DVD Review: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.

Having missed it at the cinema, I was very keen to see Zack Snyder's remake of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. The DVD version didn't disappoint; a well-paced feature and some good extras.

(Continues...)

I'm not going to spoil it by giving away how the plot unfolds. Suffice to say that Dawn of the Dead kicks off the action early and keeps things rocking along until the end.

The make-up work on all three stages of zombies was convincing, as was the sound design (not that many would know what a screaming zombie would actually sound like). What really got me, though, were the Muzak cues in the mall; "All Out Of Love", "What The World Needs Now Is Love", "All By Myself" and "Don't Worry, Be Happy" were wonderfully subtle and perfectly timed.

The extras were a little disappointing; the video and the news pieces looked too clean & didn't sit too well being watched right after the feature. The special effects docos were really interesting though. I didn't get a chance to watch the feature a second time with the commentary.

This DVD might not be worth a purchase if you're not a horror fan, but it's definately worth renting, especially if it's a cold stormy night outside. I doubt I'll buy it, but it's convinced me to rent Romero's original trilogy in a few weeks (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead) and get my undead freak on.