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Shaun of the Dead

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Shaun of the Dead
Shaun-of-the-dead.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Edgar Wright
Produced by
Nira Park
Written by
Edgar Wright
Simon Pegg

Starring
Simon Pegg
Nick Frost
Kate Ashfield
Lucy Davis
Dylan Moran
Penelope Wilton
Bill Nighy

Music by
Pete Woodhead
Daniel Mudford

Cinematography
David M. Dunlap
Edited by
Chris Dickens

Production
 company

StudioCanal
Working Title
Big Talk Productions

Distributed by
Universal Pictures
(United Kingdom)
Rogue Pictures
(United States)
Mars Distribution
(France)


Release dates

29 March 2004 (London premiere)
9 April 2004 (United Kingdom)
24 September 2004 (United States)
27 July 2005 (France)


Running time
 99 minutes[1]
Country
United Kingdom
France
United States[2][3]

Language
English
Budget
$6.1 million[4]
Box office
$30 million[5]
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British-French-American horror comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather.[6] At the same time, he has to cope with an apocalyptic zombie uprising.[7]
The film was a critical and commercial success in the UK and the US. It received a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 76 out of 100 at Metacritic. Shaun of the Dead was also a BAFTA nominee. Pegg and Wright considered a sequel that would replace zombies with another monster, but decided against it as they were pleased with the first film as a stand-alone product, and thought too many characters died to continue the story.[8]
The film is the first in Wright and Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, followed by 2007's Hot Fuzz and 2013's The World's End.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Locations
4 Reception 4.1 Box office
4.2 Critical response
4.3 Awards and recognition
5 Home media
6 Merchandise
7 Cultural references
8 Films influenced by Shaun of the Dead
9 Soundtrack
10 Comic strip
11 Live show
12 See also
13 References
14 External links

Plot[edit]
Shaun (Simon Pegg) is an electronics shop employee with no direction in life. His younger colleagues show him no respect, he has an estranged relationship with his stepfather, Phillip (Bill Nighy), and a tense one with his housemate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) because of Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun's other housemate and vulgar, unemployed best friend. Furthermore, Shaun's girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) dislikes their social life as they spend every date at the Winchester, Shaun and Ed's favourite pub. Because Shaun always brings Ed, Liz is always forced to bring her flatmates, David (Dylan Moran) and Dianne (Lucy Davis). After a bad day at work, Shaun forgets to book a table at a nice restaurant, and after suggesting the Winchester again Liz breaks up with him. Shaun drowns his sorrows with Ed at the Winchester. While celebrating at home, an enraged Pete — suffering from a bite wound caused by "some crackheads" — confronts Shaun on his flaws, telling him to sort his life out.
The next morning, a zombie apocalypse has overwhelmed the city, but Shaun is too busy dealing with his hangover to notice. He and Ed discover a female zombie in their backyard, but assume she is just drunk until she survives being impaled on a pipe. Another zombie makes its way into the garden, and Shaun and Ed run back inside. They learn more about the outbreak by watching the news and kill the two zombies (and another zombie that slips in through the front door) with blows to the head. The two decide to rescue Shaun's mother, Barbara (Penelope Wilton), and Liz so they can wait out the crisis in the Winchester.
Shaun and Ed escape in Pete's car and pick up Barbara and Phillip — who has been bitten — and then switch vehicles after Ed deliberately crashes Pete's car for Phillip's Jaguar. They then head over to Liz, Dianne, and David's flat and collect them. On their way to the Winchester, Phillip makes peace with Shaun, dies from his bites, and then reanimates — forcing them to abandon the vehicle and set off on foot. The streets surrounding the pub are overrun, so the group pretends to be zombies to sneak past them, but Shaun gets into an argument with Ed and breaks their cover. Shaun leads the horde away while the rest take refuge in the pub. Shaun rejoins them after losing the zombies.
Several hours later, the zombies return; Shaun discovers the Winchester rifle above the bar is functional and the group uses it to defend themselves. Barbara reveals she was bitten along the way and dies, and a distraught Shaun is forced to shoot her after she reanimates. David is then pulled through a window and torn apart by the zombies, and Dianne frantically unbolts the front door to rescue him, disappearing into the advancing horde. Pete arrives as one of the zombies and bites Ed; Shaun kills Pete and sets fire to the bar, but also sets off the remaining rifle ammunition by accident. The survivors flee into the cellar and contemplate suicide, but discover a barrel hatch elevator that opens to the outside. Shaun and Liz escape on the elevator as Ed is left behind with the rifle. Back on the street, the British Army arrives and guns down the remaining zombies, rescuing the two. The couple approach the safety of the trucks, reconciled.
Six months after the outbreak, civilization has returned to normal, but the living now use the zombies as cheap labour and entertainment. Liz has moved in with Shaun, and Shaun keeps Ed — now a zombie — tethered in the backyard shed so they can play video games together.
Cast[edit]
Simon Pegg as Shaun
Nick Frost as Ed
Kate Ashfield as Liz
Lucy Davis as Dianne
Dylan Moran as David
Penelope Wilton as Barbara, Shaun's mother
Bill Nighy as Phillip, Shaun's stepfather
Jessica Stevenson as Yvonne
Peter Serafinowicz as Pete
Rafe Spall as Noel
Martin Freeman as Declan
Reece Shearsmith as Mark
Tamsin Greig as Maggie
Julia Deakin as Yvonne's mum
Matt Lucas as Cousin Tom
Production[edit]
The film is notable for Wright's kinetic directing style, and its references to other movies, television series and video games. In this way, it is similar to the British sitcom Spaced, which both Pegg and Wright worked on in similar roles.
The film was inspired by the Spaced episode "Art", written by Pegg (along with his writing partner and co-star Jessica Stevenson) and directed by Wright, in which the character of Tim (Pegg), under the influence of amphetamine and the video game Resident Evil 2, hallucinates that he is fighting off a zombie invasion. Having discovered a mutual appreciation for Romero's Dead trilogy, they decided to write their own zombie movie. Spaced was to be a big influence on the making of Shaun, as it was directed by Wright in a similar style, and featured many of the same cast and crew in minor and major roles. Nick Frost who played Mike in Spaced has a starring role in Shaun as Ed. Peter Serafinowicz and Julia Deakin – who played Duane Benzie and Marsha in Spaced – appear in Shaun as Pete and Yvonne's mum, and Pegg's Spaced co-star Jessica Stevenson plays Yvonne.
The film's cast features a number of British comedians, comic actors, and sitcom stars, most prominently from Spaced, Black Books and The Office. Shaun also co-stars Dylan Moran, who played Bernard Black in Black Books, Martin Freeman (Tim Canterbury in The Office), Tamsin Greig (Fran in Black Books, Caroline in Green Wing), Julia Deakin (Marsha in Spaced), Reece Shearsmith (Dexter in Spaced and a member of The League of Gentlemen) and Matt Lucas (writer/co-star of Little Britain). In addition, the voices of Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen) and Julia Davis (Nighty Night) can be heard as radio news presenters, as can David Walliams (Little Britain) who provides the voice of an unseen TV reporter. Trisha Goddard also makes a cameo appearance, hosting a fictionalised episode of her real-life talk show Trisha. Many other comics and comic actors appear in cameos as zombies, including Rob Brydon, Paul Putner, Pamela Kempthorne (Morticia de'Ath in The Vampires of Bloody Island), Joe Cornish, Antonia Campbell-Hughes (from the Jack Dee sitcom Lead Balloon), Mark Donovan (Black Books) and Michael Smiley (Tyres in Spaced). Coldplay members Chris Martin (who contributed to the soundtrack by guest singing the cover of Buzzcocks' "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" with Ash) and Jonny Buckland also cameo as zombies in the film.[10]
The film was shot over nine weeks between May and July 2003.[11][12]
Locations[edit]
The production was filmed entirely in London, on location and at Ealing Studios, and involved production companies Working Title Films and StudioCanal. Many exterior shots were filmed in and around the North London areas of Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Finsbury Park and East Finchley. Zombie extras were mainly local residents or fans of Spaced who responded to a casting call organised through a fan website.
Shaun's place of work is an actual electrical appliances shop located at Tally Ho, North Finchley.
The scenes filmed in and around the "Winchester Tavern" pub were shot at the "Duke of Albany" pub, 39 Monson Road New Cross, South London – a three-story Victorian pub. It was turned into flats in 2008.[13]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
In the United Kingdom, Shaun took £1.6 million at 366 cinemas on its opening weekend[14] and netted £6.4 million by mid-May. In its opening weekend in the United States, Shaun earned $3.3 million, taking seventh place at the box office despite a limited release to only 607 theatres.[5] The film has earned $30,039,392 worldwide in box office receipts since its release.[5]
Critical response[edit]
Shaun of the Dead received critical acclaim, with the film receiving a score of 92% on aggregation review website Rotten Tomatoes based on 201 reviews[15] and a score of 76 out of 100 at Metacritic which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16] Nev Pierce, reviewing the film for the BBC, called it a "side-splitting, head-smashing, gloriously gory horror comedy" that will "amuse casual viewers and delight genre fans."[17] Peter Bradshaw gave it four stars out of five, saying it "boasts a script crammed with real gags" and is "pacily directed [and] nicely acted."[18]
Awards and recognition[edit]
In 2004, Total Film magazine named Shaun of the Dead the 49th greatest British film of all time. In 2005, it was rated as the third greatest comedy film of all time in a Channel 4 poll.[19] Horror novelist Stephen King described the movie as "...a '10' on the fun meter and destined to be a cult classic."[20] In 2007, Stylus Magazine named it the ninth-greatest zombie film ever made.[21] In 2007, Time named it one of the 25 best horror films, calling the film "spooky, silly and smart-smart-smart" and complimenting its director: "Wright, who'd be a director to watch in any genre, plays world-class games with the camera and the viewer's expectations of what's supposed to happen in a scare film."[22] Bloody Disgusting ranked the film second in their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article saying "Shaun of the Dead isn't just the best horror-comedy of the decade – it's quite possibly the best horror-comedy ever made."[23] In December 2009, Now deemed Shaun of the Dead the best film of the decade.[24]
George A. Romero was so impressed with Pegg and Wright's work that he asked them to appear in cameo roles in the 2005 film Land of the Dead. Pegg and Wright insisted on being zombies rather than the slightly more noticeable roles that were originally offered.[7][25] Pegg and Frost reprised their roles (animated style) in the Phineas and Ferb Halloween special "Night of the Living Pharmacists" in October 2014.[26]
Quentin Tarantino dubbed the film as one of his top twenty films made since 1992.[27]
In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their second favourite film of all time. Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption came in first place.[28]
Home media[edit]
The film was released on DVD shortly after its theatrical run in the US, with a DVD release around December 2004 in the US. Features included several audio commentaries, EPK featurettes about the film's production, pre-production video diaries and concept videos, photo galleries, bloopers, and more. The film also saw release on the HD DVD format in July 2007, with a Blu-ray Disc release following in September 2009.
Merchandise[edit]
In 2006, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association announced that it would be producing action figures based on the film as part of its "Cult Classics" line that features fan favourite characters from various genre films. The releases so far are:[citation needed]
12" Shaun with sound
7" Shaun, which was released in Cult Classics series 4. The sculpt was based on the 12" figure.
"Winchester" two-pack, featuring 7" versions of Ed and a bloodied-up Shaun with the Winchester rifle.
Zombie Ed, which is a re-deco of the "Winchester" Ed, to be released in Cult Classics: Hall of Fame.
Upper Deck Entertainment released a card for the popular World of Warcraft in 2007,an ally named "Shawn of the Dead", with the power of bringing back allies from the enemy graveyard.[29]
Cultural references[edit]
Prominent are many references to George A. Romero's earlier Dead films (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead,[7] with Dawn in particular being referenced).[30]
Films influenced by Shaun of the Dead[edit]
The 2010 Cuban film Juan of the Dead[31] and the 2013 Singaporean film Hsien of the Dead[32] were inspired by Shaun of the Dead.
Soundtrack[edit]

Shaun of the Dead: Music from the Motion Picture

Soundtrack album by various artists

Released
12 April 2004
Genre
Rock
Alternative rock
Ska
Hip-Hop
Electro
Label
Universal International
Edgar Wright film soundtrack chronology

 Shaun of the Dead
 (2004) Hot Fuzz
 (2007)

The film's score by Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford is a pastiche of Italian zombie film soundtracks by artists like Goblin and Fabio Frizzi. It also uses many musical cues from the original Dawn of the Dead that were originally culled by George A. Romero from the De Wolfe production music library.[33]
On the soundtrack album, dialogue from the film is embedded within the music tracks.
1."Figment" – S. Park
2."The Blue Wrath" – I Monster
3."Mister Mental" – The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
4."Meltdown" – Ash
5."Don't Stop Me Now" – Queen
6."White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Melle Mel
7."Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)" – Man Parrish
8."Zombie Creeping Flesh" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
9."Kernkraft 400" – Zombie Nation
10."Fizzy Legs" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
11."Soft" – Lemon Jelly
12."Death Bivouac" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
13."The Gonk (Kid Koala Remix)" – The Noveltones
14."Envy the Dead" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
15."Ghost Town" – The Specials
16."Blood in Three Flavours" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
17."Panic" – The Smiths
18."Everybody's Happy Nowadays" (originally by Buzzcocks) – Ash featuring Chris Martin
19."You're My Best Friend" – Queen
20."You've Got Red on You / Shaun of the Dead Suite" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
21."Normality" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
22."Fundead" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
23."Orpheus" – Ash
Comic strip[edit]
Pegg and Wright also scripted a one-off tie-in comic strip for the British comic magazine 2000AD titled "There's Something About Mary".[34]
Set the day before the zombie outbreak, the strip follows and expands on the character of Mary, who appears briefly in the introductory credits, and is the first zombie whom Shaun and Ed are aware of, and details how she became a zombie. It features expanded appearances from many of the minor or background characters who appear in the film. The strip was made available on the DVD release of Shaun, along with two other strips that wrapped up "Plot Holes" in the film, like how Dianne escaped and survived the Winchester incident, and Ed's fate after taking refuge in the basement of the bar.
Live show[edit]
In 2014 Simon Pegg and Universal Pictures gave Chas Burn's Almost Legal Productions theatre company[35] permission to create and tour a live show based on the film.[36]
See also[edit]
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy - the Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright film trilogy.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "SHAUN OF THE DEAD (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 26 March 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
2.Jump up ^ "Lumiere : Film : Shaun of the Dead". European Audiovisual Observatory. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
3.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead (2004)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Andrew Collins. "Simon Pegg: The World’s End is $4 million shy of double what Hot Fuzz cost". RadioTimes.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c "SOTD at Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
6.Jump up ^ "'Shaun of the Dead': Lively Zombie Comedy".
7.^ Jump up to: a b c J.C. Maçek III (15 June 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
8.Jump up ^ Podtrac.com
9.Jump up ^ "Interview with Simon Pegg". BBC Website. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
10.Jump up ^ Slender Fungus (13 November 2008). "Coldplay Official Site: The Oracle Knows Everything". Coldplay.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
11.Jump up ^ "SHAUN OF THE DEAD wraps".
12.Jump up ^ "EAT MY BRAINS! - Shaun of the Dead on-set photos - Feature Article".
13.Jump up ^ Kimberley Dadds. "The "Shaun Of The Dead" Guide To London". BuzzFeed.
14.Jump up ^ "SOTD UK figures at Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
15.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
16.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
17.Jump up ^ Nev Pierce (7 April 2004). "Shaun of the Dead (2004)". BBC. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
18.Jump up ^ Peter Bradshaw (9 April 2004). "Shaun of the Dead". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
19.Jump up ^ "50 Greatest Comedy Films". Channel 4. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
20.Jump up ^ ""Shaun of the Dead" DVD News". Rebecca Murray. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
21.Jump up ^ "Stylus Magazine’s Top 10 Zombie Films of All Time". Stylusmagazine.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
22.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead, 2004". Time. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
23.Jump up ^ "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade...Part 4". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
24.Jump up ^ Norman Wilner. "Top 10 films". NOW.
25.Jump up ^ "Simon Pegg interviews George A Romero". TimeOut.
26.Jump up ^ "Shawn of the Dead characters appearing in Phineas and Ferb". IGN.
27.Jump up ^ "Tarantino Reveals His Top 20 Movies (Since Reservoir Dogs)". Screen Rant. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
28.Jump up ^ "Radio 1 Movies Blog". BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
29.Jump up ^ "Shawn of the Dead Card Preview". UpperDeck.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
30.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead Pop Culture References". Shaunofthedead.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
31.Jump up ^ Juan of the Dead (Juan de los Muertos): Toronto Review, Hollywood Reporter, 15 September 2011, John DeFore.
32.Jump up ^ Robert, Catherine (11 August 2012). "Zombie film cast had a blast".
33.Jump up ^ Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg commentary, Shaun of the Dead (DVD). Universal Pictures
34.Jump up ^ Shaun of the Dead: "There's Something About Mary" (by Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Frazer Irving, in 2000 AD #1384, 2004
35.Jump up ^ http://almostlegalproductions.co.uk/shows/shaun-of-the-dead/
36.Jump up ^ http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Simon-Pegg-gives-Stroud-theatre-company/story-22843414-detail/story.html
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shaun of the Dead.
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Shaun of the Dead at Box Office Mojo
Shaun of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Shaun of the Dead at Metacritic
Shaun of the Dead at the British Comedy Guide
Shaun of the Dead filming locations from movielocationsguide.com


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Categories: 2004 films
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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_of_the_Dead











Shaun of the Dead

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search


Shaun of the Dead
Shaun-of-the-dead.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Edgar Wright
Produced by
Nira Park
Written by
Edgar Wright
Simon Pegg

Starring
Simon Pegg
Nick Frost
Kate Ashfield
Lucy Davis
Dylan Moran
Penelope Wilton
Bill Nighy

Music by
Pete Woodhead
Daniel Mudford

Cinematography
David M. Dunlap
Edited by
Chris Dickens

Production
 company

StudioCanal
Working Title
Big Talk Productions

Distributed by
Universal Pictures
(United Kingdom)
Rogue Pictures
(United States)
Mars Distribution
(France)


Release dates

29 March 2004 (London premiere)
9 April 2004 (United Kingdom)
24 September 2004 (United States)
27 July 2005 (France)


Running time
 99 minutes[1]
Country
United Kingdom
France
United States[2][3]

Language
English
Budget
$6.1 million[4]
Box office
$30 million[5]
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British-French-American horror comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather.[6] At the same time, he has to cope with an apocalyptic zombie uprising.[7]
The film was a critical and commercial success in the UK and the US. It received a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 76 out of 100 at Metacritic. Shaun of the Dead was also a BAFTA nominee. Pegg and Wright considered a sequel that would replace zombies with another monster, but decided against it as they were pleased with the first film as a stand-alone product, and thought too many characters died to continue the story.[8]
The film is the first in Wright and Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, followed by 2007's Hot Fuzz and 2013's The World's End.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Locations
4 Reception 4.1 Box office
4.2 Critical response
4.3 Awards and recognition
5 Home media
6 Merchandise
7 Cultural references
8 Films influenced by Shaun of the Dead
9 Soundtrack
10 Comic strip
11 Live show
12 See also
13 References
14 External links

Plot[edit]
Shaun (Simon Pegg) is an electronics shop employee with no direction in life. His younger colleagues show him no respect, he has an estranged relationship with his stepfather, Phillip (Bill Nighy), and a tense one with his housemate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) because of Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun's other housemate and vulgar, unemployed best friend. Furthermore, Shaun's girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) dislikes their social life as they spend every date at the Winchester, Shaun and Ed's favourite pub. Because Shaun always brings Ed, Liz is always forced to bring her flatmates, David (Dylan Moran) and Dianne (Lucy Davis). After a bad day at work, Shaun forgets to book a table at a nice restaurant, and after suggesting the Winchester again Liz breaks up with him. Shaun drowns his sorrows with Ed at the Winchester. While celebrating at home, an enraged Pete — suffering from a bite wound caused by "some crackheads" — confronts Shaun on his flaws, telling him to sort his life out.
The next morning, a zombie apocalypse has overwhelmed the city, but Shaun is too busy dealing with his hangover to notice. He and Ed discover a female zombie in their backyard, but assume she is just drunk until she survives being impaled on a pipe. Another zombie makes its way into the garden, and Shaun and Ed run back inside. They learn more about the outbreak by watching the news and kill the two zombies (and another zombie that slips in through the front door) with blows to the head. The two decide to rescue Shaun's mother, Barbara (Penelope Wilton), and Liz so they can wait out the crisis in the Winchester.
Shaun and Ed escape in Pete's car and pick up Barbara and Phillip — who has been bitten — and then switch vehicles after Ed deliberately crashes Pete's car for Phillip's Jaguar. They then head over to Liz, Dianne, and David's flat and collect them. On their way to the Winchester, Phillip makes peace with Shaun, dies from his bites, and then reanimates — forcing them to abandon the vehicle and set off on foot. The streets surrounding the pub are overrun, so the group pretends to be zombies to sneak past them, but Shaun gets into an argument with Ed and breaks their cover. Shaun leads the horde away while the rest take refuge in the pub. Shaun rejoins them after losing the zombies.
Several hours later, the zombies return; Shaun discovers the Winchester rifle above the bar is functional and the group uses it to defend themselves. Barbara reveals she was bitten along the way and dies, and a distraught Shaun is forced to shoot her after she reanimates. David is then pulled through a window and torn apart by the zombies, and Dianne frantically unbolts the front door to rescue him, disappearing into the advancing horde. Pete arrives as one of the zombies and bites Ed; Shaun kills Pete and sets fire to the bar, but also sets off the remaining rifle ammunition by accident. The survivors flee into the cellar and contemplate suicide, but discover a barrel hatch elevator that opens to the outside. Shaun and Liz escape on the elevator as Ed is left behind with the rifle. Back on the street, the British Army arrives and guns down the remaining zombies, rescuing the two. The couple approach the safety of the trucks, reconciled.
Six months after the outbreak, civilization has returned to normal, but the living now use the zombies as cheap labour and entertainment. Liz has moved in with Shaun, and Shaun keeps Ed — now a zombie — tethered in the backyard shed so they can play video games together.
Cast[edit]
Simon Pegg as Shaun
Nick Frost as Ed
Kate Ashfield as Liz
Lucy Davis as Dianne
Dylan Moran as David
Penelope Wilton as Barbara, Shaun's mother
Bill Nighy as Phillip, Shaun's stepfather
Jessica Stevenson as Yvonne
Peter Serafinowicz as Pete
Rafe Spall as Noel
Martin Freeman as Declan
Reece Shearsmith as Mark
Tamsin Greig as Maggie
Julia Deakin as Yvonne's mum
Matt Lucas as Cousin Tom
Production[edit]
The film is notable for Wright's kinetic directing style, and its references to other movies, television series and video games. In this way, it is similar to the British sitcom Spaced, which both Pegg and Wright worked on in similar roles.
The film was inspired by the Spaced episode "Art", written by Pegg (along with his writing partner and co-star Jessica Stevenson) and directed by Wright, in which the character of Tim (Pegg), under the influence of amphetamine and the video game Resident Evil 2, hallucinates that he is fighting off a zombie invasion. Having discovered a mutual appreciation for Romero's Dead trilogy, they decided to write their own zombie movie. Spaced was to be a big influence on the making of Shaun, as it was directed by Wright in a similar style, and featured many of the same cast and crew in minor and major roles. Nick Frost who played Mike in Spaced has a starring role in Shaun as Ed. Peter Serafinowicz and Julia Deakin – who played Duane Benzie and Marsha in Spaced – appear in Shaun as Pete and Yvonne's mum, and Pegg's Spaced co-star Jessica Stevenson plays Yvonne.
The film's cast features a number of British comedians, comic actors, and sitcom stars, most prominently from Spaced, Black Books and The Office. Shaun also co-stars Dylan Moran, who played Bernard Black in Black Books, Martin Freeman (Tim Canterbury in The Office), Tamsin Greig (Fran in Black Books, Caroline in Green Wing), Julia Deakin (Marsha in Spaced), Reece Shearsmith (Dexter in Spaced and a member of The League of Gentlemen) and Matt Lucas (writer/co-star of Little Britain). In addition, the voices of Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen) and Julia Davis (Nighty Night) can be heard as radio news presenters, as can David Walliams (Little Britain) who provides the voice of an unseen TV reporter. Trisha Goddard also makes a cameo appearance, hosting a fictionalised episode of her real-life talk show Trisha. Many other comics and comic actors appear in cameos as zombies, including Rob Brydon, Paul Putner, Pamela Kempthorne (Morticia de'Ath in The Vampires of Bloody Island), Joe Cornish, Antonia Campbell-Hughes (from the Jack Dee sitcom Lead Balloon), Mark Donovan (Black Books) and Michael Smiley (Tyres in Spaced). Coldplay members Chris Martin (who contributed to the soundtrack by guest singing the cover of Buzzcocks' "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" with Ash) and Jonny Buckland also cameo as zombies in the film.[10]
The film was shot over nine weeks between May and July 2003.[11][12]
Locations[edit]
The production was filmed entirely in London, on location and at Ealing Studios, and involved production companies Working Title Films and StudioCanal. Many exterior shots were filmed in and around the North London areas of Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Finsbury Park and East Finchley. Zombie extras were mainly local residents or fans of Spaced who responded to a casting call organised through a fan website.
Shaun's place of work is an actual electrical appliances shop located at Tally Ho, North Finchley.
The scenes filmed in and around the "Winchester Tavern" pub were shot at the "Duke of Albany" pub, 39 Monson Road New Cross, South London – a three-story Victorian pub. It was turned into flats in 2008.[13]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
In the United Kingdom, Shaun took £1.6 million at 366 cinemas on its opening weekend[14] and netted £6.4 million by mid-May. In its opening weekend in the United States, Shaun earned $3.3 million, taking seventh place at the box office despite a limited release to only 607 theatres.[5] The film has earned $30,039,392 worldwide in box office receipts since its release.[5]
Critical response[edit]
Shaun of the Dead received critical acclaim, with the film receiving a score of 92% on aggregation review website Rotten Tomatoes based on 201 reviews[15] and a score of 76 out of 100 at Metacritic which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16] Nev Pierce, reviewing the film for the BBC, called it a "side-splitting, head-smashing, gloriously gory horror comedy" that will "amuse casual viewers and delight genre fans."[17] Peter Bradshaw gave it four stars out of five, saying it "boasts a script crammed with real gags" and is "pacily directed [and] nicely acted."[18]
Awards and recognition[edit]
In 2004, Total Film magazine named Shaun of the Dead the 49th greatest British film of all time. In 2005, it was rated as the third greatest comedy film of all time in a Channel 4 poll.[19] Horror novelist Stephen King described the movie as "...a '10' on the fun meter and destined to be a cult classic."[20] In 2007, Stylus Magazine named it the ninth-greatest zombie film ever made.[21] In 2007, Time named it one of the 25 best horror films, calling the film "spooky, silly and smart-smart-smart" and complimenting its director: "Wright, who'd be a director to watch in any genre, plays world-class games with the camera and the viewer's expectations of what's supposed to happen in a scare film."[22] Bloody Disgusting ranked the film second in their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article saying "Shaun of the Dead isn't just the best horror-comedy of the decade – it's quite possibly the best horror-comedy ever made."[23] In December 2009, Now deemed Shaun of the Dead the best film of the decade.[24]
George A. Romero was so impressed with Pegg and Wright's work that he asked them to appear in cameo roles in the 2005 film Land of the Dead. Pegg and Wright insisted on being zombies rather than the slightly more noticeable roles that were originally offered.[7][25] Pegg and Frost reprised their roles (animated style) in the Phineas and Ferb Halloween special "Night of the Living Pharmacists" in October 2014.[26]
Quentin Tarantino dubbed the film as one of his top twenty films made since 1992.[27]
In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their second favourite film of all time. Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption came in first place.[28]
Home media[edit]
The film was released on DVD shortly after its theatrical run in the US, with a DVD release around December 2004 in the US. Features included several audio commentaries, EPK featurettes about the film's production, pre-production video diaries and concept videos, photo galleries, bloopers, and more. The film also saw release on the HD DVD format in July 2007, with a Blu-ray Disc release following in September 2009.
Merchandise[edit]
In 2006, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association announced that it would be producing action figures based on the film as part of its "Cult Classics" line that features fan favourite characters from various genre films. The releases so far are:[citation needed]
12" Shaun with sound
7" Shaun, which was released in Cult Classics series 4. The sculpt was based on the 12" figure.
"Winchester" two-pack, featuring 7" versions of Ed and a bloodied-up Shaun with the Winchester rifle.
Zombie Ed, which is a re-deco of the "Winchester" Ed, to be released in Cult Classics: Hall of Fame.
Upper Deck Entertainment released a card for the popular World of Warcraft in 2007,an ally named "Shawn of the Dead", with the power of bringing back allies from the enemy graveyard.[29]
Cultural references[edit]
Prominent are many references to George A. Romero's earlier Dead films (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead,[7] with Dawn in particular being referenced).[30]
Films influenced by Shaun of the Dead[edit]
The 2010 Cuban film Juan of the Dead[31] and the 2013 Singaporean film Hsien of the Dead[32] were inspired by Shaun of the Dead.
Soundtrack[edit]

