new Dawn of the Dead

Cafe Society
1

(possibly a spoiler or two)
So I went and saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre this past weekend and saw a trialer for the new Dawn of the Dead film, and I’m not quite sure what to think. I’m a HUGE zombie fan, and I think a large portion of us all agree that Romero’s Dawn is probably the best zombie movie ever made, so a remake seems kind of blasphemous.

Still, it’s such a great premise, why not update it? Increasing the group of survivors in the mall, and including Ving Rames seems like a good idea to me, but I’m not so sure about the rest of the film. Aside from the trailer and one review I read from Ain’t It Cool News months ago, I don’t know much about this film except that the zombies apparently aren’t your classic slow moving zombies Romero introduced us to, but more athletic, jumpy zombies, and from what I’ve read, it the transference from dead guy to zombie is almost instantaneous, so it sounds a bit less like our good ol’ classic and more like an American adaptation of 28 Days Later, which I still feel is one of the other great zombie films ever. But are the two good for a combination? I’m not so sure the two make a good combination, but it looks like it could be interesting. Anyone else know anything more or have an opinion about the remake?

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Once again we have pin heads deciding they can ramp up a classic and completely missing the point. The “more is better” idea hollywood has in its craw is crap. It’s why sequels usually are crap. They take what works in a previous film and think that if they double it or take it up a notch it will work again.

We have more guys in the mall more Zombies, faster zombies and the infection is more instantaneous. Oh yes and they have gone out of their way to point out there will be no blue skined zombies. That is supposed to top the original. Feh!

The truth is that the original worked because there were 4 people to concentrate on and each gets character moments so that you actually care about what happens to them.

The slow transformation was great because you got to watch one of these guys (My favorite character) slowly die despite the efforts of the others to counter the inevitable. The moment he reveals himself as a zombie works because it is sad and terrible. The reactions of his companions also ring true.

Slow Zombies (at least Romero Zombies) work. The terror is not in that they jump out at you (Though a few did) but that despite your ability to out run and out manover them there are far too many. The dead are a relentless tide which overcome the living by sheer volume.

In Romeros world the Living were overcome by this plague not because it was instantaneous and caught people off guard but that people refused to look at dead loved ones as anything but loved ones. Only when they started to realize the true threat was it too late to do anything. It says more about people.
Also that is why Blue zombies sort of worked. If a rotting oozing dripping corpse rises from the table you think of it as a thing and you try to kill it. If it still looks human that makes it harder.

This new film will likely have thrills and probably buckets of gore and a High body count of heros who no one will care about or even remember and for the bubblegum cinema might do ok. But it won’t be good horror and will likely not be a classic.

Just my opinion. That and Romero has nothing to do with this.

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Wow… and I was actually a little excited about the prospect when I saw the trailer.

Kingpengvin just popped by bubble. Perhaps he/she is off to steal candy from babies now? Kick a cat?

Very good points Kingpengvin.

MeanJoe

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Jeeze for a guy named Mean Joe you sure are sensative.

Sorry but remakes really piss me off no end. For every half decent one there are literally dozens of crappy ham fisted piles of heaping crap.

I find whenever someone decides they are going to one up a classic it is usually some little twerp who directed a few music videos and thinks he has a better ideas than the original.

Here’s a little advice to them. If your ideas are so shit hot then make an original film (you know like 28 days)… don’t sully the original by using its name.

By the way El Elvis… what did you think of Texas Chainsaw Massacre? How did it cmpare to the original?

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And the director has no track record: they gave one of the great masterpieces of 20th Century American Art to a neophyte to “improve upon.”

Feh.

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I liked The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I haven’t seen the original yet, so I don’t have much to compare it too (that’s this weekend’s pumpkin carving entertainment). From what I heard, the original did a good job of being creepy without being too grotesque, and I found this one managed to do the same. Sure, there was more gore, but it didn’t seem too overtly excessive.

As for the Dawn of the Dead remake, I’ve been a huge fan of the original, so I’m really not happy about this one. I saw the Night of the Living Dead remake, and although the make-up effects were pretty good and creepy, the rest of the movie really upset me. So, when I first heard about this remake, I was upset. It looks like it could be an interesting zombie movie, but it doesn’t look like the Dawn of the Dead I know and love.

But I guess that’s the point, no? I mean, the original had a bunch of social commentary and undertones in it that some may feel don’t quite ring true in todays society. They’d be wrong (consumerism and materialism is still crazy in todays society), but hey, that’s okay. Some movies can deal with a remake, but for the most part, they all tend to be pretty stupid, and this is one of those instances. Honestly, I can’t see where the movie could get anymore grotesque, so I’m interested in seeing what else they do.

The adding of additional characters doesn’t really upset me too much, because I believe there can still be good characterization (eh, I’m an optomist), but everything kingpengvin said about the transformation of Stephen was absolutely true. It was one of the most pinnial aspects of the original, and I don’t see how the movie could have existed and been anywhere near as powerful without that.

I’m just really curious as to what the little jumping thing inside that one corpse is supposed to be (in the trailer, it shows some guy leaning over a corpse, and something pops up under the skin…don’t know what that’s about).

Overall, I’m interested in the movie, but I’d like to see it called something else.

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The shopping Maul would have been fine with me. I saw the online trailer and have to say… looks slick and empty. Egad looks like they are having a Dead baby bursting out of a preganant woman… done before double feh.

