Review for Dawn of the Dead

If you are a fan of George A. Romero or of horror/zombie films in general this is an amazing set and if you are a fan of Dawn of the Dead you will be even more amazed by just what is on offer here. This three Blu-Ray disk set covers over eleven hours of material which includes not just a multitude of documentaries and featurettes, but three versions of the film itself.

Dawn of the Dead is a simple story because they simply don't go into its back story. For some reason a plague has hit America that is causing undead zombies to walk the Earth and seek out human flesh. It is not explained how this happened or where it started, but the story follows two SWAT officers, a helicopter pilot and his girlfriend as they escape the plague and find refuge in a shopping mall. The depiction of the zombies can be seen as a little farcical at times, but I believe this adds to their horror. Rather than the quick and agile killers of 28 Days Later or the Zack Snyder 2004 remake, but they stagger around are not very coordinated and can easily be eluded only really becoming a threat if they have you surrounded.

The film itself is seen as a dark comedy, rather than a horror and it shows with the work of make-up artist Tom Savini. What is more amazing about what he was able to achieve is the fact that this was his first movie. Sure, the blood effects look terribly fake and it's hardly likely that you will be convinced that this is all real, but then is that what movies are supposed to do? I like the fact that rather than going all gruesome and gory like Halloween or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this film draws the fine line between scary and funny that very few films can achieve. What makes the film so special is this humour and though you will never be able to eat while you watch this film (not with scenes of zombies eating flesh) it's certainly not the kind of film that will make you go to sleep with the lights on or make you feel sick.

The extras on offer are amazing with each of the three disks accompanied by some extra features. Each disk also includes a version of the film the Theatrical cut, Director's and the International Argento cut. The differences in the version are slight with really the only difference being the pacing of the films with the Director's cut clocking in at almost ten minutes longer than the Theatrical cut and the Argento cut being ten minutes shorter. The only real difference between them is the extent of violence or gore between them.

The wealth of extras is something that all 'special edition' creators should take note of. In 2009 including two featurettes and a blooper reel does not make a 'special edition'. This set gives us two commentaries, four full-length documentaries including one solely on Tom Savini, almost every TV, Radio spot and Film trailer in the publicity vault. Unlike other films that seem to be re-released every five years with one extra feature, the only way they could top this is if they included George A. Romero in the box.

Dawn of the Dead on Blu-Ray is the standard to which all Blu-Ray 'Special Editions' should be measured. The film itself is a classic of the horror, zombie or indeed of any genre. Even thirty years on it is still able to make me laugh and cringe at the same time and that is no easy feat. Those of you who only know this film from the remake need to make a rediscovery of one of the greatest horror films of all time.