Dawn of the Dead (1978)

In this sequel to Night of the Living Dead, the dead return with a bigger breed and eating people alive.
A news team tries to discuss what is causing the dead to come back to life while a group of SWAT team members are having a battle with locals in an apartment building as the place is infested with zombies.
Where they have nowhere to run they all take take off on a helicopter and then take refuge to an abandoned shopping mall to protect themselves while they see if thwey can go to a deserted island for safety.
But the zombies seem to try and find a way in their hiding place after they terminate the one's that were already inside as well as being terrorised by a biker gang.

Many people loved this one but I didn't at first however watching it the second time made me change my mind a bit.
I found it very depressing to watch seeing the dead taking over the world and I found the story at first didn't really go anywhere and it doesn't a quarter way through as thew SWAT team takes refuge most of the time in a mall but we have interesting moments with bikers etc.

The acting is in good shape I must admit. Gaylen Ross stood out very well as a news reporter taking refuge with the rest.
Ken Foree plays a nice tough as nails SWAT member and leader of the troop too and is perfect for this film.
Scott H. Reiniger is full of energy with his part and I give him two thumbs up as well but of course he studied at a theatre school and graduated from it.
Tom Savini plays the perfect leader of a nasty biker gang and loved his special appearance in it.

Gaylen Ross is topless in one scene but the scene is dark.

Oooh we get lots of graphic gore indeed.
A mans head in an apartment is blown off by a SWAT member
Messy headshots
Gory bullet hits to the body
A screwdriver in the side of the zombie's head with blood pouring out
Blown off heads
Chunky Zombie bites
Ravenous limb chewing
Bone gnawing
Body pieces are being eaten
Gut eating including intestines being pulled out and severed limbs.
A zombie's head is chopped off of a helicopter blade
A screwdriver in the ear
Run over Zombies by vehicles
A beheading
A machete in the face.

Special thanks to John Fallon for the additional gory info.

George A. Romero is good with his direction by showing alot of good scenes with the zombies invading the town and is good at coaching his actors too.
There are humoress moments to uplift the film with some of the cast members playing the SWAT team while invading the apartment building as well as other extra cast members playing rednecks shooting zombie's in the head for fun which very much reminded me during the ending bit of Night of the Living Dead.
We also have perfect attack scenes with the zombies and cast playing the SWAT team trying to get gasoline for their helicopter. The camera shots on the zombies looked totally wicked.
Romero directed Foree perfectly during this moment when he pulls a shotgun to one of his men's head looking intimidating.
He also does well with them battling zombies in the mall and Foree showing no mercy too.
Both Foree and Reiniger work well together battling the zombies especially during a truck driving scene as there's tons of great action
Reiniger performs perfectly when he turns into a zombie showing an expressionless look almost ruising out of his bed.
Romero coached Savini perfectly with his vicious battles against the zombie's. Way to go.

The music is great in this one composed by various artists like Dario Argento (who composed the additional additional music) and is a brilliant composer as they use the old fashioned 60's style music along with some modern 70's music too along with thumping sound effects perfect for a film like this.
Watch the movie Demons (As he was terrific with that too and used some of the same elements), Goblin, Agostino Marangolo, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli.

[Fran and Stephen are observing from the roof of the mall]
Francine Parker: What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Stephen: Some kind of instinct. Memory, of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives.

[about to run a gauntlet of zombies]
Roger: Whad'ya think? Bag it or try for it?
Peter: You game?
Roger: I need lighter fluid.
Peter: You got it.

Old Priest: Many have died, last week, on these streets. In the basement of this building, you will find them. I have given them the last rites, now, you do what you will. You are stronger than us... But soon, I think they be stronger than you. When the dead walk, señores, we must stop the killing... or lose the war.

Dr. Millard Rausch, Scientist: Dummies! Dummies! Dummies!

Dr. Millard Rausch, Scientist: This isn't the Republicans versus the Democrats, where we're in a hole economically or... or we're in another war. This is more crucial than that. This is down to the line, folks, this is down to the line. There can be no more divisions among the living!

[looking in a Civil Defense carton]
Francine Parker: Spam!
Roger: You bring a can opener?
Francine Parker: No, I guess I didn't
Roger: Then don't knock it, it's got it's own key.

