Dawn of the Dead

The original Dawn of the Dead begins with a thrilling scene. The military is exterminating the walking dead, and despite all of their machine guns and grit, the sheer numbers of the dead are overpowering them. This scene serves as a precursor to what actually occurs in the film, which is that a group of people gather within a shopping mall, barricade the doors, and live there to escape the evil. Unlike George A. Romero's first zombie flick: Night of the Living Dead, this film has a sense of humor and fun. For a long while, it is. The scenes in the mall are fun, the killings are fun, and the idea that the zombie have flocked to the shopping mall because they remember 'shopping sprees' in marginally amusing. The whole first hour and a half is great fun. And then...the film enters into the territory that all zombie films must inevitably arrive at: sadism, stupidity, and predictability. Sadism: characters we like are eaten from their stomachs to their spinal chords. Stupidity: the characters act in stupid ways and do stupid things. Predictability: one person will escape, the rest are the zombie's midnight snack. What a shame that they all have to end the same way. Why can't someone come up with a way to end a zombie picture on a different note? It's frankly depressing how these films end. That being said, the film is entertaining and (for a while) exceptionally fun.
Dawn of the Dead: ✰✰✰