Yesterday i did a piece on Night of the Living Dead, today i'm doing Geroge Romero's follow up, Dawn of the Living Dead...i mean Dawn of the Dead, not a sequel perse but a continuation.Not only is is my favorite George Romero film but it's my favorite horror film(if you don't count Rocky Horror), not only that but imo it's the best horror film ever made. I own a Dawn shirt, poster & have a tattoo on my arm, i own the ultimate 4 disk dvd aswell as a vhs of the film. My uncle used to have it on every format it was made available, the two of us even went to visit the Monroeville Mall last year.
The film begins with the break down on human living, emergency stations are taking over & rescue outpost are popping up, but may not exist. Fran(Gaylen Ross) works for the station and her significant other Stephen(David Emge) haqs come to take her to safety. Stephen flies the WGON helicopter and is planning on meeting up with his SWAT team buddy Roger(Scott Reiniger). Roger meanwhile is at an apartment building where he & his SWAT team are taking care of business. There is a huge zombie attack happening in said building which features some of the best moments in any zombie film. Roger meets another SWAT member Peter(Ken Foree), the two then take off to meet with Stephen. After some distractions by police at a fuel station, seeing some rednecks enjoy themselves, and my all time favorite zombie death, they finally arrive at the shopping center, you know one of those big in door malls.
Helicopter death ftw!
I the mall, Stephen almosts messes things up(much like a nearlier scene where he had a gun pointed at Peter...never point a gun at anybody, scary isn't it...isn't it) Fran is attacked by a hare krishna, and zombies are everywhere in the mall. SO they decide to stay, hey i would too, food & entertainment at your finger tips. Sadly while moving some trucks Roger is bitten, and begins to get sick, but that doesn't stop the 4 from living their lives. The film is always referenced as a satire for consumerism, and rightfully so, but at the same time, it shows that you have to roll with the punches, life goes on, try to enjoy life as much as you can, cause LIFE MOVES PRETTY FAST, IF YOU DON'T STOP AND LOOK AROUND, YOU COULD MISS IT! Save Ferris, Kill Zombies!
Roger turns into a zombie, and Peter must shoot his best friend, a little while later, the others appear on the island, I mean soem bikers appear outside the mall. The bikers, featuring Dawn's brilliant f/x artist Tom Savini invade the mal and begin destroying everything in sight, letting a thousand zombies in their(or so Peter says). During a chase to an elevator shaft(the interior of the shaft was actually shot at the Fort Pit building!) Stephen is shot and left for dead, left for the dead, as the zombies have their way with him. Peter & Fran are planning their escape when Stephen appears from the elevator, zombiefied, and leading the charge to the hide out. Fran decides to take the helicopter while Peter stays bellow. Peter shoots Stephen, and at the last moment decides to leave aswell. He gets to the copter and with no enough fuel, the two leave for an unwritten future. Supposedly an ending was shot where Peter shot himslef & Fran commited suicide via the copter blades, but others say it was never shot.
I've seen three cuts of the film, have watched many of documentaries on the making of the film(ones not even on the dvd), and have read great amounts of Dawn of the Dead articles in books & magazines. It trully is a wonderful film that words do not describe. I went to the mall last year, and had a great time, great people, great stores, and great places for photos. and remember WHEN THERE IS NO MORE ROOM IN HELL THE DEAD WILL WALK THE EARTH!
Part 1 of 105
http://oductionproductions.blogspot.com/2009/11/dawn-of-fans.html
No comments:
Post a Comment