Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)

Last updated

Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead 2004 movie.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Zack Snyder
Screenplay by James Gunn
Based on Dawn of the Dead
by George A. Romero
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Matthew F. Leonetti
Edited byNiven Howie
Music by Tyler Bates
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • March 19, 2004 (2004-03-19)
Running time
100 minutes [3]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$26 million [4]
Box office$102.3 million [4]

Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 action horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his feature-film debut, with a screenplay by James Gunn. A remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name, it stars an ensemble cast that includes Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer, with Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini, and Ken Foree from the original film appearing in cameos. Set in Milwaukee, the film follows a group of survivors who try to survive a zombie apocalypse holed up in an upscale suburban shopping mall.

Contents

Producers Eric Newman and Marc Abraham developed the film rather as a "re-envisioning" of the original Dawn of the Dead, aiming to reinvigorate the zombie genre for modern audiences. They bought the rights from co-producer Richard P. Rubinstein (who produced the original) and hired Gunn to write the script, which adopted the original's basic premise but is oriented around the action genre. Intent on making the remake a straight horror, Snyder took over to direct with the goal of keeping every aspect of the production as grounded in reality as possible. Filming took place from June 9 to September 6 of 2003, on location in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where a now-defunct shopping mall that was slated for demolition was used. The special makeup effects were created by David LeRoy Anderson, and the music was composed by Tyler Bates in his first collaboration with Snyder.

Dawn of the Dead was released on March 19, 2004, by Universal Pictures. Despite George A. Romero's distaste for the film, it earned positive reviews from critics, who saw improvements over the original in terms of acting, production values, and scares; though felt it lacked character development and was excessively gory as well as indifferent to Romero's preoccupation with consumerism. Likewise, the film was a commercial success, grossing $102.3 million worldwide on a $26 million budget. Retrospective reviews have called Dawn of the Dead Snyder's best film. A spiritual successor, Army of the Dead , was released on May 14, 2021.

Plot

After finishing a long shift as a nurse, Ana returns to her suburban neighborhood and her husband, Luis. Caught up in a scheduled date night, they unintentionally ignore an emergency news bulletin. The next morning, a neighborhood girl, Vivian, enters their bedroom and kills Luis, who immediately reanimates as a zombie and attacks Ana. She flees in her car, crashes, and passes out. Upon awakening, Ana joins police sergeant Kenneth Hall, electronics salesman Michael, petty criminal Andre and his pregnant wife, Luda. They break into a nearby mall and are attacked by a zombified security guard, who scratches Luda. Three living guards — C.J., Bart, and Terry — make them surrender their weapons in exchange for refuge. They split into groups to secure the mall. On the roof, they see another survivor, Andy, who is stranded in his gun store across the zombie-infested parking lot. As Andy points out, the group notices a military helicopter flying over the region and attempts to get the pilot's attention, but to no avail.

The next day, a delivery truck carrying more survivors enters the lot, pursued by zombies. C.J. and Bart wish to turn them away but are overruled and disarmed. The newcomers include Norma, Steve, Tucker, Monica, Glen, Frank and his daughter, Nicole. Another woman is too ill to walk; she is wheeled inside via wheelbarrow, only to die and reanimate. After she is killed, the group determines the disease is passed by bites. Andre leaves to see Luda, who has kept her scratch hidden from the group. They realize that Frank has been bitten and is a potential threat. After some debate, Frank elects to be isolated. When he dies and turns, Kenneth shoots him.

Kenneth and Andy start a friendship by way of messages written on a whiteboard; romance also buds between Ana and Michael, and Nicole and Terry. When the power goes out, C.J., Bart, Michael and Kenneth go to the parking garage to activate the emergency generator; they find a friendly dog named Chips, and worry about a breach. Zombies attack and kill Bart, forcing the others to douse the zombies in gas and set them ablaze. Meanwhile, Luda — tied up by Andre — gives birth and dies. She reanimates as Norma checks on the couple. When Norma kills the zombified Luda, Andre snaps; they exchange gunfire and both are killed. The others arrive to find a zombie baby, which they kill immediately. The group decides to fight their way to the local marina and travel on Steve's yacht to an island on Lake Michigan. They reinforce two shuttle buses from the parking garage for their escape.

To rescue Andy, the group straps supplies onto Chips's body and lower him into the parking lot; the zombies have no interest in him. Chips enters Andy's store safely, but a zombie follows through the dog door. Nicole, fond of Chips, crashes the delivery truck into the gun store, where she is trapped by a zombified Andy. Kenneth, Michael, Tucker, Terry, and C.J. reach the gun store via the sewers, kill Andy, and rescue Nicole. They grab ammunition and go back to the mall; along the way, Tucker breaks his legs, and C.J. shoots him out of mercy. Once inside, they are unable to lock the door, forcing an evacuation via the buses.

While navigating through the city, Glen loses control of a chainsaw, accidentally killing himself and Monica; blood splatters on the windshield, causing their bus to crash. While C.J., Kenneth, and Terry look for survivors, Ana kills the zombified Steve and retrieves his boat keys. At the marina, C.J. sacrifices himself so the others can escape. Michael reveals a bite wound, killing himself as Ana, Kenneth, Nicole, Terry, and Chips flee on the yacht. Footage from a camcorder found on the boat shows Steve's escapades before the outbreak and concludes as the group runs out of supplies, approaches an island, and is attacked by a swarm of zombies before the camcorder drops. [lower-alpha 1]

Cast

Jake Weber cropped.jpg
Weber (2009)
Ty Burrell 3 2014.jpg
Burrell (2014)
Jake Weber and Ty Burrell got each other's parts after auditioning on the same day for Dawn of the Dead.

