Reinventing the 'Dead'

With the horror genre of films being nowhere near the popularity that it enjoyed during the 1980s and new ideas running dry, Hollywood has taken to remaking popular horror cinema from foreign countries and old classics. Chances are that if you're just the occasional horror movie-goer then you had no idea that the recent release of "Dawn of the Dead" is actually a remake of the George Romero classic zombie-fest.\nThere was a large stir of controversy surrounding the remake, and it primarily came from the horror movie elite fans. Romero's original film, while keeping to the idea that zombies have begun to overrun the world, was also a scathing social commentary on the shopping mall culture that arose in the '70s. The remake, which marks the directorial debut of Zack Snyder, skips the social commentary and goes straight to the throat by relying heavily on gore and scare factor, borrowing the same elements which made last year's horror smash hit "28 Days Later" such a success.\nThe story outline behind both the original and remake of "Dawn of the Dead" remains intact. The world suddenly wakes up one day to find its neighbors running around the streets hunting down those who are still alive and feasting upon their flesh. The best way to avoid being attacked? Hole yourself up in the local shopping mall in hopes that the zombies never get you. From this point it's all about sacrifice and survival of the fittest. Just make sure you've got enough ammo to fend off the walking dead.\nThe DVD release of "Dawn of the Dead" boasts that it's an "Unrated Director's Cut" featuring over 10 minutes of new footage. This footage really adds nothing special to the film other than a little more dialogue, more blood and, of course, the required exploding zombie head found in every classic zombie movie. Special features include introduction and commentary from the director and producer, deleted scenes and five featurettes ranging from a full news broadcast detailing the zombie attacks to behind-the-scenes looks at costume and make-up effects.\nRegardless of what those die-hard fans might say, "Dawn of the Dead" ends up being a great scare ride with the same comedic value found in the original Romero film. There are plenty of jump-in-your-seat moments but also scenes to laugh at and take some of the edge off. While it isn't horror perfection, the remake of "Dawn of the Dead" has definitely helped the blood keep flowing in what is a slowly-dying genre of horror cinema.