Good zombie viewing (in more ways than one)

Rating: 6/10 (23 July 2005)

Okay. Maybe I've become too jaded to horror films (unlikely; I tend to jump at the same point several times in a row) but I really don't get what's so great about this movie.
Point one. Fast running zombies just don't work for me. This movie should have been called Dawn of the Psychos (or Demented, if you want to stick with the alliteration theme) That could have worked; a bunch of lunatics running around trying to carve people up would probably have gotten me on the edge of my seat. To be honest, half the time I forgot these guys were supposed to be dead until I got a close up. Zombies that move slowly and seemingly unstoppably creep me out far more than ones that run around like hamsters on caffeine. To make a comparison, it's like the shower scene in Psycho; part of the reason that's so sinister is because of the slow, deliberate movements right up until the knife flashes down. If he'd rushed in, yanked the curtain off and killed her in about three seconds, it wouldn't have been nearly so nerve-racking. Same goes for here. There's nothing truly scary about a zombie that races around.
Point two. The suspense for me was almost non-existent, as was the character development. Basically, people need to care about characters in order to worry about whether or not the zombies/aliens/vampires/insert bad guy here will get them. Character development here was so lax that I honestly didn't care whether or not the people lived or died. End result, almost no suspense. I think the dog got better character development overall than the humans.
There were a couple of good bits; the communicating between the two groups on the rooftops was good, and the end credits sequence (watch it and you'll see what I mean) I was on the edge of my seat far more with those credits than the rest of the movie.
Don't get me wrong. I liked Dawn of the Dead; it's a fun film to zombie with (pun intended ;)) I just don't get why everyone was raving about it. It's worth a watch if you like horror flicks and if you have a spare couple of hours, but don't rush to buy it.