Additional members of the cast include stuntman Ermes Blarasin as the bloated woman, Natalie Brown as a CDC reporter, and dog actor Blu as Nicole's adopted pet dog Chips. [2] [7] Director Zack Snyder cameos as a soldier battling zombies at the United States Capitol during the film's title sequence, as do Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini, and Ken Foree (who were in the original film) as a general, sheriff, and televangelist, respectively. [7]

Production

Development

Plans to remake 1978's Dawn of the Dead were conceived by producer Eric Newman, a fan of zombie films who cited the George A. Romero horror film as the best in this genre. [8] [10] With the remake, Newman and producer Marc Abraham wanted to reinvigorate the zombie genre for modern audiences as well as "make the old fans happy and make a lot of new fans". [8] Newman and Abraham bought the rights to Dawn of the Dead from its producer and rights holder Richard P. Rubinstein, who was reluctant at first as he was "concerned that somewhere along the way a studio would sanitize Newman's vision for producing a version with 'attitude'", but that it was "Marc Abraham's long track record in keeping the creative integrity of the studio distributed films he has produced intact that gave me reason to say 'yes'". [8] Newman hired James Gunn to write the script, and the studio brought Gunn in despite not wanting to deliver them a signal idea for the film beforehand. Gunn, who has been a fan of the original since he was a young boy, had turned down the offer until he "kind of saw generally what [the film] could be". [19]

James Gunn (pictured in 2013) agreed to write the script for Dawn of the Dead due to his love of the original film and zombie films in general. James Gunn by Gage Skidmore.jpg
James Gunn (pictured in 2013) agreed to write the script for Dawn of the Dead due to his love of the original film and zombie films in general.

The producers conceptualized the remake as more of a "re-envisioning" which would work in some references to the original but would primarily work on its own terms. [8] Co-producer Eric Newman cited Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Thing (1982), and The Fly (1986) as influences on the remake, considering these to be "amazing updates" as well as "great movies that add to rather than diminish the original films". [8] By way of respect to Romero's film, the producers cast the original's Tom Savini, Scott Reiniger, and Ken Foree in cameos; and incorporated visual references to Gaylen Ross and James A. Baffico. [8] [lower-alpha 2]

In writing the script, Gunn retained the original's basic premise of a group of survivors taking refuge in a mall during the zombie apocalypse, but gave it a plot that was more action-oriented. [19] To develop the plot, he declined to write a treatment in favor of a discovery writing method whereby he would devise hypothetical situations which would ultimately force the characters to evacuate the mall. [10] Gunn decided to leave the origin of the zombie outbreak ambiguous, believing this would give not only equal consideration to each audience's viewpoint (scientific or otherwise) but also something to think about what they would do if they found themselves in a similar situation. [10] The script was given uncredited rewrites by Michael Tolkin and Scott Frank; co-producer Richard P. Rubinstein said Tolkin further developed the characters while Frank provided some of the bigger, upbeat action scenes. [20] Gunn revealed he had received internet backlash over the film due to his past screenwriting credit on Scooby-Doo (2002), believing him to be unqualified for the job. [19] However, film critic Harry Knowles, initially an opponent of the remake, read Gunn's script and gave it a positive response on his website Ain't It Cool News, which Gunn said helped eliminate doubts cast upon him by fans of the original. [19]

Theme

With Dawn of the Dead, Gunn wanted to explore the human condition as well as tell a wholly different story about redemption. [19] He elaborated on the redemptive theme of the film in an interview with IGN during a press junket for Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed released that same year:

[...] Dawn of the Dead is about redemption because it's about a bunch of people who have lived certain lives, who have maybe not been the best people, and suddenly they have everything that they've used to define themselves: Their careers, their churches, their jobs, their families are stripped away. They're gone. They start at nothing and they have to become who they really are in the face of all that and some of the people are redeemed and end up becoming good people and some of them are not redeemed and they end up, you know, not redeemed. And that's what kind of drove me throughout the story, was it was a story about redemption. I also think that there's a lot about how people survive and what people turn to in the face of such tragedy. The tragedy in this case being flesh-eating zombies. And really it's a group coming together to work as a community who wouldn't otherwise work together. So there is that foundation of love, that basic message, within even Dawn of the Dead... [21]

Pre-production

Zack Snyder (pictured in 2015) worked primarily as a television commercial director before he made his feature film debut with Dawn of the Dead. SDCC 2015 - Zack Snyder (19716779571).jpg
Zack Snyder (pictured in 2015) worked primarily as a television commercial director before he made his feature film debut with Dawn of the Dead.

Zack Snyder chose to direct the remake as his first feature film because it gave the television commercial director "a reason to care about every shot". [8] Not wanting his version inevitably compared to George A. Romero's, he concurred with the producers on reimagining the latter film as opposed to doing it as a "remake", which, in his view, would have entailed re-shooting Romero's script. [8] For that matter, he aimed to make his film a straight horror that was "as serious as a heart attack" [8] and keep every aspect of its production as grounded in reality as possible. [22] His approach included previsualizing the film with storyboards and introducing the concept of running zombies, which he said was his "fresh, new way" of giving it a sense of verisimilitude and rendering zombies as if they were real threats, especially when they attack in hordes. [8] Gunn supported this concept, believing that the danger presented by running zombies would increase the stakes much higher than it would with lumbering zombies like those in the original. [10] Snyder would also maintain Gunn's decision not to reveal the origin of the zombie outbreak, believing it was "obvious that in this fallen society, you wouldn't know where the whole plague started". [23]

Set design

In searching for a suitable upscale mall location for the film, production designer Andrew Neskoromny looked for existing malls that were scheduled for demolition. [8] His search yielded no results until he found the now-defunct Thornhill Square shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which measured approximately 45,000 square feet (1.0 acre). Dubbed the "Crossroads Mall", the crew completely redid the mall over an eight-week period, adding an expensive water feature near the entrance, 14 stores, parking structures, and warehouse areas. [8] Since Snyder wanted the stores palpable in terms of design and stood not merely as storefronts, Neskoromny's team accordingly built them as actual retail stores complete with merchandise. These stores were given fake names, since only two major retail brands agreed to be featured in the film. [8] [10]

