Dawn Of The Dead 1978 Anchor Bay Entertainment   Buy It Now

Can we assume, for a moment, that anyone reading reviews on this website has *not* been living under a rock somewhere for the last 25 years, and is well aware of the works of George Romero?

Good. I was hoping we could come to an accord, because the last thing I want to do is sit here and belt out a review for a movie that has been written up, down, backwards, and sideways for going on nearly three decades. Does not make sense. You clicked on this page because you want to know exactly one thing- is the UMD version of Dawn of the Dead worth owning?

Depends. Do you like the movie? Probably, if you are reading this, you do. The quick and simple answer is yes, go buy the UMD. It has a very good quality picture, very pretty to look at. The sound, well, it is not terribly good, but considering the fact that the film is so old, this has to be forgiven. The audio works well enough for the kind of film this is, and if you are picky enough about it to not buy the UMD because of the audio, then you are probably not a true fan.
I guess I should make a brief synopsis of the flick here for those of you who may never seen the movie and are curious, so here it is – dead folks are not talking it lying down. They have gotten into the rather disturbing habit of wandering around and eating living folks. In a nutshell, that is pretty much it.

This is not Shakespeare, people.

There is some rather obvious social commentary sprinkled throughout. The news media is ripped pretty good, and the sight of zombies shambling about the local mall just has to make one chuckle. Even dead, folks still gotta have the latest whatsit. Overall, though, it’s about blood and guts and the visceral thrill of watching things go splat real good, and in that department, Dawn of the Dead is a masterpiece. If you really need a more in depth review, look here.

As with many UMD releases, there are no special features included, but that is OK. I can’t see myself watching the featurette “How to Make Fake Head Splats Reel Good” while waiting to have a doctor shove a thermometer in my nether regions, so it is good that disc space is not wasted with them. You want the flick, you get the flick, and that is good enough.

So there you have it. Fans have no reason whatever not to buy this UMD. For the rest of you, well, rent the DVD first, and then decide for yourself if while waiting to have a doctor shove a thermometer in my nether regions, so it is good that disc space is not wasted with them. You want the flick, you get the flick, and that is good enough.

So there you have it. Fans have no reason whatever not to buy this UMD. For the rest of you, well, rent the DVD first, and then decide for yourself if you can hang with zombies.

-Ed-