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The Month of Horror Day 21: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Basement contributor Matt Bellamy has taken it upon himself to watch and review at least one horror movie a day for the month of October . . . because he's awesome that way! Having survived a night full of the living dead, Bellamy will now face them at dawn!

Heralded as not only one of the greatest horror sequels of all time but one of the greatest sequels of all time as well. What director George A. Romero did with this movie surprised just about everyone, he crafted a follow up to 'Night of the Living Dead' that not only ratcheted up the violence, gore, and body count but also added a layer of tremendous social commentary. Are we as a society nothing more than mindless zombies? Do we even know how to think for ourselves? Brilliant to set this film in a mall as well because where else is a better place to find brainless automatons shuffling from one location to the next, slaves to the almighty dollar and big shiny corporations? Romero turned the mirror on ourselves and our own culture and what stared back at us, with those lifeless, dead eyes was far more frightening than a simple movie monster, it was our own reflection, we are the monsters.

Comments

  1. Apart from everything you just said, which is totally correct, the movie is hilarious to boot. Not through-and-through, but there are plenty of great comedic scenes.

    There's really entertaining commentary on the DVD, too.

    ReplyDelete

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