DAWN OF THE DEAD - EPISODE i OF THE BEST OF THE FEST MEETS THE BEAST FROM THE EAST
2018's Glasgow Film Festival experience didn't exactly go as planned. My film schedule set out by the wonderful people at the GFF was snowballed by the dreadful weather namely the Beast from the East.
The beginning of the week began well though with first pancake and myself taking in the iconic Dawn of the Dead at a secret location. To find the secret location we had to seek out clues while being pursued by a pack of blood curdling, moaning zombies (actors with tattered clothes and grotesque blood caked make up). Once we were over the initial silliness, which took about five minutes, we were immersed in a zombie epidemic in the city centre. We were whisked through a five kilometre treasure hunt seeking out letter after letter which formed the name of the local shopping centre where the film would be shown.
Along the way, first pancake, myself and a few of our other treasure hunters/zombie runners sought provisions and had to stop off in local watering holes for some essential liquids. Well you have to, don't you? If Edgar Wright's Worlds End taught us anything it was to make sure you were properly hydrated. This was topped up by the event organiser issuing each "survivor" with blood (Campari) filled syringes and a wee glass of beer just in time for Dawn of the Dead. So we sat down, in the shopping centre properly refreshed and took in a classic piece of cinema hosted by the innovative GFF18.
George Romero's Dawn of the Dead is what it is, a zombie movie that has dated drastically but is strangely watchable. It has all the great stuff that made up zombie flicks of the 1970's. Slow zombies (none of this 28 Day Later zombie undead sprinting nonsense), dreadful acting, a paper thin plot propped up by a bunch of special effects that punch well above their weight.
The film takes place mainly in the daylight and we are thrust into the middle of an undead outbreak. There is very little reasoning behind how the plague has turned people into soulless dead-ites but you don't need any reasoning. You know there are zombies and there are survivors. The survivors need to survive and the zombies need to eat flesh. For some convoluted reason or another the survivors congregate in a suburban shopping mall with a smattering of the undead in situ. Various set pieces pop up and silly life threatening decisions and consequences follow.
The film stars David Emge, Gaylen Ross, Scott H Reiniger and Ken Foree as the survivors. Each actor shows off what they need to for a 70s splatter flick. They moan (more so than the undead at times) and bicker in the most hammy way. Each of the survivors are emotionally flawed and have the worst qualities possible. So much so that I was rooting for the blue skinned, flesh eaters more than once.
The special effects are grotesquely on point. They are vile in the best possible sense of the word. Some effects are complimented with quick camera shots giving only glimpses of putrid pus, guts and gore leaving the imagination to do most of the leg work. Effects man and actor, Tom Savini (From Dusk til Dawn, Machete) and cinematographer Michael Gornick (Day of the Dead, Creepshow) combine their efforts expertly bringing maximum bang for very little buck.
Director George Romero works his low budget magic with what he has which, with time, has ebbed Dawn of the Dead into a cult classic. There are a lot of theories about what Dawn of the Dead is really about such as being Romero's sceptical take on commercialism in America but I'm taking this as how I first viewed it, a late 70's zombie flick with enough blood soaked innards that would have me coming back again and again. The Glasgow Film Festival never fails in its activity innovation and invention and will need to do some to outdo this in 2019.
The beginning of the week began well though with first pancake and myself taking in the iconic Dawn of the Dead at a secret location. To find the secret location we had to seek out clues while being pursued by a pack of blood curdling, moaning zombies (actors with tattered clothes and grotesque blood caked make up). Once we were over the initial silliness, which took about five minutes, we were immersed in a zombie epidemic in the city centre. We were whisked through a five kilometre treasure hunt seeking out letter after letter which formed the name of the local shopping centre where the film would be shown.
Along the way, first pancake, myself and a few of our other treasure hunters/zombie runners sought provisions and had to stop off in local watering holes for some essential liquids. Well you have to, don't you? If Edgar Wright's Worlds End taught us anything it was to make sure you were properly hydrated. This was topped up by the event organiser issuing each "survivor" with blood (Campari) filled syringes and a wee glass of beer just in time for Dawn of the Dead. So we sat down, in the shopping centre properly refreshed and took in a classic piece of cinema hosted by the innovative GFF18.
George Romero's Dawn of the Dead is what it is, a zombie movie that has dated drastically but is strangely watchable. It has all the great stuff that made up zombie flicks of the 1970's. Slow zombies (none of this 28 Day Later zombie undead sprinting nonsense), dreadful acting, a paper thin plot propped up by a bunch of special effects that punch well above their weight.
The film takes place mainly in the daylight and we are thrust into the middle of an undead outbreak. There is very little reasoning behind how the plague has turned people into soulless dead-ites but you don't need any reasoning. You know there are zombies and there are survivors. The survivors need to survive and the zombies need to eat flesh. For some convoluted reason or another the survivors congregate in a suburban shopping mall with a smattering of the undead in situ. Various set pieces pop up and silly life threatening decisions and consequences follow.
The film stars David Emge, Gaylen Ross, Scott H Reiniger and Ken Foree as the survivors. Each actor shows off what they need to for a 70s splatter flick. They moan (more so than the undead at times) and bicker in the most hammy way. Each of the survivors are emotionally flawed and have the worst qualities possible. So much so that I was rooting for the blue skinned, flesh eaters more than once.
The special effects are grotesquely on point. They are vile in the best possible sense of the word. Some effects are complimented with quick camera shots giving only glimpses of putrid pus, guts and gore leaving the imagination to do most of the leg work. Effects man and actor, Tom Savini (From Dusk til Dawn, Machete) and cinematographer Michael Gornick (Day of the Dead, Creepshow) combine their efforts expertly bringing maximum bang for very little buck.
Director George Romero works his low budget magic with what he has which, with time, has ebbed Dawn of the Dead into a cult classic. There are a lot of theories about what Dawn of the Dead is really about such as being Romero's sceptical take on commercialism in America but I'm taking this as how I first viewed it, a late 70's zombie flick with enough blood soaked innards that would have me coming back again and again. The Glasgow Film Festival never fails in its activity innovation and invention and will need to do some to outdo this in 2019.
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