Makeup and practical effects

The special makeup effects for the film were created by David LeRoy Anderson, with assistance from his actress wife Heather Langenkamp. Prior to accepting the job from Universal Studios' then-executive James D. Brubaker, Anderson had been in a two-year hiatus from working as a makeup effects artist to operate his company DLA Silverwear. [22] Anderson completed his test makeups for the film over a four-week period, [24] and then he and his team traveled to the Toronto set and set up their makeup effects lab next to the mall. [22]

Since the filmmakers had decided that the zombies in the film would become more decomposed over time, Anderson accordingly researched on the appearance of decay following human death, looking through several medical books, war footages, and crime scene photographs showing graphic images of trauma victims in order to properly depict this appearance; [8] [22] he broke down the look of decomposition into three stages:

The first stage looks like someone who was just in the ER – pale, with lots of fresh blood. The second stage has moist wounds but the skin is beginning to break down. There is a lot of discoloration and mottling, mostly blues and greens. The third stage is the most intense, with the skeletal form coming through. The wounds are dried-up, the skin is sloughing off and colors are oily blacks. [8]

Head hits were done practically through various methods, such as bullet hit squibs covered with prosthetic scalps and attached to the back of the actor's head to be detonated. Concerned about the risk thereof, Anderson developed an alternative method in which his team would attach wires to the scalps loaded with blood packs and yank them with a remote-controlled "air ratchet system", lending a similar gruesome effect as with the squibs sans potential harm. [25]

Filming and post-production

Principal photography

Filming began on June 9, 2003, on location in various parts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [8] Hundreds of zombie extras had to be constantly available for the entire shoot. To handle the volume of willing extras, Anderson and his team built a large "factory" where painted extras would stay put until they are spoken for by either the main or second unit film crew. [26] They built various makeup rooms for the artists to work in: one consisted of camper trailers where they would apply detailed prosthetic makeups to extras playing "hero zombies", a special type of zombie; and the other consisted of tents where they would produce painted masks for extras playing background zombies. Extras playing foreground zombies were painted with plain palette makeups in Anderson's mall lab. [27] The makeup artists were given his concept images to work on as references. [28] According to Anderson and Heather Langenkamp, the most extras they ever had in a given day sat between 200 and 400, [22] with a total of 3,000 makeups completed when filming ended on September 6, 2003. [8]

Visual effects and title sequence

The scene in which the mall's parking lot is packed with tens of thousands of zombies was achieved with motion-control passes, and actor Ving Rhames being filmed over a cluster of 200 extras that were shot against green screen at various spots. Dawn of the dead parking lot zombies.gif
The scene in which the mall's parking lot is packed with tens of thousands of zombies was achieved with motion-control passes, and actor Ving Rhames being filmed over a cluster of 200 extras that were shot against green screen at various spots.

The visual effects for the film were provided by Canadian VFX studio Mr. X Inc., with its president Dennis Berardi serving as the film's co-VFX supervisor. [29]

The production shot scenes for which Snyder wanted as many as 4,000 live-action zombies, which Berardi created rather as a combination of practical zombies and CG zombies which he built as 3D models with Autodesk Maya. One such scene involved tens of thousands of zombies at the mall's parking lot, which was shot with motion-control passes whose green screen elements of 200 extras, combined with the CG zombies, were later composited to create a "digital crowd simulation that looks realistic". [29]

Kyle Cooper designed the title sequence for the film, using real human blood. [30]

Soundtrack

Film score

The score for Dawn of the Dead was composed by Tyler Bates, his first for a horror film. Bates became involved with the film after he was recommended to it by its music supervisor, G. Marq Roswell, who learned he made little money from his work on Mario Van Peebles's film Baadasssss! (2003), on which Roswell also served as music supervisor. The studio was not convinced with hiring Bates because they felt he was not an established composer at the time, but director Zack Snyder insisted on him, and he was ultimately hired. [31]

In scoring the film, Bates avoided taking cues from the original's music by the band Goblin, finding its style to be incompatible with what Snyder had filmed. [31] Bates's score combines elements of electronic music and 20th-century orchestra, which was influenced by the works of composers adept at creating dissonance, such as Béla Bartók and Krzysztof Penderecki. [10] [31] Bates employed these musical choices with the intention of making the audience "very, very uncomfortable". [10]

Milan Records released Bates's score in physical format for the first time on October 23, 2012, a week after the record label released it digitally via iTunes Store and Amazon Music. The album comprises 31 tracks, all of which were composed by Bates. Bates's work on Dawn of the Dead also marked the beginning of a frequent collaboration between him and Snyder; he would later compose for the director on 300 (2006), Watchmen (2009), and Sucker Punch (2011). [32]

Other songs

In a 2023 interview with Total Film , Snyder revealed he had lobbied for the inclusion of the Richard Cheese cover of "Down with the Sickness", originally sung by the heavy metal band Disturbed, that plays in the scene where the characters ward off boredom in the mall. According to Snyder, the studio originally declined the Richard Cheese version in favor of the Disturbed version, but he managed to convince them that the former was appropriate for the scene. Snyder also stated his rationale behind the decision to play "People Who Died" by The Jim Carroll Band at the end of the film: "I really love that [opening chords of 'People Who Died'] DANG! DANG! DANG, DANG, DANG! I thought that it was cool as a way to end the movie because it's so dark. It's a bleak ending, in a cool way." [33]

Release

Box office

"[Y]ou could see a movie with one guy rising from the dead or you can see one with thousands."

