DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) (Second Sight Films 4K UHD Review)

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)

Label: Second Sight Films

Rating: Cert: 18
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), B (Blu-ray) 
Duration: 127 Minutes (Theatrical), 137 Minutes (Cannes Cut), 120 Minutes (Argento Cut) 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono, 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 2160p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: George A. Romero
Cast: Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, David Emge, Scott H. Reiniger, Tom Savini

I came of serious movie-watching age during the the good old days of VHS, a glorious era which all sorts of horror films accessible to the developing minds of young horror-geeks everywhere. When I was a kid my parents did not seem to care much about policing what I rented from the local video store, and the guy at the front counter certainly didn't care either, in fact, he would usually greet me with  "Hey kid, wanna see something REALLY fucked up?", and of course my answer was "yeah!". While I wasn't seeing anything too gory early on I'd been fed a steady diet of slashers along the lines of Friday the 13th (1980) and Halloween (1978) on the late-night chiller programs, not to mention kindertrauma TV terrors like Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981) and Gargoyles (1972). Around the age of 11 or 12 I found myself looking for something a bit more extreme, something more visceral, and that something began with my first rental of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978).

The events in the film happen soon after the events of Night of the Living Dead (1968), the zombie plague has moved beyond the outskirts of rural Pennsylvania and has spread worldwide. At the start of the film we meet Fran (Gaylen Ross, Madman), a TV producer at a Philadelphia station. Initially through her eyes we see society falling apart as TV talk show hosts debate the particulars of the emerging zombie apocalypse, which evolves into cacophonous shouting match. Her boyfriend Stephen (David Emge, Basket Case 2) aka "Flyboy" is the stations traffic helicopter pilot, it's him who has the idea to take the chopper and fly North in an effort to escape the worst of what seems to be the apocalypses

We then focus in on an inner-city tenement where a SWAT team is gearing up to raid an apartment building harboring criminals. This is where we meet SWAT members Peter (Ken Foree, From Beyond) and Roger (Scott H. Reiniger, Knightriders). The raid prove disastrous from the get-go as blue/grey skinned zombies begin chomping on SWAT and tenement dwellers. Adding to the chaos is officer Wooley (James Baffico, Silver Bullet). a trigger happy racist with an itchy trigger finger and a mouthful of racial slurs. We get some great flesh-tearing gore and explosive head-shots during this tense, action-filled encounter. Peter and Roger end up in the basement where they discover the tenement residents have been dumping their still-undead zombified loved ones. They open fire and destroy the undead in a hail of gunfire, but deeply affected by the hopelessness of the situation and the realization of society's collapse the pair abandon their posts. One of them knows of Stephen's plans to commandeer the traffic chopper and they make their way to the TV station to hitch a ride out of the city.

After a brief introduction the quartet take flight and head north, making a brief stop at an rural airfield in search of fuel, where the group is attacked by several zombies that have proven to be iconic, including the infamous flat-top chopper zombie, who gets scalped by the whirling blades of the helicopter, and the unflinching killing of a pair of zombie kids. Stephen is shown to be ineffectual when it comes to killing the undead and it is during one of these encounters that he and Peter become at odds with each other. Barely escaping with heir lives the foursome continue north, passing over groups of redneck hunters and National Guardsmen partaking in zombie-hunts that strongly recall the events from Night of the Living Dead. Further on they come across a shopping mall and the decision is made to set down on it's roof for a supply run. Once inside they realize that the mall, well stocked with food and creature comforts, could potentially make for an ideal sanctuary to hold-up in during the apocalypse. As they settle into life inside the film becomes a dark-comedy as they set about eradicating the undead inside the mall, fortifying the entrances, and setting up comfy apartments inside the mall. It becomes a fun but still horrific send-up of American consumer culture, at one point fending off an attack from a marauding biker gang, refusing to share any of there "stuff". 

