Subscribe
Share
Dawn of the Dead • The Next Reel
"They’re after the place. They don’t know why, they just remember – remember that they want to be in here."
It took George A. Romero 10 years to get back to the world of zombies that he’d created in 1968, and largely that was because he wasn’t that interested to return initially. It took a tour of a new local shopping mall and a call from Dario Argento to push him in the right direction. With his interest renewed, Romero and team went on to make one of the seminal zombie films – one that dealt with themes of the time and was riddled with fantastic makeup effects created by Tom Savini. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our Dead trilogy series with Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead.
We look at the themes Romero is tackling in this film and how those, paired with the story, allow for a wonderfully unique, funny and campy horror film. We talk about Savini and some of the amazing effects he achieved here. We discuss how the film came to be and why the word ‘living’ was not in the title. And we touch on the library tracks that fill the film and how Argento’s international cuts replaced much of it with score provided by Goblin.
It’s a wild ride of a film and we have a great time talking about it. Definitely give it a watch – but be forewarned that the gore factor is high with this one. After that, check out this week’s show! The Next Reel – when the movie ends, our conversation begins.
Join the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel!
Film Sundries
Thank you for supporting The Next Reel Film Podcast on Patreon!
- Watch this film: Amazon• [Hulu][hulu] • YouTube
- Script Transcript
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
- Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements
- The Film Board
- Movies We Like
- Sitting in the Dark
- You can buy our movie-related apparel, stickers, mugs and more from our MERCH PAGE.
- Or buy or rent movies we’ve discussed on the show from our WATCH PAGE.
- Or buy books, plays, etc. that was the source for movies we’ve discussed on the show from our ORIGINALS PAGE.
- Or renew or sign up for a Letterboxd Pro or Patron account with our LETTERBOXD MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNT.
- Or sign up for AUDIBLE.
Chapters
- This Is The Next Reel: Dawn of the Dead
- A little context
- We begin on the news
- Don't worry. The Police have everything under control.
- Gore v Story
- Questions of convention
- Cast Size and Story
- Romero's original ending
- Bikers
- Effects
- Savini
- Getting it made
- Awards
- Andy runs the numbers
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
- Coming Attractions
- Amazon giveth...