Dawn of the Dead (1978)

9/10

The second of Romero's zombie 'Dead' trilogy is my favorite. It had guts, guns, and humor. A lot has been said about Romero's commentary about society through his Dead films. The first few times I watched 'Dawn' I didn't catch this theme, but later on I did. It makes a very good film a bit better.

A pair of cops who survived an ill-advised raid on a building full of zombies group up with some reporters who also ill-advisedly haven't fled to the moon yet in a helicopter. After a bit of flying (which really should have depleted the gas about 4 hours ago), the group stops to fuel up in the middle of nowhere (also known as my home state of Pennsylvania). A couple of dead zombies later, off to a shopping mall roof!

Yes, all the free stuff you could want. Except actually freedom. In one of the most intelligent scenes ever shot for a horror movie, the group effectively barricades the mall's doors with trucks. Untold fun is had by all, except for the one guy who got bit during the daring barricade sequence.

Eventually the fun comes to a close via a gang of moron bikers. Rather than realizing the potential of a safe fortress, they break in and drive their bikes around the place like, well, morons. Forgetting to close the now open doors, the zombies get in. What proceeds next is one of the best scenes ever filmed.

The situation gets out of hand and drastic action has to be taken. I took one point off for minor things here and there. Audio had some problems, acting wasn't great, that type of small stuff that added up to 1 point. Besides those few complaints, this was a great film. Nice violence and gore, a good bit of humor, and for once the good guys did not (for the most part) act like the usual dumb horror movie characters.

If you have not seen this, you should be ashamed of yourself if you consider yourself a horror movie fan. If you don't own this, the same.