Romero's film might be a bit quaint to a modern eye, even a bit slow, but it still has plenty of bite and some fantastic technicolor blood and gore effects by the legendary Tom Savini. We get an amazing assortment of the undead characters including the helicopter zombie, the screwdriver in the ear zombie,  the machete zombie, as well as Hari Krishna, bikers, and so many more.  Add to that the great film score from Italian prog-rockers Goblin (Patrick) plus we get some cornball library music cues that I thought were too goofy as a kid watching it, but now I love 'em. This is a film that has it all,  a potent mix of horror, black-comedy, visceral gore,  and some patented Romero social commentary - that's why it's one of the greatest zombie films of all time. For a lot of years this was my number one undead flick, but it's been usurped by Lucio Fulci's Zombie (1979), which might be blasphemy to some as Fulci's film started out as an an unofficial Italian sequel to Romero's film. I think why Zombie overtook it is because the atmosphere and tone of Fulci's film is consistent, while this one has some silly moments, and while I still love it, the dread of Fulci's film won me over.  

Between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead Romero made a handful of non-zombie genre films, he touched on occult with Season of the Witch (1972), the prescient infected film The Crazies (1973), and the atmospheric vampire entry Martin (1977), but these films did not receive a lot of fanfare upon their initial release. It wasn't until Dawn of the Dead (1978) that Romero would cement his place as one of the greatest horror filmmakers of all time. The period following brought about a succession of genre film including the unsung Knightriders (1981), the Stephen King-Romero team-up Creepshow (1982), and the dour 3rd installment of the trilogy Day of the Dead (1985). Things started to slowdown after Monkey Shines (1988), and in the 90's we got his lukewarm Edgar Allen Poe fueled team-up with Dario Argento Two Evil Eyes (1990), but after The Dark Half (1993) it would be seven years before Romero made another film, when we got the underwhelming Bruiser (2000), and another five years before beginning a new mixed bag Dead trilogy with the solid Land of the Dead (2005), followed by Diary of the Dead (2007) and Survival of the Dead (2009). In my opinion Land of the Dead, but nothing neared the glory of the initial trilogy. It's was an unenviable place to be for Romero, to be judged against your own filmography in a town that won't fun your non-zombie related projects. It happens to the best of directors, with time the passion fades, funding dries up, and sadly Romero died in 2017, having not made a film since Survival. His legacy lives on though. Arrow Video released George A. Romero - Between Night and Dawn (1971-1973), a gorgeous collection of his films on Blu-ray, his "lost" film The Amusement Park (1973) has been restored and will see release soon on streaming service Shudder, and now  Second Sight Films have released the definitive version of Dawn of the Dead on not just one, but two, plush 4K UHD and Blu-ray sets, which include three cuts of the film. Second Sight are also currently QC-ing Martin (1977) for the same deluxe treatment, so his legacy and legend are not going anywhere anytime soon. 

Audio/Video: All three version of Dawn of the Dead (1978) arrives on a 4-disc (3 UHD, 1 Blu-ray) from UK distributor Second Sight Films. The three versions are presented in 2160p UHD and framed in the original 1.85:1 widescreen. The three versions of the film are presented on three separate UHD discs so we get maxed out bit rates for each version. The Theatrical cut runs 127-minutes and sourced from a brand new 4K restoration of the original camera negative, performed by Second Sight at Final Frame New York and London, supervised and approved by original DoP Michael Gornick. Audio on this version includes a audio restoration sourced from the original OCN optical track presented in Mono 1.0, Stereo 2.0 and 5.1 Surround with optional English subtitles.  

The ten-minute longer Extended (Cannes) Cut (137 min) was produced using same 4K restoration of the theatrical cut as well as a 4K scan of the Extended Cut Color Reversal Internegative, also presented in HDR10+. Audio for the Cannes cut comes by way of English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono with optional English subtitles. Notably, this is not an actual Director's Cut as Romero preferred the shorter Theatrical cut. This Extended Version premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978, hence the "Cannes' designation. This version of the film contains additional scenes and gore plus a music score comprised of library temp tracks.

The most compact version is known as the Argento Cut (120 min), which was produced with a 4K scan of the Interpositive by Michele De Angelis at Backlight Digital, Rome, there is no HDR10+ on this one. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono, 2.0 Stereo, and 5.1 Surround  with optional English subtitles This version was edited by Dario Argento (Tenebre) for the European market, containing several extended scenes and omits several from the U.S. cut. This version also features additional music from Goblin not found on either the Theatrical or Extended Cannes cuts.

