I’m not a fan of zombie movies, but Romero’s trilogy of zombie films are some of my favourite horror movies ever made. And I watch at least one of them every year, often all three.
The first film, “Night of the Living Dead,” presents a microcosm of the apocalypse confined to a house. The characters rely on the radio to stay informed about the unfolding events outside and around the world. The film is a brilliant exploration of human nature and the fragility of society.
“Dawn of the Dead” expands the scope of the microcosm to an entire mall. The film’s opening scene is one of the most memorable and thought-provoking in cinema history. It begins with a talk show where a debate ensues about how to respond to the zombie threat. One of the political factions in society refuses to believe the government’s warnings and allows the pandemic to spread rapidly, leading to chaos across the country. Basically, instead of "I'm not wearing a mask or social distancing" becomes "I'm not sending over my zombified friends and family to the authorities". The government is concerned that people have allowed things to get as far as they have, and continue to fight against the government's response to contain the pandemic.
A notable scene in the film is a SWAT team attack on some residents. The SWAT team members use racial slurs and engage in extreme gory violence. There is a lot of splatter gore in this scene sequence (thanks to the new head of special effects Tom Savini).
In “Dawn of the Dead,” Romero presents the zombie apocalypse as a consequence of ideological divisions and the failure of society to address the root causes of the problem. The zombies are not portrayed as an insurmountable monster, but rather as a force of nature that humans have inadvertently unleashed. The film can be seen as a metaphor for various societal issues, including toxic right-wing ideology, AI, and carbon emissions. The zombies are not seen as an external threat, but rather as a consequence of the actions of the people who facilitate these problems.
The mall setting is interesting, because the group basically clears it out and builds a new society within, using supplies from various stores, wearing the clothing and such... it's kind of a "living in a mall" fantasy. They use tools and such to construct various fortifications and hidden living areas in the mall. I can't think of any film that uses a mall this well, even Mallrats falls short.
Day of the Dead, the third installment in the trilogy, may not be as popular or renowned as the first two, but in my opinion, it is just as good, if not better, in many ways. As a suspense and gore-fest, it easily surpasses the first two films, which are less suspenseful and more satirical in nature. This movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is struggling to survive against a relentless zombie threat.
The story follows a group of soldiers and scientists who have taken refuge in an underground facility built in old mines. Their mission is to find a solution to the zombie crisis that has decimated civilization. However, the military and scientific factions have formed into two opposing groups, each with its own agenda.
Tom “The Sultan of Splatter” Savini, the special effects lead in both Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, also makes an acting appearance in Dawn of the Dead. In this film, he plays the role of the biker army leader. He is also well-known for his role as Sex Machine in the Robert Rodriguez film From Dusk Till Dawn, where he wields a mechanical penis-gun.
As a note, the Tom Savini remake of Night of the Living Dead (featuring the late Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman) had a lot of stuff cut from it due to being too violent. So the film feels a little disjointed and that it's missing things. The whole TV/Radio to look on the outside is teased and then destroyed - which, to me, was a major element I liked in the original.
There is a 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, but has nothing thematic in common with the original film. It is an action-horror film that uses a mall as a backdrop (very little of a "living in a mall" fantasy). It completely guts the theme and replaces it with a much more simplistic invasion of really really fast zombies. And instead of taking place across months, it takes place in like 2 days it's a good action-horror film for its time with an interesting cast, but that's about it - unlike the Romero trilogy, it doesn't hold up well on rewatches. And, unfortunately, when people look up watching Dawn of the Dead, they find this one and think it is a modern substitute if they haven't seen the original. It's not a substitute, it's a film that merely lifted the name and has about a sentence or two worth of similarities. If simple-minded action is more your thing, and not films that have any kind of complexity or thought involved, this is probably more your thing.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
