Ex-Zombie Takes On New "Dawn"

There's a great line in the original "Night of the Living Dead," the importance of which the folks behind the new "Dawn of the Dead" seemed to forget. While being interviewed by a Pennsylvania TV reporter during a 'zombie hunt,' the police officer in charge is asked, "Are they slow moving chief?" The man replies "Yeah...they're dead...they're all messed up." It was the very fact that the living dead moved so slow, allowing their decaying bodies and pale expressionless terrifying faces to stay on the screen for an extended period of time, that made George A. Romero's classic film and the sequels that followed, work so well. Anyone who knows anything about zombie-horror will agree that suspense builds to an excruciating level when you can see these 'dead' things move with slow but terribly accurate conviction towards their prey. To be fair Mr. Romero was not the first moviemaker to portray the living dead as 'slow and messed up.' Val Lewton was there first with his "I Walked With A Zombie" in 1943, and countless filmmakers have followed with the same concept since.

But that all changed in 2002 when Danny Boyle unleashed the effective but somewhat overrated "28 Days later" on the world. Suddenly the zombie-like things moved fast, very fast, on the screen for a matter of a few seconds. Boyle was not concentrating on the personalities and faces of these monsters. His thoughts were on speed, special efx and a pounding soundtrack score. "28 Days Later" only worked when the movie slowed down and allowed the audience to think and catch its breath before the next round of hyper-ghoul attacks hit the screen. Whatever 'not to do' lessons "Dawn of the Dead" director Zack Snyder could have learned from "28 Days Later," simply didn't happen, as his 're-envisioning' of Romero's original, is a plethora of missed opportunities.

The film starts off great. After another hard day of work, a young nurse (Polley) returns to her perfect little suburban existence, complete with a loving husband and friendly neighbors. As she pulls into the driveway, a pretty little neighbor girl on her skates talks to her about her developing skills. Everything seems perfectly normal. But while the couple make love in the shower they miss an ominous bulletin suggesting that some unpleasant things are developing. In the middle of the night, the couple awakens to the little neighbor girl standing at the door outside their bedroom. The music, along with bizarre raspy noises emanating from the girls mouth tells us that things ain't quite right. It's a chilling scene, and the very fact that it is allowed to slowly develop, makes it work so well. Then the attack. Young Vivian tears the mans throat out. Seconds later, and I mean 'seconds,' the movie blasts into hyper-speed, placing the nurse in contemporary zombie-hell. Barely escaping from the house, she jumps into her car and races down a street where life as she previously knew it has radically changed over night. Zombies, mutilated bodies and fire and smoke are everywhere.

What exactly brought all this about, we will never know. Just like Romero in 1968, the filmmakers wisely don't explain anything. But unlike Romero, there's no subtle build-up to the mayhem either. This is 2004. This is the MTV music video age. Movies have to move fast, and if the story alone doesn't move quick enough, sharp jarring editing, assaulting visuals and a roaring song and score soundtrack will fill the void nicely.

Zack Snyder had previously explained that he had no desire to 'remake' "Dawn of the Dead." Instead he would present a fresh new envisioning, based on Romero's concept. Whatever. Frankly, other than a shopping mall, this has no resemblance to the original film. None of the characters are the same, and the mall, so pivotal in the original 1978 film, is just a middle act in a three-act movie. Inexcusably gone is Romero's brilliant satirical jab at consumerism, gone is the hunt for ghouls living inside the mall, and gone are the personalities of the zombies themselves. There is no personality when your dead face is on the screen for less than a second. Totally unlike Romero's vision, Snyder's zombies are there to be quickly blown apart and sliced open.

Personally I think Snyder has been completely unfair to those poor saps that endured all the grimy make-up to play zombies in his movie. Perhaps I'm biased. In 1984 I played a zombie in George Romero's "Day of the Dead." Although I was not a credited lead zombie, I got about twenty seconds of screen time, and everyone remembers that scene and my face 'in it' simply because George A. Romero had the integrity and class to give his zombie extras the respect they and their deceased character deserved. After all, without the zombies, what good would a 'dead' movie be? To its credit, the new "Dawn of the Dead" has a great look, the performances are solid, and the efx are top-notch. Unfortunately, like its zombies, the movie moves way too fast and there is a reliance on shock and gore instead of story. One note of interest however. Stay for the first two-thirds of the closing credits. There is more movie to be seen, and what is obviously a tribute to "The Blair Witch Project," this epilogue is more suspenseful and terrifying than anything that came before it.