Shaun of the Dead: Music from the Motion Picture

Soundtrack album by various artists

Released
12 April 2004
Genre
Rock
Alternative rock
Ska
Hip-Hop
Electro
Label
Universal International
Edgar Wright film soundtrack chronology

 Shaun of the Dead
 (2004) Hot Fuzz
 (2007)

The film's score by Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford is a pastiche of Italian zombie film soundtracks by artists like Goblin and Fabio Frizzi. It also uses many musical cues from the original Dawn of the Dead that were originally culled by George A. Romero from the De Wolfe production music library.[33]
On the soundtrack album, dialogue from the film is embedded within the music tracks.
1."Figment" – S. Park
2."The Blue Wrath" – I Monster
3."Mister Mental" – The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
4."Meltdown" – Ash
5."Don't Stop Me Now" – Queen
6."White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Melle Mel
7."Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)" – Man Parrish
8."Zombie Creeping Flesh" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
9."Kernkraft 400" – Zombie Nation
10."Fizzy Legs" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
11."Soft" – Lemon Jelly
12."Death Bivouac" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
13."The Gonk (Kid Koala Remix)" – The Noveltones
14."Envy the Dead" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
15."Ghost Town" – The Specials
16."Blood in Three Flavours" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
17."Panic" – The Smiths
18."Everybody's Happy Nowadays" (originally by Buzzcocks) – Ash featuring Chris Martin
19."You're My Best Friend" – Queen
20."You've Got Red on You / Shaun of the Dead Suite" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
21."Normality" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
22."Fundead" – Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford
23."Orpheus" – Ash
Comic strip[edit]
Pegg and Wright also scripted a one-off tie-in comic strip for the British comic magazine 2000AD titled "There's Something About Mary".[34]
Set the day before the zombie outbreak, the strip follows and expands on the character of Mary, who appears briefly in the introductory credits, and is the first zombie whom Shaun and Ed are aware of, and details how she became a zombie. It features expanded appearances from many of the minor or background characters who appear in the film. The strip was made available on the DVD release of Shaun, along with two other strips that wrapped up "Plot Holes" in the film, like how Dianne escaped and survived the Winchester incident, and Ed's fate after taking refuge in the basement of the bar.
Live show[edit]
In 2014 Simon Pegg and Universal Pictures gave Chas Burn's Almost Legal Productions theatre company[35] permission to create and tour a live show based on the film.[36]
See also[edit]
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy - the Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright film trilogy.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "SHAUN OF THE DEAD (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 26 March 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
2.Jump up ^ "Lumiere : Film : Shaun of the Dead". European Audiovisual Observatory. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
3.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead (2004)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Andrew Collins. "Simon Pegg: The World’s End is $4 million shy of double what Hot Fuzz cost". RadioTimes.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c "SOTD at Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
6.Jump up ^ "'Shaun of the Dead': Lively Zombie Comedy".
7.^ Jump up to: a b c J.C. Maçek III (15 June 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
8.Jump up ^ Podtrac.com
9.Jump up ^ "Interview with Simon Pegg". BBC Website. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
10.Jump up ^ Slender Fungus (13 November 2008). "Coldplay Official Site: The Oracle Knows Everything". Coldplay.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
11.Jump up ^ "SHAUN OF THE DEAD wraps".
12.Jump up ^ "EAT MY BRAINS! - Shaun of the Dead on-set photos - Feature Article".
13.Jump up ^ Kimberley Dadds. "The "Shaun Of The Dead" Guide To London". BuzzFeed.
14.Jump up ^ "SOTD UK figures at Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
15.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
16.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
17.Jump up ^ Nev Pierce (7 April 2004). "Shaun of the Dead (2004)". BBC. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
18.Jump up ^ Peter Bradshaw (9 April 2004). "Shaun of the Dead". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
19.Jump up ^ "50 Greatest Comedy Films". Channel 4. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
20.Jump up ^ ""Shaun of the Dead" DVD News". Rebecca Murray. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
21.Jump up ^ "Stylus Magazine’s Top 10 Zombie Films of All Time". Stylusmagazine.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
22.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead, 2004". Time. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
23.Jump up ^ "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade...Part 4". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
24.Jump up ^ Norman Wilner. "Top 10 films". NOW.
25.Jump up ^ "Simon Pegg interviews George A Romero". TimeOut.
26.Jump up ^ "Shawn of the Dead characters appearing in Phineas and Ferb". IGN.
27.Jump up ^ "Tarantino Reveals His Top 20 Movies (Since Reservoir Dogs)". Screen Rant. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
28.Jump up ^ "Radio 1 Movies Blog". BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
29.Jump up ^ "Shawn of the Dead Card Preview". UpperDeck.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
30.Jump up ^ "Shaun of the Dead Pop Culture References". Shaunofthedead.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
31.Jump up ^ Juan of the Dead (Juan de los Muertos): Toronto Review, Hollywood Reporter, 15 September 2011, John DeFore.
32.Jump up ^ Robert, Catherine (11 August 2012). "Zombie film cast had a blast".
33.Jump up ^ Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg commentary, Shaun of the Dead (DVD). Universal Pictures
34.Jump up ^ Shaun of the Dead: "There's Something About Mary" (by Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Frazer Irving, in 2000 AD #1384, 2004
35.Jump up ^ http://almostlegalproductions.co.uk/shows/shaun-of-the-dead/
36.Jump up ^ http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Simon-Pegg-gives-Stroud-theatre-company/story-22843414-detail/story.html
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shaun of the Dead.
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Shaun of the Dead at Box Office Mojo
Shaun of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Shaun of the Dead at Metacritic
Shaun of the Dead at the British Comedy Guide
Shaun of the Dead filming locations from movielocationsguide.com


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Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)

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Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead 2004 movie.jpg
Promotional poster, still under the original release date.

Directed by
Zack Snyder
Produced by
Richard P. Rubinstein
Marc Abraham
Eric Newman

Screenplay by
James Gunn
Based on
Dawn of the Dead
 by George A. Romero
Starring
Sarah Polley
Ving Rhames
Jake Weber
Ty Burrell
Kevin Zegers
Mekhi Phifer

Music by
Tyler Bates
Cinematography
Matthew F. Leonetti
Edited by
Niven Howie

Production
 company

Strike Entertainment
New Amsterdam Entertainment

Distributed by
Universal Pictures

Release dates

March 19, 2004


Running time
 100 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$26 million[2]
Box office
$102.4 million[2]
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 American horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his feature film directorial debut. A remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name, it is written by James Gunn and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber.[3] The film depicts a handful of human survivors living in a shopping mall located in the fictional town of Everett, Wisconsin surrounded by swarms of zombies. The movie was produced by Strike Entertainment in association with New Amsterdam Entertainment, released by Universal Pictures and includes cameos by original cast members Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Tom Savini.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Deleted scenes
3.2 Additional material
4 Release
5 Reception
6 Comparisons to the original
7 Cancelled sequel
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Plot[edit]
After finishing a long shift as a nurse, Ana returns to her suburban neighborhood and her husband, Luis. Caught up in a scheduled date night, they miss an emergency news bulletin. The next morning, a neighborhood girl called Vivian enters their bedroom and kills Luis, who immediately reanimates as a zombie and attacks Ana. She flees in her car, but eventually crashes and passes out. Upon waking, Ana joins with Police Sergeant Kenneth Hall, electronics salesman Michael, petty criminal Andre and his pregnant wife, Luda. They break into a nearby mall and are attacked by a zombified security guard, who scratches Luda. They are also confronted by three living guards — C.J., Bart, and Terry — who make them surrender their weapons in exchange for refuge. They split into groups to secure the mall and then go to the roof where they see another survivor, Andy, who is stranded alone in his gun store across the zombie-infested parking lot.
The next day, a delivery truck carrying more survivors enters the lot, with zombies in close pursuit. C.J. and Bart wish to turn them away but are overruled and disarmed. The newcomers include Norma, Steve Marcus, Tucker, Monica, Glen, Frank and his daughter, Nicole. Another woman is too ill to walk; she is wheeled inside via wheelbarrow only to die and reanimate. After she is killed, the group determines that the disease is passed by bites. Andre leaves to see Luda, who has kept her scratch hidden from the group. They realize that Frank has been bitten and is a potential threat. After some debate, Frank elects to be isolated. When he dies and turns, Kenneth shoots him.
A montage shows the survivors passing time. Kenneth and Andy start a friendship by way of messages written on a whiteboard; romance also buds between Ana and Michael, and Nicole and Terry. One day, the power goes out. CJ, Bart, Michael and Kenneth go to the parking garage to activate the emergency generator; they find a friendly dog got inside, worrying about a breach. Zombies attack and kill Bart, forcing the others to douse the zombies in gas and set them ablaze. Meanwhile, Luda — tied up by Andre — gives birth and dies. She reanimates as Norma checks on the couple, killing the zombified Luda. Andre snaps; they exchange gunfire and both are killed. The others arrive to find a zombie baby, which they kill immediately. The group decides to fight their way to the local marina, and travel on Steve's yacht to an island on Lake Michigan. They begin reinforcing two shuttle buses from the parking garage for their escape. However, they also need to pick up Andy, who is starving.
The group straps food and a walkie-talkie onto the dog, Chips, and lower him into the parking lot; the zombies have no interest in him. Chips gets into Andy's store safely; however, a zombie follows through the dog door. Nicole, fond of Chips, crashes the delivery truck into the gun store, where she is trapped by a zombified Andy. Kenneth, Michael, Tucker, Terry, and C.J. reach the gun store via the sewers; they kill Andy, rescuing Nicole. They grab ammunition and go back to the mall; along the way, Tucker breaks his legs, C.J shoots him out of mercy. Once inside, they are unable to lock the door, forcing an evacuation.
Everyone boards the buses and navigate through the city. Glen loses control of a chainsaw, accidentally killing himself and Monica; blood splatters on the windshield causing the bus to crash. C.J. exits the first van to look for crash survivors with Kenneth and Terry. They encounter the undead Steve but Ana kills him. She retrieves his boat keys, and they take the remaining bus to the marina. C.J sacrifices himself so the rest of the group can escape. Michael reveals a bite wound, killing himself as Ana, Kenneth, Nicole, Terry, and Chips flee on the yacht.
During the end credits, a montage of footage from a camcorder found on the boat begins with Steve's escapades before the outbreak, and concludes with the group running out of supplies before finally arriving at an island, where they are attacked by another swarm of zombies. The camcorder drops, recording dozens of zombies chasing them, leaving their fate unknown.
Cast[edit]
Sarah Polley as Ana
Ving Rhames as Kenneth
Jake Weber as Michael
Ty Burrell as Steve
Kevin Zegers as Terry
Mekhi Phifer as Andre
Michael Kelly as C.J.
Lindy Booth as Nicole
Inna Korobkina as Luda
Kim Poirier as Monica
Boyd Banks as Tucker
Bruce Bohne as Andy
Michael Barry as Bart
R. D. Reid as Glen
Jayne Eastwood as Norma
Matt Frewer as Frank
Louis Ferreira as Luis
Hannah Lochner as Vivian
Ermes Blarasin as Bloated Woman
Ken Foree as TV Evangelist
Tom Savini as Sheriff Cahill
Scott Reiniger as The General
Production[edit]
James Gunn is partially responsible for the screenplay although he received a solo writing credit. After he left the project to concentrate on Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Michael Tolkin and Scott Frank were brought in for rewriting.[4] In a commentary track on the Ultimate Edition DVD for the original George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, Richard P. Rubinstein, producer of the original and the remake, explained that Tolkin further developed the characters, while Frank provided some of the bigger and upbeat action sequences.
The mall scenes and rooftop scenes were shot in the former Thornhill Square Shopping Centre in Thornhill, Ontario and the other scenes were shot in the Aileen-Willowbrook neighborhood of Thornhill, Ontario. The set for Ana and Luis's bedroom was constructed in a backroom of the mall.[5] The mall was defunct, which is the reason the production used it; the movie crew completely renovated the structure, and stocked it with fictitious stores after Starbucks and numerous other corporations refused to let their names be used[5] (two exceptions to this are Roots and Panasonic). Most of the mall was demolished shortly after the film was shot. The fictitious stores include a coffee shop called Hallowed Grounds (a lyric from Johnny Cash's song "The Man Comes Around", which was used over the opening credits), and an upscale department store called Gaylen Ross (an in-joke reference to one of the stars of the original 1978 film).
The first half of the film was shot almost entirely in chronological order,[5] while the final sequences on the boat and island were shot much later and at a different location (Universal Studios Hollywood) than the rest of the film, after preview audiences objected to the sudden ending of the original print.[5]
Dawn of the Dead is the second film that co-starred actresses Lindy Booth and Kim Poirier. They first worked together on American Psycho 2.
Deleted scenes[edit]
Deleted scenes were added back for the "Unrated Director's Cut" DVD edition.[6] Along with gore effects removed to obtain an MPAA R rating,[7] they include a clearer depiction of how the survivors originally break into the mall, and a short scene where the character of Glen regales the imprisoned C.J. and Bart with his reminiscing about his homosexual coming-of-age.
Additional material[edit]
The DVD release includes, as a bonus feature, the short film We Interrupt This Program, an expanded version of the fictional live broadcasts shown in the mall's televisions, which chronicles the worldwide effects of the zombie plague and the impact it has on a newscaster. Aside from featuring additional footage of cameos by actors from the original film, the film features Richard Biggs as the newscaster (in his final performance before his death in May 2004), and a voiceover cameo by Bruce Boxleitner as the President of the United States.
Release[edit]
In the United Kingdom, Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead were originally scheduled to be released the same week, but due to the similarity in the names of the two films and plot outline, UIP opted to push back Shaun‍‍ '​‍s release by two weeks. It was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.[8]
The film grossed $59 million at the US box office and $102 million worldwide.[2]
Reception[edit]
 Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 75% of 180 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.7/10. The site's consensus reads: "A kinetic, violent and surprisingly worthy remake of George Romero's horror classic that pays homage to the original while working on its own terms."[9] Metacritic rated it 58/100 based on 32 reviews.[10]
Roger Ebert said the film "works and it delivers just about what you expect when you buy your ticket" but felt that it "lacks the mordant humor of the Romero version" and the "plot flatlines compared to the 1979 version, which was trickier, wittier and smarter."[11] Scott Foundas of Variety described it as an unnecessary remake that will appeal mostly to young adult audiences who have not seen the original film.[12] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "has no patience for such subtleties" as Romero's thematic concerns or suspense-building.[13] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Snyder's blood feast is strictly by the numbers: this second-rater could be the world's most expensive Troma film."[14] Manohla Dargis of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Good zombie fun, the remake of George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" is the best proof in ages that cannibalizing old material sometimes works fiendishly well."[15] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Instead, the new "Dawn of the Dead" satirizes itself and satirizes its genre, and, on its own unambitious terms, the movie succeeds. It's silly, witty and good-natured, not scary so much as icky, and not horrifying or horrible but consistently amusing."[16] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly rated it "A" and wrote, "Commercial director Zack Snyder, making a killer feature debut, trades homemade cheesiness for knowing style, revels in the sophistication of modern special effects, and stomps off with the best remake – er, ”re-envisioning” – of a horror classic in memory."[17] Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote that the remake streamlines the original film "by discarding everything special about it in favor of pure visceral effect".[18]
Bloody Disgusting ranked the film eighth in their list of the "Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade", with the article saying "Truly, you can analogize the two films [original and remake] based on their zombies alone – where Romero's lumbered and took their time (in a good way), Snyder's came at us, fast, with teeth bared like rabid dogs."[19] Rolling Stone ranked it #3 in their "Top 10 Best Zombie Movies".[20] It was third in Dread Central's "Best Horror Films of the Decade".[21]
George A. Romero said, "It was better than I expected. ... The first 15, 20 minutes were terrific, but it sort of lost its reason for being. It was more of a video game. I'm not terrified of things running at me; it's like Space Invaders. There was nothing going on underneath."[22] South Park parodied the film in the episode, "Night of the Living Homeless". The show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, called the film "amazing" in the episode's DVD commentary.[23]
Comparisons to the original[edit]


 This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (March 2015)
In the original film, the zombies moved very slowly and were most menacing when they collected in large groups. In the remake, the zombies are fast and agile. Many admirers of the original, as well as Romero himself, protested this change, feeling that it limited the impact of the undead.[24] This is somewhat borne out by the fact that the remake has almost no close-up shots of zombies that last more than a second or two. Snyder mentions this in the commentary track of the remake's DVD, pointing out that they seem too human when the camera lingers upon them for longer. Although, it was for this change that Wizard Magazine ranked the zombies #5 on their "100 Greatest Villains Ever" list.
The original had a smaller cast than the remake, allowing more screen time for each character. Many fans and critics criticized the resulting loss of character development.[25]
In the original version, the story unfolds over several months, indicated by the advancing stages of Fran's pregnancy. In the remake, the events transpire within approximately one month, as evidenced by the supplemental feature The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed, located on the DVD in the special features section. Another big change from the original is that unlike Romero, Snyder treats zombification more like a disease, pointing to the bites as the source, instead of anyone who is dead turning into a zombie.
Three actors from the original film have cameos in the remake, appearing on the televisions the survivors watch: Ken Foree, who played Peter from the original, plays an evangelist who asserts that God is punishing mankind; Scott H. Reiniger, who played Roger in the original, plays an army general telling everyone to stay at home for safety and Tom Savini, who did the special effects for many of Romero's films and played the motorcycle gang member Blades in the original Dawn of the Dead, plays the Monroeville Sheriff explaining the only way to kill the zombies is to "shoot 'em in the head." Monroeville is also the location of the mall used in the 1978 film. In addition, a store shown in the mall is called "Gaylen Ross", an obvious tribute to actress Gaylen Ross, who played Francine in the original film.
Writing in The Zombie Encyclopedia, Volume 2, academic Peter Dendle said that the original film "served as a bridge between the talky, slow-paced 1970s horror and the fast-paced splatter to come in the 1980s", whereas the 2004 remake "generally forsakes slow-mounting suspense in favor of frenetic action".[26]
Cancelled sequel[edit]
A sequel was planned but was later cancelled.[27] Zack Snyder stated that he would only be producing the sequel instead of reprising his role as the director due to working on Watchmen when he announced the film.[28] The script of Army of the Dead was written by Zack Snyder and Joby Harold. Filming for Army of the Dead was to start once they got a director as the producing studios had approved the script. Also according to Deborah Snyder, the film was set in Las Vegas, and the town had to be contained to stop the outbreak of zombies.[29][30] The film's producing studios were Universal Studios (who released the first) and Warner Bros. Entertainment (who released most of Snyder's films since 300) and the film was set to be directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., director of The Thing, the 2011 prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic of the same name.[31]
See also[edit]
The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed
List of zombie films
List of zombie other films
List of zombie short films
Survivalism in fiction
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "DAWN OF THE DEAD (18)". British Board of Film Classification. March 16, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c "Dawn of the Dead". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
3.Jump up ^ J.C. Maçek III (2012-06-15). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
4.Jump up ^ James Rocchi. "Super: Critics' Reviews". MSN.com. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d DVD Commentary by director Snyder and producer Newman
6.Jump up ^ Snyder, Zack (Director) (25 October 2004). Dawn Of The Dead: Unrated Director's Cut (Fullscreen). Universal Studios (DVD). Retrieved 2 October 2013.UPC 025192582028
7.Jump up ^ DVD-only introduction by director Snyder
8.Jump up ^ "Festival de Cannes: Dawn of the Dead". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
9.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead (2005) reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
10.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
11.Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger (March 19, 2004). "Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
12.Jump up ^ Foundas, Scott (2004-03-18). "Review: 'Dawn of the Dead'". Variety. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
13.Jump up ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (2004-03-19). "'Dawn of the Dead'.(Movie Review)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-03-06 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
14.Jump up ^ Mitchell, Elvis (2004-03-19). "A Cautionary Tale for Those Dying to Shop". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
15.Jump up ^ Dargis, Manohla (2004-03-19). "'Dawn of the Dead' rises to the occasion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
16.Jump up ^ LaSalle, Mick (2004-03-19). "The zombies are back, and still hungry, and a mall full of Muzak is the only refuge". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
17.Jump up ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (2004-03-18). "Dawn of the Dead (Movie - 2004)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
18.Jump up ^ Tobias, Scott (2004-03-23). "Dawn Of The Dead". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
19.Jump up ^ "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade...Part 3". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
20.Jump up ^ Travers, Peter (2012-10-12). "The 10 Best Zombie Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
21.Jump up ^ Barton, Steve (2010-01-01). "Dread Central’s Best Horror Films of the Decade". Dread Central. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
22.Jump up ^ "Simon Pegg interviews George A Romero". Retrieved 2007-03-18.
23.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Homeless" Episode Commentary on South Park Season 11 DVD boxset; 2008
24.Jump up ^ "John Leguizamo on Land of the Dead". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2009-06-16.[dead link]
25.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead". Retrieved 2009-06-16.
26.Jump up ^ Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000–2010. McFarland & Company. pp. 49–51. ISBN 978-0-7864-6163-9.
27.Jump up ^ DAWN OF THE DEAD SEQUEL ARMY OF THE DEAD WILL NOT REANIMATE
28.Jump up ^ "Zack Snyder NOT directing "Army of the Dead"". bloodydisgusting.com. June 5, 2008. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
29.Jump up ^ "Army of the Dead is not dead". moviefone. Oct 30, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
30.Jump up ^ "EXCL: Snyder's Army of the Dead Update!". shocktillyoudrop.com. October 26, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
31.Jump up ^ "Matthijs van Heijningen set to direct "Army of the Dead"". slashfilm.com. June 4, 2008. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Official website
Dawn of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Dawn of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Dawn of the Dead at Metacritic


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English-language films
2004 horror films
American films
American horror films
American remakes of Italian films
Living Dead films
Directorial debut films
Action horror films
Apocalyptic films
Films set in 2004
Films set in Wisconsin
Films shot in Ontario
Horror film remakes
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Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)

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Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead 2004 movie.jpg
Promotional poster, still under the original release date.

