Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead is a 1978 film from the USA and Italy, directed by George A. Romero, running 126 minutes. reelscum files it under zombie and splatter.
- Year
- 1978 · 1970s films
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Director
- George A. Romero
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- canon (11/100)
- Also known as
- Zombies: Dawn of the Dead · Dawn of the Living Dead
- Banned in
- UK
Defined in the glossary: Zombie, Splatter
On the Section 3 list of titles liable to police seizure.
A shopping mall, four survivors, and Savini's finest hour.
Romero's zombies reach a shopping mall, four survivors barricade themselves inside, and the film spends two hours on the joke that the dead return to the mall out of habit. It is a horror film, a broad satire of consumerism, and an action picture, and it holds all three without dropping any.
Tom Savini did the effects and plays a biker, and his gore here set the standard the whole splatter cycle then chased. Goblin scored the European cut, which runs faster and meaner than Romero's own.
Long, gaudy, and one of the few films on this site with an actual argument.
Trailer
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Where to watch
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Written about
- Gut-munchers: the Italian zombie boom, 1979 to 1983
There was no first one. Argento recut Romero, Fulci forged the sequel, and Italy spent four years feeding the British censors.
Filed alongside
Day of the Dead
The bleakest Romero. Bub is the only sympathetic character in it.
The Return of the Living Dead
Punk soundtrack, running zombies, and the film that invented 'BRAINS'.
Braindead
Jackson before the trilogy. The lawnmower scene ends the argument.
Re-Animator
Where the effects and the writing finally matched. Jeffrey Combs is perfect.
The Evil Dead II
Remake and sequel at once. Raimi discovers slapstick and never looks back.
Zombi 2
A zombie fights a shark. Fulci's splinter shot is still the worst thing here.
White Zombie
Lugosi, Haitian folklore, and the first zombie film. No eating involved.
The Beyond
Makes no sense whatsoever and is Fulci's best film. Dream logic, fully committed.
I Walked with a Zombie
Val Lewton doing Jane Eyre in the Caribbean. Beautiful and barely horror.
Bad Taste
Shot at weekends over four years by Jackson and his friends. Astonishing.
The Evil Dead
Prosecuted in Britain. Actually a comedy, though it took years to admit it.
Night of the Living Dead
Made for $114,000 in Pittsburgh. Invented the entire modern genre.