Film Review Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Film Review

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Director- Zack Snyder

Brief plot outlook
A nurse, a police man, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that producing aggressive, flesh eating zombies, that refuge in a mega mid-western shopping mall.

Which scenes impressed you most? Why?
I enjoyed the ending of the last survivors getting on the boat and the male hero (Michael) stays behind but the aftermath turns out the quick zombies were everywhere and they managed to get on the boat and kill everyone but doing this with restricted narration because the handheld camera they have on the boat is knocked to the ground so we don’t see them die but can hear it with the end credits on at the end of the film.

How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
Two features on the genre checklist I spotted in Dawn of the Dead (2004) were firstly themes, it shows in the film all three horror genre themes, first being violence and fear of death of family- Andre sees his wife Luda die whilst giving birth to a zombie baby and the daughter (female screaming victim & final girl) watching her father die and turn into a zombie. Secondly in themes you spot sex/taboo with Steve and Monica having sex before they die plus zombie baby comes out of Luda. Thirdly it’s set in a lonely and trapped location which is the empty shopping mall. Also it’s clear to see it follows the generic conventions.

Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer?
Trapped and loneliness of not getting out of the shopping mall or any location which is lonely, creepy and abandoned where you try to escape but hoe. Also male and female characters and representation of how each character plays in the film, you need a male hero, final girl, quick monsters (today’s market) because of the audience is expecting fast paste horrors rather than past film with slow monster characters, and it isn’t as scary as back then. Give the horror fans what they want!

Which aspects of the film would you like to avoid in your won trailer?
It would have to be the US conventions to a horror film for example the corny lines the characters say, it is vital my trailer appeals to the target audience. In my case for my own horror trailer it appeals to my fellow class members of 17-19 year old British people.

What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment in the film? Can you recreate this in your own film?
How all the characters and representations worked from the male hero to monsters. Plus how clear the narrative horror structure was of themes and editing with quick sequence of quick monsters/zombies creates excitement for example the opening scene with Ana (final girl) is attacked by her husband in the bedroom after he gets bitten by a child zombie. The quick sequence to create excitement of montage, when Ana runs outside to get in her car and is chased by her husband who is now a quick flesh eating monster/zombie.