Directed by
Zack Snyder
Produced by
Richard P. Rubinstein
Marc Abraham
Eric Newman

Screenplay by
James Gunn
Based on
Dawn of the Dead
 by George A. Romero
Starring
Sarah Polley
Ving Rhames
Jake Weber
Ty Burrell
Kevin Zegers
Mekhi Phifer

Music by
Tyler Bates
Cinematography
Matthew F. Leonetti
Edited by
Niven Howie

Production
 company

Strike Entertainment
New Amsterdam Entertainment

Distributed by
Universal Pictures

Release dates

March 19, 2004


Running time
 100 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$26 million[2]
Box office
$102.4 million[2]
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 American horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his feature film directorial debut. A remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name, it is written by James Gunn and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber.[3] The film depicts a handful of human survivors living in a shopping mall located in the fictional town of Everett, Wisconsin surrounded by swarms of zombies. The movie was produced by Strike Entertainment in association with New Amsterdam Entertainment, released by Universal Pictures and includes cameos by original cast members Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Tom Savini.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Deleted scenes
3.2 Additional material
4 Release
5 Reception
6 Comparisons to the original
7 Cancelled sequel
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Plot[edit]
After finishing a long shift as a nurse, Ana returns to her suburban neighborhood and her husband, Luis. Caught up in a scheduled date night, they miss an emergency news bulletin. The next morning, a neighborhood girl called Vivian enters their bedroom and kills Luis, who immediately reanimates as a zombie and attacks Ana. She flees in her car, but eventually crashes and passes out. Upon waking, Ana joins with Police Sergeant Kenneth Hall, electronics salesman Michael, petty criminal Andre and his pregnant wife, Luda. They break into a nearby mall and are attacked by a zombified security guard, who scratches Luda. They are also confronted by three living guards — C.J., Bart, and Terry — who make them surrender their weapons in exchange for refuge. They split into groups to secure the mall and then go to the roof where they see another survivor, Andy, who is stranded alone in his gun store across the zombie-infested parking lot.
The next day, a delivery truck carrying more survivors enters the lot, with zombies in close pursuit. C.J. and Bart wish to turn them away but are overruled and disarmed. The newcomers include Norma, Steve Marcus, Tucker, Monica, Glen, Frank and his daughter, Nicole. Another woman is too ill to walk; she is wheeled inside via wheelbarrow only to die and reanimate. After she is killed, the group determines that the disease is passed by bites. Andre leaves to see Luda, who has kept her scratch hidden from the group. They realize that Frank has been bitten and is a potential threat. After some debate, Frank elects to be isolated. When he dies and turns, Kenneth shoots him.
A montage shows the survivors passing time. Kenneth and Andy start a friendship by way of messages written on a whiteboard; romance also buds between Ana and Michael, and Nicole and Terry. One day, the power goes out. CJ, Bart, Michael and Kenneth go to the parking garage to activate the emergency generator; they find a friendly dog got inside, worrying about a breach. Zombies attack and kill Bart, forcing the others to douse the zombies in gas and set them ablaze. Meanwhile, Luda — tied up by Andre — gives birth and dies. She reanimates as Norma checks on the couple, killing the zombified Luda. Andre snaps; they exchange gunfire and both are killed. The others arrive to find a zombie baby, which they kill immediately. The group decides to fight their way to the local marina, and travel on Steve's yacht to an island on Lake Michigan. They begin reinforcing two shuttle buses from the parking garage for their escape. However, they also need to pick up Andy, who is starving.
The group straps food and a walkie-talkie onto the dog, Chips, and lower him into the parking lot; the zombies have no interest in him. Chips gets into Andy's store safely; however, a zombie follows through the dog door. Nicole, fond of Chips, crashes the delivery truck into the gun store, where she is trapped by a zombified Andy. Kenneth, Michael, Tucker, Terry, and C.J. reach the gun store via the sewers; they kill Andy, rescuing Nicole. They grab ammunition and go back to the mall; along the way, Tucker breaks his legs, C.J shoots him out of mercy. Once inside, they are unable to lock the door, forcing an evacuation.
Everyone boards the buses and navigate through the city. Glen loses control of a chainsaw, accidentally killing himself and Monica; blood splatters on the windshield causing the bus to crash. C.J. exits the first van to look for crash survivors with Kenneth and Terry. They encounter the undead Steve but Ana kills him. She retrieves his boat keys, and they take the remaining bus to the marina. C.J sacrifices himself so the rest of the group can escape. Michael reveals a bite wound, killing himself as Ana, Kenneth, Nicole, Terry, and Chips flee on the yacht.
During the end credits, a montage of footage from a camcorder found on the boat begins with Steve's escapades before the outbreak, and concludes with the group running out of supplies before finally arriving at an island, where they are attacked by another swarm of zombies. The camcorder drops, recording dozens of zombies chasing them, leaving their fate unknown.
Cast[edit]
Sarah Polley as Ana
Ving Rhames as Kenneth
Jake Weber as Michael
Ty Burrell as Steve
Kevin Zegers as Terry
Mekhi Phifer as Andre
Michael Kelly as C.J.
Lindy Booth as Nicole
Inna Korobkina as Luda
Kim Poirier as Monica
Boyd Banks as Tucker
Bruce Bohne as Andy
Michael Barry as Bart
R. D. Reid as Glen
Jayne Eastwood as Norma
Matt Frewer as Frank
Louis Ferreira as Luis
Hannah Lochner as Vivian
Ermes Blarasin as Bloated Woman
Ken Foree as TV Evangelist
Tom Savini as Sheriff Cahill
Scott Reiniger as The General
Production[edit]
James Gunn is partially responsible for the screenplay although he received a solo writing credit. After he left the project to concentrate on Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Michael Tolkin and Scott Frank were brought in for rewriting.[4] In a commentary track on the Ultimate Edition DVD for the original George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, Richard P. Rubinstein, producer of the original and the remake, explained that Tolkin further developed the characters, while Frank provided some of the bigger and upbeat action sequences.
The mall scenes and rooftop scenes were shot in the former Thornhill Square Shopping Centre in Thornhill, Ontario and the other scenes were shot in the Aileen-Willowbrook neighborhood of Thornhill, Ontario. The set for Ana and Luis's bedroom was constructed in a backroom of the mall.[5] The mall was defunct, which is the reason the production used it; the movie crew completely renovated the structure, and stocked it with fictitious stores after Starbucks and numerous other corporations refused to let their names be used[5] (two exceptions to this are Roots and Panasonic). Most of the mall was demolished shortly after the film was shot. The fictitious stores include a coffee shop called Hallowed Grounds (a lyric from Johnny Cash's song "The Man Comes Around", which was used over the opening credits), and an upscale department store called Gaylen Ross (an in-joke reference to one of the stars of the original 1978 film).
The first half of the film was shot almost entirely in chronological order,[5] while the final sequences on the boat and island were shot much later and at a different location (Universal Studios Hollywood) than the rest of the film, after preview audiences objected to the sudden ending of the original print.[5]
Dawn of the Dead is the second film that co-starred actresses Lindy Booth and Kim Poirier. They first worked together on American Psycho 2.
Deleted scenes[edit]
Deleted scenes were added back for the "Unrated Director's Cut" DVD edition.[6] Along with gore effects removed to obtain an MPAA R rating,[7] they include a clearer depiction of how the survivors originally break into the mall, and a short scene where the character of Glen regales the imprisoned C.J. and Bart with his reminiscing about his homosexual coming-of-age.
Additional material[edit]
The DVD release includes, as a bonus feature, the short film We Interrupt This Program, an expanded version of the fictional live broadcasts shown in the mall's televisions, which chronicles the worldwide effects of the zombie plague and the impact it has on a newscaster. Aside from featuring additional footage of cameos by actors from the original film, the film features Richard Biggs as the newscaster (in his final performance before his death in May 2004), and a voiceover cameo by Bruce Boxleitner as the President of the United States.
Release[edit]
In the United Kingdom, Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead were originally scheduled to be released the same week, but due to the similarity in the names of the two films and plot outline, UIP opted to push back Shaun‍‍ '​‍s release by two weeks. It was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.[8]
The film grossed $59 million at the US box office and $102 million worldwide.[2]
Reception[edit]
 Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 75% of 180 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.7/10. The site's consensus reads: "A kinetic, violent and surprisingly worthy remake of George Romero's horror classic that pays homage to the original while working on its own terms."[9] Metacritic rated it 58/100 based on 32 reviews.[10]
Roger Ebert said the film "works and it delivers just about what you expect when you buy your ticket" but felt that it "lacks the mordant humor of the Romero version" and the "plot flatlines compared to the 1979 version, which was trickier, wittier and smarter."[11] Scott Foundas of Variety described it as an unnecessary remake that will appeal mostly to young adult audiences who have not seen the original film.[12] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "has no patience for such subtleties" as Romero's thematic concerns or suspense-building.[13] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Snyder's blood feast is strictly by the numbers: this second-rater could be the world's most expensive Troma film."[14] Manohla Dargis of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Good zombie fun, the remake of George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" is the best proof in ages that cannibalizing old material sometimes works fiendishly well."[15] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Instead, the new "Dawn of the Dead" satirizes itself and satirizes its genre, and, on its own unambitious terms, the movie succeeds. It's silly, witty and good-natured, not scary so much as icky, and not horrifying or horrible but consistently amusing."[16] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly rated it "A" and wrote, "Commercial director Zack Snyder, making a killer feature debut, trades homemade cheesiness for knowing style, revels in the sophistication of modern special effects, and stomps off with the best remake – er, ”re-envisioning” – of a horror classic in memory."[17] Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote that the remake streamlines the original film "by discarding everything special about it in favor of pure visceral effect".[18]
Bloody Disgusting ranked the film eighth in their list of the "Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade", with the article saying "Truly, you can analogize the two films [original and remake] based on their zombies alone – where Romero's lumbered and took their time (in a good way), Snyder's came at us, fast, with teeth bared like rabid dogs."[19] Rolling Stone ranked it #3 in their "Top 10 Best Zombie Movies".[20] It was third in Dread Central's "Best Horror Films of the Decade".[21]
George A. Romero said, "It was better than I expected. ... The first 15, 20 minutes were terrific, but it sort of lost its reason for being. It was more of a video game. I'm not terrified of things running at me; it's like Space Invaders. There was nothing going on underneath."[22] South Park parodied the film in the episode, "Night of the Living Homeless". The show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, called the film "amazing" in the episode's DVD commentary.[23]
Comparisons to the original[edit]


 This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (March 2015)
In the original film, the zombies moved very slowly and were most menacing when they collected in large groups. In the remake, the zombies are fast and agile. Many admirers of the original, as well as Romero himself, protested this change, feeling that it limited the impact of the undead.[24] This is somewhat borne out by the fact that the remake has almost no close-up shots of zombies that last more than a second or two. Snyder mentions this in the commentary track of the remake's DVD, pointing out that they seem too human when the camera lingers upon them for longer. Although, it was for this change that Wizard Magazine ranked the zombies #5 on their "100 Greatest Villains Ever" list.
The original had a smaller cast than the remake, allowing more screen time for each character. Many fans and critics criticized the resulting loss of character development.[25]
In the original version, the story unfolds over several months, indicated by the advancing stages of Fran's pregnancy. In the remake, the events transpire within approximately one month, as evidenced by the supplemental feature The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed, located on the DVD in the special features section. Another big change from the original is that unlike Romero, Snyder treats zombification more like a disease, pointing to the bites as the source, instead of anyone who is dead turning into a zombie.
Three actors from the original film have cameos in the remake, appearing on the televisions the survivors watch: Ken Foree, who played Peter from the original, plays an evangelist who asserts that God is punishing mankind; Scott H. Reiniger, who played Roger in the original, plays an army general telling everyone to stay at home for safety and Tom Savini, who did the special effects for many of Romero's films and played the motorcycle gang member Blades in the original Dawn of the Dead, plays the Monroeville Sheriff explaining the only way to kill the zombies is to "shoot 'em in the head." Monroeville is also the location of the mall used in the 1978 film. In addition, a store shown in the mall is called "Gaylen Ross", an obvious tribute to actress Gaylen Ross, who played Francine in the original film.
Writing in The Zombie Encyclopedia, Volume 2, academic Peter Dendle said that the original film "served as a bridge between the talky, slow-paced 1970s horror and the fast-paced splatter to come in the 1980s", whereas the 2004 remake "generally forsakes slow-mounting suspense in favor of frenetic action".[26]
Cancelled sequel[edit]
A sequel was planned but was later cancelled.[27] Zack Snyder stated that he would only be producing the sequel instead of reprising his role as the director due to working on Watchmen when he announced the film.[28] The script of Army of the Dead was written by Zack Snyder and Joby Harold. Filming for Army of the Dead was to start once they got a director as the producing studios had approved the script. Also according to Deborah Snyder, the film was set in Las Vegas, and the town had to be contained to stop the outbreak of zombies.[29][30] The film's producing studios were Universal Studios (who released the first) and Warner Bros. Entertainment (who released most of Snyder's films since 300) and the film was set to be directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., director of The Thing, the 2011 prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic of the same name.[31]
See also[edit]
The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed
List of zombie films
List of zombie other films
List of zombie short films
Survivalism in fiction
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "DAWN OF THE DEAD (18)". British Board of Film Classification. March 16, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c "Dawn of the Dead". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
3.Jump up ^ J.C. Maçek III (2012-06-15). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
4.Jump up ^ James Rocchi. "Super: Critics' Reviews". MSN.com. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d DVD Commentary by director Snyder and producer Newman
6.Jump up ^ Snyder, Zack (Director) (25 October 2004). Dawn Of The Dead: Unrated Director's Cut (Fullscreen). Universal Studios (DVD). Retrieved 2 October 2013.UPC 025192582028
7.Jump up ^ DVD-only introduction by director Snyder
8.Jump up ^ "Festival de Cannes: Dawn of the Dead". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
9.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead (2005) reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
10.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
11.Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger (March 19, 2004). "Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
12.Jump up ^ Foundas, Scott (2004-03-18). "Review: 'Dawn of the Dead'". Variety. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
13.Jump up ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (2004-03-19). "'Dawn of the Dead'.(Movie Review)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-03-06 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
14.Jump up ^ Mitchell, Elvis (2004-03-19). "A Cautionary Tale for Those Dying to Shop". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
15.Jump up ^ Dargis, Manohla (2004-03-19). "'Dawn of the Dead' rises to the occasion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
16.Jump up ^ LaSalle, Mick (2004-03-19). "The zombies are back, and still hungry, and a mall full of Muzak is the only refuge". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
17.Jump up ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (2004-03-18). "Dawn of the Dead (Movie - 2004)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
18.Jump up ^ Tobias, Scott (2004-03-23). "Dawn Of The Dead". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
19.Jump up ^ "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade...Part 3". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
20.Jump up ^ Travers, Peter (2012-10-12). "The 10 Best Zombie Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
21.Jump up ^ Barton, Steve (2010-01-01). "Dread Central’s Best Horror Films of the Decade". Dread Central. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
22.Jump up ^ "Simon Pegg interviews George A Romero". Retrieved 2007-03-18.
23.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Homeless" Episode Commentary on South Park Season 11 DVD boxset; 2008
24.Jump up ^ "John Leguizamo on Land of the Dead". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2009-06-16.[dead link]
25.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead". Retrieved 2009-06-16.
26.Jump up ^ Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000–2010. McFarland & Company. pp. 49–51. ISBN 978-0-7864-6163-9.
27.Jump up ^ DAWN OF THE DEAD SEQUEL ARMY OF THE DEAD WILL NOT REANIMATE
28.Jump up ^ "Zack Snyder NOT directing "Army of the Dead"". bloodydisgusting.com. June 5, 2008. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
29.Jump up ^ "Army of the Dead is not dead". moviefone. Oct 30, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
30.Jump up ^ "EXCL: Snyder's Army of the Dead Update!". shocktillyoudrop.com. October 26, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
31.Jump up ^ "Matthijs van Heijningen set to direct "Army of the Dead"". slashfilm.com. June 4, 2008. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Official website
Dawn of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Dawn of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Dawn of the Dead at Metacritic


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Living Dead films















































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by Zack Snyder











  


Categories: 2004 films
English-language films
2004 horror films
American films
American horror films
American remakes of Italian films
Living Dead films
Directorial debut films
Action horror films
Apocalyptic films
Films set in 2004
Films set in Wisconsin
Films shot in Ontario
Horror film remakes
Universal Pictures films
Films directed by Zack Snyder
Films produced by Marc Abraham
Screenplays by James Gunn










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28 Days Later

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search


28 Days Later
28 days later.jpg
UK release poster

Directed by
Danny Boyle
Produced by
Andrew Macdonald
Written by
Alex Garland
Starring
Cillian Murphy
Naomie Harris
Christopher Eccleston
Megan Burns
Brendan Gleeson

Music by
John Murphy
Cinematography
Anthony Dod Mantle
Edited by
Chris Gill

Production
 company

DNA Films
British Film Council

Distributed by
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Release dates

1 November 2002 (United Kingdom)


Running time
 113 minutes[1]
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Budget
$8 million[1]
Box office
$82.7 million[1]
28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland. The film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston. The plot depicts the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious virus and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the destruction of the life they once knew.
Successful both commercially and critically, the film is credited with reinvigorating the zombie genre of horror fiction.[2] The film spawned a 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, a graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, which expands on the timeline of the outbreak, and a 2009 comic book series entitled 28 Days Later.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Alternative endings 2.1 Jim dies at the hospital 2.1.1 "Hospital Dream"
2.1.2 Rescue coda without Jim
2.2 "Radical Alternative Ending"
3 Cast
4 Production
5 Reception 5.1 Accolades
6 Music
7 Legacy 7.1 Sequels
7.2 Comic books
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
In Cambridge, three activists break into a medical research laboratory with the intent of freeing captive chimpanzees. They are interrupted by a scientist who desperately warns that the chimps are infected with "Rage," a highly contagious rage-inducing virus that is spread through blood and saliva. Ignoring the scientist, the activists release a chimpanzee, who attacks one of them and immediately infects her, leading her to infect everyone else present.
In London, twenty-eight days later: Jim (Cillian Murphy), a bicycle courier, awakens from a coma in St Thomas' Hospital and finds the hospital — and the city — deserted, with signs of catastrophe everywhere. Jim wanders into a church, where he is spotted and pursued by infected. He is then rescued by Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley). At their hideout in the London Underground, the two explain how the virus spread uncontrollably among the populace, resulting in societal collapse. They also claim that the virus was being reported in Paris and New York City as well, suggesting that the infection has spread worldwide.
The next morning, Selena and Mark accompany Jim to his parents' house in Deptford, where he discovers that they have committed suicide. That night, the three are attacked by infected; Mark is bitten in the struggle, prompting Selena to quickly kill him; she explains that the virus overwhelms its victims in no more than twenty seconds. They leave and eventually spot some blinking Christmas lights from Balfron Tower, discovering two more survivors — cab driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his teenage daughter Hannah (Megan Burns) — who allow them to take shelter. Frank informs them the next day that their supplies — particularly water — are dwindling, and plays them a pre-recorded radio broadcast from a military blockade near Manchester: it claims that the soldiers have "the answer to infection" and promise to protect any survivors that reach them.
The group board Frank's cab in search of the signal source, and throughout the trip they bond with one another in various situations. When the four reach the deserted blockade, Frank is infected when a drop of blood from a dead body falls into his eye. As he succumbs he is killed by arriving soldiers, who take the rest to a fortified mansion under the command of Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston). During the group's stay, West reveals that his "answer to infection" entails waiting for the infected to starve to death, and luring female survivors into sexual slavery so that West's platoon can repopulate the country. The group attempt to flee but Jim is captured by the soldiers, along with the dissenting Sergeant Farrell (Stuart McQuarrie). While imprisoned, Farrell speculates that the virus has not spread beyond Great Britain and that the country is being quarantined.
The next day, the girls are being prepared for gang-rape as two soldiers lead Jim and Farrell to execution. When his escorts quarrel after killing Farrell, Jim escapes and spots an aircraft flying overhead, proving Farrell's theory to be correct. Jim lures West and another soldier to the blockade, where Jim kills the latter and leaves West stranded for arriving infected. He then runs back to the mansion and releases Mailer, an infected soldier West kept for observation, who proceeds to attack the rest of the platoon. Amidst the mayhem, Jim reunites with Selena and Hannah and run to Frank's cab, where West is waiting and shoots Jim in the stomach. Hannah reverses the cab for Mailer, who grabs West through the rear window and kills him, and the trio finally flee the mansion.
Another twenty-eight days later, Jim is shown to be recovering at a remote cottage. Downstairs, he finds Selena sewing large swaths of fabric when Hannah appears. The three rush outside and unfurl a huge cloth banner, adding the final letter to the word "HELLO" laid out on the meadow. A lone jet flies over the landscape, and some infected are shown dying of starvation. The film ends with the jet flying over the three survivors, and the pilot calling in a rescue helicopter.
Alternative endings[edit]
The DVD extras include three alternative endings, all of which conclude with Jim dying except for the radical ending. Two were filmed, while the third, a more radical departure, was presented only in storyboards. On 25 July 2003, cinemas started showing the alternative ending after the film's credits.[3]
Jim dies at the hospital[edit]
In this ending, after Jim is shot, Selena and Hannah still rush him to the deserted hospital, but the scene is extended. Selena, with Hannah's assistance, attempts to perform life-saving procedures but cannot revive Jim. Selena is heartbroken, and Hannah, distraught, looks to her for guidance. Selena tells Hannah that they will go on; they pick up their guns and walk away from Jim's lifeless body. Selena and Hannah, still dressed in ballgowns and fully armed, walk through the operating room doors, which gradually stop swinging.
On the DVD commentary, Boyle and Garland explain that this was the original ending of the film's first cut, which was tested with preview audiences. It was rejected for seeming too bleak; the final exit from the hospital was intended to imply Selena and Hannah's survival, whereas test audiences felt that the women were marching off to certain death. Boyle and Garland express a preference for this alternative ending, calling it the "true ending." They comment that this ending brought Jim full circle, as he starts and finishes the story in bed in a deserted hospital. This ending was added in the theatrical release of the film beginning on 25 July 2003, placed after the credits and prefaced with the words "what if..."[3]
"Hospital Dream"[edit]
The "Hospital Dream" ending is an extended version of the theatrical alternative ending where Jim dies at the hospital. It is revealed by the director during the optional commentary that this was the full version of the original ending. Jim dreams while unconscious and remembers the final moments on his bicycle before the crash. The footage cuts back and forth between the scene with Selena and Hannah trying to save his life and the dream sequence. As he gets hit by a car in his flashback, he simultaneously dies on the operating table.
Rescue coda without Jim[edit]
This ending, for which only a rough edit was completed, is an alternative version of the potential rescue sequence shown at the very end of the released film. Here, the scenes are identical, except that this ending was intended to be placed after the first alternative ending where Jim dies, so he is absent. When Selena is sewing one of the banner letters in the cottage, she is seen facetiously talking to a chicken instead of Jim. Only Selena and Hannah are seen waving to the jet flying overhead in the final shots.
"Radical Alternative Ending"[edit]
The "Radical Alternative Ending", rather than a bare ending, is a radically different development of the movie from the midpoint; it was not filmed and is presented on the DVD as a series of illustrated storyboards with voiceovers by Boyle and Garland. When Frank is infected at the military blockade near Manchester, the soldiers do not enter the story. Instead, Jim, Selena and Hannah are somehow able to restrain Frank, hoping they will find a cure for the virus nearby as suggested in the radio broadcast. They soon discover that the blockade had protected a large medical research complex, the same one featured in the first scene of the film where the virus was developed. Inside, the party is relieved to find a scientist barricaded inside a room with food and water. He will not open the door because he fears they will take his food, although he does admit that the "answer to infection is here". Unfortunately, he refuses to talk further because he does not want to make an emotional attachment to people who will soon be dead. After hours of failed attempts to break through the door or coax the man out, Jim eventually brings Hannah to the door and explains Frank's situation.
The scientist reluctantly tells them that Frank can only be cured with a complete blood transfusion and supplies them with the equipment. After learning that he is the only match with Frank's blood type, Jim sacrifices himself so that Frank can survive with his daughter. Just as his journey began, Jim is left alone in the abandoned medical facility and Selena, Hannah and Frank move into the room with the scientist, as a horde of the infected breach the complex. The computer monitors show death and destruction come to life around a thrashing, infected Jim, who is strapped to the same table as the chimp had been in the opening scene. Garland and Boyle explain that they conceived this ending to see what the film would be like if they did not expand the focus beyond the four survivors. They decided against it because the idea of a total blood replacement as a cure was not credible. Boyle said in the DVD commentary that it "didn't make much sense", since the film had already established that one drop of blood can infect a person. "What would we do? Drain him of blood and scrub his veins with bleach?"
Cast[edit]
Main article: List of 28 Days Later characters
Cillian Murphy as Jim
Naomie Harris as Selena
Brendan Gleeson as Frank
Christopher Eccleston as Major Henry West
Megan Burns as Hannah
Noah Huntley as Mark
Stuart McQuarrie as Sergeant Farrell
Ricci Harnett as Corporal Mitchell
Leo Bill as Private Jones
Luke Mably as Private Clifton
Junior Laniyan as Private Bell
Ray Panthaki as Private Bedford
Sanjay Rambaruth as Private Davis
Marvin Campbell as Private Mailer
David Schneider as Scientist
On the DVD commentary, Boyle explains that, with the aim of preserving the suspension of disbelief, relatively unknown actors were cast in the film. Cillian Murphy had starred primarily in small independent films, while Naomie Harris had acted on British television as a child, and Megan Burns had only one previous film credit. However, Christopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson were well-known character actors.
Production[edit]
28 Days Later features scenes set in normally bustling parts of London such as Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Horse Guards Parade and Oxford Street. To depict these locations as desolate, the film crew closed off sections of street for minutes at a time, usually in early morning before sunrise on Sundays and would have typically around 45 minutes after dawn, to shoot the locations devoid of traffic and members of the public - to minimise disruption. Portions of the film were shot on a Canon XL1 digital video camera.[4] DV cameras are much smaller and more manoeuvrable than traditional film cameras, which would have been impractical on such brief shoots. The scenes of the M1 motorway devoid of traffic were also filmed within very limited time periods. A mobile police roadblock slowed traffic sufficiently, to leave a long section of carriageway empty while the scene was filmed. The section depicted in the film was filmed at Milton Keynes, nowhere near Manchester.[citation needed] For the London scene where Jim walks by the overturned double-decker bus, the film crew placed the bus on its side and removed it when the shot was finished, all within 20 minutes.[citation needed] Much of the filming took place prior to the 11 September attacks and in the audio commentary, Boyle notes the parallel between the "missing persons" flyers seen at the beginning of the film and similar flyers posted in New York City in the wake of the attacks. Boyle adds that his crew probably would not have been granted permission to close off Whitehall for filming after the terrorist attacks in New York. A clapperboard seen in one of the DVD extra features shows filming was still taking place on 8 October 2001.
The mansion used in the film was Trafalgar Park near Salisbury. Many rooms in the house, including the Cipriani-painted music room and the main hall, were filmed with minimal set decoration. The scenes occurring upstairs were filmed downstairs, as the mansion's owner resided upstairs.[citation needed] The old ruins used as the setting for an idyllic interlude in their journey to Manchester, were those of Waverley Abbey, Surrey. The end scenes of the film where Jim, Selena and Hannah are living in a rural cottage were filmed around Ennerdale in Cumbria.[5] This reflects the motorway road signage in the film which indicates the trio heading north towards the Lake District National Park.
On the DVD commentary, Boyle and Garland frequently call it a post apocalypse and horror film, commenting on scenes that were quotation of George A. Romero's Dead trilogy. During the initial marketing of the film Boyle did try to distance the film from such labels. Boyle identified John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids as Garland's original inspiration for the story.[6]
Reception[edit]
28 Days Later was a considerable success at the box office and became highly profitable on a budget of about £5 million. In the UK, it took in £6.1 million, while in the US it became a surprise hit, taking over $45 million despite a limited release at fewer than 1,500 screens across the country. The film garnered around $82.7 million worldwide.
Critical views of the film were very positive. Based on 215 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of critics gave 28 Days Later a positive review.[7] On Metacritic, the film received a rating of 73 (out of 100) based on 39 reviews.[8]
Bravo awarded it the 100th spot on their list of The 100 Scariest Movie Moments with the commentators explaining that making the zombies move fast for the first time was a bright and effective idea.[9][when?] In 2007, Stylus Magazine named it the second best zombie movie of all time.[10] The film also ranked at number 456 in Empire‍ '​s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[11] Bloody Disgusting ranked the film seventh in their list of the Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade, with the article saying "Zombie movie? Political allegory? Humanist drama? 28 Days Later is all of those things and more – a genuine work of art by a director at the top of his game. What's so amazing about the film is the way it so expertly balances scenes of white-knuckled, hell-for-leather horror with moments of intimate beauty."[2]
Accolades[edit]
Best Horror Film (U.S. Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films — Saturn Award)[citation needed]
Best British Film (Empire Award)[citation needed]
Danny Boyle (Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver)[citation needed]
Best Director — Danny Boyle (International Fantasy Film Award)[citation needed]
Best International Film — Danny Boyle (Narcisse Award)[citation needed]
Best Breakthrough Performance — Naomie Harris (Black Reel)[citation needed]
Best Cinematographer — Anthony Dod Mantle (European Film Award)[citation needed]
Music[edit]
Main article: 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album




John Murphy – "In The House – In A Heartbeat"







Music from the 2002 film 28 Days Later.

