What scares
Andrew Goodridge?
He’s giving us a month to find out.
Follow along with Andrew as he plans to get into the spirit of his favorite holiday by watching a different horror movie every day in the month of October.
October 4
When there’s no more room in Hell,
the dead will go shopping
“Dawn of the Dead” (1978)
Directed by: George A. Romero
Screenplay by: George A. Romero
Sometimes I wonder what 17-year-old Andrew would think of 27-year-old Andrew.
I think he might be disappointed that 10 years later I’m not closing in on my 10th Oscar for Best Screenwriting. And that I still haven’t yet said “Listen, Steve, I know you made that little dinosaur movie 20 years ago, but you just don’t have the vision to direct my movie. I’ll go ahead and do it.”
He might also wonder why I no longer live by the anarchist tenants set forth in movies like “Fight Club,” which I worshipped far more than I understood. When I was younger, I tried hard to adhere to the anti-consumer philosophy I think I only half-grasped in that movie, though I’m very sure I completely missed that “Fight Club” both glorifies and mocks both sides of consumerist extremism.
But I know I tried to reject the notion of status symbols and the Western ideals of wealth and prosperity. I think I probably hated the mall.
But now I kind of like the mall.
Today, I like a good sweater vest. I enjoy places like Banana Republic and The Gap. I feel secure knowing that even when life gets tough, there’s always a fleece pullover or a big-screen TV or a stainless steel appliance out there to comfort me.
But I hope that doesn’t mean I’m a mindless, zombie-like consumer, like the cultural stand-ins being satirized in “Dawn of the Dead” (1978), George A. Romero’s second, and sharpest, zombie movie in his well-known series. Here, the walking dead are instinctively attracted to the mall, which, as a (living) character remarks, is a place they almost instinctively flocked to when they were alive. Much can be said — and probably has already been said — about the film’s darkly comic story that parallels the need to mindlessly consume material goods with the need to mindlessly consume human flesh because, hey, all these other guys are doing it.
But when I watched this movie, I found myself thinking that it would be kind of cool to live at the mall.
That’s not to say that I missed the point entirely. There’s something subversively funny about watching these few survivors try to make an upscale dwelling in a mall store room in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. They upgrade their wardrobe, paint the walls, bring in fine flatware. But what’s the point of all these yuppie luxuries when there’s a hoard of zombies just on the other side of the door? Of course, Romero was really questioning what’s the point of all these yuppie luxuries, period.
Though I can see obvious changes in myself over the years, it’s a mixed blessing to say that Romero’s work behind the camera has remained relatively consistent. “Dawn of the Dead,” just like “Night of the Living Dead and “Day of the Dead,” is merely passable as a work of filmmaking, though it remains a classic because it comes from an era that exalted clever allegory and incisive subtext over flashy camerawork and a slick, high-budget aesthetic. Romero’s more recent entries — “Land of the Dead,” “Diary of the Dead,” “Survival of the Dead” — have been critical and financial failures, possibly because he’s still working with the mindset that a heavy-handed and even didactic fable will be more appreciated than special effects and explosions. Unfortunately, contemporary audiences don’t agree, though it’s hard to deny that he’s lost his touch at least a bit and is just retreading the same old ground.
Yesterday, I mentioned that the 80s was the best decade to find fun in horror films. I think “Dawn” really helped catapult humor to the forefront of the horror genre (along with “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” which others find darkly funny; I guess I don’t get the joke). The makeup and zombie gore had a light-hearted tone that was fun 30 years ago and fun today. And more than 40 years after he reinvented the zombie genre, no one has come close to matching what Romero does best.
And that’s something I’m certain I’ll still believe in 10 more years.
Andrew Goodridge likes movies so much that he married one. He teaches Audio/Video production, Filmmaking, and Film & Television History in Fort Worth, Texas. He would one day like to have a Pug, or maybe a Bulldog.
Andrew Goodridge can be reached at goodridge@everythingnac.com
