Dawn of the Dead
(aka Zombies)
With David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger.
Italy/US, 1978, 35mm, color, 139 min.
George Romero's satiric sequel to his groundbreaking 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead, Dawn delivers a cunning attack on American consumer capitalism. The survivors of an epidemic that has brought the dead back to life take refuge in a shopping mall only to find that their hopes for easy access to material goods are shared by the growing hoards of undead. Channeling the dystopian spirit of 1970s cinema, Dawn of the Dead balances its political allegorization of the zombie against the contemporary zombie film's signature combination of the frightening and hilarious. In conjunction with a series of classic zombie films at the Brattle—including the recent Otto; or, Up With Dead People by Bruce LaBruce, screening as part of the Boston LGBT Film Festival—the HFA presents a rare 35mm print of Romero's cult favorite.