Better than the original?

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2009)

In short: yes. Dawn (as I will refer to it) is not only one of the best zombie films ever made, it is one of the best films ever made. I realise that may sound like an exaggeration, considering it's not even in IMDb's top 250, but please, bear with me. Dawn has the most efficient and effective introduction of any film I have seen. For a start, it has extreme clarity. It doesn't treat you like an idiot, but doesn't force you to think about what's going on, which lets you concentrate on the unfolding horror/drama. It's also very short, yet doesn't leave out any unnecessary facts, and allows you to immediately bond with the characters. When you think about it, most other films either spend a great deal of time on characterisation, or go straight into the action, sacrificing emotional attachment. This doesn't. Then there are the zombies. A HUGE number of people complained about the fact that they run. Why? As a non-supernatural horror movie (it's implied that the zombification is caused by a virus), speed equals scares. The original Dawn, as much as I loved it, was a bit too light-hearted (yes, I know it was a satire, but a satire can be deep, too) with the main characters pushing over zombies and literally walking right past them. Fast zombies also make the film more believable; you can't imagine slow zombies actually causing the end of civilisation, can you? Finally, there's the characters. Sarah Polley is brilliant in the female lead, showing wit, ingenuity and emotion, and Ty Burrell (the guy who plays Steve) is genuinely funny. The script is also brilliant: believable, funny and, at times, heart-rendering, it easily stands up to the original.