Dawn of the Dead remains director Zack Snyder’s gory masterpiece.
These two filmmakers saw potential in this corner of cinema that had yet to be unlocked.
These days, Snyder is a bit of a polarizing figure in geek culture.
His heroes are often dark, grim subjects used to study morally gray areas.
Can a hero ever truly be pure at heart without first shedding his darkness?
But despite how people might feel about Snyder now, his first film remains his crowning cinematic achievement.
Perhaps fans would be more kind to the director if he had stuck to horror movies.
His style is certainly best suited for darker ventures.
One only has to look as far as the opening of the movie, which is seriously scary stuff.
28 Days Laters opening section is famously unsettling for its shots of an empty London.
The movie smartly builds the tension by making viewers wait for the monsters to pop out their nasty heads.
Snyder, like his predecessor, unleashes the chaos wonderfully in the opening twenty minutes.
But are those citizens still watching?
All we get are snippets of conversation at the hospital and the quick drone of the radio.
Even the emergency news bulletin on TV is interrupted by shower sex.
Things are clearly not going to go well for her.
All while an unconscious Ana sleeps.
Mall of the Dead
The rest of the cast is introduced pretty quickly afterward.
Ken wants to find his brother, who was evacuated to a quarantine zone at Fort Pastor.
Nicole (Lindy Booth) loses her entire family and becomes dangerously attached to a dog named Chips.
Ana, as we already know, watches her husband turn into a cannibalistic monster.
That fat chick at Dairy Queen?
scolding Bart for his insensitivity.
The mall itself poses less of a logistical problem than its older sibling.
In fact, the mall doesnt present much danger at all.
This second group brings with it one of the most terrifying old ladies in the history of zombie movies.
Frank (Matt Frewer), Nicoles dad, is quarantined after the group discovers hes been bitten.
Ken is forced to put Frank down after he turns.
Snyder shows here why he is a perfect horror director.
He seems to have an itch togo there.
Remember that whole thing about Superman killing General Zod inMan of Steel?
Whether intended or not, Snyder presents the fall of the American family in these violent scenes.
Its just too bad Ludas been bitten.
The baby is already tainted with the infection, already lost, like the world outside.
Andre cant escape whats coming for him.
Earlier in the film, Andre has a moment of doubt while talking to Ken.
He thinks that maybe hes being punished by God for his sins.
I probably shouldve mentioned this is a bathroom scene.
Eventually, hes forced to tie her to bed posts to keep her from attacking him.
Andre dies cradling the baby after being shot by another survivor, who also kills the zombified Luda.
He lands on top of Ludas corpse, the baby still kicking and screaming in his arms.
Snyder seems to say, One happy family.
The character isnt particularly important except for the fact that he has a gun store full of much-needed firepower.
But hes also a neat trick.
At first, Andys just another guy on a rooftop, waiting for the military to rescue him.
They play chess, a twisted version of Hollywood Squares, and just shoot the shit.
About a minute later, Andy writes one last message for Ken (see above).
The third act of the movie is basically one long action scene.
The group organizes a rescue mission by sneaking across the parking lot through the sewers below.
This is a fast-paced action sequence, full of explosions and fancy shooting.
Snyders characters dont miss.
Theres a great tongue-in-cheek moment where one of the guys has broken his leg.
One of the security guards, C.J.
The guy being dragged shoots and curses at the approaching monsters, a pistol in each hand.
Its just so good.
I wouldve loved to be in the room when Snyder and the writers were planning the climactic vehicle sequence.
She sarcastically says, Romantic, but Snyder and I say, AWESOME.
But I dont think anyone actually cares for or even falls for that cheap bit of sentimentality.
At this point, I just want the survivors to get to the yacht in time.
What this adds to the theatrical version of the movie is a final nod to Romeros film.
The remaining charactersKen, Ana, Nicole, and Terrysail off into an uncertain future.
Along the way, we see them run out of gas, smoke rising from the yachts engine.
A severed head in a cooler, chomping away at nothing, makes for one final gruesome moment.
Army of the Deadwas revived by Netflix in 2019as a new project with Snyder back in the directors chair.
The movie involves a heist and rescue mission in a quarantined, zombie-infested Las Vegas.
The zombie rapist storyline has thankfully been launched into the fucking sun.
It was a zombie renaissance, thanks to Boyle, Snyder, and Romero.
The rest, as they say, is a gruesome history.
Dawn of the Deadwas ultimately a successful debut for a director who until 2004 had only directed commercials.
Theres definitely a place for his kind of movies.
It may just not be in the superhero genre.
But Id welcome his return to horror any day.
This article first ran on March 25th, 2016.
