MovieChat Forums > Dawn of the Dead Discussion > I really tried to like this movie...

I really tried to like this movie...

posted 10 years ago by lukasspike
31 replies | jump to latest

I couldn't, I just couldn't...

I never felt any tension at all, the acting felt really bad, zombies didn't scare a me a bit. I know it was filmed in the 70's, but I feel they could have done better than just normal people with blue make up.

I just never connected or got into the atmosphere. To me it felt more of a comedy, bizarre, B-type movie than what most claim it is.

I guess I got late to the party, maybe I would have gotten a different perspective if I saw it 30 years a go...

Just my opinion, Im not saying it's a bad movie.

[–] yatzo376 9 years ago

Yeah, it's really dated , and yes, it's a nostalgia thing but it did start the modern zombie genre .

Acting wise , it's not much worse than The a Walking Dead..

"You work your side of the street, and I'll work mine"

[–] marko10174 9 years ago

Ah the social media generation! if it doesn't have a hundred million dollar budget and lots of special effects it must be crap!

[–] pandafresh 9 years ago

saw it for the first time maybe 10 years ago (26 now) and I love it, still one of the best zombie movies out there in my opinion. i think it does a great job of capturing people in a sort of hopeless situation, especially the opening in the tv station. some people have a hard time "clicking" with older movies though, so I think so long as you sorta appreciate what it did, it's all good.

[–] enfilmigult 9 years ago

Isn't "more of a comedy, bizarre, B-type movie" pretty much what people claim it is? I mean, it's got a zombie pie fight; it's pretty clearly not aiming for the kind of stark horror 'Night of the Living Dead' did.

[–] Sickcess 9 years ago

Agree. And I usually like old horror films if they are good. I liked the first Night of the living dead, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rosemary's baby, Bloodsucking freaks and tons of old Italian horror by Fulci or Argento for example. I am also a huge horror fan, born in the beginning of the 80s and I really wanted to like this film when I re-watched it as an adult.

But I just didn't think Dawn of the dead is a very good movie. Apart from the things you just mentioned, I generally thought it was rather dull and I also found the social commentary rather superficial. I call a "the emperor is naked" on the status of this movie.

PG-13 horror is like porn without nudity

[–] soco-81 9 years ago

I tried as well. I just don't see what everyone else sees. Every few years I give it another chance and I never find anything to appreciate. Like the OP I never connect with the movie or any of the characters. I think people add things that aren't there, like all this great humorous social commentary, to make it sound more significant than it actually is. It's a 5/10 at best, sorry.

I actually liked the remake a lot more.

[–] RandomBob 9 years ago

The social commentary is obvious - it's straight up satire. You really don't have to be a genius to see it (I'm living proof of that...).

The film is a masterpiece. In terms of directing, editing (out-bleeping-standing editing!) and --most of all-- writing, it's just a fantastic piece of work. The biggest strength of the movie are the characters, who are so well-written and likeable that you really get sad and shocked when something horrible happens to them.

I was born 1991, and I first saw the film when I was around 12-13. Fell in love with it right from the start. It's just such a fantastically well-made film. Zach Snyder's remake was boring crap though. The characters were uninteresting and annoying, the zombies weren't iconic at all and the writing and directing was dumbed down and too flashy/music video:ish for it's own good. Very boring and uninteresting.

[–] PyleaPortal 9 years ago

Man, I'm right there with you. I can appreciate it, but this movie does nothing for me

[–] PrimeMinisterOfTheSinister 9 years ago

I don't like it because all of the characters are absolute idiots. Everyone that dies gets killed because they did something insanely stupid. It's hard to root for anyone that moronic. It's bad enough when the dumbasses in horror movies are stupid teenagers but these were adults and two of them were cops and the other two worked for the network news and yet, they constantly did the exact opposite of what any rational person would do.