Dawn Of The Dead (Director's Cut) [DVD] [1980]

Noticeable restorations include shots of zombie children being machine-gunned, and two instances from the tenement siege: sight of a man biting chunks of flesh from a woman's arm and neck, and a man's head exploding from a shotgun blast. Also included is the machete in the head. Yes, it's UNCUT! If you've only seen the heavily cut late eighties video version released by EIV, you're in for a treat here.

First point of contention is the 4:3 picture (seems unmatted) and the print used, which is from an NTSC source and features frequent speckles and marks. On the good side, colours and black level are both reasonably good, and for a low-budget seventies movie it generally looks okay, with a reasonable amount of detail. It's arguable that a fully remastered version wouldn't look that much better unless an original negative was used.

Soundwise, it's the original mono soundtrack, and this sounds clear enough through TV speakers. I generally prefer a movie's original soundtrack to any sort of upgraded 5.1 remix, which usually sounds flat and echoey.

Extras-wise we get Tom Savini's commentary, which is well worth a listen but may already be very familiar to fans of the movie, and a gallery of a dozen or so production stills. Apart from scene selection, that's it.

As for the movie, any horror fan worth their salt will know this is a genuine classic, and I'm sure I don't need to elaborate here. Although the DVD presentation may be somewhat lacking, the main draw here is the full uncensored director's cut, and for that alone it's well worth your time.

The film stars four people struggling to stay alive in the madness of a world breaking apart. The dead are walking and eating human flesh, the epidemic is spreading and all people can do is kill each other and steal and loot. Director George Romero uses the film to make stabs at the beast within us and the pettiness of mankind, with an added attack on consumerism. One character remarks that the shopping mall was "an important part in their lives" and the dead return there with as little thought as most shoppers. The images of zombies aimlessly wandering the mall are scarily mirrored every time you go shopping.

The actors are of course unknown, but the star of the show are Romero's undead and Tom Savini's effects. While many of the zombies are just painted blue, all are acted with great intensity by a host of extras whose only reward was a dollar and a T-shirt entitled: "I was a zombie in Dawn of the Dead". The walking dead make terrifying enemies in the film, and Romero potrays them with disturbing realism.

One of the reasons I bought this DVD was for the Uncut moniker, but there are only six seconds of footage that was previously unseen. While other reviewers claim the film is missing scenes where the bikers storm the mall, my version at least keeps the whole scene intact.

The fact that the film has only just been released uncut after 25 years isn't surprising, as its staggeringly violent and Romero directs the violence with a nochalance that makes it even more impacting. There are dozens of head shots in the film (and one impressive exploding head which was previously cut) and every one looks utterly convincing and is accompanied by a spray of blood. Savini has great fun killing zombies with a variety of tools from machetes and katanas to screwdrivers and helicopter blades. There are also the disturbing scenes when the careless looters are overwhelmed by the undead and ripped apart and devoured. If there is one quibble with the effects it is that the blood is, at times, obviously paint. In the final film, Day of the Dead, Romero addressed these criticisms with shocking brutality.

Overall this is an intelligent, thought-provoking nightmare that is all too believable. While many zombie flicks are utter trash that are only known to horror elitists, Dawn of the Dead is a cinema classic that has survived the passing of time and is remembered for more than merely being banned by the BBFC. A classic.