DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)
Released: March 19, 2004
The 1978 George A. Romero film "Dawn Of The Dead" is one of my most favorite horror films and definitely in my top 10 of films in general. It is simply one of those films that stands up to repeated viewings and gets better and better. As a sequel to the 1968 "Night Of The Living Dead" and prequel to 1985's "Day Of The Dead", it excelled at everything a horror film should, adding intelligence and thoughtful characters. To remake or otherwise tweak this great film is a mighty big task. I walked into the 2004 version of "Dawn Of The Dead", directed by commercial director Zach Snyder, preparing to fully hate it. I was VERY prejudiced beforehand. However, I found myself enjoying it. A lot was retained from the earlier version but new stuff was added as well. Does it work? While definitely not even CLOSE to the Romero original, Snyder does end up delivering the goods with great effects and a glossy studio production. Canadian Sarah Polley is joined here by Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer and Matt Frewer among others. The zombies run fast and the characters are less fleshed out, leaving the zombies with less to eat along with the audience, who are left with more action and but not much else in the character development or story departments. I recommend this film, but only after strongly suggesting you rent the FAR superior original version by George A. Romero.
100 Minutes
Universal