James Gunn on the likelihood of Dawn of the Dead being overtaken by The Passion of the Christ at the box office [21]

Dawn of the Dead was marketed with its 10-minute opening sequence that was broadcast on cable television four nights prior to its theatrical release. [34] The film was projected to outperform The Passion of the Christ in its United States opening weekend, with an audience base comprising largely young males and estimated gross of $22 million. [35]

In the U.S. and Canada, the film was released alongside Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Taking Lives , on March 19, 2004. [35] Dawn of the Dead ended up performing above projections, debuting to $27.3 million in its U.S. opening weekend and claiming the top spot The Passion of the Christ held for three consecutive weekends. [36] [37] Variety reported, "Some 63% of Dawn [audiences] were under age 25, with 57% of patrons male. Hispanic moviegoers comprised 21% of its supporters and African-Americans 14%." [37] Dawn of the Dead ended its theatrical run as a commercial success, grossing $102 million worldwide on a $26 million budget; [17] it grossed $59 million in the United States and Canada and $43.3 million in other territories. [4]

The release of Dawn of the Dead in the U.S. nearly coincided with that of Shaun of the Dead , another zombie film distributed by Universal Pictures. In a February 2004 Variety report, a spokesman at Universal revealed that the studio had greenlit Shaun of the Dead "with the condition that Dawn of the Dead would be released here in the U.S. first" in order to avoid this conflict. [38]

Dawn of the Dead was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. [39]

Home media

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Dawn of the Dead on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital with director Zack Snyder's unrated director's cut of the film: [40] he described this version as longer, gorier, and more character-driven than the theatrical one. [41] Bonus features found on the DVD and Blu-ray include Snyder and co-producer Eric Newman's audio commentary; the featurettes Attack of the Living Dead, Raising the Dead, Drawing the Dead, Splitting Headaches, Surviving the Dawn, and Special Report: Zombie Invasion; the short film The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed; deleted scenes with optional commentary by Snyder and Newman; and the film's theatrical trailer. [42]

On Halloween of 2017, Shout! Factory's horror sub-label Scream Factory released a two-disc collector's edition Blu-ray of Dawn of the Dead, which contains the film's theatrical version and the director's cut. The Blu-ray, which is said to have been "derived from the digital intermediate archival negative", contains bonus features found in previous releases in addition to new and exclusive ones featuring interviews with actors Ty Burrell and Jake Weber, screenwriter James Gunn, and makeup effects artists David LeRoy Anderson and Heather Langenkamp. [43] A 4K Ultra HD collector's edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory with extras ported over from the label's previous release was released on January 31, 2023. [44]

Reception

Theatrical

Jake Weber 2 cropped.jpg
Weber (2009)
Sarah Polley - 66th Venice International Film Festival, 2009 (2).jpg
Polley (2009)
Jake Weber and Sarah Polley each received praise for their performances. [6] [45] [46] [47] [48]

Dawn of the Dead garnered strong reviews upon its release, [36] [49] with critics praising it as a worthy remake of the original as well as a decent entry in the zombie genre. [6] [13] [50] Variety called the film "more palatable" than the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake while disliking both films. [34] Michael Gingold said that Zack Snyder's film "joins The Ring and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as an update that both honors its source and emerges as an effective horror film in its own right," [47] a sentiment largely shared by IGN . [6] Lisa Schwarzbaum praised Snyder's direction in a "killer feature debut", [45] and Roger Ebert said in a positive review that anyone paying to see it is guaranteed to get their money's worth. [51]

Abundant praise was equally given to the film's opening sequence; [52] [53] an otherwise negative review from The Hollywood Reporter called it "pulse-poundingly good". [12] While some said the film exuded better acting, production values, and scares than the original, [13] [45] [51] others felt its horror was not on par with that of the latter film. [34] [54] Another criticism was the lack of dark humor of the original, [46] [51] although many found the scene in which a couple of male characters shoot zombified celebrity look-alikes with a sniper rifle to be funny, among other jokes; [45] [52] [53] The Hollywood Reporter cited it as some of the film's "moments of inspired audacity". [12] Many said the "fast zombies" of Dawn of the Dead were similar to those of 28 Days Later , [47] but considered the Danny Boyle film to be, for all intents and purposes, superior. [13] [34] [55]

Despite the general praise, some critics said the film had given scant consideration to George A. Romero's satirical critique of consumerism, among other sociocultural issues. [48] [55] Ebert and Variety argued that whereas Romero had used the zombie-infested shopping mall as a metaphor for consumer society, Snyder had used it merely as a convenient setting for his characters to inhabit. [34] [51] Gingold lamented that unlike Romero's film, Snyder's provided no social commentary on racism through its black characters Kenneth and Andre as well as the interracial relationship between Andre and Luda. [47] In contrast, Manohla Dargis opined that Romero's consumerist metaphor has lost its significance in the years since the original's release, "with the politics of consumption now an established academic field and shopping now considered a statement of identity". [50] IGN praised the film's tonal departure from Romero's, calling it a "calculated risk that paid off". [6]

The Hollywood Reporter and Chicago Tribune complained that Dawn of the Dead was content to indulge in bloody zombie killings devoid of meaning and introspection once present in the original, leaving the audience rather numbed and "less mercifully handled, even at the end-credits". [12] [46] Wesley Morris gave a scathing review in which he said the film "feels like the product of the PlayStation era" than a reverence for Romero. [55] Equally critical was Elvis Mitchell, who described the film as "strictly by the numbers", in that it is best enjoyed rather as a shoot 'em up video game "less slowed down by bad dialogue". [56] The BBC , however, complimented the film as "a stylish, gore-drenched shoot-em-up". [48] Gingold found Snyder's camerawork utilizing a first-person video-game perspective at the beginning of the film to be praiseworthy, more so than those of the video game films Resident Evil and House of the Dead . [47] Likewise, Dargis attributed the film's appeal not to its bloody violence but "[to] the filmmakers' commitment to genre fundamentals". [50] Writing in a positive review, web-based critic James Berardinelli said that fans of "tight, tense, graphic horror" should be able to enjoy those aplenty in Dawn of the Dead. [13]

