Dawn of the Dead is a Bloody Good Time

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Tagline: When theres no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.

Id like to start this review by committing horror movie blasphemy. Ready? Here goes. George Romeros original three Dead movies are overrated (Im not even going to comment on the train wreck which is Land of the Dead). While entertaining, they are also low-budget flicks with average acting and pacing about as slow as the shambling zombies depicted therein. Hardly the holy trinity which theyve been made out to be.

And lets not forget the much-lauded social criticism. Racism? Rampant consumerism? Its all handled with the subtlety of a hammer to the back of the head. Listen, if I want social commentary in a movie, Ill watch Gandhi or Norma Rae. When I sit down for a zombie movie, I want non-stop action and buckets of gore. Period. Anything else is just a bloody cherry on top of my horror sundae. Its for these reasons (and others, which Ill detail later) that I find the 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead to be more satisfying than the original.

Adapted by James Gunn (Scooby Doo) from the original 1978 George A. Romero screenplay, Dawn of the Dead opens by...