a couch and a big screen television) but it’s an entertaining scene.
Of course the other cool thing about Romero’s original and this version is the commentary on humanity as a whole – that while facing a zombie apocalypse outside the confines of the mall, the survivors within cannot help but squabble and fight amongst themselves. This ranges from petty jealousy and drama (one character teasing another for becoming attached to a dog) to murder – Mekhi Phifer’s character Andre blowing a woman away because she executes his pregnant zombie wife.
For a directorial debut, Dawn of the Dead is an impressive first entry in what has gone on to become a mixed bag of offerings from Snyder. He seems to be at his best when adapting works as opposed to his hit and miss original efforts.
I’m not a huge fan of the original. I’m in the ranks of Romero fans who regard Day of the Dead as the best of the original trilogy. The original is too long and hasn’t aged well, but in other ways as well, this film outclasses it. Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead stands at the forefront of a small number of horror remakes that are actually worth watching, and practically alone in being worth watching more than once.
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