Ex-Zombie Takes On New "Dawn"

[creepshow]

A Romero zombie reviews the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, and reflects on his experience. [details (http://www.horror.com/php/article-428-1.html)]

[mes]

i wanna c it

[mes]

:):(;);(

[bloodrayne]

He should have been in this one...He could have given them some tips;)

[jmc]

what are you talking about? the movie is awesome. the only thing that you are right about is that this is the mtv generation. and when you typed that you hit the nail on the head. my point is that things have changed and everything is faster. food, music, even death for some people. romeros film definately set the standard but lets face it pal, the remake of night of the living dead by savini has zombies moving slower than any in romeros films. Yeah so now its going for seven bucks at walmart. but if you have ever watched the original night of the living dead (the black and white film), the zombies could run and break windows and catch up. the new dawn of the dead is a completely different movie from the original. it was "BASED" on the original screenplay and as you said, the director stated that.so why are you complaining? the texas chainsaw massacre is "BASED" on a true story but there was never a big retarded , skin mask wearing psycho chasing people around with his chainsaw. i did notice that you never mentioned where in the original you appear, i bet you were edited out and you are just bitter about it. hell i would be but don't take it out on others, you probably just moved to slow or something. -jmc

[prattle83]

First off i loved the new Dawn of the Dead, everybody has to just look at it as a separate movie from the original, seeing that they dont have much in common besides the basic premise. Also reviewers keep talking about Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later like it was the first zombie movie ever to use fast moving zombies. Return of the Living dead came out in 1985 and the zombies ran in that as well as its two sequels. I am sure other lesser known zombie movies also had zombies who ran. So they run so what, who likes carbon copy remakes? Haven't we all learned a lesson from the remake of Psycho? Some movies shouldn't be remade, true, but if you are going to remake it bring something new to the movie. I think the remake of Dawn of the Dead is entertaining and exciting and will be even better when the unrated dvd is released.

[MetalHeadDave]

Noone can match Romero...that said, I think fast moving zombies like these would pose a much bigger threat and therefore, scare the hell out of me. All this movie needed was to be an hour longer to develop a sense of dread and a more sympathetic feel for the main characters. That is one of several things Romero just does better.

[42ndStreetFreak]

everybody has to just look at it as a separate movie from the original,

Then call it something different! Fuck this legacy leeching renkae culture for the mall rat audience with the 5 second infomercial attention span who type in text speak and use 'sux', 'gay' and 'retarded' when they try to communicate.

Make your own fucking film from scratch...lose any shopping centre, use your own title and your own ideas.

Are more zombie films good? YES.
But did we need another film called '"Dawn of the Dead" with all the history that title alone brings with it?? NO!

That iconic 70's Indy films are being made in this environment, with these MPAA/Studio compromises and for this up and coming audience of Ronald MacDonald's who think "Dude" is... "the best word ever invented, dude" is a sad state of affairs indeed.

I refuse to give ANY of these films, and those coming up, ANY of my money or any of my time.

Do your own things, use your own titles and stop leeching history and legacy of films that were groundbreaking, that are still classics and whose strengths were part of the time and the market they were made in.
These are re-makes that add nothing, and take away much. So what is the point?

These are not "The Fly" where FX had changed so much since the 50's, where what could be shown on screen had changed so much since the 50's (the re-make was CUT and did not show as much in your face explict gore as the original...it was a step backwards!) and where a VERY personal director would bring something special to the re-make.

There were NONE of the above valid reasons for re-doing "Dawn"..as there was for "The Fly" (and the original "Fly" was a treadmill produced Studio picture anyway...Another big difference compared to these 70's films) and the film is widely available to watch on VHS and DVD. It is not a lost film.

"Dawn" of the dead should NEVER have become a censored, MPAA pleasing, (with CGI computer game splatter replacing full on gut ripping gore, something i have read many times even fans of the film missed..WHERE was all the gut munching flesh ripping gore??? ) Studio System polluted creation......
That was the VERY OPPOSITE of what the original was and for the uncompromised, INDY film making sensibilities it stood for.

And you can add "Suspiria" and "TCM" to the above.

NONE of these need re-making...and it never should have happened.

What they are like as films, how good they may be...i have no idea.
But i really could care less as they should not exist at all anyway.
I won't support them or acknowledge them as part of my movie watching history.

[urgeok]

There's another way to look at it ..
i understand your points above but consider ...

Zombie films are not a good risk, They dont make money.
There is an extremely limited fanbase.

I think that if you make a competent film riding on the coat tails of a classic origional, it may be the only way to guarentee any kind of a return.

If that return is viable it may pave the way for more of the same.
I believe Romero even partially credited the relative comercial success of the Dawn remake as an enabler for his upcoming Land film.

I think that the work 'remake' leaves a bad taste in our mouths because of the majority of bad ones made. This Dawn remake is not bad film.

I feel the same way about music covers ... I hear a good one and i think .. , they added their own twist but retained enough of the origional to hit me in my nostaligia nerve.

You can tell when a filmmaker loved the origional and wants to create something out of that love ... I have no bones with that personally.

I'm passionate about old school horror .. i love the origional .. but to me i saw the remake and didnt feel cheated in any way shape or form.

unlike how i felt when i came out of the theatre after seeing the 'unique and wonderful 'the village'

I'll take a well made 'remake/homage/ripoff' over that shyte anyday !