While Schwarzbaum and Dargis complimented James Gunn's script as "sharp" and propulsive, respectively, [45] [50] others took issue with what they believed to be a lack of plot and character developments. [12] [34] [51] The Chicago Tribune thought the characters were clichéd and about as dumb as the undead, though sympathized with the "tragic" dilemma faced by Andre. [46] Morris found most of the characters to be too irritating that he believed audiences might want them "thrown from the mall roof to the throngs of undead". [55] Conversely, Berardinelli said that although there are moments in which the characters show a lack of common sense, "it's inevitable that most of them end up as one-dimensional throw-aways whose sole purpose is to increase the body count" and that "not many people go to a horror film looking for character development and drama". [13] Likewise, Ebert was personally not on board with the characters' "risky" plan to escape from the mall in lieu of awaiting the zombies' natural death, though remarked that "taking chances makes for good action scenes". [51] Both Ebert and Berardinelli found the subplots of Kenneth and Andre to be "touching", with the latter critic saying that these were "handled with a deft hand". [13] [51]

The cast was generally praised: comments ranged from "superlative" [6] and "convincing down the line" [47] to "respectable" [12] and "annoying". [56] Schwarzbaum and the Chicago Tribune described Sarah Polley's screen presence as a "perfect against-type heroine" with a "nice anxious stare". [45] [46] IGN was dismayed that least attention was given to Phifer's "naturally charismatic presence" with such a large cast, though felt that Rhames was effective as Polley's "quietly authoritative foil" and praised Jake Weber's performance "in a thankless role". [6] While giving equal praise to Polley, Phifer, and Rhames, Gingold lauded Weber's existentialist role as "the best of all", [47] as did the BBC, who also credited him with "bringing a redoubtable decency and charisma to a potentially bland part, like the young Roy Scheider in Jaws ". [48]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 76% of 195 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "A kinetic, violent and surprisingly worthy remake of George Romero's horror classic that pays homage to the original while working on its own terms." [57] As of 2024, Dawn of the Dead is Zack Snyder's highest-rated film on the website. [58] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [59] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. [60]

Retrospective

In 2005, George A. Romero spoke briefly of how dissatisfied he was with Dawn of the Dead during an interview with actor Simon Pegg for Time Out . Romero said that although the remake could pass for a good action film, he felt it was aimless and "more of a video game" for that matter, as well as maintained he was "not terrified of things running at me". [61]

Numerous publications have named Dawn of the Dead as Zack Snyder's best film, [lower-alpha 3] with Den of Geek considering it his magnum opus . [17] Revisiting the film on its 15th anniversary in 2019, Joe Lipsett wrote the following verdict for Bloody Disgusting:

Fifteen years later, Dawn of the Dead completely holds up. The film's flaws are mostly at the character level, though having a dumb zombie baby and a few undeveloped red shirts in the mix is hardly a deal breaker. The action – particularly the opening scene and the propane explosion climax – in addition to the fantastic special effects makeup, the brief flirtation with found footage, and the reverence for its source text while introducing something new makes 2004's Dawn of the Dead one of the best remakes on the market. [15]

Likewise, Dawn of the Dead has appeared on several lists of the top zombie films, including number 3 by Rolling Stone (2012), [65] number 12 by Empire (2020), [66] by Collider (2021), [67] number 17 by IndieWire (2022), [68] and by Variety (2023); [69] as well as the best horror films of the decade, including number 3 by Dread Central (2010), [70] number 8 by Bloody Disgusting (2009), [71] number 52 by IGN , [72] and number 55 by Rolling Stone (2020). [73] The film made review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes's lists of "The 20 Scariest Opening Scenes in Horror Movie History" (at number 6), [74] "The 25 Best Horror Movie Remakes" (at number 9), [75] "The 30 Essential Zombie Movies" (at number 13), [76] and "18 Memorable Horror Remakes". [77]

In a June 2018 article for The Hollywood Reporter , Richard Newby opined that Dawn of the Dead helped revitalize the zombie genre along with 28 Days Later at a time when the United States "was ripe for the re-emergence of zombie movies" following the September 11 attacks, which he believes to have contributed to the Americans' "increased fear of biological weapons, fervent mass militarization and the burrowing question of who exactly are the people we call our neighbors". [78] Likewise, author Stephen King, in the forenote of the 2010 edition of his book Danse Macabre , saw what he believed to be Snyder's subtext conveying the horrors induced by terrorist attacks, drawing parallels between the zombie apocalypse and a post-9/11 America. King described Dawn of the Dead as "genius perfected" in terms of its standing in the zombie genre. [79] South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and South Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho consider themselves to be fans of the film, citing it as an influence upon their works "Night of the Living Homeless" and the Train to Busan series, respectively. [80] [81]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryRecipientResultRef.
2004 Bram Stoker Awards Screenplay James Gunn Nominated [82]
Golden Trailer Awards Best Horror/ThrillerDawn of the DeadWon [83]
Best MusicDawn of the DeadNominated [84]
2005 Saturn Awards Best Horror FilmDawn of the DeadNominated [85] [86]
Best Make-Up David LeRoy Anderson and Mario CacioppoNominated

Spiritual successor

On March 25, 2007, Variety announced that Warner Bros. Pictures would produce a new zombie film from a screenplay written by Joby Harold, based on an original idea conceived by Snyder. In a statement, Snyder said that he wanted the film to feel similar to Dawn of the Dead and 300 and that it would center around a father in Las Vegas "who tries to save his daughter from imminent death in a zombie-infested world". At the time, Wesley Coller was attached to executive produce, with Snyder and his wife Deborah Snyder producing through Cruel & Unusual Films (now known as The Stone Quarry). [87] Snyder got the idea during Dawn of the Dead's production and wanted to explore a new evolution of the zombies. The film is not a sequel to Dawn of the Dead but rather a spiritual successor. Snyder realized that he needed a new origin story to develop the plot and create a new incarnation of the living dead. He titled the project Army of the Dead as a tribute to the works of George A. Romero. [88] [89] After languishing for several years in development hell, the distribution rights to the film were acquired by Netflix in 2019, [90] [91] and Snyder began shooting that same year. [92]

Army of the Dead had a week-long limited theatrical release starting May 14 prior to its wider Netflix release on May 21, 2021. [93]

See also

Notes

  1. In 2024, James Gunn was asked by a fan on Threads what really happened to the survivors at the end of the film, and he simply replied, "What survivors?" [5]
  2. The clothing store "Gaylen Ross" is a reference to the eponymous actress, while "Wooley's Diner" is named after James Baffico's character in the original, Wooley.
  3. Attributed to multiple references: [16] [62] [49] [63] [64]

Related Research Articles

<i>Night of the Living Dead</i> 1968 American horror film

Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by reanimated corpses. Although the flesh-eating monsters that appear in the film are referred to as "ghouls", they are credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of zombies in popular culture.

