Dawn of the Dead

Review by Clint Morris

It's little wonder the studio hasn’t slapped the tag-line "from the writer of Scooby Doo" on the one-sheeters for the new Dawn of the Dead remake.

After all, would you go and see a horror flick written by that guy?!

Truth of the matter is James Gunn’s screenplay for the horror flick is so blisteringly good you’ll swear he must have been having an ‘off’ day the night he decided to type up the Scooby flick.

Fun, frightening, bloody, with real characters in unreal situations, Dawn of the Dead is destined to be the scribe’s calling card in the future – no buts about it.

In it, a group of unjust folks unite to hide in a shopping mall, because it’s seemingly the only place the zombies outside can’t get in. Naturally, they’re going to have to come up with a long-term survival plan.

The main difference between this new Dawn and George Romero’s original comes down to the fact that the new one looks a lot slicker and significantly more polished than it’s predecessor. Some might argue it also lacks the black humour of the original, but even with the cult corniness, it still embodies a bloody good time.

What’s good about Gunn’s screenplay is that we get to know a lot of the characters, and therefore care about them. You can’t say that for many horror movies.

We give a damn about Kenneth [Ving Rhames], the gravely-faced cop who seemingly likes to lead the charge, decent Joe Michael [Jake Weber] and Andre [Mekhi Phifer] who’s wife is not only pregnant but infected. In fact, most of the characters occupying the film’s mall seem like real folks, which makes it all the more effectual when they’re chomped apart by flesh eating zombies.

The new Dawn of the Dead works on many levels, but mostly it works as a good old-fashioned fun time at the movies. If half the remakes they’re making were as good as this, we’d have less reason to complain.

Bloody good stuff.

3.5 out of 5

Dawn of the Dead
Australian release: Thursday June 10th
Cast: Jake Weber, Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer.
Director: Zack Snyder.
Website: Click here.

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