Problems playing this file? See media help.
The film's score was composed by John Murphy and was released in a score/song compilation in 2003. It also features notable tracks from Brian Eno, Grandaddy, and Blue States.
A heavily edited version of the song "East Hastings" by the post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor appears in the film, but the track is excluded from the soundtrack, because Boyle could only obtain the rights to use it in the film.[12]
28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album was released on 17 June 2003. A modified version of the soundtrack "In The House – In A Heartbeat" was used as the character Big Daddy's theme in the 2010 film Kick-Ass. The same song was played in the latest advertisement campaign of Louis Vuitton, L'Invitation au Voyage.[13]
Legacy[edit]
Sequels[edit]
A sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was released on 11 May 2007.[14] Danny Boyle and Alex Garland took producing roles alongside Andrew Macdonald. The plot revolves around the arrival of American troops about seven months after the incidents in the original film, attempting to revitalise a nearly desolate Britain. The cast for this sequel includes Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Mackintosh Muggleton, and Idris Elba.
In March 2007, Danny Boyle claimed to be interested in making a third film in the series, 28 Months Later.[15]
Comic books[edit]
Fox Atomic Comics, in association with HarperCollins, has published a graphic novel bridging the time gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, entitled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, written by Steve Niles.
28 Days Later, a comic sequel also linking Days and Weeks and produced by Fox Atomic (until its demise) and Boom! Studios, began production in 2009. The series focuses on Selena and answers questions about her in the film and her sequel whereabouts.[16]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c "28 Days Later". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
2.^ Jump up to: a b "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade... Part 3". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
3.^ Jump up to: a b "Plotting alternative film endings". BBC. 15 August 2003. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
4.Jump up ^ Bankston, Douglas (1 July 2003). "Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF injects the apocalyptic 28 Days Later with a strain of digital video". TheASC.com. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
5.Jump up ^ "Cumbria live". BBC. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
6.Jump up ^ Kermode, Mark (6 May 2007). "A capital place for panic attacks". Guardian News and Media Limited (London). Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "28 Days Later". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
8.Jump up ^ "28 Days Later". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
9.Jump up ^ "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments". BravoTV.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
10.Jump up ^ "Stylus Magazine's Top 10 Zombie Films of All Time". StylusMagazine.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
11.Jump up ^ "Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Times". EmpireOnline.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
12.Jump up ^ Kitty Empire (10 November 2002). "Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Adjusting to Fame After '28 Days Later'". Guardian News and Media Limited (London). Archived from the original on 9 December 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
13.Jump up ^ Kilic, Uygar. "Louis Vuitton L’Invitation au Voyage Advertisement Campaign: Video and Collection". Cars & Life. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
14.Jump up ^ Gingold, Michael (14 July 2006). "July 14: Fox sets HILLS II and more release dates". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
15.Jump up ^ "28 Months Later?". Moviehole.net. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
16.Jump up ^ "BOOM!, Fox Announce "28 Days Later" Comic Book Series". ComicBookResources.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to 28 Days Later.
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: 28 Days Later
28 Days Later at the Internet Movie Database
28 Days Later at AllMovie
28 Days Later at Box Office Mojo
28 Days Later at Facebook
28 Days Later at Rotten Tomatoes
28 Days Later at Metacritic
Naomi Harris Interview
Filming Locations Guide


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Categories: 2002 films
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28 Days Later

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search


28 Days Later
28 days later.jpg
UK release poster

Directed by
Danny Boyle
Produced by
Andrew Macdonald
Written by
Alex Garland
Starring
Cillian Murphy
Naomie Harris
Christopher Eccleston
Megan Burns
Brendan Gleeson

Music by
John Murphy
Cinematography
Anthony Dod Mantle
Edited by
Chris Gill

Production
 company

DNA Films
British Film Council

Distributed by
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Release dates

1 November 2002 (United Kingdom)


Running time
 113 minutes[1]
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Budget
$8 million[1]
Box office
$82.7 million[1]
28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland. The film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston. The plot depicts the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious virus and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the destruction of the life they once knew.
Successful both commercially and critically, the film is credited with reinvigorating the zombie genre of horror fiction.[2] The film spawned a 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, a graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, which expands on the timeline of the outbreak, and a 2009 comic book series entitled 28 Days Later.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Alternative endings 2.1 Jim dies at the hospital 2.1.1 "Hospital Dream"
2.1.2 Rescue coda without Jim
2.2 "Radical Alternative Ending"
3 Cast
4 Production
5 Reception 5.1 Accolades
6 Music
7 Legacy 7.1 Sequels
7.2 Comic books
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
In Cambridge, three activists break into a medical research laboratory with the intent of freeing captive chimpanzees. They are interrupted by a scientist who desperately warns that the chimps are infected with "Rage," a highly contagious rage-inducing virus that is spread through blood and saliva. Ignoring the scientist, the activists release a chimpanzee, who attacks one of them and immediately infects her, leading her to infect everyone else present.
In London, twenty-eight days later: Jim (Cillian Murphy), a bicycle courier, awakens from a coma in St Thomas' Hospital and finds the hospital — and the city — deserted, with signs of catastrophe everywhere. Jim wanders into a church, where he is spotted and pursued by infected. He is then rescued by Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley). At their hideout in the London Underground, the two explain how the virus spread uncontrollably among the populace, resulting in societal collapse. They also claim that the virus was being reported in Paris and New York City as well, suggesting that the infection has spread worldwide.
The next morning, Selena and Mark accompany Jim to his parents' house in Deptford, where he discovers that they have committed suicide. That night, the three are attacked by infected; Mark is bitten in the struggle, prompting Selena to quickly kill him; she explains that the virus overwhelms its victims in no more than twenty seconds. They leave and eventually spot some blinking Christmas lights from Balfron Tower, discovering two more survivors — cab driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his teenage daughter Hannah (Megan Burns) — who allow them to take shelter. Frank informs them the next day that their supplies — particularly water — are dwindling, and plays them a pre-recorded radio broadcast from a military blockade near Manchester: it claims that the soldiers have "the answer to infection" and promise to protect any survivors that reach them.
The group board Frank's cab in search of the signal source, and throughout the trip they bond with one another in various situations. When the four reach the deserted blockade, Frank is infected when a drop of blood from a dead body falls into his eye. As he succumbs he is killed by arriving soldiers, who take the rest to a fortified mansion under the command of Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston). During the group's stay, West reveals that his "answer to infection" entails waiting for the infected to starve to death, and luring female survivors into sexual slavery so that West's platoon can repopulate the country. The group attempt to flee but Jim is captured by the soldiers, along with the dissenting Sergeant Farrell (Stuart McQuarrie). While imprisoned, Farrell speculates that the virus has not spread beyond Great Britain and that the country is being quarantined.
The next day, the girls are being prepared for gang-rape as two soldiers lead Jim and Farrell to execution. When his escorts quarrel after killing Farrell, Jim escapes and spots an aircraft flying overhead, proving Farrell's theory to be correct. Jim lures West and another soldier to the blockade, where Jim kills the latter and leaves West stranded for arriving infected. He then runs back to the mansion and releases Mailer, an infected soldier West kept for observation, who proceeds to attack the rest of the platoon. Amidst the mayhem, Jim reunites with Selena and Hannah and run to Frank's cab, where West is waiting and shoots Jim in the stomach. Hannah reverses the cab for Mailer, who grabs West through the rear window and kills him, and the trio finally flee the mansion.
Another twenty-eight days later, Jim is shown to be recovering at a remote cottage. Downstairs, he finds Selena sewing large swaths of fabric when Hannah appears. The three rush outside and unfurl a huge cloth banner, adding the final letter to the word "HELLO" laid out on the meadow. A lone jet flies over the landscape, and some infected are shown dying of starvation. The film ends with the jet flying over the three survivors, and the pilot calling in a rescue helicopter.
Alternative endings[edit]
The DVD extras include three alternative endings, all of which conclude with Jim dying except for the radical ending. Two were filmed, while the third, a more radical departure, was presented only in storyboards. On 25 July 2003, cinemas started showing the alternative ending after the film's credits.[3]
Jim dies at the hospital[edit]
In this ending, after Jim is shot, Selena and Hannah still rush him to the deserted hospital, but the scene is extended. Selena, with Hannah's assistance, attempts to perform life-saving procedures but cannot revive Jim. Selena is heartbroken, and Hannah, distraught, looks to her for guidance. Selena tells Hannah that they will go on; they pick up their guns and walk away from Jim's lifeless body. Selena and Hannah, still dressed in ballgowns and fully armed, walk through the operating room doors, which gradually stop swinging.
On the DVD commentary, Boyle and Garland explain that this was the original ending of the film's first cut, which was tested with preview audiences. It was rejected for seeming too bleak; the final exit from the hospital was intended to imply Selena and Hannah's survival, whereas test audiences felt that the women were marching off to certain death. Boyle and Garland express a preference for this alternative ending, calling it the "true ending." They comment that this ending brought Jim full circle, as he starts and finishes the story in bed in a deserted hospital. This ending was added in the theatrical release of the film beginning on 25 July 2003, placed after the credits and prefaced with the words "what if..."[3]
"Hospital Dream"[edit]
The "Hospital Dream" ending is an extended version of the theatrical alternative ending where Jim dies at the hospital. It is revealed by the director during the optional commentary that this was the full version of the original ending. Jim dreams while unconscious and remembers the final moments on his bicycle before the crash. The footage cuts back and forth between the scene with Selena and Hannah trying to save his life and the dream sequence. As he gets hit by a car in his flashback, he simultaneously dies on the operating table.
Rescue coda without Jim[edit]
This ending, for which only a rough edit was completed, is an alternative version of the potential rescue sequence shown at the very end of the released film. Here, the scenes are identical, except that this ending was intended to be placed after the first alternative ending where Jim dies, so he is absent. When Selena is sewing one of the banner letters in the cottage, she is seen facetiously talking to a chicken instead of Jim. Only Selena and Hannah are seen waving to the jet flying overhead in the final shots.
"Radical Alternative Ending"[edit]
The "Radical Alternative Ending", rather than a bare ending, is a radically different development of the movie from the midpoint; it was not filmed and is presented on the DVD as a series of illustrated storyboards with voiceovers by Boyle and Garland. When Frank is infected at the military blockade near Manchester, the soldiers do not enter the story. Instead, Jim, Selena and Hannah are somehow able to restrain Frank, hoping they will find a cure for the virus nearby as suggested in the radio broadcast. They soon discover that the blockade had protected a large medical research complex, the same one featured in the first scene of the film where the virus was developed. Inside, the party is relieved to find a scientist barricaded inside a room with food and water. He will not open the door because he fears they will take his food, although he does admit that the "answer to infection is here". Unfortunately, he refuses to talk further because he does not want to make an emotional attachment to people who will soon be dead. After hours of failed attempts to break through the door or coax the man out, Jim eventually brings Hannah to the door and explains Frank's situation.
The scientist reluctantly tells them that Frank can only be cured with a complete blood transfusion and supplies them with the equipment. After learning that he is the only match with Frank's blood type, Jim sacrifices himself so that Frank can survive with his daughter. Just as his journey began, Jim is left alone in the abandoned medical facility and Selena, Hannah and Frank move into the room with the scientist, as a horde of the infected breach the complex. The computer monitors show death and destruction come to life around a thrashing, infected Jim, who is strapped to the same table as the chimp had been in the opening scene. Garland and Boyle explain that they conceived this ending to see what the film would be like if they did not expand the focus beyond the four survivors. They decided against it because the idea of a total blood replacement as a cure was not credible. Boyle said in the DVD commentary that it "didn't make much sense", since the film had already established that one drop of blood can infect a person. "What would we do? Drain him of blood and scrub his veins with bleach?"
Cast[edit]
Main article: List of 28 Days Later characters
Cillian Murphy as Jim
Naomie Harris as Selena
Brendan Gleeson as Frank
Christopher Eccleston as Major Henry West
Megan Burns as Hannah
Noah Huntley as Mark
Stuart McQuarrie as Sergeant Farrell
Ricci Harnett as Corporal Mitchell
Leo Bill as Private Jones
Luke Mably as Private Clifton
Junior Laniyan as Private Bell
Ray Panthaki as Private Bedford
Sanjay Rambaruth as Private Davis
Marvin Campbell as Private Mailer
David Schneider as Scientist
On the DVD commentary, Boyle explains that, with the aim of preserving the suspension of disbelief, relatively unknown actors were cast in the film. Cillian Murphy had starred primarily in small independent films, while Naomie Harris had acted on British television as a child, and Megan Burns had only one previous film credit. However, Christopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson were well-known character actors.
Production[edit]
28 Days Later features scenes set in normally bustling parts of London such as Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Horse Guards Parade and Oxford Street. To depict these locations as desolate, the film crew closed off sections of street for minutes at a time, usually in early morning before sunrise on Sundays and would have typically around 45 minutes after dawn, to shoot the locations devoid of traffic and members of the public - to minimise disruption. Portions of the film were shot on a Canon XL1 digital video camera.[4] DV cameras are much smaller and more manoeuvrable than traditional film cameras, which would have been impractical on such brief shoots. The scenes of the M1 motorway devoid of traffic were also filmed within very limited time periods. A mobile police roadblock slowed traffic sufficiently, to leave a long section of carriageway empty while the scene was filmed. The section depicted in the film was filmed at Milton Keynes, nowhere near Manchester.[citation needed] For the London scene where Jim walks by the overturned double-decker bus, the film crew placed the bus on its side and removed it when the shot was finished, all within 20 minutes.[citation needed] Much of the filming took place prior to the 11 September attacks and in the audio commentary, Boyle notes the parallel between the "missing persons" flyers seen at the beginning of the film and similar flyers posted in New York City in the wake of the attacks. Boyle adds that his crew probably would not have been granted permission to close off Whitehall for filming after the terrorist attacks in New York. A clapperboard seen in one of the DVD extra features shows filming was still taking place on 8 October 2001.
The mansion used in the film was Trafalgar Park near Salisbury. Many rooms in the house, including the Cipriani-painted music room and the main hall, were filmed with minimal set decoration. The scenes occurring upstairs were filmed downstairs, as the mansion's owner resided upstairs.[citation needed] The old ruins used as the setting for an idyllic interlude in their journey to Manchester, were those of Waverley Abbey, Surrey. The end scenes of the film where Jim, Selena and Hannah are living in a rural cottage were filmed around Ennerdale in Cumbria.[5] This reflects the motorway road signage in the film which indicates the trio heading north towards the Lake District National Park.
On the DVD commentary, Boyle and Garland frequently call it a post apocalypse and horror film, commenting on scenes that were quotation of George A. Romero's Dead trilogy. During the initial marketing of the film Boyle did try to distance the film from such labels. Boyle identified John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids as Garland's original inspiration for the story.[6]
Reception[edit]
28 Days Later was a considerable success at the box office and became highly profitable on a budget of about £5 million. In the UK, it took in £6.1 million, while in the US it became a surprise hit, taking over $45 million despite a limited release at fewer than 1,500 screens across the country. The film garnered around $82.7 million worldwide.
Critical views of the film were very positive. Based on 215 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of critics gave 28 Days Later a positive review.[7] On Metacritic, the film received a rating of 73 (out of 100) based on 39 reviews.[8]
Bravo awarded it the 100th spot on their list of The 100 Scariest Movie Moments with the commentators explaining that making the zombies move fast for the first time was a bright and effective idea.[9][when?] In 2007, Stylus Magazine named it the second best zombie movie of all time.[10] The film also ranked at number 456 in Empire‍ '​s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[11] Bloody Disgusting ranked the film seventh in their list of the Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade, with the article saying "Zombie movie? Political allegory? Humanist drama? 28 Days Later is all of those things and more – a genuine work of art by a director at the top of his game. What's so amazing about the film is the way it so expertly balances scenes of white-knuckled, hell-for-leather horror with moments of intimate beauty."[2]
Accolades[edit]
Best Horror Film (U.S. Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films — Saturn Award)[citation needed]
Best British Film (Empire Award)[citation needed]
Danny Boyle (Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver)[citation needed]
Best Director — Danny Boyle (International Fantasy Film Award)[citation needed]
Best International Film — Danny Boyle (Narcisse Award)[citation needed]
Best Breakthrough Performance — Naomie Harris (Black Reel)[citation needed]
Best Cinematographer — Anthony Dod Mantle (European Film Award)[citation needed]
Music[edit]
Main article: 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album




John Murphy – "In The House – In A Heartbeat"







Music from the 2002 film 28 Days Later.

Problems playing this file? See media help.
The film's score was composed by John Murphy and was released in a score/song compilation in 2003. It also features notable tracks from Brian Eno, Grandaddy, and Blue States.
A heavily edited version of the song "East Hastings" by the post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor appears in the film, but the track is excluded from the soundtrack, because Boyle could only obtain the rights to use it in the film.[12]
28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album was released on 17 June 2003. A modified version of the soundtrack "In The House – In A Heartbeat" was used as the character Big Daddy's theme in the 2010 film Kick-Ass. The same song was played in the latest advertisement campaign of Louis Vuitton, L'Invitation au Voyage.[13]
Legacy[edit]
Sequels[edit]
A sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was released on 11 May 2007.[14] Danny Boyle and Alex Garland took producing roles alongside Andrew Macdonald. The plot revolves around the arrival of American troops about seven months after the incidents in the original film, attempting to revitalise a nearly desolate Britain. The cast for this sequel includes Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Mackintosh Muggleton, and Idris Elba.
In March 2007, Danny Boyle claimed to be interested in making a third film in the series, 28 Months Later.[15]
Comic books[edit]
Fox Atomic Comics, in association with HarperCollins, has published a graphic novel bridging the time gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, entitled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, written by Steve Niles.
28 Days Later, a comic sequel also linking Days and Weeks and produced by Fox Atomic (until its demise) and Boom! Studios, began production in 2009. The series focuses on Selena and answers questions about her in the film and her sequel whereabouts.[16]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c "28 Days Later". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
2.^ Jump up to: a b "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade... Part 3". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
3.^ Jump up to: a b "Plotting alternative film endings". BBC. 15 August 2003. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
4.Jump up ^ Bankston, Douglas (1 July 2003). "Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF injects the apocalyptic 28 Days Later with a strain of digital video". TheASC.com. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
5.Jump up ^ "Cumbria live". BBC. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
6.Jump up ^ Kermode, Mark (6 May 2007). "A capital place for panic attacks". Guardian News and Media Limited (London). Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "28 Days Later". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
8.Jump up ^ "28 Days Later". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
9.Jump up ^ "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments". BravoTV.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
10.Jump up ^ "Stylus Magazine's Top 10 Zombie Films of All Time". StylusMagazine.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
11.Jump up ^ "Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Times". EmpireOnline.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
12.Jump up ^ Kitty Empire (10 November 2002). "Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Adjusting to Fame After '28 Days Later'". Guardian News and Media Limited (London). Archived from the original on 9 December 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
13.Jump up ^ Kilic, Uygar. "Louis Vuitton L’Invitation au Voyage Advertisement Campaign: Video and Collection". Cars & Life. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
14.Jump up ^ Gingold, Michael (14 July 2006). "July 14: Fox sets HILLS II and more release dates". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
15.Jump up ^ "28 Months Later?". Moviehole.net. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
16.Jump up ^ "BOOM!, Fox Announce "28 Days Later" Comic Book Series". ComicBookResources.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to 28 Days Later.
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: 28 Days Later
28 Days Later at the Internet Movie Database
28 Days Later at AllMovie
28 Days Later at Box Office Mojo
28 Days Later at Facebook
28 Days Later at Rotten Tomatoes
28 Days Later at Metacritic
Naomi Harris Interview
Filming Locations Guide


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28 Weeks Later

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28 Weeks Later
Twenty eight weeks later.jpg
UK promotional film poster

Directed by
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Produced by
Enrique López-Lavigne
Andrew Macdonald
Allon Reich
Bernard Bellew

Written by
Rowan Joffé
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
E. L. Lavigne
Jesus Olmo

Starring
Robert Carlyle
Rose Byrne
Jeremy Renner
Harold Perrineau
Catherine McCormack
Mackintosh Muggleton
Imogen Poots
Idris Elba

Music by
John Murphy

Production
 company

Fox Atomic
DNA Films
UK Film Council
Figment Films
Sociedad General de Cine (SOGECINE) S.A.
Koan Films

Distributed by
20th Century Fox

Release dates

26 April 2007 (London)
11 May 2007 (United Kingdom & United States)
29 June 2007 (Spain)


Running time
 100 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
Spain
United States

Language
English
Budget
$15 million[1]
Box office
$64,238,440
28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British-Spanish post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film, structured as a sequel to the 2002 critical and commercial success, 28 Days Later. 28 Weeks Later was co-written and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, respectively director and writer of 28 Days Later, now acting as executive producers. It was released in the United Kingdom and United States on 11 May 2007. The on-location filming took place in London and 3 Mills Studios, although scenes intended to be shot at Wembley Stadium, then undergoing final stages of construction, were filmed instead in Wales, with Cardiff's Millennium Stadium used as a replacement.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Pre-production
3.2 Casting details
3.3 Filming
4 Promotion 4.1 Biohazard warning
4.2 Graphic novel
4.3 Viral advertising
4.4 Prop giveaway
4.5 Flash game
5 Reception
6 Soundtrack
7 Possible sequel
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
During the original outbreak of the Rage Virus, Don, his wife Alice, and four other survivors are hiding in a barricaded cottage on the outskirts of London. They hear a terrified boy pounding at their door, and they let him in. A few minutes later, they find that the Infected have followed the boy to them. The Infected attack and kill most of the survivors, while Don, Alice, and the boy are chased upstairs. Don is separated from Alice and the boy by the Infected and jumps out of a window, abandoning them. Don desperately sprints to a nearby motorboat and narrowly escapes.
After five weeks, all the Infected have died of starvation. After eleven weeks, NATO forces headed by the United States take control of Great Britain. After eighteen weeks, the island is declared relatively safe, although still under quarantine. Twenty-eight weeks after the outbreak, an American-led force, under the command of Brigadier General Stone, bring in settlers to re-populate the area. Among the new arrivals are Tammy and Andy, Don and Alice's children, who were in Spain on a school trip during the initial outbreak. They are subsequently admitted to District One, a safe zone guarded by the U.S. Army, on the Isle of Dogs. As they are examined by Major Scarlet Levy, the District's Chief Medical Officer, she notes Andy's differently coloured eyes, a trait inherited from his mother. Sergeant Doyle, a Delta sniper and his friend, Chief Flynn, a helicopter pilot, are amongst the military presence charged with guarding the District. Tammy and Andy are reunited with their father, who, having survived the original infection, was found by the U.S. army and has become the District's caretaker. In their new flat, Don explains what happened to him and their mother and that after escaping, he arrived at a military camp and survived by waiting for the Infected to die of starvation.
That night, Andy has a dream about forgetting his mother's face, so Tammy and Andy decide to visit their home to get a picture of her. The next day, they sneak out of the safe zone and proceed on a scooter through the depopulated London wasteland to their former home. To their shock, they find their mother alive, in a semi-conscious state. Doyle sees Tammy and Andy leave the safe zone, and they and their mother are quickly picked up by soldiers and returned to the district. Alice is taken to a quarantine room where she is tested and found to be an asymptomatic carrier of the Rage virus. While she does not show the uncontrollable rage, she is still extremely infectious. Don sneaks through the Security and makes an unauthorised visit to Alice in her isolation cell, begging her to forgive him. However, when they kiss the Rage Virus in her saliva immediately infects Don, who savagely kills her before going on a rampage, killing and infecting several soldiers in the building.
General Stone orders the building to be quarantined and District One to be put into Code Red Lock-down. Civilians are herded into safe rooms, but despite the precautions, Don breaks into a room containing a large crowd and begins killing and infecting them, quickly causing a domino effect of attackers. Scarlet rescues Tammy and Andy from containment as the soldiers in District One are ordered to shoot indiscriminately after being unable to differentiate between infected and uninfected persons during the panic. Doyle, unable to bring himself to comply with the order, abandons his post and escapes with Scarlet, Tammy, Andy, and others through the Greenwich foot tunnel. General Stone then orders that District One be firebombed; but large numbers of the Infected, including Don, escape the bombardment. Scarlet informs Doyle that the children might hold the key to a cure and must be protected at all costs. Flynn arrives by helicopter to pick up Doyle, but he refuses to take anyone else as they would be shot down for carrying possibly infected people.
Flynn contacts Doyle by radio and tells him to head to Wembley Stadium, but to leave the civilians. Doyle ignores his instructions and begins escorting the civilians to Wembley. He breaks into an abandoned car to escape nerve gas released to kill the Infected, but is burned alive by soldiers as he tries to push start the car. Scarlet drives the car away, as an Apache gunship tries to destroy the car. But all three manage to escape the chopper. She drives them into the London Underground where the trio continues on foot. Scarlet is ambushed and killed by Don who then attacks and bites Andy. Tammy shoots Don before he can kill Andy who remains symptom-free, but whose eyes are red like those of his mother, signifying that he is now an unknowing carrier of the Rage virus. They continue to the Stadium and are picked up by a reluctant Flynn, who flies them across the English Channel to France, as previously instructed by Doyle.
Twenty-eight days later, a French-accented voice requesting help is heard from the radio in Flynn's abandoned helicopter. A group of the Infected are seen running through a tunnel which, as they emerge into the open, is revealed to be the exit of the Paris Métro Trocadéro station with a view of the nearby Eiffel Tower.
Cast[edit]
Further information: List of 28 Days/Weeks Later characters
##Robert Carlyle as Don
##Rose Byrne as Scarlet
##Jeremy Renner as Doyle
##Harold Perrineau as Flynn
##Catherine McCormack as Alice
##Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy
##Imogen Poots as Tammy
##Idris Elba as Stone
Production[edit]
Pre-production[edit]

