Dawn of the dead
Following on from Night, Romero decided to revisit his first success after the mixed reactions to films like the failed There's alway vanilla, the interesting season of the witch, the strangelove inspired the crazies and the sublime Martin. He had the finaincial backing of Dario Argento, himself riding high after a series of successes and even lucked out on the newly constructed monroeville mall owned by friends.
The film has a group of surviviors fleeing the city in the wake of the dead returning. Civil order is breaking down, law & order is disintegrating. Heading out in a chopper they discover things are little better out in the wilderness. The redneck posses and national guard are making sport of the growing numbers of the dead but its still precarious as the team realise they are risking their lives each time they refuel or stop to rest. At this point they stumble across the mall. Initially they stop to get some rest in the civil defense shelter, however realising the fully stocked mall might contain everything they need they decide to secure it and make it their home.
Given malls were not as widesrpead at that time, Romeros film seems whether by accident or intention the growing culture of conspicuous consumption and the scenes of shuffling corpses in the mall would mirror scenes across 80's America. Romeros critique of consumer culture is not so much a sub text as a text. The films message is failry blatant and fits the grand satire he seems to be after. I prefer Romero's cut for this reason as Argento's european cut diminishes the films wicked humour and makes it more of a adventure movie with copious gore and it doesn't work half as well.
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