100 Scariest Movie Moments: #39 Dawn of the Dead

(Author’s note: Dawn of the Dead as a parody of consumerism has been so thoroughly discussed that I decided it was better to simply not bother with it. There have literally been college courses taught on this premise, and I have nothing new to say on it.)

George Romero has said that the social commentary in Night of the Living Dead was accidental, but once he realized what he’d done, he had to continue it for the remainder of the Dead series. I think most people would agree that, at the minimum, he’d overplayed his hand by the fourth film, Diary of the Dead, and simply become too blatant. However, the second film, Dawn of the Dead, is an undisputed masterpiece.

To really set this movie apart from Night, Romero set up a group of protagonists who could be far more effective than the everyman heroes of the previous film. Peter (Ken Foree) and Roger (Scott Reiniger) were both SWAT team members, while Stephen (David Emge) is a helicopter pilot for a local news station who allows them greater mobility (limited by the helicopter’s fuel). The final member of the main cast is Francine (Gaylen Ross), another staff member from the news station who, while initially lacking any notable skills, is quick to learn both the use of guns, and how to fly the helicopter.

The movie uses these abilities to underscore one point: The zombies are of absolutely no threat, as long as the protagonists work together and remain rational. The protagonists are able to fortify themselves and acquire guns. Under no circumstances could the zombies out think them. Only recklessness, and human stupidity could possibly allow the zombies to overcome these heavily armed and fortified individuals... but fortunately, humans have such stupidity in spades.

Roger gets stupid roughly halfway through the movie due to his own personal arrogance. As a result, he is bitten. This feels quite natural. He’s not a machine, and he’d eventually ceased to see the zombies as a serious threat as they’d failed to kill any of the main characters up to that point. Even after he’s bitten, Roger continues to believe against all reason that he can fight through the transformation into a zombie. Peter’s eventual decision to kill him leaves us creepily uncertain of whether or not his boast was legitimate. He shoots him just as his skin turns gray and he begins to growl, but before he’s able to show any signs of aggression.

So, we trust each other until someone becomes a burden? If so, then why should we ever trust anyone at all, if they’ll inevitably turn on us when we need them the most? The movie rubs our face in this paradox. The characters can only survive by working together, but what reason do they have to work together if their cooperation is dependent on their value to the group? Romero doesn’t even pretend that there’s an easy answer to this. Instead, he shows us rationality balanced against empathy in a sadistic tango.

The remaining three are then confronted by a group of bikers who storm the mall, allowing the zombies to enter. This section of the film reminds me of the controversy during Hurricane Katrina when the media reported a white couple as “finding” food at a local grocery store, while a black individual was “looting.” While the race issues aren’t present, there seems to be an element of stereotyping, and arguably of class. The bikers storm into the mall and begin taking things. This is literally no different from what the protagonists have been doing for most of the film and Peter wants to simply let them pass. The mall still has plenty of defensible positions, and the bikers’ raid will matter little if they remain smart and avoid the zombies. However, Stephen insists that the mall is “ours,” and forces a gunfight with the bikers, resulting in needless bloodshed and his own death.

The movie was originally supposed to end with Peter and Francine committing suicide, realizing that human survival in this world was simply impossible. Romero decided that he liked the characters too much, and so they flew away with what little fuel was left in the helicopter to an unknown fate. This is another point of contention among fans, but I feel the ending works. Human life is to be savored, even if it’s likely to be fleeting.

This is a movie to be seen. It’s best watched as a follow-up to Night, as the two movies together allow you to observe the escalation. We start with a mob in one film, which escalates into an army in the second. The quality of the later movies in the Dead series can be debated, but no film buff’s experience is complete without those two.