Resident Evil, or Biohazard in Japan and parts of Southeast Asia, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments inhabited by zombies and other frightening creatures. The franchise has expanded into other media, including a live-action film series, animated films, television series, comic books, novels, audio dramas and merchandise. Resident Evil is the highest-grossing horror franchise.

<i>Day of the Dead</i> (1985 film) 1985 American post-apocalyptic zombie horror film by George A. Romero

Day of the Dead is a 1985 American post-apocalyptic zombie horror film written and directed by George A. Romero, and produced by Richard P. Rubinstein. The third film in Romero's Night of the Living Dead series, it stars Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy and Richard Liberty as members of a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida, where they must determine the outcome of humanity's conflict with the undead horde. Romero described the film as a "tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society".

<i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (1978 film) 1978 zombie horror film by George A. Romero

Dawn of the Dead  is a 1978 zombie horror film written, directed, and edited by George A. Romero, and produced by Richard P. Rubinstein. An American-Italian international co-production, it is the second film in Romero's series of zombie films, and though it contains no characters or settings from the preceding film Night of the Living Dead (1968), it shows the larger-scale effects of a zombie apocalypse on society. In the film, a phenomenon of unidentified origin has caused the reanimation of the dead, who prey on human flesh. David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross star as survivors of the outbreak who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall amid mass hysteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George A. Romero</span> American filmmaker (1940–2017)

George Andrew Romero Jr. was an American-Canadian film director, writer, editor and actor. His Night of the Living Dead series of films about a zombie apocalypse began with the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) and is considered a major contributor to the image of the zombie in modern culture. Other films in the series include Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). He later revived his attachment to the sub-genre with Land of the Dead (2005), Diary of the Dead (2007), and Survival of the Dead (2009), his final film. Aside from this series, his works include The Crazies (1973), Martin (1977), Knightriders (1981), Creepshow (1982), Monkey Shines (1988), The Dark Half (1993), and Bruiser (2000). He also created and executive-produced the television series Tales from the Darkside from 1983 to 1988.

<i>Shaun of the Dead</i> 2004 film directed by Edgar Wright

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British romantic zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote it with Simon Pegg. The film stars Pegg as Shaun, a downtrodden London salesman who gets caught alongside his loved ones in a zombie apocalypse. It also stars Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, and Penelope Wilton. It is the first instalment in Wright and Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, followed by Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013), both of which also star Pegg and Frost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Savini</span> American actor, stuntman, director and makeup artist

Thomas Vincent Savini is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Creepshow, and Monkey Shines; he also created the special effects and makeup for many cult classics like Friday the 13th, Maniac, The Burning, The Prowler, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

Living Dead, also informally known as Of The Dead is a blanket term for the loosely connected horror franchise that originated from the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. The film, written by George A. Romero and John A. Russo, primarily focuses on a group of people gathering at a farmhouse to survive from an onslaught of zombies in rural Pennsylvania. It is known to have inspired the modern interpretation of zombies as reanimated human corpses that feast on the flesh and/or brains of the living.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler Bates</span> American musician, music producer, film score composer

Tyler Bates is an American musician, producer, and composer for film, television, and video game scores. Much of his work is in the action and horror film genres, with films like Dawn of the Dead, 300, Sucker Punch, Halloween and Halloween II and the John Wick franchise. He has collaborated with directors like Zack Snyder, Rob Zombie, Neil Marshall, William Friedkin, Scott Derrickson, James Gunn, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. In addition, he is the former lead guitarist of the American rock band Marilyn Manson, and produced its albums The Pale Emperor and Heaven Upside Down. He is Jerry Cantrell's touring/studio member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zack Snyder</span> American filmmaker (born 1966)

Zachary Edward Snyder is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with Dawn of the Dead, a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since then, he has directed or produced a number of comic book and superhero films, including 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), as well as the Superman film that started the DC Extended Universe, Man of Steel (2013), and its follow-ups, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), as well as the director's cut of Justice League that was later released in 2021. He also directed the computer-animated film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), the psychological action film Sucker Punch (2011), the zombie heist film Army of the Dead (2021), and the space opera film Rebel Moon (2023).

<i>Day of the Dead</i> (2008 film) 2008 film by Steve Miner

Day of the Dead is a 2008 American horror film directed by Steve Miner and written by Jeffrey Reddick. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1985 film of the same name, the third in Romero's Dead series, and it is the first of two remakes of the original 1985 film; the other is Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2017). The film sees a virus outbreak that causes people to turn into violent zombie-like creatures. The project was principally shot in Bulgaria, with limited shooting in Los Angeles, California.

Dawn of the Dead may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie</span> Undead creature from Haitian folklore

A zombie is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magical practices in religions like Vodou. Modern media depictions of the reanimation of the dead often do not involve magic but rather science fictional methods such as carriers, fungi, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, pathogens, parasites, scientific accidents, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie apocalypse</span> Subgenre of apocalyptic fiction

Zombie apocalypse is a subgenre of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Typically only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left living. In some versions, the reason the dead rise and attack humans is unknown, in others, a parasite or infection is the cause, framing events much like a plague. Some stories have every corpse rise, regardless of the cause of death, whereas others require exposure to the infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Stone Quarry</span> American film production company

The Stone Quarry is an American production company established in 2004 by filmmaker Zack Snyder, his wife Deborah Snyder and their producing partner Wesley Coller.

Deborah Snyder is an American producer of feature films and television commercials. She is married to filmmaker Zack Snyder, and has worked as his frequent producing partner on films such as Watchmen and 300. She is the co-founder of the production company The Stone Quarry.

