Grim Crew Presents: Dead Future

Another segment I will be doing a monthly installment of will be on zombie movies. I plan on diving into classics, and visiting some of the remakes for comparison. Hopefully we will be uncovering the movies that were made but never made it. I have found some of those my favorite because they have this cool Indy feel. But maybe thats because sometimes I feel like being an obnoxious prick who thinks it was better before you started liking it too.

So for this month’s movie I decided to review Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero. No not that remake they did in 2004. I’m talking the 1978 version with the bad special effects and even worse hair cuts.

This movie had all the flair of the 70’s, embracing pop culture of the time and tearing through it with a hoard of roaming undead. It’s kind of like this time capsule that we should open every once in a while just to remind us of what once was. To think that in that story line those characters will never progress into 80’s hair bands, rock ballads, or Gucci style fashion is oddly both satisfying and horrific in itself. I found myself watching this film and marveling at the names of the stores and the fashions of the time. I took solace in the brands that were still around (like BP) and wondering what happened to the others that aren’t (what the hell was FOXMORE?).

But besides sitting in awe over a movie that takes place a decade before I was born, some truths rang though that follow until this day. We still have not learned from the warnings that were practically shouted at us from progressive film makers like Romero. The first 25 minutes of the movie are riddled with examples of corruption, racism, and violence of man against his fellow man. A sort of foreshadowing of the horrors that we will be exposed to if we don’t learn from our past mistakes. The scene Mr. Romero was painting for us over 34 years ago still rings horrifically true in this day and age. I can still see some sleazy news director posting old and outdated information even if that information may kill someone just to get the last of the ratings in the final days. I see examples every day of people who get angry at a group of people with different color skins because of a false generalization they make about the people as a whole. And their jokes of violence don’t bring me laughter, only sadness.

The theme of consumerism in this movie as well is one that is sung among many people who have concerns with the over spending in our day and time. Just this past Christmas season we even had people arrested for dressing as zombies and running through a mall as part of a protest of Black Friday. The analogy of people shopping like zombies, just buying because that’s what they are told to do by big businesses, has been used over and over again ever since this movie has been made. In the movie itself it is theorized that they are attracted to the mall because it’s familiar to them. I wonder where I would haunt if I were a mindless zombie?I would like to point out a few things that this movie can teach the zombie enthusiast about survival in the end days.

Lesson 1. Don’t give an idiot a gun. – Steven, or Flyboy as he’s commonly called, was at first a trigger happy dofus when it came down to guns. His ignorance showed first when he first tried to gun down a zombie attacking Peter while Peter was directly in the line of fire (at the helicopter refuelling station). Then he tried to gun down another zombie while traveling in the back halls of the mall, while only managing to make the bullets dangerously ricochet off the pipes. He also shows his ignorance on how guns work as he reloads a revolver with one bullet and tries to fire each blank chamber instead of advancing the cylinder to the proper position before firing. If he had done this it wouldn’t have been such a close call. Later in the movie he is taught how to shoot and take care of his guns but man his blunders could have been deadly.

Lesson 2. Set Priorities. – When looting the mall it was decided to go to the department store first. Later the mall was reviled to have a gun shop (is that even legal in a mall now?) and a grocery store. Either one of these 2 places would have been a better choice to loot first rather than trying to get some lighter fluid for the lighters. This may have even saved Rodgers life by having them better prepared for the zombies roaming outside. Get your priorities strait.

Lesson 3. Let everyone in on the plan. – If Rodger and Peter had told Steve what the first expedition plan was he probably would not have put himself in as much danger and it is for sure that the Harry Cristina zombie would not have made his way up to Francene, putting her in danger without a gun.

Lesson 4. Proper planning does a lot of good. – I was so happy when I saw the scenes where they were planning the fortifications for the mall. How many people would think to wall up the entrance to their hide out so that if people come they wouldn’t recognise that they lived there? Stroke of genius I say. Parking the trucks in front of the entrances, although did not go so well for Rodger, was a smart way to stem the flow of zombies so it would be easier to lock the doors. Plus it served as extra protection from other outside attackers. If they would have needed to, they could have used those parked trucks as a relatively safe escape plan.

Some other things I wanted to point out before we were finished. My award for funniest zombie in this movie goes to the fat zombie. The scene where the shirtless fat zombie was rubbing his body against the glass door made me laugh out loud. Scariest zombie has to go to Zombie Rodger. They did a great job on his make up. Best zombie acting job goes to the Steven zombie. The way Steven dragged his bum leg around was great. And finally the most awesome zombie kill would have to be when Peter lifted a zombie over his head and threw him off the second story. And funniest death will go the the death where the raider tries to get his blood pressure taken and gets trapped in the machine as the zombies descend on him. Dumb Ass.

One last point to talk about. I know this is old hat, but did anyone else see how much this movie influenced the first Dead Rising video game? Everything from the helicopter entrance, to using everything around you as a weapon (throwing the fence at a zombie), and even when the raiders threw pies in the zombies faces and used seltzer water on them. I realize that Romero has influenced many other zombie movies and video games but this one was so blatantly obvious this post would feel naked without me saying something.
We could go on for hours about this movie, but alas I must move on. Maybe we can revisit this subject at another time. But until then please feel free to discuss below. I’m always welcoming people’s opinions on the blog and looking for suggestions so please email me at penguinprince@grimcrew.com. You can also follow Dead Future on Facebook and Google +. And to hear more from me, follow me on Twitter and Google +.

Till Fate brings our Future…

Penguin Prince