We were quite taken aback by the phenomenal success of the first film, particularly in America. We saw an opportunity to make a second film that already had a built in audience. We thought it would be a great idea to try and satisfy that audience again.
—Danny Boyle on 28 Weeks Later, [3]
In 2003, plans for the film were conceived after the international success of 28 Days Later. Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and Alex Garland stated that they felt the time was right to make a sequel.[3]
In March 2005, Boyle said in an interview that he would not direct the sequel due to commitments to Sunshine, but he would serve as executive producer. He also revealed that the film would revolve around a great deal of the aftermath from the first movie.[4] It was also revealed that the film would include the "US Army declaring the war against infection had been won, and that the reconstruction of the country could begin."[5] Boyle hired Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to helm the project after seeing Fresnadillo's 2001 film Intacto.[6] Fresnadillo stated that he was "thrilled working on his first English language film alongside such an exciting international cast and talented production team."[7]
Both Fresnadillo and Lopez-Lavigne were involved in writing the script, which revolved around a family and what happened to them in the aftermath of the original film, which the producers "liked a lot".[8]
Casting details[edit]
Boyle said in March 2005 that the sequel would feature a new cast, since previous cast members Cillian Murphy, Megan Burns, and Naomie Harris were occupied with their own projects.[4] On 23 August 2006, Jeremy Renner was announced to portray Doyle, one of the principal characters for 28 Weeks Later.[9] On 31 August 2006, Harold Perrineau was announced to portray a US Special Forces pilot in the film.[10]
Filming[edit]
On 1 September 2006, principal photography for 28 Weeks Later began in London[11] with much of the filming taking place at Canary Wharf.[12]
[icon] This section requires expansion. (December 2009)
Promotion[edit]
Biohazard warning[edit]
On 13 April 2007, 28 days before the release of the film in UK cinemas, a huge biohazard warning sign was projected against the White Cliffs of Dover.[13] The sign contained the international biological hazard symbol, along with the admonition that Britain was "contaminated, keep out!".
Graphic novel[edit]
In July 2006, Fox Atomic Comics and publisher HarperCollins announced the publication, in early 2007, of 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, a graphic novel bridging the gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.[14] Motion comics of two segments of the graphic novel were added to the DVD & Blu-ray release of 28 Weeks Later.[15]
Viral advertising[edit]
Removable chalk-powder graffiti was sprayed in locations around London and Birmingham featuring the web address 'ragevirus.com'. However, the web address was found to be unregistered and was quickly snapped up. The advertising agency who made the mistake agreed to purchase the rights to the domain name for an undisclosed sum.[16]
Prop giveaway[edit]
In April 2007, the horror/science-fiction film website Bloody Disgusting promoted 28 Weeks Later by giving readers a chance to win a prop from the film. The props were included in a "District 1 Welcome Pack", which featured an actual ID card and an edition of the London Evening Standard newspaper with a headline proclaiming the evacuation. The giveaway was only open to residents of North America and entries closed on 9 May 2007.[17]
Flash game[edit]
In May 2007, 20th Century Fox posted a free 28 Weeks Later-themed flash game on their international website, foxinternational.com.[18] In the game, the player can play one of the infected in three parts of the city.
Reception[edit]
28 Weeks Later gained generally positive reviews.[19] The film has generated a "fresh" rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 187 reviews (132 fresh, 55 rotten).[20] View London called the film an "exciting, action-packed and superbly directed thriller that more than lives up to the original film".[21] The New York Times‍ '​s A. O. Scott wrote that "28 Weeks Later is brutal and almost exhaustingly terrifying, as any respectable zombie movie should be. It is also bracingly smart, both in its ideas and in its techniques."[22]
The film opened in 2,000 cinemas across the United States.[23] It made $9.8 million in its opening weekend, coming in second place at the box office, behind Spider-Man 3. The film has grossed $28.6 million in the US and $35.6 million in other countries, bringing the worldwide total to $64.2 million.[24]
1.3 million DVD units have been sold in the United States, gathering a revenue of $24.3 million, as of July 2010.[25] The film has been released as its own DVD and as a double feature with 28 Days Later.
Soundtrack[edit]
Main article: 28 Weeks Later: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
28 Weeks Later: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed, written and performed by John Murphy. The score was released exclusively to iTunes on 12 June 2007. The theme of the first film, "In the House - In a Heartbeat",[26] is a reoccurring motif throughout the second film, varying in tone and speed. On 2 June 2009, a limited edition soundtrack was released by La-La Land Records. Only 1500 copies were made.[27]
The film's theatrical trailer featured the songs "Want" (Witchman) and "Shrinking Universe" (Muse).
Possible sequel[edit]
Fox Atomic stated in June 2007 that they would consider producing a third film, if DVD sales of the film did well.[28] In July 2007, while promoting Sunshine, Boyle said he had a possible story for the next film. "There is an idea for the next one, something which would move the story on. I've got to think about it, whether it's right or not."[29] In October 2010, when Alex Garland was asked what was happening with 28 Months Later, he declared: "I'll answer that completely honestly. When we made 28 Days Later, the rights were frozen between a group of people who are no longer talking to each other. And so, the film is never going to happen unless those people start talking to each other again. There is no script as far as I'm aware."[30] In January 2011, Danny Boyle said, "There is a good idea for it, and once I've got [my stage production of] Frankenstein open, I'll begin to think about it a bit more."[31] On 13 April 2013 Boyle stated: "[I]t’s 40/60 whether [a sequel] happens or not. But we did have an idea of where to set it and what it might be about." When asked to share that idea, Boyle laughed and said, "No, because they’ll end up in The Walking Dead."[32] On 14 January 2015, Garland stated: "We’ve just started talking about it seriously. We’ve got an idea. Danny [Boyle] and [producer] Andrew [Macdonald] and I have been having quite serious conversations about it so it is a possibility. It’s complicated. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why it’s complicated, which are boring so I won’t go into, but there’s a possibility," also adding that "It’s more likely to be 28 Months than 28 Years. 28 Years gives you one more place to go," hinting at the possibility of a fourth film as well.[33]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/28WLT.php
2.Jump up ^ "This is London - 28 Weeks Later". Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
3.^ Jump up to: a b "28 Weeks Later planned". Rotten Tomatoes. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "Boyle Talks 28 Days Sequel". Sci Fi Wire. 14 March 2005. Archived from the original on 25 May 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
5.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Plot Revealed". Coming Soon. 1 October 2006. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
6.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Director Hired". Rotten Tomatoes. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Director Speaks". Coming Soon. 1 October 2006. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
8.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Script Approvied". Rotten Tomatoes. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
9.Jump up ^ Gardner, Chris (23 August 2006). "'Later' leading man". Variety. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
10.Jump up ^ Crabtree, Sheigh (31 August 2006). "Perrineau hits a triple on film side". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 September 2006.[dead link]
11.Jump up ^ "28 months Later".
12.Jump up ^ "28 British Waterways' Film Map: Canals and rivers on screen".
13.Jump up ^ News, BBC (13 April 2007). "'Biohazard' image on Dover cliffs". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
14.Jump up ^ Roston, Sandee (19 July 2006). "HarperCollins Publishers and Fox Atomic Announce Graphic Novel Publishing Imprint". Retrieved 2 October 2006.
15.Jump up ^ Hi-Def Digest: 28 Weeks Later Blu-Ray Review
16.Jump up ^ B3ta Newsletter 274
17.Jump up ^ Roston, Sandee (19 July 2006). "Bloody-Disgusting Prop Giveaway". Archived from the original on 11 August 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
18.Jump up ^ "Free 28 WEEKS LATER online game". ShochYa. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
19.Jump up ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 12 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
20.Jump up ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 12 May 2007. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
21.Jump up ^ "View London". 11 May 2007. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
22.Jump up ^ Scott, A. O. (11 May 2007). "28 Weeks Later Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
23.Jump up ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 11 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
24.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later at Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
25.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later - DVD Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
26.Jump up ^ 28 Weeks Later - Soundtrack
27.Jump up ^ LA LA LAND RECORDS, 28 WEEKS LATER.
28.Jump up ^ "Bloody Disgusting". 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
29.Jump up ^ "MTV". 16 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
30.Jump up ^ "worst previews". 3 October 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
31.Jump up ^ "Danny Boyle Webchat". Empire. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
32.Jump up ^ Franklin, Garth (13 April 2013). "Boyle Not Keen On "28 Months Later"". Dark Horizon. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
33.Jump up ^ "Alex Garland Says 28 Months Later is Being Discussed". IGN. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: 28 Weeks Later
##Official website
##28 Weeks Later at the Internet Movie Database
##28 Weeks Later at AllMovie
##28 Weeks Later at Rotten Tomatoes
##28 Weeks Later at Box Office Mojo
##28 Weeks Later at Metacritic
##Homepage of 20th Century Fox International


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Categories: 2007 films
English-language films
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Action horror films
Best Horror Empire Award winners
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DNA Films films
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Films set in London
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28 Weeks Later

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Jump to: navigation, search


28 Weeks Later
Twenty eight weeks later.jpg
UK promotional film poster

Directed by
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Produced by
Enrique López-Lavigne
Andrew Macdonald
Allon Reich
Bernard Bellew

Written by
Rowan Joffé
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
E. L. Lavigne
Jesus Olmo

Starring
Robert Carlyle
Rose Byrne
Jeremy Renner
Harold Perrineau
Catherine McCormack
Mackintosh Muggleton
Imogen Poots
Idris Elba

Music by
John Murphy

Production
 company

Fox Atomic
DNA Films
UK Film Council
Figment Films
Sociedad General de Cine (SOGECINE) S.A.
Koan Films

Distributed by
20th Century Fox

Release dates

26 April 2007 (London)
11 May 2007 (United Kingdom & United States)
29 June 2007 (Spain)


Running time
 100 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
Spain
United States

Language
English
Budget
$15 million[1]
Box office
$64,238,440
28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British-Spanish post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film, structured as a sequel to the 2002 critical and commercial success, 28 Days Later. 28 Weeks Later was co-written and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, respectively director and writer of 28 Days Later, now acting as executive producers. It was released in the United Kingdom and United States on 11 May 2007. The on-location filming took place in London and 3 Mills Studios, although scenes intended to be shot at Wembley Stadium, then undergoing final stages of construction, were filmed instead in Wales, with Cardiff's Millennium Stadium used as a replacement.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Pre-production
3.2 Casting details
3.3 Filming
4 Promotion 4.1 Biohazard warning
4.2 Graphic novel
4.3 Viral advertising
4.4 Prop giveaway
4.5 Flash game
5 Reception
6 Soundtrack
7 Possible sequel
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
During the original outbreak of the Rage Virus, Don, his wife Alice, and four other survivors are hiding in a barricaded cottage on the outskirts of London. They hear a terrified boy pounding at their door, and they let him in. A few minutes later, they find that the Infected have followed the boy to them. The Infected attack and kill most of the survivors, while Don, Alice, and the boy are chased upstairs. Don is separated from Alice and the boy by the Infected and jumps out of a window, abandoning them. Don desperately sprints to a nearby motorboat and narrowly escapes.
After five weeks, all the Infected have died of starvation. After eleven weeks, NATO forces headed by the United States take control of Great Britain. After eighteen weeks, the island is declared relatively safe, although still under quarantine. Twenty-eight weeks after the outbreak, an American-led force, under the command of Brigadier General Stone, bring in settlers to re-populate the area. Among the new arrivals are Tammy and Andy, Don and Alice's children, who were in Spain on a school trip during the initial outbreak. They are subsequently admitted to District One, a safe zone guarded by the U.S. Army, on the Isle of Dogs. As they are examined by Major Scarlet Levy, the District's Chief Medical Officer, she notes Andy's differently coloured eyes, a trait inherited from his mother. Sergeant Doyle, a Delta sniper and his friend, Chief Flynn, a helicopter pilot, are amongst the military presence charged with guarding the District. Tammy and Andy are reunited with their father, who, having survived the original infection, was found by the U.S. army and has become the District's caretaker. In their new flat, Don explains what happened to him and their mother and that after escaping, he arrived at a military camp and survived by waiting for the Infected to die of starvation.
That night, Andy has a dream about forgetting his mother's face, so Tammy and Andy decide to visit their home to get a picture of her. The next day, they sneak out of the safe zone and proceed on a scooter through the depopulated London wasteland to their former home. To their shock, they find their mother alive, in a semi-conscious state. Doyle sees Tammy and Andy leave the safe zone, and they and their mother are quickly picked up by soldiers and returned to the district. Alice is taken to a quarantine room where she is tested and found to be an asymptomatic carrier of the Rage virus. While she does not show the uncontrollable rage, she is still extremely infectious. Don sneaks through the Security and makes an unauthorised visit to Alice in her isolation cell, begging her to forgive him. However, when they kiss the Rage Virus in her saliva immediately infects Don, who savagely kills her before going on a rampage, killing and infecting several soldiers in the building.
General Stone orders the building to be quarantined and District One to be put into Code Red Lock-down. Civilians are herded into safe rooms, but despite the precautions, Don breaks into a room containing a large crowd and begins killing and infecting them, quickly causing a domino effect of attackers. Scarlet rescues Tammy and Andy from containment as the soldiers in District One are ordered to shoot indiscriminately after being unable to differentiate between infected and uninfected persons during the panic. Doyle, unable to bring himself to comply with the order, abandons his post and escapes with Scarlet, Tammy, Andy, and others through the Greenwich foot tunnel. General Stone then orders that District One be firebombed; but large numbers of the Infected, including Don, escape the bombardment. Scarlet informs Doyle that the children might hold the key to a cure and must be protected at all costs. Flynn arrives by helicopter to pick up Doyle, but he refuses to take anyone else as they would be shot down for carrying possibly infected people.
Flynn contacts Doyle by radio and tells him to head to Wembley Stadium, but to leave the civilians. Doyle ignores his instructions and begins escorting the civilians to Wembley. He breaks into an abandoned car to escape nerve gas released to kill the Infected, but is burned alive by soldiers as he tries to push start the car. Scarlet drives the car away, as an Apache gunship tries to destroy the car. But all three manage to escape the chopper. She drives them into the London Underground where the trio continues on foot. Scarlet is ambushed and killed by Don who then attacks and bites Andy. Tammy shoots Don before he can kill Andy who remains symptom-free, but whose eyes are red like those of his mother, signifying that he is now an unknowing carrier of the Rage virus. They continue to the Stadium and are picked up by a reluctant Flynn, who flies them across the English Channel to France, as previously instructed by Doyle.
Twenty-eight days later, a French-accented voice requesting help is heard from the radio in Flynn's abandoned helicopter. A group of the Infected are seen running through a tunnel which, as they emerge into the open, is revealed to be the exit of the Paris Métro Trocadéro station with a view of the nearby Eiffel Tower.
Cast[edit]
Further information: List of 28 Days/Weeks Later characters
##Robert Carlyle as Don
##Rose Byrne as Scarlet
##Jeremy Renner as Doyle
##Harold Perrineau as Flynn
##Catherine McCormack as Alice
##Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy
##Imogen Poots as Tammy
##Idris Elba as Stone
Production[edit]
Pre-production[edit]

We were quite taken aback by the phenomenal success of the first film, particularly in America. We saw an opportunity to make a second film that already had a built in audience. We thought it would be a great idea to try and satisfy that audience again.
—Danny Boyle on 28 Weeks Later, [3]
In 2003, plans for the film were conceived after the international success of 28 Days Later. Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and Alex Garland stated that they felt the time was right to make a sequel.[3]
In March 2005, Boyle said in an interview that he would not direct the sequel due to commitments to Sunshine, but he would serve as executive producer. He also revealed that the film would revolve around a great deal of the aftermath from the first movie.[4] It was also revealed that the film would include the "US Army declaring the war against infection had been won, and that the reconstruction of the country could begin."[5] Boyle hired Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to helm the project after seeing Fresnadillo's 2001 film Intacto.[6] Fresnadillo stated that he was "thrilled working on his first English language film alongside such an exciting international cast and talented production team."[7]
Both Fresnadillo and Lopez-Lavigne were involved in writing the script, which revolved around a family and what happened to them in the aftermath of the original film, which the producers "liked a lot".[8]
Casting details[edit]
Boyle said in March 2005 that the sequel would feature a new cast, since previous cast members Cillian Murphy, Megan Burns, and Naomie Harris were occupied with their own projects.[4] On 23 August 2006, Jeremy Renner was announced to portray Doyle, one of the principal characters for 28 Weeks Later.[9] On 31 August 2006, Harold Perrineau was announced to portray a US Special Forces pilot in the film.[10]
Filming[edit]
On 1 September 2006, principal photography for 28 Weeks Later began in London[11] with much of the filming taking place at Canary Wharf.[12]
[icon] This section requires expansion. (December 2009)
Promotion[edit]
Biohazard warning[edit]
On 13 April 2007, 28 days before the release of the film in UK cinemas, a huge biohazard warning sign was projected against the White Cliffs of Dover.[13] The sign contained the international biological hazard symbol, along with the admonition that Britain was "contaminated, keep out!".
Graphic novel[edit]
In July 2006, Fox Atomic Comics and publisher HarperCollins announced the publication, in early 2007, of 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, a graphic novel bridging the gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.[14] Motion comics of two segments of the graphic novel were added to the DVD & Blu-ray release of 28 Weeks Later.[15]
Viral advertising[edit]
Removable chalk-powder graffiti was sprayed in locations around London and Birmingham featuring the web address 'ragevirus.com'. However, the web address was found to be unregistered and was quickly snapped up. The advertising agency who made the mistake agreed to purchase the rights to the domain name for an undisclosed sum.[16]
Prop giveaway[edit]
In April 2007, the horror/science-fiction film website Bloody Disgusting promoted 28 Weeks Later by giving readers a chance to win a prop from the film. The props were included in a "District 1 Welcome Pack", which featured an actual ID card and an edition of the London Evening Standard newspaper with a headline proclaiming the evacuation. The giveaway was only open to residents of North America and entries closed on 9 May 2007.[17]
Flash game[edit]
In May 2007, 20th Century Fox posted a free 28 Weeks Later-themed flash game on their international website, foxinternational.com.[18] In the game, the player can play one of the infected in three parts of the city.
Reception[edit]
28 Weeks Later gained generally positive reviews.[19] The film has generated a "fresh" rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 187 reviews (132 fresh, 55 rotten).[20] View London called the film an "exciting, action-packed and superbly directed thriller that more than lives up to the original film".[21] The New York Times‍ '​s A. O. Scott wrote that "28 Weeks Later is brutal and almost exhaustingly terrifying, as any respectable zombie movie should be. It is also bracingly smart, both in its ideas and in its techniques."[22]
The film opened in 2,000 cinemas across the United States.[23] It made $9.8 million in its opening weekend, coming in second place at the box office, behind Spider-Man 3. The film has grossed $28.6 million in the US and $35.6 million in other countries, bringing the worldwide total to $64.2 million.[24]
1.3 million DVD units have been sold in the United States, gathering a revenue of $24.3 million, as of July 2010.[25] The film has been released as its own DVD and as a double feature with 28 Days Later.
Soundtrack[edit]
Main article: 28 Weeks Later: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
28 Weeks Later: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed, written and performed by John Murphy. The score was released exclusively to iTunes on 12 June 2007. The theme of the first film, "In the House - In a Heartbeat",[26] is a reoccurring motif throughout the second film, varying in tone and speed. On 2 June 2009, a limited edition soundtrack was released by La-La Land Records. Only 1500 copies were made.[27]
The film's theatrical trailer featured the songs "Want" (Witchman) and "Shrinking Universe" (Muse).
Possible sequel[edit]
Fox Atomic stated in June 2007 that they would consider producing a third film, if DVD sales of the film did well.[28] In July 2007, while promoting Sunshine, Boyle said he had a possible story for the next film. "There is an idea for the next one, something which would move the story on. I've got to think about it, whether it's right or not."[29] In October 2010, when Alex Garland was asked what was happening with 28 Months Later, he declared: "I'll answer that completely honestly. When we made 28 Days Later, the rights were frozen between a group of people who are no longer talking to each other. And so, the film is never going to happen unless those people start talking to each other again. There is no script as far as I'm aware."[30] In January 2011, Danny Boyle said, "There is a good idea for it, and once I've got [my stage production of] Frankenstein open, I'll begin to think about it a bit more."[31] On 13 April 2013 Boyle stated: "[I]t’s 40/60 whether [a sequel] happens or not. But we did have an idea of where to set it and what it might be about." When asked to share that idea, Boyle laughed and said, "No, because they’ll end up in The Walking Dead."[32] On 14 January 2015, Garland stated: "We’ve just started talking about it seriously. We’ve got an idea. Danny [Boyle] and [producer] Andrew [Macdonald] and I have been having quite serious conversations about it so it is a possibility. It’s complicated. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why it’s complicated, which are boring so I won’t go into, but there’s a possibility," also adding that "It’s more likely to be 28 Months than 28 Years. 28 Years gives you one more place to go," hinting at the possibility of a fourth film as well.[33]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/28WLT.php
2.Jump up ^ "This is London - 28 Weeks Later". Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
3.^ Jump up to: a b "28 Weeks Later planned". Rotten Tomatoes. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "Boyle Talks 28 Days Sequel". Sci Fi Wire. 14 March 2005. Archived from the original on 25 May 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
5.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Plot Revealed". Coming Soon. 1 October 2006. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
6.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Director Hired". Rotten Tomatoes. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Director Speaks". Coming Soon. 1 October 2006. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
8.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later Script Approvied". Rotten Tomatoes. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
9.Jump up ^ Gardner, Chris (23 August 2006). "'Later' leading man". Variety. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
10.Jump up ^ Crabtree, Sheigh (31 August 2006). "Perrineau hits a triple on film side". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 September 2006.[dead link]
11.Jump up ^ "28 months Later".
12.Jump up ^ "28 British Waterways' Film Map: Canals and rivers on screen".
13.Jump up ^ News, BBC (13 April 2007). "'Biohazard' image on Dover cliffs". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
14.Jump up ^ Roston, Sandee (19 July 2006). "HarperCollins Publishers and Fox Atomic Announce Graphic Novel Publishing Imprint". Retrieved 2 October 2006.
15.Jump up ^ Hi-Def Digest: 28 Weeks Later Blu-Ray Review
16.Jump up ^ B3ta Newsletter 274
17.Jump up ^ Roston, Sandee (19 July 2006). "Bloody-Disgusting Prop Giveaway". Archived from the original on 11 August 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
18.Jump up ^ "Free 28 WEEKS LATER online game". ShochYa. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
19.Jump up ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 12 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
20.Jump up ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 12 May 2007. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
21.Jump up ^ "View London". 11 May 2007. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
22.Jump up ^ Scott, A. O. (11 May 2007). "28 Weeks Later Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
23.Jump up ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 11 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
24.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later at Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
25.Jump up ^ "28 Weeks Later - DVD Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
26.Jump up ^ 28 Weeks Later - Soundtrack
27.Jump up ^ LA LA LAND RECORDS, 28 WEEKS LATER.
28.Jump up ^ "Bloody Disgusting". 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
29.Jump up ^ "MTV". 16 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
30.Jump up ^ "worst previews". 3 October 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
31.Jump up ^ "Danny Boyle Webchat". Empire. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
32.Jump up ^ Franklin, Garth (13 April 2013). "Boyle Not Keen On "28 Months Later"". Dark Horizon. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
33.Jump up ^ "Alex Garland Says 28 Months Later is Being Discussed". IGN. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: 28 Weeks Later
##Official website
##28 Weeks Later at the Internet Movie Database
##28 Weeks Later at AllMovie
##28 Weeks Later at Rotten Tomatoes
##28 Weeks Later at Box Office Mojo
##28 Weeks Later at Metacritic
##Homepage of 20th Century Fox International


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
28 Days Later



















[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
The films of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo









[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Empire Award for Best Horror














  


Categories: 2007 films
English-language films
2007 horror films
20th Century Fox films
Action horror films
Best Horror Empire Award winners
British films
British horror films
DNA Films films
Films directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Films set in London
Films set in Paris
Films shot in London
Films shot in Cardiff
Post-apocalyptic films
2000s science fiction horror films
Sequel films
Spanish films
Spanish horror films
Films about viral outbreaks
Zombie films
Dune Entertainment films











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The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)

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Jump to: navigation, search

For other films with the same title, see The Last Man on Earth (1924 film) and The Last Man on Earth (2011 film).
For the television series, see The Last Man on Earth (TV series).

