Dawn Of The Dead - George A. Romero
Dawn of the dead is a quality film set in Monroeville Mall Pittsburg. It was filmed in 1978 and directed by George A. Romero. There are now numerous different cuts which contain extra minutes of footage than the original version. This page aims to outline all the aspects of the different cuts of Dawn of the dead.
Hailed as one of the best horror films ever made Dawn of the dead has gained a cult following all around the world. Romero's films created a new genre within horror, this genre quickly became known as Zombie. After the success of Romero's first film, Night of the living dead and then Dawn of the dead hundreds of copies were spawned. However none of these cheap immitations ever came close to the perfection that is Dawn of the dead. Films such as the Living dead series and the Evil dead series tried to add an element of comedy into the Zombie genre but in my opinion sadly failed.
Other leading Zombie Film directors who claim to be as good as Romero are sadly inferior. Examples of such failed Zombie film directors are J.R Bookwater who produced the ridiculously poor The Dead next door. After Romero's successful Dawn of the dead he decided to make the sequel , Day of the dead. Day of the dead was probably more violent and action packed than Dawn but somehow lacked the qualities which made Dawn so likeable. There is now speculation about a fourth Zombie film to be added to Romero's trilogy, 'Zombie 2000' is rumoured to be in the pipelines.
Dawn of the dead is George A. Romero's nightmare vision of a world populated by flesh-eating zombies and four individuals struggling for survival. The movies four protagonists segregate themselves in a huge shopping mall miles from civilisation, which is unfortunately teeming with Zombies. The four manage to live in a small storage room which is only seperated from the zombie filled mall by a few winding corridors and some stairs. The store room contains enough food to sustain them for months, but soon they begin to get curious, curious of what things lie below them in the huge out of town mall which is the setting for this epic adventure.
Soon they venture down into the mall, and what follows is the events which occur in the mall whilst moving from shop to shop to fulfil their needs. After a while the characters seal the entrance to the mall and kill all of the zombies inside using guns from a shooting store. Once the zombies are safely locked away in a room the four decide to enjoy themselves in the Mall and take advantage of its ample facilities.
However something goes wrong....whilst blocking the doors to the mall, Roger, one of the four hero's is bitten by a zombie and gradually is transformed into a living dead creature. Still morning his death the three sad souls hear on the C.B a group of Hells Angels planning an attack on the mall. What follows, in an extraordinary battle sequence is the fight to protect the mall from a professional army, who have been living on the road all though this crisis.
During this struggle for power another of the four hero's is devoured by the zombies as the Hells angels are leaving in defeat. However now the mall is filled with zombies and they are lead up to the once secret apartment of the humans by Stephen, who is now a zombie but was one of the original four who can still remember that he lived there. One of the two remaining survivers decides that life isnt worth living in a world inhabited by zombies, he sends the final surviver into a helicoptor on the roof and orders her to take off. As the zombies close in he decides to kill himself and then suddenly at the last minute he changes his mind. In an epic escape sequence he escapes the clutches of the zombies and manages to grab onto the helicoptor as it takes off into the night sky. With very little fuel they leave the top of the mall which is crawling with zombies and venture on into the unknown looking for another safe haven...
There is some confusion around the fact that Dawn Of The Dead directors cut was on UK television on BBC 2 in mid 1997. The actual facts are that yes a version was shown on BBC 2, and yes it claimed to be the directors cut but it actually wasnt. It was somewhere inbetween being a directors cut and a foreign cut. What I mean is that it lasted 2 hours 17 minutes which is longer than most cuts but also signifcantly shorter than the UK directors cut which is listed as 2 hours 20 minutes but actually runs for around 2 hours 21 minutes. Various scenes were cut from this version which I will confirm here soon (after Ive watched it a few times!). Interestingly this version did have it's good side because it included a FULL interview with Romero about Dawn of the dead and also his plans for new zombies films (nothing certain), but the bit which I found most strange was at the very end of the credits when the bell rings out, there was actually a small animated logo which formed the famous dawn of the dead logo (white zombie with blood on its face above the words dawn of the dead, very poor graphics!) and the zombie had a flashing head to match the bell rings. It may sound comical but I think that this and the interview should have been included on the UK directors cut! I actually dont have all of the interview so if you taped this BBC 2 version and have the full thing then please eMail me because I'd like a copy ;))). Overall I think it was good that Dawn was on UK TV without being heavily cut and I cant belive they got a full exclusive interview with him and extra animated logos! On the downside it was not as full as the UK directors cut.. and lets face it when it comes down to hard core Dawn fans 3 minutes is a L-o-n-g time to be cut! But hey Im glad because I didnt want just anyone to have the full directors cut! ;-)))
There are a few 'hidden' things in Dawn, the first one which should make fans happy is that in the television studio at the start both Romero and his wife can be seen arguing over lists of rescue centers. Also in the directors cut there is a scene where Fran and Stephen are confronted by some policemen who are trying to stop them stealing the helicopter, one of the policmen here is none other than Captain Rhodes from day of the dead, although in most cuts this scene isnt available and Rhodes was only briefly seen in the background. He was of course dissapointed at his part being cut from the film. Another bit which I find funny is when the 2nd police man keeps asking for cigarettes and nobody will give him any, in the directors cut this bit goes on unneccesarily long and he goes on to say things like 'we need cigarettes' & 'can we stop and get some cigarettes'. Im not sure what the significance of him saying this is but maybe it is to show that through all this mayhem people are still addcited to things or still cant do without their luxuries. Then to highlight the 'cigarette' obsession again they all pullout cigarettes and start smoking them as soon as the helicopter takes off, Peter looks around and just laughs (exactly as the viewers did!).
