Dawn of the Dead (1978 film)
Dawn of the Dead | |
---|---|
Directed by | George A. Romero |
Written by | George A. Romero[2] |
Produced by | Richard P. Rubinstein[2] |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Michael Gornick[2] |
Edited by | George A. Romero[2] |
Music by | |
Production company | |
Distributed by | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | |
Countries | |
Language | English |
Budget | $640,000[a] |
Box office | $66 million |
Dawn of the Dead
Romero waited to make another zombie film after Night of the Living Dead for several years to avoid being stereotyped as a horror director. Upon visiting
Following its Italian premiere on September 1, 1978, Dawn of the Dead was released in other markets the following year. Despite facing difficulties with various national censorship boards ― in the United States, it was released unrated to improve its commercial prospects after it was given an
Dawn of the Dead was followed by four official sequels, beginning with 1985's Day of the Dead, and a separate series of unofficial Italian-made sequels, beginning with 1979's Zombi 2. It has also inspired a 2004 remake film directed by Zack Snyder, as well as numerous parodies and pop culture references.
Plot
The
At WGON-TV, a
Roger and Peter join Fran and Stephen at a police dock and then leave Philadelphia in a stolen WGON-TV news helicopter. Following some close calls while stopping for fuel, the group comes across a shopping mall, and decide to remain there since there is plenty of food, medicine, and all kinds of consumables. Roger, Peter and Stephen camouflage the entrance to the stairwell leading to their safe room and block the mall entrances with trucks to keep the undead from penetrating. This involves driving through crowds of zombies, who attack the trucks. Roger becomes reckless and is soon bitten by the zombies.
After clearing the mall's interior of zombies, the four enjoy a
A nomadic
Cast
- Ken Foree as Peter Washington
- Gaylen Ross as Francine "Fran" ("Flygirl") Parker
- David Emge as Stephen "Flyboy" Andrews
- Scott Reiniger as Roger "Trooper" DeMarco
Director George A. Romero makes an uncredited appearance as a WGON TV director. Assistant director and Romero's future-wife—Christine Forrest—portrays his assistant. Also featured at the WGON TV station are David Crawford as Dr. James Foster, David Early as commentator Sidney Berman and Daniel Dietrich as station manager Dan Givens. Future Romper Room hostess Molly McClosky makes an uncredited appearance as a station worker. Later sequences depicting an emergency TV network feature Howard Smith as an unnamed commentator and recurring Romero collaborator Richard France as Dr. Millard Rausch, referred to in the credits as "Scientist".
Featured among the motorcycle raiders are Rudy Ricci as their leader, brothers and frequent Romero collaborators
Production
Development
The history of Dawn of the Dead began in 1974, when
Romero and his producer, Richard P. Rubinstein, were unable to procure any domestic investors for the new project. By chance, word of the sequel reached Italian horror director Dario Argento. A fan of Night of the Living Dead and an early critical proponent of the film, Argento was eager to help the horror classic receive a sequel. He met Romero and Rubinstein, helping to secure financing in exchange for international distribution rights. Argento invited Romero to Rome so he would have a change of scenery while writing the screenplay. The two could also discuss plot developments.[15] Romero was able to secure the availability of the Monroeville Mall as well as additional financing through his connections with the mall's owners at Oxford Development.[14] Once the casting was completed, principal shooting was scheduled to begin in Pennsylvania on November 13, 1977.
Filming
The airfield scenes were filmed at the
Principal photography on Dawn of the Dead ended in February 1978, and Romero's process of editing would begin. By using numerous angles during the filming, Romero allowed himself an array of possibilities during editing—choosing from these many shots to reassemble into a sequence that could dictate any number of responses from the viewer simply by changing an angle or deleting or extending portions of scenes. This amount of superfluous footage is evidenced by the numerous international cuts, which in some cases affects the regional version's tone and flow.
Alternative ending
According to the original screenplay, Peter and Francine were to kill themselves, Peter by shooting himself and Fran by sticking her head into the path of the rotating main helicopter blades. The ending credits would run over a shot of the helicopter blades turning until the engine winds down, implying that the two would not have gotten far if they had chosen to escape.[20] During production, it was decided to change the ending of the film.
