The zombie apocalypse has hit Earth. Two personnel from a TV station and two policemen set off in a helicopter to find a safe place to hide out. Their search leads them to a shopping mall where they manage to find a place that, while not zombie-free, is quite secure. So far, so good.
I am generally not into zombie movies but Dawn of the Dead worked for me. Written and directed by the master of the zombie genre, George A Romero, the film is entertaining and largely avoids the pitfalls that makes the average zombie movie at best B-grade.
For one, it has a decent plot. There's a setup and development plus a great unforeseen twist. The average zombie movie just launches into the humans vs zombies confrontation without much of set up, or a token one at best. After that it's a series of clashes between the two sides until someone discovers the secret to exterminating the zombies, or kills their ringleader.
Allied to this, there's few contrivances and the plot mostly makes sense (except for the zombie bit, of course). No deus ex machinas, few discontinuities or inconsistencies. (Though not sure why the biker decided to test his blood pressure while surrounded by zombies...).
Not perfect though. Performances are generally so-so. Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross and David Emge are okay (though hardly brilliant) in their roles but Scott H Reiniger, as Roger, hams it up. Some of the supporting actors do their best to make this into a B-grade movie: the psycho cop at the beginning of the film took overacting to a whole new level.
In addition, the conclusion is a bit tame and anti-climactic. I was expecting something more powerful.
Overall: one of the best zombie dramas. Not that this really says that much, considering the genre, but it is entertaining, not matter what genre it is categorised as.
I am generally not into zombie movies but Dawn of the Dead worked for me. Written and directed by the master of the zombie genre, George A Romero, the film is entertaining and largely avoids the pitfalls that makes the average zombie movie at best B-grade.
For one, it has a decent plot. There's a setup and development plus a great unforeseen twist. The average zombie movie just launches into the humans vs zombies confrontation without much of set up, or a token one at best. After that it's a series of clashes between the two sides until someone discovers the secret to exterminating the zombies, or kills their ringleader.
Allied to this, there's few contrivances and the plot mostly makes sense (except for the zombie bit, of course). No deus ex machinas, few discontinuities or inconsistencies. (Though not sure why the biker decided to test his blood pressure while surrounded by zombies...).
Not perfect though. Performances are generally so-so. Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross and David Emge are okay (though hardly brilliant) in their roles but Scott H Reiniger, as Roger, hams it up. Some of the supporting actors do their best to make this into a B-grade movie: the psycho cop at the beginning of the film took overacting to a whole new level.
In addition, the conclusion is a bit tame and anti-climactic. I was expecting something more powerful.
Overall: one of the best zombie dramas. Not that this really says that much, considering the genre, but it is entertaining, not matter what genre it is categorised as.