The Theatrical cut looks fantastic, sourced from the OCN and color-graded with HDR10+, the thin layer of fine grain is well-managed, offering pleasing amounts of fine detail in facial features, close-ups of clothing and fabric textures, and nooks and crannies of the zombie make-up and gore. The HDR10+ certainly punches things up a bit, colors are stronger, the image is brighter, and contrast and blacks are much improved over the Blu-ray. Clarity and depth looks wonderful as well, the whites are truer, this truly is the definitive video presentation of the film. 

The Extended cut was also sourced from the 4K restoration of the OCN with additional inserts from a 4K scan of the Extended Cut Color Reversal Internegative, also presented with HDR10+, and it looks spectacular as well. The Argento Cut is not a new scan and does not feature HDR10+ but looks solid enough in it's native 4K, it just cannot compete with Second Sight's gorgeous restoration. 

The Theatrical version audio comes by way of a  restoration sourced from the original OCN Optical track, presented in both 1.0 mon, 2.0 stereo and an upmixed  5.1 surround DTS-HD mixes. I preferred the mono presentation as I often do for these vintage horror flicks. Music and dialogue delivery has a pleasing amount of depth, and sounds very clean, with a solid bottom-end. The stereo track is also quite good, but I did not care for the 5.1 option, it felt a bit unnatural to me. The European cut gets only the DTS-HD mono track, and the Argento cuts also features mono, stereo and surround DTS-HD mixes, with optional English subtitles. 

Extras on the UHD presentations are limited to audio commentaries, we get a total of four commentaries spread across the three versions of the film. The Theatrical cut gets an archival commentary with George A. Romero, Tom Savini, Christine Forrest moderated by Perry Martin, plus a brand new commentary by journalist Travis Crawford. The Extended cut gets an archival commentary with producer Richard P. Rubinstein which is also moderated by Perry Martin, and the Argento cut gets a commentary with actors Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Emge. This last track is a fun listen, having the whole gang gathered together, it's upbeat and entertaining, not as fact filled as the Theatrical track but solid in a different way. 

Onto the fourth disc, a region B locked Blu-ray, we have disc  dedicated to extras with a massive array of new and archival extras that reads like a laundry list of bonus content. First up is the brand new hour-long Zombies and Bikers, which interviews the cast and crew who played zombies in the film, A very cool look at the making of the film from the perspective of the extras, recounting their time as zombies, some of whom have gone on to become rather iconic. 

Then into the 34-minute Memories of Monroeville which offers a tour of the mall with Michael Gornick, Tom Savini, Tom Dubensky and Taso Stavrakis, the guys gave a ton of fun recalling the making fo the film at the mall, laughing a bunch, and we get some great behind the scenes photos.  They even go up to the roof top and then there's a bust of George A. Romero there as well. 

The 25-minute Raising the Dead: The Production Logistics - is a conversation with Michael Gornick, Christine Forrest, John Amplas, and Tom Dubensky who get into the logistics of the production. Tom Savini does a great 13-minute discussion for The FX of Dawn, in which he gets into the nitty gritty of creating the myriad gore effects in the film, him and the crew just having fun coming up with cool ways to kill people. 

More new bonus content comes by way of the 12-minute Dummies! Dummies! a interview with Richard France (The Crazies) who played the eye-patch wearing scientist seen on TV in the film. He gets into his career and how he ended up working with Romero, and how he is both awed and humbled by the legacy of the film. 

A cool archival extra is the 20-min The Lost Romero Dawn Interview with George A. Romero. A wonderful interview with Romero discussing his entire career, how he ended up being a "horror" director by default, and then getting into Dawn of the Dead. 

Up next is the 2015 doc The Dead Will Walk, an 75-minute feature directed by Perry Martin for Anchor Bay. In the late director discusses his career, and the horror films that informed his youth, plus we get a bunch of Romero familiars who pop  up and lay on the love for Romero's body of work, and him as a person. 

Another cool archival extra is the 13-minutes of Super 8 Mall Footage that was filmed by zombie extra Ralph Langer. The footage features both an optional archival commentary or a new commentary by Langer. It's a cool piece that gives you a fly-on-the-wall perspective of shooting scenes at the Monroeville Mall, we see scene set-ups, cast and crew preparing for scenes and whatnot. 

