A Surprisingly Good Zombie Movie!

Rating: 8/10 (4 September 2011)

Back in 1968, "Night of the Living Dead" did a really good job with the whole concept of zombies, and of those who weren't zombies being trapped in a hopeless situation as they struggled to find a way to survive. Somehow after that, though, the whole "zombie" craze seemed to lose its footing. Any such movies I've happened upon have really been rather silly with nothing much to be taken seriously and nothing much to commend them. Then I happened upon "Dawn of the Dead." This movie manages to get the whole zombie thing right, and the end result is a movie that works really well from start to finish.
There's no science in this; nobody spends much time trying to explain what's happening. The closest might be Ana (played by Sarah Polley) finally figuring out that the zombie "infection" is caused by a bite - although that was a bit anti-climactic. I mean, wasn't it rather obvious? But there's no time wasted offering much in the way of explanation. This is just happening. There are living dead everywhere seeking to bite and kill others, who will then turn into zombies themselves. In keeping with the simplicity, the movie jumps right into the mystery. After a brief opening scene in which Ana (a nurse) puzzles as her shift ends about why a man who was hurt in a fight would end up in the ICU, we go right into the action, and the opening zombie attacks (without giving too much away) are both shocking and terrifying. Ana ends up bound together with a group of survivors who hole up in a local shopping mall while they try to figure out how they're going to get out of this mess.
This is very frightening at times, and - be warned if this bothers you - it's very, very bloody. The sense of hopelessness is real, and although the ultimate fate of the survivors we've been following isn't really made clear, there's no sense left by the end of the movie that theirs will be a happy ending. Give credit to those who put this together. It's an excellent movie, although I confess that I personally didn't really see the humour in using background music like "Don't Worry Be Happy" and "You Light Up My Life." It was meant to have a degree of irony, I guess, given the situation. I just found it out of place. Still, a very good movie with a lot of chills and a pretty decent cast. (8/10)