BRAIN BITES

 DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)  USA/Canada/Japan/France 1hr 41mins Director: Zack Snyder "What are they?" - Michael "I dunno... why are they coming here?"- Anna "Memory, maybe ... instinct? Maybe they're coming for us." - Kenneth Taking on the remake of a movie that has been revered for many decades by zombie fans and classic horror fans alike is not something just anyone can pull off. George A. Romeros DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) has three main versions that fans are familiar with; the theatrical cut, the extended Cannes film festival cut and Dario Argentos cut ZOMBI. The ideas and values that Romero brought to the genre have been copied a million times over but no one directly made a remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD until 2004. Producers Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are the people responsible for "re-evisioning" DAWN for a modern audience. Between them they put together a team which included James Gunn to write the screenplay and Zack Snyder to direct. At

 Film Review: DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) - The Argento Cut (ZOMBI) Daniel Phillips  “When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.” A cut specifically for the European market (apart from the UK) handled expertly – by ‘Maestro’ Dario Argento, famed for his direct but oftentimes over-complicated tracking shots, plus a plethora of fantastic Giallo, horror and thriller movies throughout the 1970’s to the present day! This cut of the movie can be described in this brief summation – near unbearable tension throughout, a work of zombie film-making genius. With its blend of horror, tension, and action DAWN OF THE DEAD stands on its own as the only true Zombie epic of all time.  “It was a beautiful relationship built on mutual respect and the final film is a classic.”  George A. Romero and Argento spent some time in Rome working together on the screenplay after an initial meeting in New York, as Argento had expressed great interest in seeing this sequel to a movie he considered

  THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVING ‘DAWN’ Steven West “Instinct…memory…what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives…” For horror fans – or, indeed, movie fans – of a certain age and disposition, George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead has long held an important place in their lives. It doesn’t matter which version – the longest “Cannes Cut”, the more action-driven “Argento Cut” or Romero’s preferred U.S. theatrical version – because, in any form, it’s something to which we return out of instinct, (fond) memory and with (in theory) an older, wiser perspective on something we have appreciated at different life stages. It was once the subject of washed-out, censored, “Video Nasty”-era VHS tapes that were still thrilling because it’s all we had. Or late-night BBC showings that were snuck under the radar when Mary Whitehouse (of the Dead) wasn’t looking and were censored differently, possibly just for shits and giggles. It was the subject of much playground banter amongst those who