by Joshua Cornelius

DAWN OF THE DEAD was a natural choice when shortlisting films for the inaugural month of The Film League.  We are, of course, referring to George A. Romero’s seminal 1978 film and not the Zak Snyder directed 2004 pseudo-remake.  That is not to deny or impugn the fandom that surrounds it.  At the end of the day, we were simply more interested in the complexity of the themes and ideas presented in the original film.

Zombies are unique amongst monsters of the silver screen for being an almost wholly cinematic and yet publicly-owned creation.  George A. Romero has admitted finding inspiration in the pages of Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend when scripting his seminal masterwork, Night of the Living Dead, but Matheson’s ghouls are somewhat more reminiscent of  vampires of low mobility.  In essence, then, Romero is the father of the zombie: bankrupt creator of a fortune he lacks the credentials to claim.  Due to a combination of factors, Romero and his production company, The Latent Image, failed to lay copyright claims to their ownership of the original Dead film.  The film, and the zombies that have become so ubiquitous in our popular culture – through films, books and television – are not at the rights of Romero to claim ownership.

While we may enjoy the cavalcade of properties that have come in the wake of this most cinematic creation, it’s important to note that Romero has benefited very little financially from any of it.  To my way of thinking, Romero is heir apparent to an amazing wealth of royalties and back dues for the use of his creation in what amounts to decade after decade of incredibly profitable fanfiction.

What makes Dawn of the Dead the continual lead amongst a plethora of imitators are the myriad of ways in which Romero elaborated on his intentions in Night of the Living Dead.  Here the metaphor is given shape and an immense consumerist playground is set before a host of well-formed characters.  The film wisely eschews a number of established horror genre tropes; characters are not filling out the ranks for the simple necessity of cannon fodder.  Our band of four survivors are given ample time to blossom in an equivalent Garden of Eden.  The film makes an easy mix of satire, comedy, horror and drama, flowing seamlessly from one beat to the next.

Everyone, as they say, is entitled to their own opinion and your admiration (or lack thereof) for Dawn of the Dead was likely shaped by the version of the film you saw.  As the story goes, Dario Argento (a.k.a. “The Italian Hitchcock”) heard Romero was interested in a potential Night sequel.  So enamored of this idea was Argento that he invited George and his wife Christine to Rome.  There George hashed out a script in three short weeks and met nightly with Argento to discuss the shape of the story.  Dario helped Romero to find financing for the film on the condition that he have control over the European edit of the film.  The version American audiences have come to know and love was a bit longer and focused on character development, while Argento’s cut of the film featured a lean running time, big action and an iconic score from Argento’s own band, Goblin.  Yet another, third version of the film exists that is even longer than the other cuts.  Once known as the “director’s cut”, George A. Romero has gone on record as saying that he instead prefers the theatrical version and this third edit is now known simply as the “extended cut”.

Regardless of what cut of the film you cherish or revile having ever seen, we’d love to hear the ways in which this film has shaped even a tiny bit of your world.  As every month, we will dedicate these four weeks to ruminations, dissections, stories, art, photography, music and just about anything you want to throw at us concerning this horror classic. ✪