Francine Parker: They're still here.
Stephen: They're after us. They know we're still in here.
Peter: They're after the place. They don't know why, they just remember. Remember that they want to be in here.
Francine Parker: What the hell are they?
Peter: They're us, that's all, when there's no more room in hell.
Stephen: What?
Peter: Something my granddad used to tell us. You know Macumba? Vodoun. My granddad was a priest in Trinidad. He used to tell us, "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

Dr. Foster: Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills! The people it kills get up and kill!

Dr. Foster: This situation must be controlled before it's too late. They're multiplying too rapidly!

Dr. Foster: They kill for one reason: they kill for food. They eat their victims, you understand that, Mr. Berman? That's what keeps them going!

Dr. Millard Rausch, Scientist: The normal question, the first question is, are these cannibals? No, they are not. Cannibalism in the true sense of the word implies an interspecies activity. These creatures cannot be considered human. They prey on humans. They do not prey on each other, that's the difference. They attack and they feed only on warm flesh. Intelligence? Seemingly no reasoning ability, but basic skills remain from a remembered everyday life. There have been reports of these creatures using tools. But even these are the most basic, the use of tools as bludgeons and so forth. I might point out that even animals have been known to adopt the use of tools in this manner. These creatures are nothing but pure, motorized instinct. We must not be lulled by the concept that they are our family members or our friends. They are not. They will not respond to such emotions.
[the gathered crowd starts arguing]
Dr. Millard Rausch, Scientist: They *must* be destroyed on *sight*!

Officer in Apartment Project: Shoot it, man! Shoot it in the head!

TV Director: Roll the rescue stations!
TV Producer: We just got a report that half those stations have been knocked out.
TV Director: Then get me another list.
TV Producer: Sure, I'll just pull one out of my ass, right?

Mr. Berman: People aren't willing to accept your solutions, doctor, and I for one don't blame them!

Roger: You'll take care of me when I go, won't you, Peter?
Peter: Just rest, man. Save your strength.
Roger: I don't want to be walkin' around... like THAT!... Peter... PETER?
Peter: I'm here, man!
Roger: Don't do it until you are sure I *am* coming back! I'm gonna try... not to... I'm gonna try... not to... come back. I'm gonna try... not to...

Peter: Ain't it a crime.
Stephen: What?
Peter: The only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker with the bread to buy it.

Stephen: We've got to survive! Somebody's got to survive!

Camera man: Go ahead and leave. We'll be off the air by midnight; the emergency networks are taking over. Our responsibility is finished.

Motorcycle Raider (radio operator): Hey, you in the mall! We don't like people who don't share. You just fucked up REAL bad!

Roger: One-stop shopping; everything you need, right at your fingertips.

Martinez: Jesus Christ, there's a thousand pigs!

[Roger and Martinez point their guns at each other, at point blank range]
Roger: Hold it!
[Martinez breaks and begins to run away]
Roger: Don't go out there!
[Martinez is shot and falls off the tenement rooftop]

Roger: We've just got to wait a little longer before we move.
Peter: No, there's always a chance of some of them stayin' up on the balcony.
Roger: We can handle that; we can break through.
Peter: If any of them see us, or hear us, they'll just follow us on up. It's no good.
Roger: We sure as hell can outrun 'em. We can load up what we can and get the hell out.
Peter: I'm thinkin' maybe we've got a good thing going here. Maybe we shouldn't be in such a hurry to leave.
Roger: Oh, Man.
Peter: If we could get back up there without them catchin' on, we could hole up for a while, at least long enough to catch a breath, check out the radio, see what's happening.
Stephen: There's some kind of passageway over the top the stores. I don't know if it's just heating ducts or some kind of access. I saw it on the map.
Peter: Upstairs. Let's go.

Stephen: We've got to find more fuel. Maybe closer to Cleveland.
Roger: No. We've got to stay out of the big cities. If they're anything like Philly, We may never get out alive.
Peter: We may never get out of anyplace alive. We almost didn't get out of here.
Roger: We're gettin' out of here fine. As long as there's not to many of those things around, we can handle them easy.
Peter: Yeah, well it wasn't one of those things that nearly blew me away.
Roger: We gotta stay in the sticks! There's bound to be more of those little private airports upstate.
Stephen: There's the locks along the Allgheny. There's fuel stations there, state and private owned.
Roger: No, those are probably still manned. We don't need those hassles either.
Stephen: They're just out after scavengers and looters.
Peter: Oh, you got papers for this limousine?
Stephen: I've got GON I.D., and so does Fran.
Peter: Right, and we're up here doin' traffic reports! Wake up, sucker! We're thieves and we're bad guys. That's exactly what we are. We gotta find our own way.