I could be wrong but I have precidents backing me up… (Psycho anyone?)

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does anyone know of an official site, ir anywhere else to get some more info on this flick?

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I think the way to go with this would have been to follow a different group of survivors in the same world as the first movie. Maybe the bikers or some other refugees, or what happened to the cops loading the supplies into the boat at the beginning of DOTD? You’d lose the mall/consumerism theme, but I’m not sure a remake will make that point any better than the original.

The only dramatic advantage I see to the non-blue, quick transformation zombies is that it sets up a few surprise shocks as a previously-living character is revealed to be a new zombie. I suppose this might be the reasoning behind the larger group since we’ll need more zombie-fodder if this development is going to be used more than once.

Is there any indication that the method for killing zombies will change as well? THAT would REALLY be messing with the Canon!

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Kingpengvin Heh, I was just kidding there, no offense meant.

I concur totally with your thoughts on the original. I was still excited about this flick but concerned about the probably faults they’ll introduce with the typical MTv generation directors and such.

The original holds an extra-special spot in my heart as it was filmed in the Monroeville Mall. I lived on Monroeville Blvd. when this movie was made which is parallel to the mall just over the top of the hill that surrounds half the mall’s parking lot.

Not So Mean Joe.

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no problem…I didn’t think you was all that hurt.

See we have a conection as I live in Toronto where they filmed this one.

Well we’ll see what happenes It could be a good reimagining (Like the Thing or the Fly) but concidering both of those were helmed by experienced directors with their own unique visions I doubt this will be among them. We shall see. Give me good characters and an interesting story and I’ll forgive them.

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Another big warning flag: The primary screenwriter of the remake is James Gunn, who previously gave us… ahem… Scooby Doo. They had some doctoring done by Scott Frank and Michael Tolkin, both of whom are quite good, but Gunn is the one who got the original job and set down the structure.

Expect this one not just to suck, but to be a massive steaming diaperload of festering suckage.

Too bad, because the cast is great: In addition to Ving Rhames, we’ve got Sarah Polley, Mekhi Phifer, Matt Frewer…

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Here’s a link to the trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/dawnofthedead/dawn_apple_full.html

You know. It doesn’t look too bad. I mean let’s face it. The original was hardly a work of art and has aged pretty badly IMHO.

So get fired up to see Ving Rhames go midevil on some zombies ass!

14

Wow, you posted that, like, nearly four hours ago, and noone’s jumped on your ass yet. That’s pretty damn impressive.

I’m not going to get too vitrol, but I still hold to my guns that the original was probably the best zombie movie ever made! The fact that it’s managed to maintain it’s following after thirty years or so really makes me think you’re a little off by saying it “has aged pretty badly.” 28 Days Later is probably the only runner up I can think of to oust it from it’s tittle, and that took a few decades to come out, and even then, it’s questionable. The original was, and still is, pure genius.
Goofy looking blue zombies and all.

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The original is a classic. It’s not just the best zombie movie; it’s an important movie in its own right. It’s one of the most scathing critiques of consumerism ever put to celluloid.

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Ah. This must be some use of the phrase “It doesn’t look too bad” that I’m not familiar with. That trailer was crap with a capital “K.” It was loaded with more fecal matter than one of lieu’s threads and nowhere near as entertaining. And I really fail to see the appeal of Ving Rhames in this movie, if anything, it’s a warning sign to STAY THE FUCK AWAY!!!

Let’s look at some of Ving’s recent work, shall we?

Striptease. The movie that nearly ended Demi Moore’s career, even though it had her naked in it.
Mission Impossible 2 in which Ving Rhames plays a guy who only unleashes his rocket launcher on the bad guys after they put a hole in his Armani jacket. Think about this, do you really want a guy protecting you who whips out the heavy artiillery after his clothes get ruined? Wouldn’t it be better if he took them out before the baddies had the chance to do so?

And I could swear that he’s been in some other really crappy movies, but IMDB ain’t listing him as starring in them, so either I’m misremembering, or Rhames has bought them off. Still it does list him in the all time classic Stop, or My Mom Will Shoot!. He played “Mr. Stereo.” Truly a role any actor could be proud of.

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I’m with El Elvis Rojo the Night of the Living Dead remake was so godawful I don’t want to see them remake any others.

Has there ever been a good remake?

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No offense, but you’re wrong. Also, please learn to spell the word “medieval”.

I haven’t seen the recent remake of Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but I can believe Roger Ebert’s take: that it’s an empty, pointless corporate creation. I suspect the same might be true of the remake of Dawn of the Dead. In both cases, the original was definitely low budget, and a bit rough around the edges, but it came out of a sincere vision and a desire to tell a horrific story.

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Heat is a remake of a made-for-TV movie, that’s a great film, IMHO. Of course, both versions had the same director…

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The trailer does not look promising. As is typical of “re-imaginings”, I guess, there are but a few elements in common with the original: zombies, a mall, and the title. And that appears to be the extent of the commonalities. The zombie plague appears to begin in this movie, so it has no continuity with any other installment or re-make, either.

It looks like a stand-alone zombie flick, more in the style of House of the Dead than Romero’s Dead trilogy.

I ain’t touching this one with a 10’ zombie-poking stick.