Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Posted on March 1, 2006
Filed Under Classics, Movies, Nasties, Sequels, Series, Zombies
Where do you even start with a film like Dawn of the Dead? Having already looked at Romero’s work in general, as well as casting a glance at some of the films he has inspired, it is all too easy to let his achievements speak for themselves and correspondingly difficult to confine any discussion of one of his offerings to the merits of that particular piece. This is especially so when you’re considering the second film in a series of four, all of which have their own messages but which are inextricably linked. It’s rather like trying to pull a vertebra from someone’s back (a metaphor which I trust will be deemed appropriate in a discussion of any movie involving Tom Savini); however well intentioned it’s really all going to go wrong. Try we must though.
Though a sequel, there are many who argue that Dawn is superior to Night of the Living Dead. Personally, I’m not sure that I’d go quite that far but there is no contention that it matches up to the level of intelligent, though-provoking film-making established by Romero in his seminal classic. Thematically I’d agree that Dawn is the most interesting entry into the series. Whereas in Night we were given the merest glimpse of the scale of the calamity that was crashing down on mankind, all the signs in Dawn point to eventual ruin. Indeed, within the first few minutes the themes that Romero would use to frame both Day and Land of the Dead were established-hubris, naivety and sheer human stupidity. Despite the astonishing implications of the dead returning to life and killing off the living for Fran’s employers the only thing that matters is keeping up the ratings, and though the red-neck hunting party look pretty secure when they’re fending off zombie stragglers you just know that one concerted attack would see their cohesion collapse.
Romero’s bitterness is obvious in his chronicle. The societal tensions that he dissected so well in Night have gone unchecked almost a decade later and it’s clear that people are just not listening. Whereas in the 1960s race and the demise of traditional sources of authority were the fault-lines, by the 1970s this has been exacerbated by the continuing rise of capitalism followed by the post-1973 crisis of confidence. People have been lulled into a new and false sense of security by their material possessions, and Romero delights in showing how utterly worthless they during his zombie revolution. Peter is the perfect embodiment of this. At first sight he seems most likely to adapt to the gravity of the situation, shooting a member of his own team in order to inject some rationality into proceedings. However, he is also the one who pressures the team into establishing themselves in the Mall, and his final internal struggle with whether or not to kill himself signals his recognition that he’s been utterly seduced and allowed his guard to fall. If even seeming heroes like Peter are flawed what chance of the rest of us got? Romero obviously thinks very little, as the rest of the series shows.
Without Romero’s stylistic prowess the continuity between the initial bleak message in Night and its development here might have been lost but, aside from the tell-tale horrendous hair-cuts, there is an almost seamless link across the spanning decade. This is important as for all we know what is happening to Fran and company is occurring at the same time as Ben and Barbara are trapped in the farmhouse. It is a little mischievous of Romero to offer no clues as to how rapid the descent of man would be, but there is a suggestion that the car that the red-necks blow up was the one that Barbara trashed in Night and the overall cynicism of his message suggests that it wouldn’t take very long. The injection of humour in Dawn is welcome, something underscored by the excellent Goblin score. Again though it feeds into the depression that mankind is bowled over so easily. If the zombies can have custard pies splattered in their faces and the rings stolen from their fingers, why on earth are they kicking the crap out of us? This is something that Tom Savini’s Night of the Living Dead remake touches on (with Barbara literally walking through the zombies to safety) but here the question is left hanging, as is the ultimate fate of Fran and Peter. Apparently Romero wanted an alternate ending where Fran, distraught at Peter’s suicide, stuck her head into the helicopter’s rotor blades and was only thwarted by the lack of technological means to pull this off in style (the cumbersome attempt at the airfield early in the movie is probably the weakest of Savini’s special effects). It is our good fortune that this was the case as the final flight is Romero’s last chance to kick humanity while it is down, offering viewers a fleeting cause for false optimism. For this reason alone Dawn is probably the most accessible of the Dead series and is essential viewing for all, especially those who spend a bit too much time shopping…..
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