Of course you have to have the Roy Frumkes directed doc Document of the Dead (1980), offering both the original version and then the later released and expanded definitive version, with optional commentary on the latter version. The bonus disc is tidily buttoned-up with 18-minutes of hi-def Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots

Packaging:  The 4-disc set arrives in a handsome rigid slipbox featuring the iconic original movie poster artwork. The spine features the red logo centered on a black background. The reverse side of the slipbox features a black background with the :When there's no more room in HELL the dead will walk the EARTH" quote. Inside the four-discs are housed in a gatefold digipack with clear plastic trays. I am not a huge fan of gatefold packaging, I prefer plastic keepcases, but it's attractively illustrated. Even this standard release version is deluxe looking and has some sweet shelf appeal. 

Special Features: 

UHD DISC 1: THE THEATRICAL CUT (127 mins)
- NEW 4K scan and restoration of the Original Camera Negative by Second Sight at Final Frame New York and London supervised and approved by DoP Michael Gornick
- Presented in HDR10+
- Audio: New restoration of the original OCN Optical presented in Mono 1.0, Stereo 2.0 and 5.1.
- Commentary by George A. Romero, Tom Savini, Christine Forrest moderated by Perry Martin
- NEW Audio commentary by Journalist Travis Crawford
- NEW optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired

UHD DISC 2 – THE EXTENDED (‘CANNES’) CUT (137 mins)
- Produced using 4K scan of the Theatrical Cut Original Camera Negative and 4K scan of the Extended Cut Color Reversal Internegative, presented in HDR10+
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono
- Archival Audio Commentary by Richard P. Rubinstein
- NEW optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired

UHD DISC 3 – THE ARGENTO CUT (120 mins)
- 4K scan of the Interpositive by Michele De Angelis at Backlight Digital, Rome
- Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono 1.0, Stereo 2.0, 5.1 Surround
- Archival Audio Commentary by Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Emge
- NEW optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired

BLU-RAY DISC 4: SPECIAL FEATURES
- NEW Zombies and Bikers – With John Amplas, Roy Frumkes, Tom Savini, Christine Forrest, Tom Dubensky, Tony Buba, Taso Stavrakis and a whole host of zombies and bikers! (59 mins) HD 
- NEW Memories of Monroeville - A tour of the mall with Michael Gornick, Tom Savini, Tom Dubensky and Taso Stavrakis (34 mins)
- NEW Raising the Dead: The Production Logistics - With Michael Gornick, Christine Forrest, John Amplas, Tom Dubensky (23 mins) HD 
- NEW The FX of Dawn with Tom Savini (13 mins) HD 
- NEW Dummies! Dummies! – An interview with Richard France (12 mins) HD 

- The Lost Romero Dawn Interview (20 mins) SD 
- Super 8 Mall Footage by zombie extra Ralph Langer with option of archive commentary by Robert Langer and new commentary by Ralph Langer (13 mins) HD 
- Document of the Dead: The Original Cut (92 mins) HD 
- Document of the Dead: The Definitive Cut with optional commentary by Roy Frumkes (102 mins) HD 
- The Dead Will Walk 2014 Documentary (75 mins)
 - Trailers, TV and Radio Spots (18 min) HD 

Second Sight's standard edition of their deluxe limited edition Dawn of the Dead set might be slimmed down but it is still a thing of absolute beauty. Fans are getting the gorgeous 4-disc slipbox packaging, the phenomenal 4K UHD restoration, plus all the video extras from higher tiered release. Even without the 160-page hardback book, the Dawn of the Dead: The novelization, and the three CD's of music this is still a treasure chest of a set. This is an essential release for any horror fan, the only reason not to own this is if your own the Limited Edition set, otherwise you need to get at it. Be aware, the Blu-ray set is region-B locked but the UHD set is region-free, except for the region-B locked extras disc. As of this review there is still no North American UHD announcement for this sucker, so throw your money at Second Sight Films, they deserve it. 

Screenshots from the Region-B Blu-ray: 

Extras: