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George A. Romero changed the face of horror in 1968 with a low-budget indie entry that overcame its inherent restrictions with its sharp sociopolitical subtext, a bristling tension throughout, and imagery that, especially at the time, flew in the face of the comperatively threadbare spook material Hollywood had to offer. That film was Night of the Living Dead and it has, rightfully so, gone down in the annals of cinema history. It would be a decade later (and with much anticipation from the viewing audience) that he would revisit the world of the living dead and make as big an impact.
On the surface, Dawn of the Dead is an in-world continuation of the narrative established in the first movie but immediately you know you're in for something larger than you bargained for. For one, Romero's ability to world build and create a sense of scope and urgency is truly admirable. Out the gate you get a sense of the colossal nature of what's happening and its effects on the world. Things we once held dear are crumbling, disregard for the thinly-veiled facade of order is rampant....survival is paramount. All this effectively communicated in a small series of set pieces that belie the true enormity of it all. Partly the result of a still small budget and partly a clever use of restraint, Romero weaponizes a newsroom and a tenement building to gives us a horrifying peak into mankind falling apart at the seams in the wake of the uncanny. This is a world where even the sanctity of death means nothing, where fear is king, where all we held dear no longer matters....
It is here that we meet our extremely likeable cast. Four souls thrown together in the chaos, looking for a way out. More importantly, four actors that bring across the personalities of these characters so well that we can't help but feel at home with them. This is key to the winning formula of the film, as we spend a good amount of time in their company as they scratch out a sort of comfortable life in the midst of madness when they come across one of the old meccas of consumerism...a shopping mall. Promising comfort and convenience, this edifice slowly goes from safe haven to a prison that robs these survivors of their humanity and inherent desires and hopes. No one claws at each other's throats, no...they realize that they may go out with a whimper instead.
Romero, expertly draws a parallel between the dead, who linger in the halls of commerce because some vestige of their mind clings to those shallow pursuits, and the living, who slowly wither the more they rely on the comforts they fight for even in this apocalyptic landscape. It's bleak but it's also whimsical at times, as Romero peppers the script with plenty of tongue in cheek humor. Better yet, moments of simple and relatable interaction between our leads keep the light of hope alive in a world that is no longer theirs for, yes, this is truly about the dawn of the living dead. No longer are they a thing for the fleeting night. Instead, a disturbing permanence thrums throughout every moment in the film.
To help this all along we have the creative work of Tom Savini's make up effects crew that give the titular dead their very unique appearance. Something of a ghastly grey-green pallor takes the up a notch from the plainly human ghouls of Night and a step before the decayed monstrosities of Day of the Dead. The kills are creative at times, heartbreaking at others, and even downright thought-provoking but always digestible (pun intended) because of the garish palette chosen by the effects team and exacerbated by Michael Gornick's rich, colorful cinematography. In short, this movie walks a tight rope between comic book violence and vibrant hellscape.
There are some rough edges in Dawn of the Dead but they seem more to help the endeavor than hinder it. There is a powerful charm to Romero's work. On a purely instinctual level, it draws viewers less keen to detecting its satirical edge. For the more analytical, the film delivers in spades with its metaphors, themes, and humor. In short, Dawn may be rife with the dead but it's a mirror of the living.
An absolute masterpiece, then and now.
10/10