Night of the Living Dead is a zombie horror media franchise created by George A. Romero beginning with the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, directed by Romero and cowritten with John A. Russo. The franchise predominantly centers on different groups of people attempting to survive during the outbreak and evolution of a zombie apocalypse. The latest installment of the series, Survival of the Dead, was released in 2009, with a sequel, Twilight of the Dead, in development. This would be the first film in the series not directed by George Romero, who died on July 16, 2017.

A list of books and essays about George A. Romero:

<i>Army of the Dead</i> 2021 film by Zack Snyder

Army of the Dead is a 2021 American post-apocalyptic zombie heist film directed by Zack Snyder from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold, based on a story he also created. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, and Garret Dillahunt. It follows a group of mercenaries who plan a Las Vegas casino heist during a zombie apocalypse.

The Army of the Dead franchise consists of American zombie-action horror installments, which serve as spiritual sequels to the 2004 re-imagining of Dawn of the Dead (1978). The franchise consists of a streaming release film that was also released in theaters for a limited time, and a spin-off prequel film, with future installments in various degrees of development.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)". American Film Institute . Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dawn of the Dead (2004)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 21, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  3. "DAWN OF THE DEAD (18)". British Board of Film Classification. March 26, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Dawn of the Dead". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  5. Burlingame, Russ (March 8, 2024). "James Gunn Has Grim Answer for Fan's Dawn of the Dead Question". ComicBook.com . Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gilchrist, Todd (March 18, 2004). "Review of Dawn of the Dead". IGN . Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hunter, Rob (March 24, 2016). "32 Things We Learned From Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead Commentary". Film School Rejects . Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Dawn of the Dead - Production Notes". Media Atlantis. Universal Pictures. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  9. 1 2 Gilchrist, Todd (March 19, 2004). "Interview: The Cast of Dawn of the Dead". IGN . Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Zack Snyder et al. (2004). Surviving the Dawn (featurette). Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
  11. 1 2 3 Jake Weber (actor) (2017). Punk, Rock & Zombie: Jake Weber Talks Dawn of the Dead (featurette). Shout! Factory.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rechtshaffen, Michael (March 19, 2004). "Dawn of the Dead". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 10, 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Berardinelli, James. "Dawn of the Dead (2004)". ReelViews. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  14. 1 2 Ty Burrell (actor) (2017). Take a Chance on Me: Ty Burrell Talks Dawn of the Dead (featurette). Shout! Factory.
  15. 1 2 3 Lipsett, Joe (March 19, 2019). "[Remake Fever] Zack Snyder and James Gunn's 'Dawn Of The Dead' Turns 15". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  16. 1 2 Meyer, Joshua (March 19, 2019). "'Dawn of the Dead' at 15: Zack Snyder's Best Film is the One With Zombies, Not Superheroes". /Film . Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  17. 1 2 3 Saavedra, John (March 25, 2016). "Why Dawn of the Dead Is Zack Snyder's Masterpiece". Den Of Geek. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  18. Kennedy, Michael (January 23, 2020). "Dawn of the Dead 2004's Odd Casting Connection to Wrong Turn". Screen Rant. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 James Gunn (screenwriter) (2017). Gunn for Hire: Reimagining Dawn of the Dead (featurette). Shout! Factory.
  20. Richard P. Rubinstein (producer). Dawn of the Dead: Ultimate Edition (Disc 2: Extended Version) (audio commentary). Starz/Anchor Bay.
  21. 1 2 Otto, Jeff (May 21, 2012). "An Interview with Writer James Gunn". IGN . Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 David LeRoy Anderson, Heather Langenkamp (special makeup effects artist) (2017). Killing Time at the Mall: The Special Effects of Dawn of the Dead (featurette). Shout! Factory.
  23. Zack Snyder (director), Eric Newman (producer) (2004). Dawn of the Dead Unrated Director's Cut (audio commentary). Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
  24. ( Anderson 2004 ): Event occurs at 0:45—1:06.
  25. David LeRoy Anderson (special makeup effects artist) (2004). Splitting Headaches: Anatomy of Exploding Heads (featurette). Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
  26. ( Anderson 2004 ): Event occurs at 4:25—4:41.
  27. ( Anderson 2004 ): Event occurs at 4:42—5:41.
  28. ( Anderson 2004 ): Event occurs at 5:41—5:47.
  29. 1 2 3 Frazer, Bryant (May 2004). "Envisioning the New Zombie Apocalypse" (PDF). Film & Video Magazine. PBI Media, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  30. Gibson, Jon M. (June 1, 2004). "The Dark Genius of Kyle Cooper". Wired . Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  31. 1 2 3 Edward, Douglas (August 16, 2007). "Exclusive: Tyler Bates Interview!". ComingSoon.net . Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  32. Rodriguez, Cain (October 4, 2012). "Tyler Bates Score For Zack Snyder's 'Dawn Of The Dead' Finally Getting A Release". IndieWire . Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  33. Seibold, Witney (November 13, 2023). "Zack Snyder Had To Fight The Studio For Dawn Of The Dead's Best Needle Drop". /Film. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Foundas, Scott (March 18, 2004). "Dawn of the Dead". Variety. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  35. 1 2 Karger, Dave (March 19, 2004). "Dawn of the Dead will ascend over Passion". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  36. 1 2 Karger, Dave (March 20, 2004). "Dawn of the Dead is weekend's biggest grosser". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  37. 1 2 DiOrio, Carl (March 21, 2004). "U's 'Dead' reckoning". Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  38. Snyder, Gabriel (February 1, 2004). "Inside Move: Bring out your 'Dead'". Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  39. "Official Selection 2004: All the Selection". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016.
  40. "Dawn of the Dead". Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. March 8, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  41. Zack Snyder (director) (2004). Introduction to the Director's Cut by Zack Snyder (featurette). Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