Peter: Get its head up. Get its head up. Roger, get its head up, man!

[Roger was almost bitten by a zombie, and has snapped]
Roger: Bastards, you bastards! We got 'em, didn't we? We got this, man! We got this by the ass!

Peter: Roger, get your head together, we got a lot of work to do.
Roger: Number two.
Peter: You all right?
Roger: Perfect, baby. Perfect.

[Roger and Peter are startled by the Old Priest]
Old Priest: Señores, please to let me pass.
Roger: Let's get him to the med unit.
Old Priest: No, no, please. Just let me pass. I go up to seventh floor to find my sister; just let me pass. The people of 107 will do what you wish now.

Wooley: Come on, you dumb bastards, come and get 'em!

Peter: I've seen half-a-dozen guys in my unit get bitten by those things. None of them lasted more than... three days.

[Roger is in the basement, vomiting]
Peter: You ain't just in here by yourself, boy!
[Roger aims his gun at Peter]
Peter: You was in Wooley's unit, wasn't you?
[Peter cocks his gun]
Roger: I didn't see nothing. I didn't see how he died.
[They lower their guns]

Officer at Police Dock: What are you doing here?
Stephen: We're with GON.
Officer at Police Dock: About a minute and a half on the car.
Stephen: Now, wait a minute. We're just here to refuel. Those men were already dead. Now you were here, you know that.
Officer at Police Dock: GON Traffic Watch. Steve Andrews.
Stephen: That's me, I'm Steve Andrews.
Officer at Police Dock: Yeah, no shit.

Stephen: Hello, HQ, this is Police Dock. Operator dead, post abandoned.

Roger: What's the problem, officer?
Officer at Police Dock: We caught your friends here stealing company gasoline.
Roger: What do you mean, "friends"?
Stephen: They know, Rog. They're running too.
Officer at Police Dock: Now it would be crazy to start shooting at each other.
Roger: It sure would.

Stephen: We're still pretty close to Johnstown. Those rednecks are probably enjoying this whole thing.

Roger: Jesus, it's everywhere.

[Peter and Francine are flying off of the mall rooftop]
Peter: How much fuel do we have?
Francine Parker: Not much.
Peter: All right.

Roger: Come on, Martinez.
Wooley: Yeah, Martinez! Show your greasy little Puerto Rican ass so I can blow it right off!
[Cocks his gun]
Wooley: Blow ALL their asses off! Low-life bastards! Blow ALL their low-life Puerto Rican and Nigger asses right off!

Wooley: How the hell come we stick these low-life bastards in these big-ass hotels, anyway? Shit, man! This is better than I got!

Roger: Wooley's gone ape-shit, man!

Roger: [over the radio while driving trucks] Hey, too tall, too slow, two, come back!
Peter: You look my size when you're sitting in a truck.
Roger: What I want to know is how we got to be in the same force with you being so large and all?
Peter: Well, they told me it was a midget force, and they needed somebody to look up to. Hey, where's Flyboy? What's his twenty?
Roger: He's probably up on the roof... with Flygirl!

Blades: [to Peter] I *see* you, chocolate man!

[after avoiding a bunch of the zombies]
Roger: Well, we're in, but how the hell are we gonna get back?
Peter: Who the hell cares! Let's go shopping!
Roger: Watches! Watches!
Peter: Wait a minute man, let's just get the stuff we need. I'll get a television and a radio.
Roger: Ooohh, ooohh, lighter fluid! And chocolate, chocolate.
[he runs down a clothing aisle]
Roger: Hey, how about a mink coat!

Roger: Hey, man, we can't carry all this shit.
[Peter wheels a gardening cart up with all of their supplies]
Roger: Oh, I see, we're just gonna wheel right by 'em, right?
Peter: We're gonna try, brother. We ain't doin' this for the exercise, so we might as well try to get what we can.
Roger: No way this is gonna happen.