The Last Man on Earth
Lastmanonearth1960s.jpg
Promotional film poster

Directed by
Ubaldo Ragona
Sidney Salkow
Produced by
Robert L. Lippert
Samuel Z. Arkoff
Harold E. Knox
Written by
Furio M. Monetti
Ubaldo Ragona
 William Leicester
 Richard Matheson (as Logan Swanson)
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Vincent Price
Franca Bettoia
Emma Danieli
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Music by
Paul Sawtell
Bert Shefter
Cinematography
Franco Delli Colli
Edited by
Gene Ruggiero
Franca Silvi
Distributed by
American International Pictures (US)
20th Century Fox (international)

Release dates

March 8, 1964


Running time
 86 minutes
Country
United States
 Italy
Language
English
The Last Man on Earth (Italian: L'ultimo uomo della Terra) is a 1964 science fiction horror film based on the Richard Matheson 1954 novel I Am Legend. The film was directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, and stars Vincent Price. The script was written in part by Matheson, but he was dissatisfied with the result and chose to be credited as "Logan Swanson". William Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, and Ubaldo Ragona were the other writers.
It was filmed in Rome, Italy, with some location shots taken at Esposizione Universale Roma. It was released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures and the UK in 1966. In the 1980s the film fell into the public domain.[1][2] MGM Home Video, the current owners of the AIP film catalog, released a digitally remastered widescreen print on DVD in September 2005.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Release
5 Legacy
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Plot[edit]
In the year 1968, every day is the same for Dr. Robert Morgan (Price): he wakes up, gathers his weapons and then goes hunting for vampires. Morgan lives in a world where everyone else has been infected by a plague that has turned them into undead, vampiric creatures that cannot stand sunlight, fear mirrors, and are repelled by garlic. They would kill Morgan if they could, but fortunately, they are weak and unintelligent. At night, Morgan locks himself inside his house; during the day, he kills as many vampires as he can, burning the bodies.
A flashback sequence explains that, three years before, Morgan's wife and daughter had succumbed to the plague, before it was widely known by the public that the dead would return to life. Instead of taking his wife to the same public burn pit used to dispose of his daughter's corpse, Morgan buried her without the knowledge of the authorities. When his wife returned to his home and attacked him, Morgan became aware of the need to kill the plague victims with a wooden stake. Morgan hypothesizes that he is immune to the bacteria because he was bitten by an infected vampire bat when he was stationed in Panama, which introduced a diluted form of the plague into his blood.
One day, a dog appears in the neighborhood. Desperate for companionship, Morgan chases after the dog but does not catch it. Some time later, the dog appears, wounded, at Morgan's doorstep. He takes the dog into his home and treats its wounds, looking forward to having company for the first time in three years. He quickly discovers, however, that it too has become infected with the plague. Morgan is later seen burying the dog, which he has impaled with a wooden stake.
After burying the dog Morgan spots a woman in the distance. The woman, Ruth, is terrified of Morgan at first sight, and runs from him. Morgan convinces her to return to his home, but is suspicious of her true nature. Ruth becomes ill when Morgan waves garlic in her face, but claims that she has a weak stomach.
Morgan's suspicion that Ruth is infected is confirmed when he discovers her attempting to inject herself with a combination of blood and vaccine that holds the disease at bay. Ruth initially draws a gun on Morgan, but surrenders it to him. Ruth then tells him that she is part of a group of people like her — infected but under treatment — and was sent to spy on Morgan. The vaccine allows the people to function normally with the drug in the bloodstream, but once it wears off, the infection takes over the body again. Ruth explains that her people are planning to rebuild society as they destroy the remaining vampires, and that many of the vampires Morgan killed were technically still alive. Ruth desperately urges Morgan to flee, but he inexplicably refuses.
While Ruth is asleep, Morgan transfuses his own blood into her. She is immediately cured, and Morgan sees hope that, together, they can cure the rest of her people. Moments later, however, Ruth's people attack. Morgan takes the gun and flees his home while the attackers kill the vampires gathered around Morgan's home.
Ruth's people spot Morgan and chase him. He exchanges gunfire with them, and picks up tear gas grenades from a police station armory along the way. While the tear gas delays his pursuers somewhat, Morgan is wounded by gunfire and retreats into a church. Despite Ruth's protests to let Morgan live, his pursuers finally impale him on the altar with a spear. With his dying breaths, Morgan denounces his pursuers as "freaks", and declares that he is the last true man on earth.
Cast[edit]
Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan (in others as Robert Neville)
Franca Bettoia as Ruth Collins
Emma Danieli as Virginia Morgan
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Ben Cortman
Umberto Raho as Dr. Mercer
Christi Courtland as Kathy Morgan
Antonio Corevi as the Governor
Ettore Ribotta as the TV Reporter
Rolando De Rossi
Carolyn De Fonseca dubbed for Ruth Collins' voice in the English release of the film. She was uncredited.
Giuseppe Mattei as the leader of the survivors. He was also uncredited.
Production[edit]
Producer Anthony Hinds purchased the rights to Matheson's novel for Hammer Productions. Matheson wrote a script but the British censors would not allow its production so Hinds sold the script to Robert Lippert. Lippert originally told Matheson that Fritz Lang was to direct but eventually Sidney Salkow was chosen. To save money the film was shot in Italy with a predominantly Italian cast and crew.[3]
There are differences between the film and the novel in which it is based. The protagonist of the novel is named Robert Neville, not Robert Morgan. The movie also changed the protagonist's profession from plant worker to scientist. The film's vampires are almost zombie-like, whereas in the book, they are fast, capable of running and climbing. The dog that shows up on Neville's doorstep is timid in the novel, and comes and goes as it pleases. The relationship with Ruth also slightly differs from the novel, and no transfusion takes place; a cure seems implausible, even as Neville hopes he will find one. Ruth escapes after Neville discovers that she is infected. He is not captured until many months later, and even then he barely fights. The book ends shortly before Neville is to be executed: Ruth returns to give him suicide pills, and finds it ironic that he has become as much of a legend to the new society as vampires once were to his (hence the title). The novel implies that the vampire plague resulted from a biological disease. The origin of the disease is not explained in The Last Man on Earth, and is altered in the subsequent adaptations.
Release[edit]
Although the film was not considered a success upon its release, the film later gained a more favorable reputation as a classic of the genre.[4] As of November 2011, The Last Man on Earth holds a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5] Phil Hall of Film Threat called The Last Man on Earth "the best Vincent Price movie ever made."[4] Awarding the film three and a half stars out of four, Danél Griffin of Film as Art said, "Directors Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo Ragona and star Vincent Price (giving a poignant, straightforward performance) are able to conjure up some genuine chills here, mainly in the use of stark, black-and-white images and the underlining mood of the piece."[6]
Among the less favorable reviews, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique felt the film was "hampered by an obviously low budget and some poorly recorded post-production dubbing that creates an amateurish feel, undermining the power of its story",[7] while Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader remarked, "Some would consider this version better than the 1971 remake with Charlton Heston, The Omega Man, but that isn't much of an achievement."[8]
Among the film's creators, Price "had a certain fondness for the film" and felt it was better than the 1971 The Omega Man.[7] Richard Matheson co-wrote the film's screenplay, but was unhappy with the results. In order to keep receiving residual income from the film, though, he had to be credited, and so used the name "Logan Swanson" - a combination of his wife's mother's maiden name and his mother's maiden name.[9] Author Matheson remarked, "I was disappointed in the film, even though they more or less followed my story. I think Vincent Price, whom I love in every one of his pictures that I wrote, was miscast. I also felt the direction was kind of poor. I just didn’t care for it."[10]
Legacy[edit]
George A. Romero has acknowledged the source material of The Last Man on Earth as an influence on his film Night of the Living Dead, remarking that he "basically had ripped [it] off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[11] Numerous critics have suggested the film itself was also a source of inspiration for "Night of the Living Dead".[6][12]
The film was remade in 1971, starring Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, and Rosalind Cash under the title The Omega Man, with Heston as an exiled, immune bio-war scientist living in a weaponed laboratory above his former Los Angeles townhouse, fighting Zerbe's half-human albino creatures of the night. In 2007 a movie starring Will Smith was released titled I Am Legend.
See also[edit]
Vampire film
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jonathan Malcolm Lampley (2010). Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price. McFarland. p. 98.
2.Jump up ^ "The Last Man on Earth (1964)". The Public Domain Review. 28 August 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
3.Jump up ^ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p207-208
4.^ Jump up to: a b THE BOOTLEG FILES: "THE LAST MAN ON EARTH" Phil Hall, Film Threat, April 21, 2006
5.Jump up ^ The Last Man on Earth reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Last Man on Earth review by Danél Griffin, Film as Art: Danél Griffin's Guide to Cinema
7.^ Jump up to: a b The Last Man on Earth (1964) - Film Review Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique, January 29, 2008
8.Jump up ^ The Last Man on Earth review by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, December 10, 2007
9.Jump up ^ "Richard Matheson Storyteller: The Last Man on Earth" — "Midnight Movies Double Feature: Panic in Year Zero / The Last Man on Earth" DVD, 2005, Region 1, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
10.Jump up ^ Reflections of a Storyteller: A Conversation with Richard Matheson by William P. Simmons, Cemetery Dance magazine
11.Jump up ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of "Night of the Living Dead" — "Night of the Living Dead" DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
12.Jump up ^ Thomas Scalzo, "The Last Man on Earth" (film review)
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Last Man on Earth.
The Last Man on Earth at the Internet Movie Database
The Last Man on Earth is available for free download at the Internet Archive
The Last Man on Earth at AllMovie
Complete stereo soundtrack of the Paul Sawtell/Bert Shefter film score released by the "Monstrous Movie Music" label (sound samples available)
Audio transcription of the film (Part 1) (Part 2) at the Internet Archive.
Cine Fantastique Review
The Last Man on Earth on Livestream
The Last Man on Earth on YouTube


[show]
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 e
 
Richard Matheson


























































































[show]
v ·
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Richard Matheson's I Am Legend










  


Categories: 1964 films
English-language films
1964 horror films
1960s science fiction films
American International Pictures films
American science fiction horror films
Black-and-white films
Dystopian films
Films about viral outbreaks
Films based on American horror novels
Films based on science fiction novels
Films based on works by Richard Matheson
Films directed by Sidney Salkow
Films set in 1968
Films set in Los Angeles, California
Films set in the future
American independent films
Italian horror films
Italian science fiction films
Post-apocalyptic films
Solitude in fiction
Screenplays by Richard Matheson
Vampires in film
1960s science fiction horror films
Italian independent films






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The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other films with the same title, see The Last Man on Earth (1924 film) and The Last Man on Earth (2011 film).
For the television series, see The Last Man on Earth (TV series).

The Last Man on Earth
Lastmanonearth1960s.jpg
Promotional film poster

Directed by
Ubaldo Ragona
Sidney Salkow
Produced by
Robert L. Lippert
Samuel Z. Arkoff
Harold E. Knox
Written by
Furio M. Monetti
Ubaldo Ragona
 William Leicester
 Richard Matheson (as Logan Swanson)
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Vincent Price
Franca Bettoia
Emma Danieli
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Music by
Paul Sawtell
Bert Shefter
Cinematography
Franco Delli Colli
Edited by
Gene Ruggiero
Franca Silvi
Distributed by
American International Pictures (US)
20th Century Fox (international)

Release dates

March 8, 1964


Running time
 86 minutes
Country
United States
 Italy
Language
English
The Last Man on Earth (Italian: L'ultimo uomo della Terra) is a 1964 science fiction horror film based on the Richard Matheson 1954 novel I Am Legend. The film was directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, and stars Vincent Price. The script was written in part by Matheson, but he was dissatisfied with the result and chose to be credited as "Logan Swanson". William Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, and Ubaldo Ragona were the other writers.
It was filmed in Rome, Italy, with some location shots taken at Esposizione Universale Roma. It was released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures and the UK in 1966. In the 1980s the film fell into the public domain.[1][2] MGM Home Video, the current owners of the AIP film catalog, released a digitally remastered widescreen print on DVD in September 2005.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Release
5 Legacy
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Plot[edit]
In the year 1968, every day is the same for Dr. Robert Morgan (Price): he wakes up, gathers his weapons and then goes hunting for vampires. Morgan lives in a world where everyone else has been infected by a plague that has turned them into undead, vampiric creatures that cannot stand sunlight, fear mirrors, and are repelled by garlic. They would kill Morgan if they could, but fortunately, they are weak and unintelligent. At night, Morgan locks himself inside his house; during the day, he kills as many vampires as he can, burning the bodies.
A flashback sequence explains that, three years before, Morgan's wife and daughter had succumbed to the plague, before it was widely known by the public that the dead would return to life. Instead of taking his wife to the same public burn pit used to dispose of his daughter's corpse, Morgan buried her without the knowledge of the authorities. When his wife returned to his home and attacked him, Morgan became aware of the need to kill the plague victims with a wooden stake. Morgan hypothesizes that he is immune to the bacteria because he was bitten by an infected vampire bat when he was stationed in Panama, which introduced a diluted form of the plague into his blood.
One day, a dog appears in the neighborhood. Desperate for companionship, Morgan chases after the dog but does not catch it. Some time later, the dog appears, wounded, at Morgan's doorstep. He takes the dog into his home and treats its wounds, looking forward to having company for the first time in three years. He quickly discovers, however, that it too has become infected with the plague. Morgan is later seen burying the dog, which he has impaled with a wooden stake.
After burying the dog Morgan spots a woman in the distance. The woman, Ruth, is terrified of Morgan at first sight, and runs from him. Morgan convinces her to return to his home, but is suspicious of her true nature. Ruth becomes ill when Morgan waves garlic in her face, but claims that she has a weak stomach.
Morgan's suspicion that Ruth is infected is confirmed when he discovers her attempting to inject herself with a combination of blood and vaccine that holds the disease at bay. Ruth initially draws a gun on Morgan, but surrenders it to him. Ruth then tells him that she is part of a group of people like her — infected but under treatment — and was sent to spy on Morgan. The vaccine allows the people to function normally with the drug in the bloodstream, but once it wears off, the infection takes over the body again. Ruth explains that her people are planning to rebuild society as they destroy the remaining vampires, and that many of the vampires Morgan killed were technically still alive. Ruth desperately urges Morgan to flee, but he inexplicably refuses.
While Ruth is asleep, Morgan transfuses his own blood into her. She is immediately cured, and Morgan sees hope that, together, they can cure the rest of her people. Moments later, however, Ruth's people attack. Morgan takes the gun and flees his home while the attackers kill the vampires gathered around Morgan's home.
Ruth's people spot Morgan and chase him. He exchanges gunfire with them, and picks up tear gas grenades from a police station armory along the way. While the tear gas delays his pursuers somewhat, Morgan is wounded by gunfire and retreats into a church. Despite Ruth's protests to let Morgan live, his pursuers finally impale him on the altar with a spear. With his dying breaths, Morgan denounces his pursuers as "freaks", and declares that he is the last true man on earth.
Cast[edit]
Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan (in others as Robert Neville)
Franca Bettoia as Ruth Collins
Emma Danieli as Virginia Morgan
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Ben Cortman
Umberto Raho as Dr. Mercer
Christi Courtland as Kathy Morgan
Antonio Corevi as the Governor
Ettore Ribotta as the TV Reporter
Rolando De Rossi
Carolyn De Fonseca dubbed for Ruth Collins' voice in the English release of the film. She was uncredited.
Giuseppe Mattei as the leader of the survivors. He was also uncredited.
Production[edit]
Producer Anthony Hinds purchased the rights to Matheson's novel for Hammer Productions. Matheson wrote a script but the British censors would not allow its production so Hinds sold the script to Robert Lippert. Lippert originally told Matheson that Fritz Lang was to direct but eventually Sidney Salkow was chosen. To save money the film was shot in Italy with a predominantly Italian cast and crew.[3]
There are differences between the film and the novel in which it is based. The protagonist of the novel is named Robert Neville, not Robert Morgan. The movie also changed the protagonist's profession from plant worker to scientist. The film's vampires are almost zombie-like, whereas in the book, they are fast, capable of running and climbing. The dog that shows up on Neville's doorstep is timid in the novel, and comes and goes as it pleases. The relationship with Ruth also slightly differs from the novel, and no transfusion takes place; a cure seems implausible, even as Neville hopes he will find one. Ruth escapes after Neville discovers that she is infected. He is not captured until many months later, and even then he barely fights. The book ends shortly before Neville is to be executed: Ruth returns to give him suicide pills, and finds it ironic that he has become as much of a legend to the new society as vampires once were to his (hence the title). The novel implies that the vampire plague resulted from a biological disease. The origin of the disease is not explained in The Last Man on Earth, and is altered in the subsequent adaptations.
Release[edit]
Although the film was not considered a success upon its release, the film later gained a more favorable reputation as a classic of the genre.[4] As of November 2011, The Last Man on Earth holds a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5] Phil Hall of Film Threat called The Last Man on Earth "the best Vincent Price movie ever made."[4] Awarding the film three and a half stars out of four, Danél Griffin of Film as Art said, "Directors Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo Ragona and star Vincent Price (giving a poignant, straightforward performance) are able to conjure up some genuine chills here, mainly in the use of stark, black-and-white images and the underlining mood of the piece."[6]
Among the less favorable reviews, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique felt the film was "hampered by an obviously low budget and some poorly recorded post-production dubbing that creates an amateurish feel, undermining the power of its story",[7] while Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader remarked, "Some would consider this version better than the 1971 remake with Charlton Heston, The Omega Man, but that isn't much of an achievement."[8]
Among the film's creators, Price "had a certain fondness for the film" and felt it was better than the 1971 The Omega Man.[7] Richard Matheson co-wrote the film's screenplay, but was unhappy with the results. In order to keep receiving residual income from the film, though, he had to be credited, and so used the name "Logan Swanson" - a combination of his wife's mother's maiden name and his mother's maiden name.[9] Author Matheson remarked, "I was disappointed in the film, even though they more or less followed my story. I think Vincent Price, whom I love in every one of his pictures that I wrote, was miscast. I also felt the direction was kind of poor. I just didn’t care for it."[10]
Legacy[edit]
George A. Romero has acknowledged the source material of The Last Man on Earth as an influence on his film Night of the Living Dead, remarking that he "basically had ripped [it] off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[11] Numerous critics have suggested the film itself was also a source of inspiration for "Night of the Living Dead".[6][12]
The film was remade in 1971, starring Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, and Rosalind Cash under the title The Omega Man, with Heston as an exiled, immune bio-war scientist living in a weaponed laboratory above his former Los Angeles townhouse, fighting Zerbe's half-human albino creatures of the night. In 2007 a movie starring Will Smith was released titled I Am Legend.
See also[edit]
Vampire film
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jonathan Malcolm Lampley (2010). Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price. McFarland. p. 98.
2.Jump up ^ "The Last Man on Earth (1964)". The Public Domain Review. 28 August 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
3.Jump up ^ Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p207-208
4.^ Jump up to: a b THE BOOTLEG FILES: "THE LAST MAN ON EARTH" Phil Hall, Film Threat, April 21, 2006
5.Jump up ^ The Last Man on Earth reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Last Man on Earth review by Danél Griffin, Film as Art: Danél Griffin's Guide to Cinema
7.^ Jump up to: a b The Last Man on Earth (1964) - Film Review Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique, January 29, 2008
8.Jump up ^ The Last Man on Earth review by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, December 10, 2007
9.Jump up ^ "Richard Matheson Storyteller: The Last Man on Earth" — "Midnight Movies Double Feature: Panic in Year Zero / The Last Man on Earth" DVD, 2005, Region 1, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
10.Jump up ^ Reflections of a Storyteller: A Conversation with Richard Matheson by William P. Simmons, Cemetery Dance magazine
11.Jump up ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of "Night of the Living Dead" — "Night of the Living Dead" DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
12.Jump up ^ Thomas Scalzo, "The Last Man on Earth" (film review)
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Last Man on Earth.
The Last Man on Earth at the Internet Movie Database
The Last Man on Earth is available for free download at the Internet Archive
The Last Man on Earth at AllMovie
Complete stereo soundtrack of the Paul Sawtell/Bert Shefter film score released by the "Monstrous Movie Music" label (sound samples available)
Audio transcription of the film (Part 1) (Part 2) at the Internet Archive.
Cine Fantastique Review
The Last Man on Earth on Livestream
The Last Man on Earth on YouTube


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Richard Matheson


























































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend










  


Categories: 1964 films
English-language films
1964 horror films
1960s science fiction films
American International Pictures films
American science fiction horror films
Black-and-white films
Dystopian films
Films about viral outbreaks
Films based on American horror novels
Films based on science fiction novels
Films based on works by Richard Matheson
Films directed by Sidney Salkow
Films set in 1968
Films set in Los Angeles, California
Films set in the future
American independent films
Italian horror films
Italian science fiction films
Post-apocalyptic films
Solitude in fiction
Screenplays by Richard Matheson
Vampires in film
1960s science fiction horror films
Italian independent films






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This page was last modified on 14 April 2015, at 19:01.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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The Omega Man

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For the coin counterfeiter, see The Omega Man (counterfeiter). For the manga and anime character, see Omegaman.

The Omega Man
The-Omega-Man-Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Boris Sagal
Produced by
Walter Seltzer
Screenplay by
John William Corrington
Joyce H. Corrington
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Charlton Heston
Anthony Zerbe
Rosalind Cash
Music by
Ron Grainer
Cinematography
Russell Metty
Distributed by
Warner Bros.

Release dates

August 1, 1971


Running time
 98 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Box office
$4,000,000 (rentals)[1]
The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by the American writer Richard Matheson. The film's producer was Walter Seltzer, who went on to work with Heston again in the dystopian science fiction film Soylent Green in 1973.[2]
The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel, the first being The Last Man on Earth (1964) which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend starring Will Smith, was released in 2007.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Interracial kiss
4 Reception
5 Deleted scene
6 Emptying out Los Angeles
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
In 1975, biological warfare between China and Russia kills most of the world's population. U.S. Army Col. Robert Neville, M.D. is a scientist based in Los Angeles. As he begins to succumb to the plague himself, he injects himself with an experimental vaccine, rendering himself immune.
By 1977, Neville believes he is the plague's only immune survivor. Struggling to maintain his sanity, he spends his days patrolling the deserted city of Los Angeles, hunting and killing members of "The Family", a cult of crazed nocturnal albino mutants caused by the plague. The Family seeks to destroy all technology and kill Neville, who has become a symbol of science causing humanity's downfall. At night, living atop a fortified apartment building equipped with an arsenal of weaponry, Neville is a prisoner in his own home.
One day, as Neville is in a department store helping himself to new clothing, he spots a woman who quickly runs away. He pursues her outside but later decides he is hallucinating and dismisses the sighting.
On another day, the Family finally captures Neville. After a summary trial he is found guilty of heresy by Jonathan Matthias, a former news anchorman who had voiced an opinion that the plagues was a judgment on humanity; he is now leader of the Family. Neville is sentenced to death and nearly burned at the stake in Dodger Stadium. He is rescued by Lisa, the woman he had earlier dismissed as a hallucination, and Dutch, a former medical student. Lisa and Dutch are part of a group of survivors, some of whom are children. Although their youth has given them some resistance to the disease, they are still vulnerable to it and will eventually succumb to mutation. Neville realizes that even if it is possible to duplicate the original vaccine, it would take years to salvage humanity. However, he believes it may be possible to extend his immunity to others by creating a serum from his own body.
Neville, Lisa, and Lisa's teenage brother Richie return to Neville's apartment where they begin treating Richie who is succumbing to the disease. Neville and Lisa are about to have a romantic evening together just as the generator runs out of fuel and the lights go off. The Family then attacks, sending Brother Zachary to climb up the outside of Neville's building to the open balcony of his apartment. Neville leaves Lisa upstairs as he goes to the basement garage to restart the generator. Neville returns to the apartment to find Zachary right behind an unsuspecting Lisa. Neville shoots him and he falls off the balcony to his death, dropping his spear on the balcony as he goes.
If the serum works, Neville and Lisa plan to leave the ravaged city with the rest of the survivors and start a new life in the wilderness, leaving the Family behind to die. Neville is successful in creating the serum and administers it to Richie. Once cured, Richie reveals the location of The Family's headquarters to Neville, but insists that the Family are also human and that Neville's cure should be administered to them as well. Neville disagrees with him, so Richie goes to the Family by himself to try to convince them to take the serum. Matthias refuses to believe that Neville would try to help them, accuses Richie of being sent to spy on them and has him executed. Neville discovers Richie’s body and, enraged, he goes on a rampage against the Family.
Meanwhile, Lisa quickly and unexpectedly succumbs to the disease and becomes an albino. Returning home, Neville tells Lisa about Richie's death, but she already knows and has betrayed Neville by giving Matthias and his followers access to Neville's home. Matthias, who finally has the upper hand, forces Neville to watch as the Family sets his home and equipment on fire. Neville breaks free and, once outside with Lisa, he turns and raises his gun to shoot Matthias, who is looking down from the balcony. The gun jams, giving Matthias enough time to hurl Zachary's spear at Neville, mortally wounding him. The next morning, Dutch and the survivors discover Neville dying in a fountain. He hands Dutch a flask of the blood serum, and then dies. Dutch takes Lisa (weakened and compliant because of the sun) and the survivors away as they leave the city forever.
Cast[edit]
Charlton Heston – Neville
Anthony Zerbe – Matthias
Paul Koslo – Dutch
Rosalind Cash – Lisa
Eric Laneuville – Richie
Production[edit]
The film differs from the novel (and the previous film) in several ways.[4][5] In the novel the cause of the demise of humanity is a plague spread by bacteria, turning the population into vampire-like creatures, whereas in this film version biological warfare is the cause of the plague which kills most of the population and turns most of the rest into nocturnal albino-mutants. Screenwriter Joyce Corrington holds a doctorate in chemistry and felt that this was more suitable for an adaptation.[6][7]
In Charlton Heston's autobiography, In the Arena: An Autobiography, he made mention of the fact that the "crucifixion" scene with Neville was not in the original script. It was decided, as it turns out, that it fit quite well into the storyline and was subsequently left in.
Interracial kiss[edit]



 Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash about to kiss in a scene from The Omega Man
Whoopi Goldberg has remarked that the kiss between the characters played by Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash was one of the first interracial kisses to appear in a movie.[8][9] In 1992 when Goldberg had her own network interview talk show, she invited Charlton Heston to be a guest and asked him about the kiss. After discussing whether Heston received any flak for it at the time, Goldberg expressed that she wished that society could get past it being an issue, at which point Heston leaned forward and demonstrated on the unsuspecting Goldberg.[10] The unscripted moment took everyone off guard, particularly Goldberg, who reverted to as if she were a "16 year old" since she had grown up watching Heston and viewed him as a screen legend.[11] (Heston's roles included playing Moses in 1956's The Ten Commandments and as the lead in 1959's Ben-Hur, among other prominent roles before entering into science fiction with 1968's Planet of the Apes).
Screenwriter Joyce H. Corrington stated that in developing the script for The Omega Man, the character of Lisa, played by Rosalind Cash, was created due to the rise of the Black Power movement, which was particularly prominent in American culture at the time that the film was made.[6] She goes on to remark that this created an effective and interesting dynamic between the characters of Lisa and Neville.
Heston wrote in his autobiography, In the Arena, that The Omega Man was the first leading role in a film for actress Rosalind Cash, and that she was understandably "a little edgy" about doing a love scene with him. Heston explained, "It was in the seventies that I realized a generation of actors had grown up who saw me in terms of the iconic roles they remembered from their childhoods. 'It's a spooky feeling,' she told me, 'to screw Moses.'"[12]
Reception[edit]
The film review website Rotten Tomatoes lists The Omega Man as having mixed reviews, with a score of 59%.[13] For example, Howard Thompson gave a mostly negative review in The New York Times, saying "the climax is as florid and phony as it can be,"[14] while the staff of Variety described the film as "an extremely literate science fiction drama."[15]
Director Tim Burton said in an interview for his 2009 MoMA exhibit that “If I was alone on a desert island I’d probably pick something that I could relate to – probably The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. I don’t know why that is one of my favorite movies, but it is.”[16] In another interview, with ACMI, Burton remarked that no matter how many times he has seen it, if it is on television he will stop to watch it. He said that when he originally saw The Omega Man, it was the first instance that he recalls seeing the use of certain types of "cheesy one-liners" in film. The film is full of irony-tinged one-liners that are spoken in a manner to elicit a comic response. Burton compares these to the famous one-liners in Arnold Schwarzenegger's film career, such as "I'll be back."[17] An example of this is a scene in which Neville visits a car dealership in order to get a car to replace the one that he had just wrecked. While speaking to the long-dead salesman sitting at his desk, Neville replies, "Uh-huh, alright, how much will you give me in trade for my Ford? Oh really? Thanks a lot, you cheating bastard!" At that point, Neville peels out, driving through what remains of the dealership front entrance.[18]
Deleted scene[edit]
The script for The Omega Man contains a scene where Lisa goes to visit her parents' grave. Unknown to Neville, Lisa is pregnant, and she goes to seek comfort from her deceased parents before they leave the city forever. While Lisa is talking to her parents' grave, she hears a sound and investigates a crypt. In it, she spots a female Family member depositing a dead newborn mutant. Lisa can see the mother's grief and empathizes with the woman's loss despite them being on different sides. Lisa believes that all children, including her unborn baby, will suffer the same fate. Later, Lisa returns to Neville and tells him of the woman in the crypt. Neville asks Lisa if she "took care" of things and Lisa responds that since she may be a grieving parent in a few months, she will not kill a grief-stricken mother. Neville is shocked at first but then embraces Lisa.
While the scene was cut from the final film, the screen credit for "Woman in Cemetery Crypt" remains.
Emptying out Los Angeles[edit]
The movie takes place in Los Angeles and as part of the plot the city is supposed to be void of human activity except for Neville. A number of tricks were used to make the city appear deserted. This objective was accomplished in part by simply filming on a Sunday morning in the center of L.A.'s business district, when pedestrian movement is limited.[19] Despite careful planning by the film crew, there are instances in which bystanders were captured on film in the distance and appear briefly in scenes.
See also[edit]
Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Updated All-time Film Champs", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 60.
2.Jump up ^ Nelson, Valerie J. (2011-02-20). "Walter Seltzer dies at 96; former Hollywood press agent made a successful leap to producing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
3.Jump up ^ The Asylum also released their low-budget straight-to-DVD mockbuster version, I Am Omega, featuring Mark Dacascos, in 2007 (though neither Matheson's name or novel was credited as source material for this version).
4.Jump up ^ "The Science-Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review". Moria. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
5.Jump up ^ "Movie Review – Omega Man, The". eFilmCritic. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Omega Man Special Feature: ““Introduction by Joyce H. Corrington (Screenwriter), Paul Koslo (“Dutch”), and Eric Laneuville (“Richie”)” 2003. Warner Brothers Letterbox DVD 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "The Omega Man". The Terror Trap. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
8.Jump up ^ "Goldberg Discussing Interview with Heston". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
9.Jump up ^ "Whoopi Goldberg Remembers Charlton Heston; Plants One on Joy|". Huffington Post. 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
10.Jump up ^ "Goldberg interview with Heston". YouTube producers: Whoopi Goldberg; Tom Leonardis; Edited by: James Jahrsdoerfer. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
11.Jump up ^ "Staying Cool at Whoopi's Talk Show". New York Times. 1992-11-29. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
12.Jump up ^ Charlton Heston. In the Arena. Simon and Schuster. p. 443. ISBN 0-684-80394-1.
13.Jump up ^ "The Omega Man". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
14.Jump up ^ Thompson, Howard (August 14, 1971). "The Omega Man (1971) Screen: All Alone in L.A.:Charlton Heston Stars in 'The Omega Man'". The New York Times.
15.Jump up ^ "Variety Reviews – The Omega Man – Film Reviews – Review by Variety Staff". Variety.com. 1970-12-31. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
16.Jump up ^ "See minute mark 4:33". Museum of Modern Art interview with director, Tim Burton. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
17.Jump up ^ ACMI interviews Tim Burton, discusses The Omega Man on YouTube
18.Jump up ^ "Charlton Heston – Omega Man – Thanks a lot". YouTube. 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
19.Jump up ^ Charlton Heston. In the Arena. Simon and Schuster. p. 441. ISBN 0-684-80394-1.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Omega Man
The Omega Man at the Internet Movie Database
The Omega Man at AllMovie


[show]
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Richard Matheson's I Am Legend












[show]
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Films directed by Boris Sagal






















  


Categories: 1971 films
English-language films
American films
1970s action films
1970s science fiction films
American disaster films
American science fiction action films
American science fiction horror films
Dystopian films
Films based on works by Richard Matheson
Films based on science fiction novels
Films based on thriller novels
Films directed by Boris Sagal
Films set in 1975
Films set in 1977
Films set in Los Angeles, California
Films set in the future
Solitude in fiction
Post-apocalyptic films
Films about viral outbreaks
1970s science fiction horror films
Warner Bros. films
Films based on American horror novels




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The Omega Man

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For the coin counterfeiter, see The Omega Man (counterfeiter). For the manga and anime character, see Omegaman.

