get down with the sickness

Rating: 10/10 (15 August 2006)

when i heard that dawn of the dead was being remade, the first thing i thought was: philistines! how could anybody mess with such a classic? then i watched it. oh. my. god. this film kicks undead ass! it will never truly live up to the original, but it's so good that it doesn't have to. this stands on its own two decomposing feet as a cinematic triumph. i have been let down so often by horror films in recent years that i was expecting to feel completely underwhelmed by the new dawn. instead, i sat entranced with a grin on my face so wide that it was threatening to decapitate me. from the moment Vivienne the neighbour girl gave the heroine a very rude awakening, i knew that this wasn't going to be your average shambling zombie flick. child zombies would have been frowned upon until very recently and as for fast zombies, at last! older films have a certain Pepe le pew-like quality, with the poor victims running for their lives while the zombies move about as quickly as the average post office queue, yet still manage to catch them. i was delighted to see so many references to the original, including a couple of cast members being resurrected. the news reports on the DVD edition gave the film a much more realistic feel, plus some decent back-plot. the characters were believable and well-rounded, with the possible exception of luda (did she annoy anyone else or was that just me?). scenes such as the zombie version of celebrity squares lightened the tone of the film, balancing nicely with the harshness of the birth scenes. there is more to recommend this film than i could possibly mention here. it's an instant classic, worthy of the great George Romero himself. the director's cut is a must for true fans, Andy's tape is pure gold, a marvellous account of a solitary man's descent into despair and mild insanity. that alone is reason enough to buy this film. if you haven't already seen it, do it now, don't wait till you're undead!