Roger: Peter, where are you?
Peter: I'm right here, man.
Roger: Hey, we did it, didn't we? We whipped 'em, didn't we?
Peter: That's right, man.
Roger: Didn't we... Didn't we whip 'em?
Peter: We sure did, buddy.
Roger: We whipped 'em and we got it ALL!

Roger: Aww God! Oh, Jesus Christ!
Peter: What is it?
Roger: My bag! I left my goddamn bag in the other truck!
Peter: [stops driving the truck] All right trooper, you better screw your head on.
Roger: [hyped tone] Yeah, yeah, yeah, c'mon, c'mon c'mon, let's go!
Peter: [grabbing him by the collar] I mean it! Now you're not just playin' with your life, you're playin' with mine! Now... are you straight?
Roger: [subdued tone] Yeah.

Roger: [to Peter] Man, a lot of people are running... I could run... I could run, tonight. A friend of mine, he's got this helicopter. He does traffic reports for GON. He asked me to come with him. Do you think it's right to run?

[coming upon the mall]
Stephen: What the hell is it?
Roger: It looks like a shopping center, one of those big, indoor malls

[coming across a Zombie storage room]
Roger: Why did they keep them here?
Peter: 'Cause they still believe there's respect in dying.

Francine Parker: Rescue stations.
Charlie: Half of those are inoperative as of now.
Francine Parker: Charlie, these are rescue stations. We can't send people to inoperative rescue stations.

Charlie: We've had old information on the air for the last twelve hours.
Roger: You better get some sleep, too.
Peter: I been thinkin'. There's an awful lot of stuff down there that we could use.
Roger: I know it.
Peter: It's a big place, but they're pretty spread out down there. I think we can outrun 'em.
Roger: Hit and run?
Peter: Hit and run.
Francine Parker: You're crazy!
Roger: This place could be a gold mine. We've got to at least check it out.

[pointing his gun at Stephen]
Peter: You never point a gun at anyone, mister. Scary, isn't it? Isn't it?

Stephen: How many do you figure are already in?
Peter: Not too many. We'll get it all locked up, and then we're going on a hunt.

[looking at the approaching bikers]
Peter: Just three of them, huh?
Stephen: Holy shit!
Peter: They'll get in. They'll move the trucks.
Stephen: There's hundreds of those creatures down there.
Peter: Come on man, that's a professional army. Looks like they've been surviving on the road all through this thing. Well, let's not make it easy for them.

Peter: This place is gonna be rotten. We've got to clean it up, brother.

[referring to Frannie]
Peter: She looks sick.
Roger: Come on, wouldn't you be?
Peter: No man, I mean she really looks ill.
Stephen: She's pregnant.
Roger: [nervously] Hey, maybe we should get moving.
Peter: We can handle it.
Roger: Yeah, but what if she needs a doctor...
Peter: [interrupting] We can handle it! It doesn't change a thing.
[to Stephen]
Peter: Do you want to get rid of it?
Stephen: [shocked] *What*?
Peter: Do you want to abort it? It's not too late, and I know how.

Peter: Somebody better sit watch all the time.
Roger: They'll never get through there.
Peter: Enough of them will. And it's not just those things we have to worry about. That... Chopper up there could give us away if somebody comes messin' around.
Roger: And what are they gonna do, land another pilot to fly it out? They're not gonna mess with a little bird like that, they've got enough on their hands.

Roger: It's Christmas time down there, buddy!
Peter: Fat city, brother! How do we work it?
Roger: If we can get into one of the department stores up top, they'll have their own escalators inside.
Peter: Let's go check those keys.

[about to whack a zombie in the head with a machete]
Blades: Say goodbye, creep!

[on a TV set, Dr. Millard Rausch argues with a TV reporter about doomsday scenarios]
Francine Parker: It's really all over... isn't it?

Dr. Foster: You're not running a talk show here, Mr. Berman! You can forget pitching an audience the moral bullshit they want to hear!

Peter: Go on, get out of here.
Francine Parker: Peter...
Peter: I said get out of here.
Francine Parker: Jesus Christ, Peter...
Peter: I don't want to go. I really don't.

Radio Announcer: [on Emergency Broadcast System] The President today has sent to Congress a package of initiatives, aimed at what sources call a most sweeping sense of emergency measures.