Episode 7: Dawn of the Dead
Justin:
The quality of a movie, or even just it’s relative level of good-ness, is 100% subjective. We can agree, we can disagree, and hopefully we can end up agreeing to disagree. Or not. Feel free to @ me for this opinion: George A. Romero’s 1978 DAWN OF THE DEAD is… not… good. You can explain away some of the very dated sound/music choices or the cheap blood and gore used by simply pointing to its age and the fact that it was very low-budget. Completely agree. Valid argument. You still won’t sell me that what I just watched is a good movie. THAT BEING SAID, the cinematic value of a movie can be different than it’s perceived quality and is often showcased by pointing to what came after it because of it. 42 years later, zombies are still terrorizing our screens and it’s because of this movie, and Romero’s legacy as the godfather of zombie horror is entirely earned. You can very easily point to some of the best zombie-based work from the past even 20 years and Romero’s influence would be felt: The tremendous and criminally underrated 28 DAYS LATER, the very uneven, but ultimately super popular WALKING DEAD, and of course, the hilarious spoof, SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Each pulls from the past and holds Romero and his undead army up in the highest regard, working to just be placed in the same vicinity as the pedestal as he is on. Thanks to the efforts made by Romero, first in a rural farmhouse and then later in a shopping mall, this subgenre of zombie horror will probably never die, and even if it does, it’s still gonna come back for more, and you’re gonna have to go for the head.