Im not sure about anyone else but Peter is my favourite character, firstly he is the usual 'hard black man' who Romero cant do without, evidence of this is in Night of the living dead 68/90 & Day of the dead when the hero's of both films were also tough, cool black guys (although to my amazment the black man got killed in Night of the living dead, I dont know why they couldnt just say he survived!). Since then Ken Foree has become my favourite actor because he's so cool, calm and always the hero! Most famous or humerous quotes in Dawn came from Peter, For example 'When there is no more room in HELL the dead will walk the EARTH', 'Alright, Alright, Alright, Alright, Alright!', 'Come on, come on, Come on, Come on!', 'Mange!', 'Money Money Money...' and many more! I consider him to be the only TRUE survivor because although Fran also survived, she wasnt in on the action like the other 2. Peter was in the action and protecting himself and Stephen during the Raid and still managed to get out without a single scratch! If he had commited suicide it would have been a tradgedy, or worse still if hew had been bitten whilst making his dramatic escape attempt at the end. Peter Washington (Ken Foree) is a Level headed, no nonsense S.W.A.T. officer, Peter Washington escaped with fellow officer Roger DeMarco when it was clear that things were falling apart in the world around. His quick thinking and concise approach, not to mention his sheer size and strength enabled him to help the on-the-run band hold together. Peter left behind a couple of brothers, but it is not known if he was married or not. Hobbies include: carpentry, cooking, hunting rifles and performing abortions.
One thing Im not sure about though is whether or not Day of the dead is a proper sequel, are these people meant to be the same people who escape in a helicopter at the end of Dawn, or are they meant to be another group of people who also coincidentally escaped in a helicopter? (Maybe helicopter was the only way to stay alive, anyway Im not sure about this so email me if you have any theories). Also at the end of Day of the dead what actually happens? As the woman is getting into the helicopter she is grabbed and then suddenly awakes on the beach, does this mean the whole film was a dream or do you have to assume that they killed that zombie which attacked her and then flew to that island? If this is the case why didnt they simply film that scene where the zombie was killed and they made it to the island, it would have only taken a few minutes! (Email me if you have theories on this too!). Similarly is Dawn a TRUE sequel to Night or not, Is Dawn meant to be happening a few weeks after night occurs or not? One of my theories is that they are all happening during roughly the same time but follow completely different people unaware of each others existance. For instance, Night is the beginning of the zombie plague when they are still fresh and can run around and things. Then a few weeks later Dawn is near the middle of the Zombie plague where they are in the first stages of Zombiefication, ie, they are half human and half zombie, which explains why they still look human (sort of!) but walk around like zombies. Then Day of the dead is set a few months after Dawn, when the victims are now 100% Zombie (this explains why they look much more decayed than the dawn zombies) and are able to be more vicious and quick because they have adjusted to their new zombie body and are very hungry too (in Dawn food was plentiful whereas in Day food is very sparce).
There are many versions of Dawn of the dead, the directors cut is the best I have seen although if you are a TRUE fan you will no doubt collect all of the other versions which include a remastered version, the original version, a later release version (I call it the Classic Version) and the unusual Document of the dead which is the comprehensive making of Dawn of the dead. If you have information on any other releases then Id appreciate an eMail because I know that in USA there are several laserdisc versions and other ones which Id love to get my hands on. Various bits of memoribelia are also available such as posters, laserdiscs and cd's. If anyone knows where I can get the Dawn of the dead soundtrack on CD then please eMail me because I really want to buy it!