Much of the lead-in to the two suicides remains in the film as Francine leans out of the helicopter upon seeing the zombies approach, and Peter puts a gun to his head, ready to shoot himself. An additional scene, showing a zombie having the top of its head cut off by the helicopter blades (thus foreshadowing Francine's suicide) was included early in the film. Romero has stated that the original ending was scrapped before being shot, although behind-the-scenes photos show the original version was at least tested. The head appliance made for Francine's suicide was instead used in the opening SWAT raid, made-up to resemble an African American male and blown apart by a shotgun blast.[21]
Make-up and effects
Tom Savini, who had been offered the chance to provide special effects and make-up for Romero's first zombie film, Night of the Living Dead, before being drafted into the Vietnam War, made his debut as an effects artist on Dawn of the Dead.[22] Savini had been known for his make-up in horror for some time, prior to Dawn of the Dead, and in his book explaining special effects techniques, Bizarro, explains how his time in Vietnam influenced his craft.[23] He had a crew of eight to assist in applying gray makeup to two to three hundred extras each weekend during the shoot. One of his assistants during production was Joseph Pilato, who played a police captain in the film and would go on to play the lead villain in the film's sequel, Day of the Dead, Captain Henry Rhodes.[24]
The makeup for the multitudes of extras in the film was a basic blue or gray tinge to the face of each extra. Some featured zombies, who would be seen close-up or on-screen longer than others, had more time spent on their look. Many of the featured zombies became part of the fanfare, with nicknames based upon their look or activity—such as Machete Zombie, Sweater Zombie, and Nurse Zombie.[25] "Sweater Zombie" Clayton Hill was described by a crew member as "one of the most convincing zombies of the bunch" citing his skill at maintaining his stiff pose and rolling his eyes back into his head, including heading down the wrong way in an escalator while in character.[26]
A cast of Ross' head that was to be used in the original ending of the film (involving a suicide rather than the escape scene finally used) ended up as an exploding head during the tenement building scene. The head, filled with food scraps, was shot with an actual shotgun to get the head to explode.[22] One of the unintentional standout effects was the bright, fluorescent color of the fake blood that was used in the film. Savini was an early opponent of the blood, produced by 3M, but Romero thought it added to the film, claiming it emphasised the comic book feel of the movie.[27]
Music
The film's music varies with Romero's and Argento's cuts. For Romero's theatrical version, musical cues and selections were chosen from the
For Argento's international cut, the Italian director used the band Goblin (incorrectly credited as "The Goblins") extensively. Goblin is a four-piece Italian progressive rock band that mostly provides contract work for film soundtracks. Argento, who received a credit for original music alongside Goblin, collaborated with the group to get music for his cut of the film. Romero used three of their pieces in his theatrical release version. The Goblin score would later find its way onto a Dawn of the Dead-inspired film, Hell of the Living Dead. Many tracks would also appear in the Tsui Hark film Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind. The version of Dawn released on video in the mid-nineties under the label "Director's Cut" does not use most of the Goblin tracks, as they had not been completed at the time of that edit.
Post-production
Dawn of the Dead has received a number of re-cuts and re-edits, due mostly to Argento's rights to edit the film for international foreign language release. Romero controlled the final cut of the film for English-language territories. In addition, the film was edited further by censors or distributors in certain countries. Romero, acting as the editor for his film, completed a hasty 139-minute version of the film (now known as the Extended, or previously erroneously as Director's Cut) for premiere at the 1978
Internationally, Argento controlled the Euro cut for non-English speaking countries. The version he created clocked in at 119 minutes. It included changes such as more music from Goblin than the cuts completed by Romero, removal of some expository scenes, and a faster cutting pace. There are, however, extra lines of dialogue and gore shots that are not in either of Romero's edits.[31] It actually debuted nearly nine months before the US theatrical cut.[32] Dawn of the Dead was released under different names in Europe: in Italy as Zombi: L'alba dei Morti Viventi (Zombies: Dawn of the Living Dead), followed in March 1979 in France as Zombie: Le Crépuscule des Morts Vivants (Zombie: Twilight of the Living Dead), in Spain as Zombi: El Regreso de los Muertos Vivientes (Zombie: Return of the Living Dead), in the Netherlands as Zombie: In De Greep van de Zombies (In the Grip of the Zombies), in Germany by Constantin Film as Zombie, and in Denmark as Zombie: Rædslernes Morgen (Zombie: The Morning of Horrors).[33]
Dawn of the Dead was successful internationally. Its success in then-West Germany earned it the Golden Screen Award, given to films that have at least three million admissions within 18 months of release.[34] A majority of these versions were released on DVD in the 2004 Special Edition, and have previously been released on VHS. The freelance photographer Richard Burke, working for Pittsburgh Magazine, released in May 2010 the first exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from the set.[35][36]