The Omega Man
The-Omega-Man-Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Boris Sagal
Produced by
Walter Seltzer
Screenplay by
John William Corrington
Joyce H. Corrington
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Charlton Heston
Anthony Zerbe
Rosalind Cash
Music by
Ron Grainer
Cinematography
Russell Metty
Distributed by
Warner Bros.

Release dates

August 1, 1971


Running time
 98 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Box office
$4,000,000 (rentals)[1]
The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by the American writer Richard Matheson. The film's producer was Walter Seltzer, who went on to work with Heston again in the dystopian science fiction film Soylent Green in 1973.[2]
The Omega Man is the second adaptation of Matheson's novel, the first being The Last Man on Earth (1964) which starred Vincent Price. A third adaptation, I Am Legend starring Will Smith, was released in 2007.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Interracial kiss
4 Reception
5 Deleted scene
6 Emptying out Los Angeles
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
In 1975, biological warfare between China and Russia kills most of the world's population. U.S. Army Col. Robert Neville, M.D. is a scientist based in Los Angeles. As he begins to succumb to the plague himself, he injects himself with an experimental vaccine, rendering himself immune.
By 1977, Neville believes he is the plague's only immune survivor. Struggling to maintain his sanity, he spends his days patrolling the deserted city of Los Angeles, hunting and killing members of "The Family", a cult of crazed nocturnal albino mutants caused by the plague. The Family seeks to destroy all technology and kill Neville, who has become a symbol of science causing humanity's downfall. At night, living atop a fortified apartment building equipped with an arsenal of weaponry, Neville is a prisoner in his own home.
One day, as Neville is in a department store helping himself to new clothing, he spots a woman who quickly runs away. He pursues her outside but later decides he is hallucinating and dismisses the sighting.
On another day, the Family finally captures Neville. After a summary trial he is found guilty of heresy by Jonathan Matthias, a former news anchorman who had voiced an opinion that the plagues was a judgment on humanity; he is now leader of the Family. Neville is sentenced to death and nearly burned at the stake in Dodger Stadium. He is rescued by Lisa, the woman he had earlier dismissed as a hallucination, and Dutch, a former medical student. Lisa and Dutch are part of a group of survivors, some of whom are children. Although their youth has given them some resistance to the disease, they are still vulnerable to it and will eventually succumb to mutation. Neville realizes that even if it is possible to duplicate the original vaccine, it would take years to salvage humanity. However, he believes it may be possible to extend his immunity to others by creating a serum from his own body.
Neville, Lisa, and Lisa's teenage brother Richie return to Neville's apartment where they begin treating Richie who is succumbing to the disease. Neville and Lisa are about to have a romantic evening together just as the generator runs out of fuel and the lights go off. The Family then attacks, sending Brother Zachary to climb up the outside of Neville's building to the open balcony of his apartment. Neville leaves Lisa upstairs as he goes to the basement garage to restart the generator. Neville returns to the apartment to find Zachary right behind an unsuspecting Lisa. Neville shoots him and he falls off the balcony to his death, dropping his spear on the balcony as he goes.
If the serum works, Neville and Lisa plan to leave the ravaged city with the rest of the survivors and start a new life in the wilderness, leaving the Family behind to die. Neville is successful in creating the serum and administers it to Richie. Once cured, Richie reveals the location of The Family's headquarters to Neville, but insists that the Family are also human and that Neville's cure should be administered to them as well. Neville disagrees with him, so Richie goes to the Family by himself to try to convince them to take the serum. Matthias refuses to believe that Neville would try to help them, accuses Richie of being sent to spy on them and has him executed. Neville discovers Richie’s body and, enraged, he goes on a rampage against the Family.
Meanwhile, Lisa quickly and unexpectedly succumbs to the disease and becomes an albino. Returning home, Neville tells Lisa about Richie's death, but she already knows and has betrayed Neville by giving Matthias and his followers access to Neville's home. Matthias, who finally has the upper hand, forces Neville to watch as the Family sets his home and equipment on fire. Neville breaks free and, once outside with Lisa, he turns and raises his gun to shoot Matthias, who is looking down from the balcony. The gun jams, giving Matthias enough time to hurl Zachary's spear at Neville, mortally wounding him. The next morning, Dutch and the survivors discover Neville dying in a fountain. He hands Dutch a flask of the blood serum, and then dies. Dutch takes Lisa (weakened and compliant because of the sun) and the survivors away as they leave the city forever.
Cast[edit]
Charlton Heston – Neville
Anthony Zerbe – Matthias
Paul Koslo – Dutch
Rosalind Cash – Lisa
Eric Laneuville – Richie
Production[edit]
The film differs from the novel (and the previous film) in several ways.[4][5] In the novel the cause of the demise of humanity is a plague spread by bacteria, turning the population into vampire-like creatures, whereas in this film version biological warfare is the cause of the plague which kills most of the population and turns most of the rest into nocturnal albino-mutants. Screenwriter Joyce Corrington holds a doctorate in chemistry and felt that this was more suitable for an adaptation.[6][7]
In Charlton Heston's autobiography, In the Arena: An Autobiography, he made mention of the fact that the "crucifixion" scene with Neville was not in the original script. It was decided, as it turns out, that it fit quite well into the storyline and was subsequently left in.
Interracial kiss[edit]



 Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash about to kiss in a scene from The Omega Man
Whoopi Goldberg has remarked that the kiss between the characters played by Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash was one of the first interracial kisses to appear in a movie.[8][9] In 1992 when Goldberg had her own network interview talk show, she invited Charlton Heston to be a guest and asked him about the kiss. After discussing whether Heston received any flak for it at the time, Goldberg expressed that she wished that society could get past it being an issue, at which point Heston leaned forward and demonstrated on the unsuspecting Goldberg.[10] The unscripted moment took everyone off guard, particularly Goldberg, who reverted to as if she were a "16 year old" since she had grown up watching Heston and viewed him as a screen legend.[11] (Heston's roles included playing Moses in 1956's The Ten Commandments and as the lead in 1959's Ben-Hur, among other prominent roles before entering into science fiction with 1968's Planet of the Apes).
Screenwriter Joyce H. Corrington stated that in developing the script for The Omega Man, the character of Lisa, played by Rosalind Cash, was created due to the rise of the Black Power movement, which was particularly prominent in American culture at the time that the film was made.[6] She goes on to remark that this created an effective and interesting dynamic between the characters of Lisa and Neville.
Heston wrote in his autobiography, In the Arena, that The Omega Man was the first leading role in a film for actress Rosalind Cash, and that she was understandably "a little edgy" about doing a love scene with him. Heston explained, "It was in the seventies that I realized a generation of actors had grown up who saw me in terms of the iconic roles they remembered from their childhoods. 'It's a spooky feeling,' she told me, 'to screw Moses.'"[12]
Reception[edit]
The film review website Rotten Tomatoes lists The Omega Man as having mixed reviews, with a score of 59%.[13] For example, Howard Thompson gave a mostly negative review in The New York Times, saying "the climax is as florid and phony as it can be,"[14] while the staff of Variety described the film as "an extremely literate science fiction drama."[15]
Director Tim Burton said in an interview for his 2009 MoMA exhibit that “If I was alone on a desert island I’d probably pick something that I could relate to – probably The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. I don’t know why that is one of my favorite movies, but it is.”[16] In another interview, with ACMI, Burton remarked that no matter how many times he has seen it, if it is on television he will stop to watch it. He said that when he originally saw The Omega Man, it was the first instance that he recalls seeing the use of certain types of "cheesy one-liners" in film. The film is full of irony-tinged one-liners that are spoken in a manner to elicit a comic response. Burton compares these to the famous one-liners in Arnold Schwarzenegger's film career, such as "I'll be back."[17] An example of this is a scene in which Neville visits a car dealership in order to get a car to replace the one that he had just wrecked. While speaking to the long-dead salesman sitting at his desk, Neville replies, "Uh-huh, alright, how much will you give me in trade for my Ford? Oh really? Thanks a lot, you cheating bastard!" At that point, Neville peels out, driving through what remains of the dealership front entrance.[18]
Deleted scene[edit]
The script for The Omega Man contains a scene where Lisa goes to visit her parents' grave. Unknown to Neville, Lisa is pregnant, and she goes to seek comfort from her deceased parents before they leave the city forever. While Lisa is talking to her parents' grave, she hears a sound and investigates a crypt. In it, she spots a female Family member depositing a dead newborn mutant. Lisa can see the mother's grief and empathizes with the woman's loss despite them being on different sides. Lisa believes that all children, including her unborn baby, will suffer the same fate. Later, Lisa returns to Neville and tells him of the woman in the crypt. Neville asks Lisa if she "took care" of things and Lisa responds that since she may be a grieving parent in a few months, she will not kill a grief-stricken mother. Neville is shocked at first but then embraces Lisa.
While the scene was cut from the final film, the screen credit for "Woman in Cemetery Crypt" remains.
Emptying out Los Angeles[edit]
The movie takes place in Los Angeles and as part of the plot the city is supposed to be void of human activity except for Neville. A number of tricks were used to make the city appear deserted. This objective was accomplished in part by simply filming on a Sunday morning in the center of L.A.'s business district, when pedestrian movement is limited.[19] Despite careful planning by the film crew, there are instances in which bystanders were captured on film in the distance and appear briefly in scenes.
See also[edit]
Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Updated All-time Film Champs", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 60.
2.Jump up ^ Nelson, Valerie J. (2011-02-20). "Walter Seltzer dies at 96; former Hollywood press agent made a successful leap to producing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
3.Jump up ^ The Asylum also released their low-budget straight-to-DVD mockbuster version, I Am Omega, featuring Mark Dacascos, in 2007 (though neither Matheson's name or novel was credited as source material for this version).
4.Jump up ^ "The Science-Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review". Moria. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
5.Jump up ^ "Movie Review – Omega Man, The". eFilmCritic. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Omega Man Special Feature: ““Introduction by Joyce H. Corrington (Screenwriter), Paul Koslo (“Dutch”), and Eric Laneuville (“Richie”)” 2003. Warner Brothers Letterbox DVD 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "The Omega Man". The Terror Trap. 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
8.Jump up ^ "Goldberg Discussing Interview with Heston". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
9.Jump up ^ "Whoopi Goldberg Remembers Charlton Heston; Plants One on Joy|". Huffington Post. 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
10.Jump up ^ "Goldberg interview with Heston". YouTube producers: Whoopi Goldberg; Tom Leonardis; Edited by: James Jahrsdoerfer. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
11.Jump up ^ "Staying Cool at Whoopi's Talk Show". New York Times. 1992-11-29. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
12.Jump up ^ Charlton Heston. In the Arena. Simon and Schuster. p. 443. ISBN 0-684-80394-1.
13.Jump up ^ "The Omega Man". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
14.Jump up ^ Thompson, Howard (August 14, 1971). "The Omega Man (1971) Screen: All Alone in L.A.:Charlton Heston Stars in 'The Omega Man'". The New York Times.
15.Jump up ^ "Variety Reviews – The Omega Man – Film Reviews – Review by Variety Staff". Variety.com. 1970-12-31. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
16.Jump up ^ "See minute mark 4:33". Museum of Modern Art interview with director, Tim Burton. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
17.Jump up ^ ACMI interviews Tim Burton, discusses The Omega Man on YouTube
18.Jump up ^ "Charlton Heston – Omega Man – Thanks a lot". YouTube. 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
19.Jump up ^ Charlton Heston. In the Arena. Simon and Schuster. p. 441. ISBN 0-684-80394-1.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Omega Man
The Omega Man at the Internet Movie Database
The Omega Man at AllMovie


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend












[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Richard Matheson


























































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by Boris Sagal






















  


Categories: 1971 films
English-language films
American films
1970s action films
1970s science fiction films
American disaster films
American science fiction action films
American science fiction horror films
Dystopian films
Films based on works by Richard Matheson
Films based on science fiction novels
Films based on thriller novels
Films directed by Boris Sagal
Films set in 1975
Films set in 1977
Films set in Los Angeles, California
Films set in the future
Solitude in fiction
Post-apocalyptic films
Films about viral outbreaks
1970s science fiction horror films
Warner Bros. films
Films based on American horror novels




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This page was last modified on 10 April 2015, at 10:51.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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Day of the Dead (1985 film)

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Jump to: navigation, search


Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead (film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
George A. Romero
Produced by
Richard P. Rubinstein
Written by
George A. Romero
Starring
Lori Cardille
Terry Alexander
Joe Pilato
Richard Liberty

Music by
John Harrison

Production
 company

Dead Films Inc.
 Laurel Entertainment Inc.
 Laurel-Day Inc.

Distributed by
United Film Distribution Company

Release dates

July 19, 1985


Running time
 100 min.
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$3.5 million[1]
Box office
$34 million[1]
Day of the Dead is a 1985 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero and the third film in Romero's Dead series, being preceded by Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978).[2]
Romero describes the film as a "tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society".[3]
This film features Sherman Howard in an early appearance as Bub, and make-up artist Gregory Nicotero playing Pvt. Johnson and assisting Tom Savini with the make-up effects.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development
3.2 Casting
4 Release and reception 4.1 Home video
4.2 Popular culture
5 Soundtrack
6 Sequel and remakes
7 Comic
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
Cannibalistic zombies have overrun the entire world. The remaining fragments of the U.S. government and military hide out in fortified military bases and colonies, attempting to find a solution to the zombie outbreak. Sarah, Private Miguel Salazar, radio operator William "Bill" McDermott, and helicopter pilot John fly from their base to Fort Myers, Florida, in an attempt to locate additional survivors. They encounter a large horde of the undead, and return to their army base in the Everglades, where a small group of scientists, supported by a skeleton crew of soldiers, is searching for a way to stop or reverse the re-animation process.
Dr. Logan, the lead scientist – also known as "Frankenstein" due to his grisly surgical dissections of zombies  – believes that the zombies can be trained to become docile, and accordingly has amassed a collection of test subjects, which are kept in a large underground corral in the compound, in spite of the objections of base-commander Captain Henry Rhodes. The tension between soldiers and scientists worsens in the face of dwindling supplies, loss of communication with other survivors, and slow progress in research. During a meeting between the scientists and the soldiers, Rhodes announces that he is taking command of the base, that the scientists henceforth will work under his orders, and that anyone who objects will be instantly killed. Dr. Logan hopes to secure Rhodes' cooperation by showing him the results of his research. He is especially proud of "Bub", a docile zombie who remembers some parts of his past life and engages in rudimentary human behavior: listening to music, aiming a pistol, and saluting Captain Rhodes. "Civil behavior must be rewarded," Logan says. "If it's not rewarded, there's no use for it. There's just no use for it at all!" Rhodes, however, is not impressed.
During a zombie roundup mission, two of the soldiers, Miller and Johnson, are killed after a zombie escapes its harness; whereupon Miguel attempts to kill the creature, but is bitten on the arm. Sarah amputates the arm to stop the spreading infection. Rhodes then calls off the experiments and demands that all captive zombies be destroyed.
Conditions worsen when Rhodes finds out that Logan has been feeding the flesh of his dead soldiers to responsive zombies as a reward for their docility and positive behavior. Enraged, Rhodes kills Logan and his assistant Dr. Fisher. He locks Sarah and McDermott inside the zombie corral; and attempts to force John, the helicopter pilot, to fly him (Rhodes) and his men away from the base, which John refuses to do.
Bub, Logan's most docile and responsive zombie, escapes his chain and finds the dead body of his beloved master Dr. Logan. In a display of human emotion, he expresses sadness and then becomes enraged. He finds a pistol discarded on the floor and goes in search of revenge. Meanwhile, Miguel, who has become suicidal, opens the gates to the compound, allowing the horde of zombies lurking outside to enter. While Miguel is doing this, John overcomes his captors, steals their weapons, and goes into the zombie corral to rescue Sarah and McDermott. The zombies rapidly enter the complex; Pvt Rickles and Pvt Torrez are torn apart by the horde. Pvt Steele is forced into a last stand against Bub, but gets bitten and chooses to kill himself. Rhodes attempts to escape, but is shot and wounded by Bub and violently torn to pieces by a crowd of zombies.
John reunites with Sarah and McDermott inside the zombie corral. Together, they escape to the surface, board the helicopter, and fly to a deserted island with no dead people or zombies on it. The film ends with Sarah crossing off a day on her calendar which counts the days since their escape from the compound.
Cast[edit]
Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah Bowman
Joseph Pilato as Captain Henry Rhodes
Terry Alexander as John
Jarlath Conroy as William "Bill" McDermott
Anthony Dileo Jr. as Pvt. Miguel Salazar
Richard Liberty as Dr. Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan
Sherman Howard as Bub the Zombie (credited as "Howard Sherman")
Gary Howard Klar as Pvt. Steele
Ralph Marrero as Pvt. Rickles
John Amplas as Dr. Ted Fisher
Phillip G. Kellams as Pvt. Miller
Taso N. Stavrakis as Pvt. Torrez/Knock-on-wood Zombie/Biker Zombie
Gregory Nicotero as Pvt. Johnson
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Romero originally intended the film to be "the Gone with the Wind of zombie films".[4] Following budget disputes and the artistic need to release the film unrated, the budget of the film was cut in half, dropping from $7 million to a scant $3.5 million.[4] This forced Romero to scale back his story, rewriting the script and adjusting his original vision to fit the smaller budget.
A total of five scripts were written as Romero wrestled with the film's concepts and the budgetary constraints. The first draft was over 200 pages, which he later condensed to 122 pages. This is the true original script, and to date copies of it have not come to light. This version was likely rejected because UFDC felt it was too expensive for them to produce even with an R rating. Romero subsequently scaled down the scope of this script into a 165-page draft (often erroneously referred to as the original version), then condensed it again to a 104-page draft labeled the 'second version, second draft' in an unsuccessful final attempt to get the story within budget parameters. When this failed, he drastically altered the original story concept and ultimately produced a shooting draft that numbered only 88 pages.
Filming took place in the fall of 1984 at locations in Pennsylvania and Florida. All above-ground scenes were filmed at several locations around Florida, where Romero was living at the time. The opening scene was filmed in Fort Myers, Florida.[5] The fenced in compound with the helicopter landing pad was shot at a location called Bowman's Beach Helistop in Sanibel. Underground scenes were filmed in a former mine shaft located near Wampum, Pennsylvania, converted into a long-term storage facility for important documents. Though the mine maintained a constant temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, its high humidity played havoc with the crew's equipment and props. Mechanical and electrical failures were a constant problem throughout filming, and caused several of special effects leader Tom Savini's props to fail during the filming. Despite these failures, Savini was nominated and won the 1985 Saturn Award for best makeup effects. The remote location also complicated the transportation of crew members and equipment. Cast and crew would often sleep in the mine overnight to avoid the time-consuming travel to and from the shooting location. "Zombie" extras were recruited from among the citizens of Pittsburgh, with preference given to those who had worked on previous Romero films. Extras were paid $1.00 for their services, and given a hat that read "I was a Zombie in Day of the Dead".
The film was given a very limited release.[4] This is chronicled in the documentary "The Many Days of Day of the Dead" on the two-disc Anchor Bay special edition DVD of the film.[4] Some of the original concepts and characters remain, but the film differs greatly from Romero's original script,[6] as stated by actress Lori Cardille:

He could've made me this sexy little twit bouncing around with a gun:- much more the sexual element. But he made her intelligent and strong. In fact, whenever I would try and make her a little more emotional, he would not allow me to do that.[4]
Casting[edit]
Joseph Pilato was cast as Rhodes, the film's antagonist. As stated by Pilato "He pretty much just gave it to me. I don't know if he auditioned other people, but it was very quick. I came in and it was like, "You got it!."[7] Pilato had acted in two prior films directed by Romero, the first being Pilato's debut Dawn of the Dead and the second being Knightriders, in between those films he played his first lead role in a film entitled Effects.[7] In an interview Pilato was asked if Romero "had him in mind", Pilato stated that one of the reasons why he got the role was because of the budget being scaled down from 7 to 3.5 million.[7]
Release and reception[edit]
Subsequent to its theatrical release, the film has grossed over 30 million dollars worldwide.[8] Day of the Dead would earn most of its gross revenue when the film was released internationally on VHS format, and later DVD and Blu-ray. This is in contrast to the film's poor box-office reception when it was released in domestic cinema.[9]



Ken Foree and David Emge from Dawn of the Dead and Joseph Pilato from Day of the Dead at a living dead convention.
Based on 34 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Day of the Dead had a high approval rating, with 28 critics rating it "fresh" and only 6 rating it "rotten." Overall, as of December 2013 it has received an 82 percent approval rating.[10] Even so, that rating is the lowest of the initial 3 films in Romero's Dead series[11][12] with Night of the Living Dead having a 96 percent approval rating and Dawn of the Dead with a 94 percent approval rating.[11][12]
Day of the Dead was given a limited release on July 3, 1985 and a wide release on July 19, 1985.[13] It opened to generally mixed reviews, with some critics complaining that the film was too dark, depressing, and slow. Roger Ebert, who reacted favorably to other films of Romero's Dead Series,[14][15][16] gave Day of the Dead one and a half stars.[17] BBC reviewer Almar Haflidason stated "It benefits from a far larger budget than its predecessors, but suffers from a story as malnourished as the zombies that are chewing it up," Haflidason would go on to give the film three out of five stars.[18] As noted by the New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin "Yes, there are enough spilled guts and severed limbs to satisfy the bloodthirstiest fan. But these moments tend to be clustered together, and a lot of the film is devoted to windy argument."[19] Allmovie reviewer Keith Phipps stated that: "The last, to date at least, of George Romero's living dead films is in many respects the least interesting, although it's not for a lack of ambition."[20] Variety wrote that the film was the most unsatisfying of the original three films and that "The acting here is generally unimpressive and in the case of Sarah's romantic partner, Miguel (Antone DiLeo Jr), unintentionally risible."[21]
Day of the Dead would peak at 23 on the Billboard chart Top VHS Sales in 1986 a year after its initial release.[22]
The film grossed $5.8 million domestically.[4] It fared much better internationally, grossing $28.2 million outside of the United States.[8] Day of the Dead‍ '​s total gross is a little over $34 million.[8] The film is also noted for its special effects work, notably Tom Savini's make-up, he was honored with his second Saturn Award in 1985 for Best Make-Up, the first time being with Dawn of the Dead in 1980.[23] Romero himself cites Day of the Dead as his personal favorite of his original trilogy of zombie films.[24] On May 9, 2012, the film headlined the 12 Hour Film Festival Hudson Horror Show V.[25]
Home video[edit]
The film was released on DVD on November 24, 1998 in the United States and on March 5, 2001 in the United Kingdom.[18][26] Both the theatrical and an unrated director's cut were released as a special editions containing identical bonus features, the DVD was released in the United Kingdom in a region 2 DVD.[18] The Blu-ray version of Day of the Dead was released October 2, 2007.[27] This edition includes many special features, including two audio commentary tracks with writer-director George A. Romero, Tom Savini, production designer Cletus Anderson, and lead actress Lori Cardille.[27] There is also a second commentary with fellow filmmaker and self-proclaimed Romero fan, Roger Avary.[27] It also includes two documentaries, the first one is entitled The Many Days of 'Day of the Dead‍ '​, which focuses on the original script and the budget, it also included information about shooting in the Gateway Commerce Center.[27] What is also mentioned is the casting details. The second documentary entitled Day of the Dead: Behind the Scenes, focuses mostly on make-up effects.[27] On March 29, 2010 Arrow Video released a 25th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray exclusive to the UK.[28]
Shout Factory! released the film under its Scream Factory label on September 17, 2013. The release is Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack with all-new artwork and special features.
Popular culture[edit]
Near the end of Resident Evil, the protagonist Alice walks outside of her quarantine into a ravaged city street jammed with traffic. The camera pans past a newspaper blowing in the wind stating "The Dead Walk!", a direct homage to George Romero's work on Day of the Dead. Another homage is one episode of Stroker & Hoop featured the characters battling zombies using guns made by Double-Wide. They turn out to fire only sunlight, which he claims is because of zombies' vulnerability to sunlight, hinted at by the film being called Night of the Dead and not Day of the Dead. Coroner Rick yells at him "That was the sequel!"
The song "M1 A1", from the self-titled 2001 Gorillaz album samples the pulsing synthesizers and cries of "Hello! Is anyone there?" from the opening of the film.[29] The song "Hip Albatross", also by Gorillaz, features a clip of Terry Alexander's dialogue.[30] Furthermore, the artwork for the song "November has Come" off of the Gorillaz' 2005 album Demon Days has a picture of a calendar pinned to a brick wall set to the month of October with all the dates marked off in red Xs (reminiscent of the opening scene in Day of the Dead).[29]
The song "Battlefield", from the This Is My Battlefield 2004 Panzer AG album samples Captain Rhodes asking Sarah in reference to Miguel's zombie bite: "You think he wants to walk around after he's dead? You think he wants to be one of these things?"
The band Through the Eyes of the Dead sampled a clip at the beginning of the song "Between the Gardens that Bathe in Blood", released on the Scars of Ages EP.
The Ministry song "Burning Inside" (from the album The Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Taste) features an audio sample of the military station's warning horn and a few notes of composer John Harrison's synthesized score.
The song "Confessions of a Knife (theme part 2)," from the 1990 album Confessions of a Knife... by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult samples dialogue between Sarah and Captain Rhodes: Captain Rhodes: "I'll have you shot." Sarah: "Are you out of your mind?" Captain Rhodes: "No, ma'am. Are you?" Along with dialogue from private Steele and laughter from private Rickles that repeats later throughout the song. Steele: "Bang! You're dead!" followed by Rickles' laughter.
The song "The Only Good God Is a Dead God," from the 1992 album Psychological Warfare Technology Systems by Terror Against Terror, samples Captain Rhodes' final screams "Choke on them... choke on them," with the sounds of the zombies eating him.
American punk band the Misfits recorded a song about the film entitled "Day of the Dead" for their 1997 album American Psycho.
Bub the Zombie makes a cameo appearance in The Walking Dead season 4 episode "Us", as one of the walkers encountered by the characters Glenn and Tara in a railroad tunnel, an homage to not only the character but also to the underground setting of "Day of the Dead". In the same season, a zombie rolls out of bed and has its guts fall out, resembling a scene from the movie.
Seattle-based musical duo Little Black Bottles composed "Letter to Miguel", a tribute song to character Miguel Salazar, for their album Let Them Eat Red Velvet Cake.
Soundtrack[edit]

