[9]

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. As the dead rise to eat the brains of the living, a TV journalist, a traffic reporter, and two SWAT team officers escape in a helicopter and seek refuge in a shopping mall. After exterminating the zombies inside and barricading the entrances, the four survivors indulge in the materialistic, capitalist fantasy a mall can provide. But how long can the illusion be maintained before their private paradise is invaded — and will that threat come from the living or the dead?

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.

The cast are all relatively unknown actors, but they do a commendable job forging camaraderie. Gaylen Ross is the lone woman, playing a character determined not to become the boys’ den mother. The fact that she’s pregnant adds another layer of tension to the story’s progression. Ken Foree and Scott Reiniger play the SWAT team officers. Reiniger is the impulsive, hot-headed one who’s tempered by Foree, who acts as a surrogate big brother to him. David Emge plays the helicopter pilot and father of Ross’s baby. His lack of gun skills makes him a liability at first, but he’s a quick learner. Watching him slowly get inducted into Foree’s and Reiniger’s ‘boys club’ adds to the fun.

The makeup effects by Tom Savini are hit and miss. The zombie extras have blue skin, and the blood is a bright, unbelievable shade of magenta. You’d think sub-par makeup would sink a zombie flick, but the movie is so compelling otherwise that fans and critics simply overlook this. The original music composed by Goblin (of Dario Argento fame) is striking and memorable, giving the film its own, distinct vibe. But for the domestic release of the film, Romero replaced a lot of their work with generic stock music that doesn’t match in tone or style.

As a sequel, Dawn of the Dead can never be as novel or groundbreaking as Night of the Living Dead, but it’s executed at a level above and beyond the first film. It’s more exciting, entertaining, and escapist — and arguably just as meaningful. I love films that allow me to leave the real world behind and wrap myself up in a fantasy reality. Dawn of the Dead does this for me like few other films do. What can I say? Being holed up in a mall during the zombie apocalypse is one of my favorite places to be.