Releases
On September 1, 1978, a 119-minute cut of the film created for non-English speaking countries premiered in Turin, Italy under the title Zombi, with Dario Argento in attendance.[37][38] The same cut would open in Japan the weekend on March 27, 1979, and immediately top its box office there.[39] A 126-minute cut for English-language speaking territories premiered in the United States on April 7, 1979, at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, Texas, having been selected for the event by film critic Roger Ebert.[39] The following weekend, United Film Distribution opened the same cut in seventeen Pittsburgh cinemas, and continued with a wider rollout over the next month.[39] The picture opened in New York City on April 20,[38][40] and in Los Angeles on May 11.[39]
Reception
Box office
Dawn of the Dead performed well thanks both to commercial advertising and word-of-mouth. Ad campaigns and posters declared the film "the most intensely shocking motion picture experience for all times".[41] The film earned $900,000 on its opening weekend in the United States. After four weeks it had grossed $5.1 million in the United States and Canada,[42] and went on to gross $16 million[38] with rentals of $6.8 million.[43]
Internationally it did well too, grossing $1.5 million in six Japanese cinemas over a period of 42 days and over $1 million in Italy,[42] and by October 1979 it had grossed $24 million worldwide.[38] The Numbers claims it had an international gross of $49.9 million, which with a domestic gross of $16 million,[38] gives a worldwide total of $66 million, making it the most profitable film in the Dead series.[6][44]
Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 94% of 47 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review. The average rating is 8.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "One of the most compelling and entertaining zombie films ever, Dawn of the Dead perfectly blends pure horror and gore with social commentary on material society."[45] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it four out of four stars and proclaimed it "one of the best horror films ever made." While conceding Dawn of the Dead to be "gruesome, sickening, disgusting, violent, brutal and appalling," Ebert said that "nobody ever said art had to be in good taste."[46] Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique praised the film, calling it a "broader" version of Night of the Living Dead,[41] and gave particular credit to the acting and themes explored: "the acting performances are uniformly strong; and the script develops its themes more explicitly, with obvious satirical jabs at modern consumer society, as epitomized by the indoor shopping mall where a small band of human survivors take shelter from the zombie plague sweeping the country." He went on to say that Dawn of the Dead was a "savage (if tongue-in-cheek) attack on the foibles of modern society", showcasing explicit gore and horror and turning them into "a form of art".[41] Gene Siskel liked the movie as well, giving it 3 stars in his Chicago Tribune print review and specifically praising George Romero's satirical view of indoor shopping malls relative to a zombie apocalypse; the review was later cited along with some other films (including Scanners) when horror movie fans castigated Siskel for what they felt was his knee-jerk rejection of movies in that genre.
Similar to the preceding Night of the Living Dead, some critical reviewers did not like the gory special effects. Particularly displeased at the large amount of gore and graphic violence was
The film is often cited as being one of the few sequels that are superior to the original. The film was selected as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time by
Home media
In 2004, after numerous VHS,
The U.S. theatrical cut of Dawn of the Dead was released on
In November 2016,
In 2018, XT Video released the complete version of the film for Blu-ray, which is a fusion of the long and Italian versions of the film, plus cut scenes.
In November 2020, British home media distributor Second Sight Films released a limited edition box set of the film in separate Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray formats, featuring the theatrical, Cannes and Argento cuts of the film. For this release, all three cuts were remastered and restored in 4K resolution, with the theatrical and Cannes versions presented on the 4K Blu-ray sets in
Remake
Released in 2004, the remake was directed by Zack Snyder (in his directorial debut) and written by James Gunn. It stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber with cameos from original cast members Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Tom Savini.
Novelization
George Romero and Susanna Sparrow's paperback
In popular culture
Audio samples from Dawn of the Dead have been repeatedly used in popular music. English virtual band
The 2004 zombie comedy film Shaun of the Dead parodies the title of Dawn, and is influenced by Romero's Night of the Living Dead series.
The album cover for the English band Cancer's debut album features an illustration of a shot from the film.
Joe Hill's short story "Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead" takes place on the set of Dawn of the Dead. The story focuses on two extras playing zombies, and Romero and Savini appear as two minor characters.
The 2006 video game Dead Rising is set in a shopping mall during a zombie outbreak and was at one point sued by the owners of Dawn of the Dead. Later releases of the game included a disclaimer specifically noting that it was not licensed or approved by the creators of the movie to which it bears resemblance.