There is also an alternative ending to dawn which was never made and is what the director originally wanted. The ending involved the two final characters dieing, both commit suicide, one uses a gun and the other leaps into the spinning propellar of a helicopter (deliberately?) . During the end credits the helicopter can be seen with its propellar spinning round, then as the last credit rolls up the fuel runs out and the helicopter splutters to a stop. This tells us that even if they had not commited suicide they were still bound to die. Romero scrapped this ending because he 'liked the characters too much'. Although Romero is sure that they never shot this scene, Tom Savini is sure they did shoot it and it is lying around somewhere (right where's that map to Pittsburg!!). Im not sure what to believe because Romero would never forget something like that but then again Savini would never hallucinate something like that either! One Rumour was that the scene was lost in a warehouse flood incident. All I know for sure is that if anyone actually has that ending now, then it is worth a lot of money, Im sure millions of Dawn fans would pay thousands for the orginal ending to dawn in 16mm film format!!
Below is a table of all the versions of Dawn Of The Dead (That I know of) available on VHS video including the very excellent 'Document of the dead' which is a comprehensive documentry on the making of Dawn of the dead. They are not all available all over the world and I only have The Directors Cut, Classic and The Making. I am still looking for the Original version (email me if you know where I can buy it). If you are a fan of Dawn then it is worth having them because they all have different footage in them and varied boxes. If you simply want a good version of Dawn then buy the Directors Cut because it is the longest and most violent cut with all the footage in it, it also has a nice box and is available easily anywhere in the UK because it was only released a few weeks ago for �13.99. It is not remastered but is still good quality and very enjoyable. If you know of another version of Dawn or disagree with any of the information in my table then please email me by clicking on the counter. Click On the images for larger versions.
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I am also looking for any foreign cuts/versions of Dawn of the dead which are in english. For example the infamous Dario Agento Italian Cuts and the Japanese cuts which were never released in the UK or USA and included mosly new theme tunes. So if you have or know of versions of Dawn not mentioned on this page then can you please email me and tell me where I can buy them, and if at all possible email me a scan of its front cover. I am willing to goto the shops here in the UK and buy you the versions available provided you will do the same for me in your country, this way we will both get a new version of Dawn to add to our collections.
For ages now I have been searching for the Dawn CD theme tune by the Goblins and even for any information about the Goblins (They havent even got fan sites that I know of!) I am also looking for the USA remastered directors cut of Dawn as shown in the table above, infact its a two videotape set which includes the full director's cut and, on the second tape, all the promotional trailers for every country where the movie was released. I actually ordered it from Amazon online but then they told me they could not get a hold of it. This is a big shame because it actually has new bits in it that the UK Dawn directors cut hasnt. The UK Directors cut is cut in the following places :-
In the beginning where Wooley shoots a Project 107-resident so the head explodes.
The scene where the woman gets the skin of her arm bitten off by her dead husband
And finally the scene where Peter shoots the "zombie"-children is a few seconds shorter than the Us-Directors cut.
There is another bit which Im sure is missing from all UK cuts of Dawn, this is the bit where the zombie gets the top of its head chopped off by the helicopter blades. Yes the UK version has this bit in but Im sure it is cut short compared to other versions. My reason for thinking this is the screenshot top to the left. In my UK directors cut (140 minutes) we never actually see this exact shot, this must have been taken from a foreign version or something. If you know then guess what..eMail me and please tell me ;)))) Oh and one more point, when Stephen is loading up his gun in the care takers room is that a zombie we see stumbling around in the background? Because in my version of Dawn it is barely visible but I assume its the zombie which later attacks him. Also in that scene I find it very unrealistic the way the bullets he fires bounce from pipe to pipe making that unconvincing noise whilst the camera follows the bullets path. Also in
this scene I always wonder why Stephen takes such a long time over each pull of the trigger when the zombie is leering over him. If he knows that he has put a bullet in the 6th chamber (?) of the gun why doesnt he push the trigger 5 times quickly to get to the right one. For the first few times of watching Dawn I thought that when the zombie was shot in the head and killed it was not stephens bullet, Im not sure why but I was confused :D. Obviously it must be because there is no one else present.
Changing the subject slighty I would like all Dawn fans to know that there is actually a Dawn of the dead computer game! Now dont get too excited because it is for the Amiga not the PC (Amiga is that old system which was much better than todays PC's). It is aptly named 'Dawn of the deader' and its an RPG with Dawn sounds and graphics and is by Gareth Murfin (yes thats me!), it is infact a very good game which is as scarey as Dawn! If you want information about it or if you own an Amiga and want it then eMail me.
