Review: Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead (1978) *** out of 5 asterisks
Director/Writer: George A. Romero
Starring: Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, Scott H. Reiniger, David Emgee

Casual horror fans should be warned that this movie is slow-paced with the exception of only a few scenes. I'll grant that this film was groundbreaking in its day and its cult classic status cannot be denied. The subtle social commentary on consumer excess and greed are noteworthy themes for a horror flick, but they also cause the plot to drag -- the film's fairly boring up until the big finale at the end. So while there are moments of humor and horror fan-pleasing gore splattered throughout the film, the slow pace is a killer. My wife (who's also a horror fan) gave up on it after 15 minutes, and I put the subtitles on and fast-forwarded to get through several scenes that were so woefully boring I wanted to gouge my eyes out. But because it's a cult classic, I saw it through to the end and I'm glad I did because there are some scenes that are very satisfying to any horror fan.