Freaked me out

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2004)

I have been waiting for "Dawn Of The Dead" for weeks. My favorite movie as a youth is "The Omega Man", and this is a more visceral, exciting film. No morality plays or super heroes here. Just some very ordinary people who trying to survive the unimaginable.
The key to a film like this is seeing it in the right locale. I chose a theatre in the 'hood, and typical of urban filmgoers, the audience was unrestrained with their reactions. Even I started yelling directions at the screen (mostly like "Shoot her") when the survivors would do the stupidest things (I guess people in horror films have never seen a horror film).
Ving Rhames gave his usual superlative performance as an implacable police officer/bad ass. I especially liked Jake Weber as a nobody who rises to the occasion, but without any surfeit heroism.
There was little character development or social commentary, but you were at the wrong film if were expecting that. I liked the small touches, like the coffee bar's name, "Hallowed Grounds", or the relationship by binocular with the stranded gun shop owner across the road.
Bottom line, after my friends dropped me off, they politely waited until I got into my building before driving away. As I soon as I saw them pull off, I ran into the street chasing after them, like a zombie in the film. They were laughing madly as they sped away, just like they would if a real zombie was after them. I doubt I would have such a fun and spontaneous reaction if we had just come back from "The Seventh Seal".