A brilliant horror flick - a spiffing remake.

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2006)

Dawn of the Dead is more than just a bloody zombie movie - it is a terrifying, gritty, strangely realistic depiction of an apocalyptic world. If something like this were ever to happen, this film is a troublingly-accurate portrayal of what people might do to help themselves. They would find whoever they could to join forces with, they would go somewhere they could survive in and stay safe and they would try to wait it out. But something would have to go wrong. And things do. Instead of being just a bunch of friendly, never-angry losers, our survivors whose adventures we follow in this flick are real people who have troubles, conflicts and fallouts, and also friendships and fun times that grow stronger in these desperate times.
But enough of that, Dawn of the Dead wasn't made to disturb for ever after (though it probably will) - it was made to supply gore-loving hounds with lots of the red stuff. And there is sure lots of it in this film. Lots of exploding heads and flying blood are combined with furious fights and brutal plans. It is pretty amazing how all this was filmed on a $28,000,000 budget - they actually had to create a realistic-looking mall and have explosions, guns, saws and generally very bloody special effects. Most films would find this hard to do on a budget three times that size - but DOTD is very flexible with its rather small budget and none of it's shoddy either, providing us with a brilliant zombie flick that has actually been quite a success (a $100 million worldwide box office gross ain't terrible, but it should have done better).
The film is brutally intense from the start - in about 30 seconds, we are thrown from peaceful suburban world into crazy zombie-infested hellhole. And the first 10 minutes are where the film really comes into its stride - by showing us how much things can change in so little a time. And from then onwards, it's gritty, bloody, and generally rough all the way. The goriest scene was when the zombie Andy had his head blown up by an 870 shotgun - it's the sort of thing that was made to be watched in slow motion. And with several other gory deaths and shootings, this film will not fail anyone who likes a bit of blood in their entertainment.
Though the DVD release was slightly underwhelming (though the Region 2 edition had an absolutely brilliant news report feature), this is a great remake of an old classic and proves that zombies never get boring. Brilliant! 9/10