I caught the first show of the day at my local theater. I took a friend of mine who is - shall we say? - skittish about horror movies. I explained to him that this was less of a remake and more of a re-imagining of the original Dawn. In my heart, I hoped that Mr. Nobody and the folks at Creature Corner were right and the critic who panned it in the Boston Globe was wrong - DEAD wrong, if you'll pardon the pun. My verdict?

Wow. Whatta ride.

This Dawn of the Dead is loyal enough to the original to deserve its title, yet different enough to not just rip off the classic(s) like, say, Rose Red and Van Sant's Psycho did. It was equal parts creepy, scary, gory, and funny (funny in that uncomfortable way, y'dig?). Granted, there were quite a few scenes which I, as a devoted horror buff, could tell EXACTLY what was coming. But, in my mind, that made it worse. The make-up effects were impressive. I liked the "quick-cut" style of action-filming, a riff taken from 28 Days Later, where you feel like the dead are coming from everywhere and jumping out at YOU rather than the characters. The ending was satisfying, though you do need to STAY AND WATCH THE CLOSING CREDITS to get the full impact.

I was talking to my gal before leaving to see this and I told her I wasn't too sure how I felt about the dead being able to run and jump reather than the zombies (ugh...inaccurate word) that fell into the Three-S category (slow, shambling, and stupid), which we all grew up on. Lemme tell you: these dead are infinitely worse! All the terror of the shambling "unstoppable force/immovable object" with the added bonus of the pack mind - these dead will get you, whether you run, hide, or even try to evade them. Awful (shudder!).

I will say these two things in closing:

1) This movie broke what, in my mind, was the final taboo that an American movie would go after or portray. A brave thing, considering the political climate towards this type of movie and what it depicts. PM me if you don't know what I'm talking about or want to argue the point.

2) My friend, by his own admission, will be the victim or some rough nights' sleep. And that's the best thing of all.

Uschi said:
I won't rape you, I'll just fuck you 'till it hurts and then not stop and you'll cry.

MisterJLA: RACKS so hard, he called Jim Rome "Chris Everett." In Him, all porn is possible. He is far above mentions in so-called "blogs." RACK him, lest ye be lost!

"I can't even brush my teeth without gagging!" - Tommy Tantillo: Wank & Cry, heckpuppy, and general laughingstock

[Linked Image from i6.photobucket.com]