Another game which Im currently working on for the Amiga (yes Im an Amiga programmer :P) is
Gloom 3 - Zombie Edition. Although the consumers probably dont know this, Gloom 3 is heavily based on Dawn. It is a Doom game in which you have to fight through various Zombie infested stages (and yes one is a Mall! ;)) aswell as another being underground tunnels as in Day). The graphics are beautiful and the sound crisp but best of all is the feeling of playing the role of the characters in Dawn of the dead and blasting loads of zombies to pieces with your gun! Its very violent and huge amounts of blood spurt out from the zombies as you shoot them.
There are also various hidden things in the game devoted to Dawn of the dead (ie, a rotating 3D Romero's head! and an actual character based on Bub from Day of the dead aswell as some digitalised zombies from night of the living dead 68!). The entire idea and concept of Gloom 3 stems from the fact that Dawn of the dead is my favorite film and I watch it often.
Amiga Zombie Games By Gareth Murfin| Demo of Gloom 3 Zombie Edition - Commercial Doom clone | Dawn of the deader - Quality text RPG with GFX & SFX | ||
As with all films Dawn has continuity errors, Im only aware of a few but I think the most major one is the way the blood on Rogers face in the truck disappears when the camera flashes to peter and then back again, or was it invisible ink ;P Can you think of anymore?
Monroeville Mall - Dawn Of The Dead Set
One of the main reasons I love Dawn so much is because of its setting, I love films which are all set in one place (like BreakFast club). The Mall is located in Pensylvania and is still a popular mall today, although many of the shoppers probably dont know it was the set for the best film ever! It first opened in 1969 and has over 150 shops covering 1.3 million square feet, this makes it one of the nation's largest indoor shopping centers.
One day in the early 70's Romero was touring the mall when one of managers happened to mention that there was a proper civil defence bomb shelter in the mall and lots of linking passage ways. This was apparently stocked with food and put there in case of disaster. I cant understand how a little room full of food would help in disaster, and if it was a bomb shelter then why did it have a fragile glass roof, but nevermind. It was this information combined with the expressionless faces of the shoppers which lead Romero into thinking that this could be the ideal setting for his next Zombie Film!
Like all malls the Monroeville Mall has changed alot since 1979, most noticeably the clock tower is gone, the ice rink has been replaced by a food pavillion and the fountains spend most of their time covered up during holidays and important occasions (an eyesore maybe??). In the mid 80's the Penny's logo was changed to a more modern one and the escalator where Roger slid down has had metal spikes put on it to prevent people from re-enacting parts of the film, no doubt everyday people re-enact parts of the film in the Mall. One of my ambitions now is to visit this Mall and get my blood pressue taken in that famous machine (or a similar one if it isnt there) and maybe even goto the sweet shop and pick up a whole bag of chocolate peanuts and say 'Mange!', I have already done this in a big mall in Germany which bore a good resembilence to the monroeville mall. I might also goto the bank and hold some cash up to the camera and say 'Money, Money, Money' :). But whatever happens I want to goto that Mall before it is completely changed/destroyed.
I have also heard that the parking lot behind the mall where the trucks came down the hill and from where the bikers launched their raid on the mall is a must-see for any visiting Dawn enthusiast. I also know that the foilage where they buried Roger on the lower level with the little bridge is still there. No matter what changes occur to the mall over time I'm sure that it will still be easily recognisable simply because of its main layout and 'shell'. if youve visited the mall and have a tale to tell then please email me.
The Mall is fairly easy to get to: Fly to the Pittsburgh International airport and from there take a shuttle bus to the Radison hotel, located in the Mall's parking lot. The bus ride is about 35 minutes long. below is a table of information which you may find useful if you're planning a trip to the Monroeville Mall.
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Ive had a few people eMailing me and asking me to swap/sell them zombie films etc. So I decided to put up a list of my zombie films which Im willing to swap away for alternative versions of Dawn. I am going to offer my collection of original zombie films for original versions of Dawn of the dead which I havent got, I have a few copies of some of my versions of Dawn which I won in competitions etc so Im also willing to trade the duplicates. So if you have a version of Dawn which I havent got and would like to swap it for one of the videos in the list below eMail me (by clicking on the counter) and we'll arrange something. All versions of Dawn wanted in any VHS format! Zombie films Im willing to trade in my quest for more versions of Dawn :-
| Zombie Flesh Eaters - Banned UnCut version - Vipco New 1992 release - 85 Mins |
| Return of the Living Dead 68.- Colour Version - 4 Front Video 1994 - 96 Mins |
| The Dead next door - UnCut Version - Star Video - 100 mins |
| Document of the Dead - Making of Dawn - 4 Front Video 1994 - 90 Mins |
| Dawn of the Dead - Directors Cut - BMG video 1997 - 140 mins |
| Dawn of the Dead - Classic Versions - EIV 1993 - 120 Mins |
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