  42. "Dawn of the Dead (2004) – Releases". AllMovie . Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  43. Squires, John (September 20, 2017). "Scream Factory Fully Details 'Land of the Dead' and 'Dawn of the Dead' Blu-rays". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  44. Squires, John (November 1, 2022). "Zack Snyder and James Gunn's 'Dawn of the Dead' Shambling Onto 4K Ultra HD in January". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  45. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schwarzbaum, Lisa (March 18, 2024). "Dawn of the Dead". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  46. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilmington, Michael (March 19, 2004). "'Dawn's' zombies, filmmakers both could use some brains". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  47. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gingold, Michael (March 18, 2019). "Review: DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)". Fangoria . Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  48. 1 2 3 4 Pierce, Nev (March 25, 2004). "Dawn Of The Dead (2004)". BBC News Online . Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  49. 1 2 Cotter, Padraig (March 21, 2021). "Dawn of the Dead Is Zack Snyder's Best Movie". Screen Rant . Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  50. 1 2 3 4 Dargis, Manohla (March 19, 2004). "'Dawn of the Dead' rises to the occasion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  51. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ebert, Roger (March 19, 2004). "Dawn of the Dead". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  52. 1 2 Thomas, William (January 2000). "Dawn Of The Dead Review". Empire. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  53. 1 2 Thomson, Desson (March 19, 2004). "'Dawn of the Dead' Resurrects a Classic". Washington Post . Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  54. Malcolm, Derek (March 26, 2004). "Dawn of the Dead". The Guardian. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  55. 1 2 3 4 Morris, Wesley (March 19, 2004). "There's nothing fresh in this 'Dead' remake". Boston Globe . Archived from the original on April 6, 2004. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  56. 1 2 Mitchell, Elvis (March 19, 2004). "FILM REVIEW; A Cautionary Tale for Those Dying to Shop". The New York Times . Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  57. "Dawn of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved May 28, 2022. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  58. Vo, Alex. "All Zack Snyder Movies Ranked by Tomatomater". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  59. "Dawn of the Dead". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  60. "Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search". CinemaScore . Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  61. Walter, Ben (September 8, 2005). "Simon Pegg interviews George A Romero". Archived from the original on February 17, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  62. Ehrlich, David (November 15, 2017). "Zack Snyder Movies Ranked from Worst to Best". IndieWire . Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  63. Earl, William (May 21, 2021). "Zack Snyder's Films Ranked, From 'Dawn of the Dead' to Superhero Epics to 'Army of the Dead'". Variety. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  64. Mancuso, Vinnie (May 20, 2021). "Why 'Dawn of the Dead' Is Still Zack Snyder's Best Movie". Collider . Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  65. Travers, Peter (October 12, 2012). "The 10 Best Zombie Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  66. Travis, Ben (June 18, 2020). "The 20 Best Zombie Movies". Empire. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  67. Collider staff (May 20, 2021). "The 22 Best Zombie Movies of All Time". Collider. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  68. IndieWire staff (October 31, 2022). "The Best Zombie Movies Ever Made". IndieWire. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  69. Chernov, Matthew (March 28, 2023). "The Best Zombie Movies of All Time". Variety. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  70. Barton, Steve (January 1, 2010). "Dread Central's Best Horror Films of the Decade". Dread Central. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  71. Bloody Disgusting Staff (December 17, 2009). "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade...Part 3". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
  72. "100 Best Horror Movies". IGN. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  73. Rolling Stone staff (October 27, 2020). "65 Greatest Horror Movies of the 21st Century". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  74. Rotten Tomatoes staff (April 9, 2018). "The 20 Scariest Opening Scenes in Horror Movie History, Ranked". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  75. Rotten Tomatoes staff. "The 25 Best Horror Remakes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  76. Rotten Tomatoes staff. "The 30 Essential Zombie Movies to Watch". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  77. Giles, Jeff (October 13, 2015). "18 Memorable Horror Remakes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  78. Newby, Richard (June 29, 2018). "How '28 Days Later' Changed the Horror Genre". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  79. Squires, John (June 20, 2018). "5 Horror Movie Remakes Stephen King Has Praised Over the Years". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  80. Parker, Trey; Stone, Matt (March 2008). South Park: The Complete Eleventh Season: "Night of the Living Homeless" (Audio commentary) (DVD Disc). Paramount Home Entertainment.
  81. Kohn, Eric (August 21, 2021). "How Zack Snyder's 'Dawn of the Dead' Remake Inspired Korea's Massive Zombie Franchise". IndieWire . Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  82. "2004 Bram Stoker Award Nominees & Winners". The Bram Stoker Awards. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  83. Kay, Jeremy (May 27, 2004). "Stepford Wives scoops two Golden Trailer awards". Screen Daily . Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  84. "Nominations Announced for 5th Annual Golden Trailer Awards". Creative Planet Network. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  85. "The 31st Annual Saturn Awards Nominations". Archived from the original on October 29, 2005. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  86. ""Spider-man 2" Big Winner at the 31st Annual Saturn Awards". Archived from the original on July 25, 2005. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  87. McClintock, Pamela (March 25, 2007). "Warner, Snyders enlist in new 'Army'". Variety. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  88. Colbert, Stephen (April 20, 2021). "Army of the Dead: Zack Snyder Set Visit Interview". Screen Rant . Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  89. Douglas, Edward (November 21, 2007). "EXCL: Joby Harold on Army of the Dead". ComingSoon.net . Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  90. Gilchrist, Todd (October 4, 2011). "'The Thing' Director Matthijs Van Heijningen Jr. May Return To Zack Snyder's 'Army Of The Dead'". The Playlist. Archived from the original on May 23, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  91. Kit, Borys (January 29, 2021). "Zack Snyder Returning to Movies With Zombie Action Pic 'Army of the Dead' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  92. Galuppo, Mia (July 15, 2019). "Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead' Rounds Out Cast With Omari Hardwick, Chris D'Elia". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  93. Rubin, Rebecca (May 4, 2021). "Netflix Will Actually Release Zack Snyder's Zombie Thriller 'Army of the Dead' in a Lot of Movie Theaters". Variety. Retrieved June 8, 2021.

Cited works