See also
Notes
- ^ Although the film's budget has been reported by sources such as the American Film Institute and The Numbers as $1.5 million,[2][6] Rubenstein revealed that this figure was an inflation used to maximize profits from selling the film to international distributors. Approximately $500,000 was used in the film's production. The $640,000 figure includes Romero and Rubenstein's salaries (worth approximately $50,000 altogether) and the costs of processing the film at Technicolor's facilities in New York City, which were deferred.[7]
- ^ Dario Argento's version of the film was titled Zombi in Italy; English-language prints of this version use the title Zombie: Dawn of the Dead.[2][3][8] In the United Kingdom, the film was initially released under the plural title Zombies: Dawn of the Dead.[9]
References
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- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Dawn of the Dead". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- ^ a b c Cozzi, Luigi (2009). Giallo Argento. Profondo rosso. p. 227.
- Lumiere. Archivedfrom the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ "Film: Dawn of the Dead". The Numbers. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ a b "Dawn of the Dead". The Numbers. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ Martin, Perry; Rubinstein, Richard P. Dawn of the Dead: Extended "Cannes" Cut (Blu-ray). Second Sight Films. Event occurs at 22:40.
- ^ a b Dawn of the Dead (1978) censorship history in Australia at Refused Classification Archived October 14, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Zombies: Dawn of the Dead". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ^ Konow, David (October 2, 2012). Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred-Year History of Classic Horror Films. St. Martin's Publishing Group.
- ^ Highfield, David (May 8, 2015). ""Dawn Of The Dead" Fans Create Online Petition To Save Monroeville Mall Bridge". CBS News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- ISBN 9781405528634.
- ^ a b "Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire Magazine. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
- ^ a b "The mall at The Zombie Farm". Archived from the original on May 26, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2006.
- ^ Biodrowski, Steve. "Dawn of the Dead (1979)". Cinema Fantastique. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
- Ain't it Cool News
- ^ Trivia for Dawn of the Dead Archived December 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at Turner Classic Movies
- ^ Pittsburgh Monroeville Airport Archived May 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
- ^ Former Latent Image Office at Dark Destinations
- ^ Romero, George A. (1977). "Dawn Of The Dead". HorrorLair.com (working draft). Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- ^ Alternate Dawn ending surfaces. Archived December 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at Horrorexpress.com
- ^ a b Lord of Gore Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Slasherama.com
- ^ Tom Savini, Bizarro!: The Art and Technique of Special Make-Up Effects (New York: Harmony Books, 1983), 11.
- ^ Mason, R.H. "An Interview With The Villain". Fangoria (reprinted). Archived from the original on October 26, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
- ^ Carnival of the Damned at Origins becomes a "Cast Party!" GamingReport.com Archived May 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
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- ^ Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Blu-ray) Archived November 15, 2019, at the Wayback Machine DVDTalk review
- ^ Rave Up With The Electric Banana Archived May 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at Movie Grooves
- ^ De Wolfe Archived December 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine track listing
- ^ A review of Document of the Dead Archived July 5, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, a documentary on the film's production.
- ^ Dario Argento's Zombi: Dawn of the Dead Archived April 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine review by Michael Elliott
- ^ "Da giovedì 7 settembre anche a Firenze — Zombi". L'Unità. September 3, 1978. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ "Zombie (1978)". www.ohmygore.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ "Dawn of the Dead (1978)". Horrorpedia. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ "OMFG of the Day: Old Negatives Discovered from Dawn of the Dead Shoot!". May 18, 2010. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ "New Behind-the-Scenes Images: George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead". September 18, 2012. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- Stampa Sera (in Italian). September 1, 1978. Archivedfrom the original on January 5, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Dawn of the Dead at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ a b c d "The George A. Romero Foundation". Twitter. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
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- ISBN 9780835717762. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
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- ^ Dawn of the Dead, a review by Roger Ebert
- ^ Maslin, Janet (April 20, 1979). "Dawn of the Dead (1978)". The New York Times.
- ^ Variety Staff (April 22, 1979). "Movie Review Dawn of the Dead (1978)". Variety. Archived from the original on December 10, 2009.
- ISBN 0-03-069361-6.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (May 20, 1979). "FILM VIEW; I Remember Cannes". The New York Times. p. D17.
- ^ The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made. The New York Times via Internet Archive. Published April 29, 2003. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
- ^ Charisma, James (March 15, 2016). "Revenge of the Movie: 15 Sequels That Are Way Better Than The Originals". Playboy. Archived from the original on July 26, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ "1979: Dawn of the Dead". Fangoria. 234: 55. June 2004.
- ^ "Entertainment Weekly's "The Top 50 Cult Films"". Filmsite.org. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
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External links
- Dawn of the Dead at IMDb
- Dawn of the Dead at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Dawn of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Making Of Dawn on YouTube
- Original Trailer on YouTube