Ten years after Night of the Living Dead, which pretty much invented zombies as we now know them, George Romero went back to the well and made a sequel that I like even better. Never content to make a zombie movie that is just a zombie movie, Romero infuses Dawn with a statement on the soul-numbing effects of crash commercialism. It’s excellent fodder for college essays, but the message isn’t too overbearing. Dawn functions first and foremost as escapist fare, a kind I particularly enjoy. I mean, how cool would it be to live in a giant mall, even if (especially if?) it was under siege by the living dead? Dawn also benefits from the same claustrophobia and documentary-style film making Romero employed in the first film.
Brian DePalma directs this Stephen King tale of a ridiculed girl who discovers she has telekinetic powers she can use against her tormenters. King’s forte is character, and he’s got two rich ones with timid Carrie and her whackadoodle mama. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie knock it out of the park in two Oscar-nominated performances. Their scenes together are magic — especially when Laurie drags Spacek by the scalp and locks her in a broom closet just for getting her first period. For me, someone who fears nothing more than blind religious conviction, few scenes are as terrifying as watching Laurie scream, “Eve was weak! Eve was weak! Say it, child!” while slapping Spacek in the face with the Bible.
Several years ago, Dr. Anton Phibes raced to the hospital after learning his wife had died on the operating table. His car crashed off a cliff and he was burned alive. Or was he? After a series of elaborate murders rob London of its top doctors, Scotland Yard is on the case, barely able to keep ahead of the eccentric doctor as he exacts vengeance on the nine doctors and nurses who let Mrs. Phibes die. “Nine killed her. Nine shall die. Nine eternities in doom!” he proclaims, able to speak only with the assistance of a gramophone connected to his throat. In accordance with scripture, Phibes reenacts the plagues on the unsuspecting doctors, executing intricate plans and unleashing all variety of vermin to avenge his beloved wife.