Day of the Dead

Soundtrack album by John Harrison

Released
1985
 2002
Recorded
1984-1985
Genre
Rock, film score
The soundtrack was released on LP and cassette in the same year as the film (1985) by Saturn Records; it contained 6 tracks, all of which was composed and performed by John Harrison.[31] The vocals came from Sputzy Sparacino who is the lead singer of Modern Man and Delilah on the tracks "If Tomorrow Comes" and "The World Inside Your Eyes".[31] The album was re-issued in 2002 by Numenorean Records as a limited edition CD. The new edition was limited to 3000 copies and contained the original album plus five additional tracks from the music and effects reel (the only surviving recording of the film score). It also included a 12 page booklet with information from Harrison and Romero regarding the score.[31]

No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length

1. "The Dead Suite"   Harrison 19:41
2. "Breakdown"   Harrison 3:52
3. "Escape Invasion"   Harrison 3:58
4. "The Dead Walk"   Harrison 4:54
5. "If Tomorrow Comes"   Harrison/Blazer/Sparacino 3:39
6. "The World Inside Your Eyes"   Harrison/Blazer/Sparacino/Pearsall 3:31
7. "Deadly Beginnings"   Harrison 3:31
8. "Diner of the Living Dead"   Harrison 3:44
9. "Dead Calm"   Harrison 6:54
10. "Bub's 9th"   Beethoven/Harrison 5:59
11. "Dead End"   Harrison 3:34
Sequel and remakes[edit]
A half prequel, half sequel was released in 2005, entitled Day of the Dead 2: Contagium. Although it is, by definition, an official sequel as Taurus Entertainment Company hold the rights to the original film, no one from the original Day of the Dead had any involvement in the film.[32]
A loose remake of the film, Day of the Dead, was released straight to DVD on April 8, 2008.[33] Little of the original plot exists, with only a few basic elements remaining; notably the underground army base near the end of the movie, and some of the characters names.[34][34] This marks the second time that Ving Rhames makes an appearance in a remake of a George A. Romero zombie film, following Dawn of the Dead.
On July 10, 2013 it was announced that there would be another remake of Day of the Dead. Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman, two of the producers behind Texas Chainsaw 3D have obtained the rights. Campbell, who had a small role in the first remake said "We want to keep it as close to the Romero version as possible. To make sure that his fans are happy. These are not going to be zombies climbing walls and doing back flips like in World War Z." Campbell and Grobman are currently holding meetings with possible writers to figure out the best way to adapt the story.[35] Howard Sherman's character Bub, appeared in the 15 Episode of Season 4, US in the AMC series The Walking Dead.[36]
Comic[edit]
Stef Hutchinson wrote the 24-page comic Day of the Dead: Desertion, which was exclusively released to celebrate the movie's 25th anniversary and shows the origins of Bub, before becoming a Zombie.[37]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b "Box Office Information for Day of the Dead". The Numbers. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
2.Jump up ^ J.C. Maçek III (2012-06-15). "The Zombification Family Tree: Series of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
3.Jump up ^ http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/DayoftheDead
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Home of the Dead: Day of the Dead - The Filming". homepageofthedead. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
5.Jump up ^ Day of the Dead Locations - Fort Myers, Florida
6.Jump up ^ "Romero's original Day of the Dead script". horrorlair.com. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c "Interview with Josef Pilato". homepageofthedead. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c "Box Office History for George A. Romero's Dead Series Movies". the-numbers.com. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
9.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
10.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
11.^ Jump up to: a b "Night of the Living Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
12.^ Jump up to: a b "Dawn of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
13.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead release info at IMDb". Retrieved 2008-07-15.
14.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead (1968) Review Roger Ebert, January 5, 1967
15.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead (1978) Review Roger Ebert, May 4, 1979
16.Jump up ^ "Land of the Dead". Chicago Sun-Times. 2005-06-23. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
17.Jump up ^ Day of the Dead (1985) Review Roger Ebert, August 30, 1985
18.^ Jump up to: a b c "Day of the Dead". BBC. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
19.Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet (1985-07-03). "Film: Day of the Dead". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
20.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead". VH1. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
21.Jump up ^ Variety (January 25, 2012). "Day of the Dead". Variety. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
22.Jump up ^ "Top VHS Sales - Day of the Dead". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-04.[dead link]
23.Jump up ^ "Saturn Awards Archive". Saturn Awards. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
24.Jump up ^ George A. Romero interview, The Many Days of Day of the Dead, on Day of the Dead "Divimax special edition" (DVD. Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2003)
25.Jump up ^ "Romero's Day of the Dead to Headline Hudson Horror Show V". DreadCentral.
26.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead: DVD Release". VH1. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
27.^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Day of the Dead". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
28.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead 25th Anniversary Edition Coming to UK Blu-ray". DreadCentral.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Kermode, Mark. "The Year of the Monkey". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
30.Jump up ^ "Gorillaz". leechvideo.com. Retrieved 2008-01-05.[dead link]
31.^ Jump up to: a b c "SoundtrackCollector: Soundtrack details: Day Of The Dead". Retrieved 2008-01-03.
32.Jump up ^ "George A. Romero". horro-movies.ca. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
33.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead Remake: DOA". About.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
34.^ Jump up to: a b "Day of the Dead - Jeffrey Reddick interview". ugo.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
35.Jump up ^ Horn, John (July 10, 2013). "'Chainsaw' producers to remake Romero's 'Day of the Dead'". Los Angeles Times.
36.Jump up ^ Horn, John (July 10, 2013). ""The Walking Dead” Gave Homage to ‘Dawn of the Dead’ In Last Night’s Finale; Bub Also Made a Cameo!". BD.
37.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead Comic Preview".
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Day of the Dead (1985 film)
Day of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Day of the Dead at AllMovie
Day of the Dead at Box Office Mojo
Day of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Homepage of the Dead
Film page at Love Horror
Original Day of the Dead script


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Day of the Dead (1985 film)

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Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead (film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
George A. Romero
Produced by
Richard P. Rubinstein
Written by
George A. Romero
Starring
Lori Cardille
Terry Alexander
Joe Pilato
Richard Liberty

Music by
John Harrison

Production
 company

Dead Films Inc.
 Laurel Entertainment Inc.
 Laurel-Day Inc.

Distributed by
United Film Distribution Company

Release dates

July 19, 1985


Running time
 100 min.
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$3.5 million[1]
Box office
$34 million[1]
Day of the Dead is a 1985 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero and the third film in Romero's Dead series, being preceded by Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978).[2]
Romero describes the film as a "tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society".[3]
This film features Sherman Howard in an early appearance as Bub, and make-up artist Gregory Nicotero playing Pvt. Johnson and assisting Tom Savini with the make-up effects.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development
3.2 Casting
4 Release and reception 4.1 Home video
4.2 Popular culture
5 Soundtrack
6 Sequel and remakes
7 Comic
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
Cannibalistic zombies have overrun the entire world. The remaining fragments of the U.S. government and military hide out in fortified military bases and colonies, attempting to find a solution to the zombie outbreak. Sarah, Private Miguel Salazar, radio operator William "Bill" McDermott, and helicopter pilot John fly from their base to Fort Myers, Florida, in an attempt to locate additional survivors. They encounter a large horde of the undead, and return to their army base in the Everglades, where a small group of scientists, supported by a skeleton crew of soldiers, is searching for a way to stop or reverse the re-animation process.
Dr. Logan, the lead scientist – also known as "Frankenstein" due to his grisly surgical dissections of zombies  – believes that the zombies can be trained to become docile, and accordingly has amassed a collection of test subjects, which are kept in a large underground corral in the compound, in spite of the objections of base-commander Captain Henry Rhodes. The tension between soldiers and scientists worsens in the face of dwindling supplies, loss of communication with other survivors, and slow progress in research. During a meeting between the scientists and the soldiers, Rhodes announces that he is taking command of the base, that the scientists henceforth will work under his orders, and that anyone who objects will be instantly killed. Dr. Logan hopes to secure Rhodes' cooperation by showing him the results of his research. He is especially proud of "Bub", a docile zombie who remembers some parts of his past life and engages in rudimentary human behavior: listening to music, aiming a pistol, and saluting Captain Rhodes. "Civil behavior must be rewarded," Logan says. "If it's not rewarded, there's no use for it. There's just no use for it at all!" Rhodes, however, is not impressed.
During a zombie roundup mission, two of the soldiers, Miller and Johnson, are killed after a zombie escapes its harness; whereupon Miguel attempts to kill the creature, but is bitten on the arm. Sarah amputates the arm to stop the spreading infection. Rhodes then calls off the experiments and demands that all captive zombies be destroyed.
Conditions worsen when Rhodes finds out that Logan has been feeding the flesh of his dead soldiers to responsive zombies as a reward for their docility and positive behavior. Enraged, Rhodes kills Logan and his assistant Dr. Fisher. He locks Sarah and McDermott inside the zombie corral; and attempts to force John, the helicopter pilot, to fly him (Rhodes) and his men away from the base, which John refuses to do.
Bub, Logan's most docile and responsive zombie, escapes his chain and finds the dead body of his beloved master Dr. Logan. In a display of human emotion, he expresses sadness and then becomes enraged. He finds a pistol discarded on the floor and goes in search of revenge. Meanwhile, Miguel, who has become suicidal, opens the gates to the compound, allowing the horde of zombies lurking outside to enter. While Miguel is doing this, John overcomes his captors, steals their weapons, and goes into the zombie corral to rescue Sarah and McDermott. The zombies rapidly enter the complex; Pvt Rickles and Pvt Torrez are torn apart by the horde. Pvt Steele is forced into a last stand against Bub, but gets bitten and chooses to kill himself. Rhodes attempts to escape, but is shot and wounded by Bub and violently torn to pieces by a crowd of zombies.
John reunites with Sarah and McDermott inside the zombie corral. Together, they escape to the surface, board the helicopter, and fly to a deserted island with no dead people or zombies on it. The film ends with Sarah crossing off a day on her calendar which counts the days since their escape from the compound.
Cast[edit]
Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah Bowman
Joseph Pilato as Captain Henry Rhodes
Terry Alexander as John
Jarlath Conroy as William "Bill" McDermott
Anthony Dileo Jr. as Pvt. Miguel Salazar
Richard Liberty as Dr. Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan
Sherman Howard as Bub the Zombie (credited as "Howard Sherman")
Gary Howard Klar as Pvt. Steele
Ralph Marrero as Pvt. Rickles
John Amplas as Dr. Ted Fisher
Phillip G. Kellams as Pvt. Miller
Taso N. Stavrakis as Pvt. Torrez/Knock-on-wood Zombie/Biker Zombie
Gregory Nicotero as Pvt. Johnson
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Romero originally intended the film to be "the Gone with the Wind of zombie films".[4] Following budget disputes and the artistic need to release the film unrated, the budget of the film was cut in half, dropping from $7 million to a scant $3.5 million.[4] This forced Romero to scale back his story, rewriting the script and adjusting his original vision to fit the smaller budget.
A total of five scripts were written as Romero wrestled with the film's concepts and the budgetary constraints. The first draft was over 200 pages, which he later condensed to 122 pages. This is the true original script, and to date copies of it have not come to light. This version was likely rejected because UFDC felt it was too expensive for them to produce even with an R rating. Romero subsequently scaled down the scope of this script into a 165-page draft (often erroneously referred to as the original version), then condensed it again to a 104-page draft labeled the 'second version, second draft' in an unsuccessful final attempt to get the story within budget parameters. When this failed, he drastically altered the original story concept and ultimately produced a shooting draft that numbered only 88 pages.
Filming took place in the fall of 1984 at locations in Pennsylvania and Florida. All above-ground scenes were filmed at several locations around Florida, where Romero was living at the time. The opening scene was filmed in Fort Myers, Florida.[5] The fenced in compound with the helicopter landing pad was shot at a location called Bowman's Beach Helistop in Sanibel. Underground scenes were filmed in a former mine shaft located near Wampum, Pennsylvania, converted into a long-term storage facility for important documents. Though the mine maintained a constant temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, its high humidity played havoc with the crew's equipment and props. Mechanical and electrical failures were a constant problem throughout filming, and caused several of special effects leader Tom Savini's props to fail during the filming. Despite these failures, Savini was nominated and won the 1985 Saturn Award for best makeup effects. The remote location also complicated the transportation of crew members and equipment. Cast and crew would often sleep in the mine overnight to avoid the time-consuming travel to and from the shooting location. "Zombie" extras were recruited from among the citizens of Pittsburgh, with preference given to those who had worked on previous Romero films. Extras were paid $1.00 for their services, and given a hat that read "I was a Zombie in Day of the Dead".
The film was given a very limited release.[4] This is chronicled in the documentary "The Many Days of Day of the Dead" on the two-disc Anchor Bay special edition DVD of the film.[4] Some of the original concepts and characters remain, but the film differs greatly from Romero's original script,[6] as stated by actress Lori Cardille:

He could've made me this sexy little twit bouncing around with a gun:- much more the sexual element. But he made her intelligent and strong. In fact, whenever I would try and make her a little more emotional, he would not allow me to do that.[4]
Casting[edit]
Joseph Pilato was cast as Rhodes, the film's antagonist. As stated by Pilato "He pretty much just gave it to me. I don't know if he auditioned other people, but it was very quick. I came in and it was like, "You got it!."[7] Pilato had acted in two prior films directed by Romero, the first being Pilato's debut Dawn of the Dead and the second being Knightriders, in between those films he played his first lead role in a film entitled Effects.[7] In an interview Pilato was asked if Romero "had him in mind", Pilato stated that one of the reasons why he got the role was because of the budget being scaled down from 7 to 3.5 million.[7]
Release and reception[edit]
Subsequent to its theatrical release, the film has grossed over 30 million dollars worldwide.[8] Day of the Dead would earn most of its gross revenue when the film was released internationally on VHS format, and later DVD and Blu-ray. This is in contrast to the film's poor box-office reception when it was released in domestic cinema.[9]



Ken Foree and David Emge from Dawn of the Dead and Joseph Pilato from Day of the Dead at a living dead convention.
Based on 34 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Day of the Dead had a high approval rating, with 28 critics rating it "fresh" and only 6 rating it "rotten." Overall, as of December 2013 it has received an 82 percent approval rating.[10] Even so, that rating is the lowest of the initial 3 films in Romero's Dead series[11][12] with Night of the Living Dead having a 96 percent approval rating and Dawn of the Dead with a 94 percent approval rating.[11][12]
Day of the Dead was given a limited release on July 3, 1985 and a wide release on July 19, 1985.[13] It opened to generally mixed reviews, with some critics complaining that the film was too dark, depressing, and slow. Roger Ebert, who reacted favorably to other films of Romero's Dead Series,[14][15][16] gave Day of the Dead one and a half stars.[17] BBC reviewer Almar Haflidason stated "It benefits from a far larger budget than its predecessors, but suffers from a story as malnourished as the zombies that are chewing it up," Haflidason would go on to give the film three out of five stars.[18] As noted by the New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin "Yes, there are enough spilled guts and severed limbs to satisfy the bloodthirstiest fan. But these moments tend to be clustered together, and a lot of the film is devoted to windy argument."[19] Allmovie reviewer Keith Phipps stated that: "The last, to date at least, of George Romero's living dead films is in many respects the least interesting, although it's not for a lack of ambition."[20] Variety wrote that the film was the most unsatisfying of the original three films and that "The acting here is generally unimpressive and in the case of Sarah's romantic partner, Miguel (Antone DiLeo Jr), unintentionally risible."[21]
Day of the Dead would peak at 23 on the Billboard chart Top VHS Sales in 1986 a year after its initial release.[22]
The film grossed $5.8 million domestically.[4] It fared much better internationally, grossing $28.2 million outside of the United States.[8] Day of the Dead‍ '​s total gross is a little over $34 million.[8] The film is also noted for its special effects work, notably Tom Savini's make-up, he was honored with his second Saturn Award in 1985 for Best Make-Up, the first time being with Dawn of the Dead in 1980.[23] Romero himself cites Day of the Dead as his personal favorite of his original trilogy of zombie films.[24] On May 9, 2012, the film headlined the 12 Hour Film Festival Hudson Horror Show V.[25]
Home video[edit]
The film was released on DVD on November 24, 1998 in the United States and on March 5, 2001 in the United Kingdom.[18][26] Both the theatrical and an unrated director's cut were released as a special editions containing identical bonus features, the DVD was released in the United Kingdom in a region 2 DVD.[18] The Blu-ray version of Day of the Dead was released October 2, 2007.[27] This edition includes many special features, including two audio commentary tracks with writer-director George A. Romero, Tom Savini, production designer Cletus Anderson, and lead actress Lori Cardille.[27] There is also a second commentary with fellow filmmaker and self-proclaimed Romero fan, Roger Avary.[27] It also includes two documentaries, the first one is entitled The Many Days of 'Day of the Dead‍ '​, which focuses on the original script and the budget, it also included information about shooting in the Gateway Commerce Center.[27] What is also mentioned is the casting details. The second documentary entitled Day of the Dead: Behind the Scenes, focuses mostly on make-up effects.[27] On March 29, 2010 Arrow Video released a 25th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray exclusive to the UK.[28]
Shout Factory! released the film under its Scream Factory label on September 17, 2013. The release is Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack with all-new artwork and special features.
Popular culture[edit]
Near the end of Resident Evil, the protagonist Alice walks outside of her quarantine into a ravaged city street jammed with traffic. The camera pans past a newspaper blowing in the wind stating "The Dead Walk!", a direct homage to George Romero's work on Day of the Dead. Another homage is one episode of Stroker & Hoop featured the characters battling zombies using guns made by Double-Wide. They turn out to fire only sunlight, which he claims is because of zombies' vulnerability to sunlight, hinted at by the film being called Night of the Dead and not Day of the Dead. Coroner Rick yells at him "That was the sequel!"
The song "M1 A1", from the self-titled 2001 Gorillaz album samples the pulsing synthesizers and cries of "Hello! Is anyone there?" from the opening of the film.[29] The song "Hip Albatross", also by Gorillaz, features a clip of Terry Alexander's dialogue.[30] Furthermore, the artwork for the song "November has Come" off of the Gorillaz' 2005 album Demon Days has a picture of a calendar pinned to a brick wall set to the month of October with all the dates marked off in red Xs (reminiscent of the opening scene in Day of the Dead).[29]
The song "Battlefield", from the This Is My Battlefield 2004 Panzer AG album samples Captain Rhodes asking Sarah in reference to Miguel's zombie bite: "You think he wants to walk around after he's dead? You think he wants to be one of these things?"
The band Through the Eyes of the Dead sampled a clip at the beginning of the song "Between the Gardens that Bathe in Blood", released on the Scars of Ages EP.
The Ministry song "Burning Inside" (from the album The Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Taste) features an audio sample of the military station's warning horn and a few notes of composer John Harrison's synthesized score.
The song "Confessions of a Knife (theme part 2)," from the 1990 album Confessions of a Knife... by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult samples dialogue between Sarah and Captain Rhodes: Captain Rhodes: "I'll have you shot." Sarah: "Are you out of your mind?" Captain Rhodes: "No, ma'am. Are you?" Along with dialogue from private Steele and laughter from private Rickles that repeats later throughout the song. Steele: "Bang! You're dead!" followed by Rickles' laughter.
The song "The Only Good God Is a Dead God," from the 1992 album Psychological Warfare Technology Systems by Terror Against Terror, samples Captain Rhodes' final screams "Choke on them... choke on them," with the sounds of the zombies eating him.
American punk band the Misfits recorded a song about the film entitled "Day of the Dead" for their 1997 album American Psycho.
Bub the Zombie makes a cameo appearance in The Walking Dead season 4 episode "Us", as one of the walkers encountered by the characters Glenn and Tara in a railroad tunnel, an homage to not only the character but also to the underground setting of "Day of the Dead". In the same season, a zombie rolls out of bed and has its guts fall out, resembling a scene from the movie.
Seattle-based musical duo Little Black Bottles composed "Letter to Miguel", a tribute song to character Miguel Salazar, for their album Let Them Eat Red Velvet Cake.
Soundtrack[edit]

Day of the Dead

Soundtrack album by John Harrison

Released
1985
 2002
Recorded
1984-1985
Genre
Rock, film score
The soundtrack was released on LP and cassette in the same year as the film (1985) by Saturn Records; it contained 6 tracks, all of which was composed and performed by John Harrison.[31] The vocals came from Sputzy Sparacino who is the lead singer of Modern Man and Delilah on the tracks "If Tomorrow Comes" and "The World Inside Your Eyes".[31] The album was re-issued in 2002 by Numenorean Records as a limited edition CD. The new edition was limited to 3000 copies and contained the original album plus five additional tracks from the music and effects reel (the only surviving recording of the film score). It also included a 12 page booklet with information from Harrison and Romero regarding the score.[31]

No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length

1. "The Dead Suite"   Harrison 19:41
2. "Breakdown"   Harrison 3:52
3. "Escape Invasion"   Harrison 3:58
4. "The Dead Walk"   Harrison 4:54
5. "If Tomorrow Comes"   Harrison/Blazer/Sparacino 3:39
6. "The World Inside Your Eyes"   Harrison/Blazer/Sparacino/Pearsall 3:31
7. "Deadly Beginnings"   Harrison 3:31
8. "Diner of the Living Dead"   Harrison 3:44
9. "Dead Calm"   Harrison 6:54
10. "Bub's 9th"   Beethoven/Harrison 5:59
11. "Dead End"   Harrison 3:34
Sequel and remakes[edit]
A half prequel, half sequel was released in 2005, entitled Day of the Dead 2: Contagium. Although it is, by definition, an official sequel as Taurus Entertainment Company hold the rights to the original film, no one from the original Day of the Dead had any involvement in the film.[32]
A loose remake of the film, Day of the Dead, was released straight to DVD on April 8, 2008.[33] Little of the original plot exists, with only a few basic elements remaining; notably the underground army base near the end of the movie, and some of the characters names.[34][34] This marks the second time that Ving Rhames makes an appearance in a remake of a George A. Romero zombie film, following Dawn of the Dead.
On July 10, 2013 it was announced that there would be another remake of Day of the Dead. Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman, two of the producers behind Texas Chainsaw 3D have obtained the rights. Campbell, who had a small role in the first remake said "We want to keep it as close to the Romero version as possible. To make sure that his fans are happy. These are not going to be zombies climbing walls and doing back flips like in World War Z." Campbell and Grobman are currently holding meetings with possible writers to figure out the best way to adapt the story.[35] Howard Sherman's character Bub, appeared in the 15 Episode of Season 4, US in the AMC series The Walking Dead.[36]
Comic[edit]
Stef Hutchinson wrote the 24-page comic Day of the Dead: Desertion, which was exclusively released to celebrate the movie's 25th anniversary and shows the origins of Bub, before becoming a Zombie.[37]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b "Box Office Information for Day of the Dead". The Numbers. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
2.Jump up ^ J.C. Maçek III (2012-06-15). "The Zombification Family Tree: Series of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
3.Jump up ^ http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/DayoftheDead
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Home of the Dead: Day of the Dead - The Filming". homepageofthedead. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
5.Jump up ^ Day of the Dead Locations - Fort Myers, Florida
6.Jump up ^ "Romero's original Day of the Dead script". horrorlair.com. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c "Interview with Josef Pilato". homepageofthedead. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c "Box Office History for George A. Romero's Dead Series Movies". the-numbers.com. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
9.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
10.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
11.^ Jump up to: a b "Night of the Living Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
12.^ Jump up to: a b "Dawn of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
13.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead release info at IMDb". Retrieved 2008-07-15.
14.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead (1968) Review Roger Ebert, January 5, 1967
15.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead (1978) Review Roger Ebert, May 4, 1979
16.Jump up ^ "Land of the Dead". Chicago Sun-Times. 2005-06-23. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
17.Jump up ^ Day of the Dead (1985) Review Roger Ebert, August 30, 1985
18.^ Jump up to: a b c "Day of the Dead". BBC. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
19.Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet (1985-07-03). "Film: Day of the Dead". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
20.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead". VH1. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
21.Jump up ^ Variety (January 25, 2012). "Day of the Dead". Variety. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
22.Jump up ^ "Top VHS Sales - Day of the Dead". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-04.[dead link]
23.Jump up ^ "Saturn Awards Archive". Saturn Awards. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
24.Jump up ^ George A. Romero interview, The Many Days of Day of the Dead, on Day of the Dead "Divimax special edition" (DVD. Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2003)
25.Jump up ^ "Romero's Day of the Dead to Headline Hudson Horror Show V". DreadCentral.
26.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead: DVD Release". VH1. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
27.^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Day of the Dead". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
28.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead 25th Anniversary Edition Coming to UK Blu-ray". DreadCentral.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Kermode, Mark. "The Year of the Monkey". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
30.Jump up ^ "Gorillaz". leechvideo.com. Retrieved 2008-01-05.[dead link]
31.^ Jump up to: a b c "SoundtrackCollector: Soundtrack details: Day Of The Dead". Retrieved 2008-01-03.
32.Jump up ^ "George A. Romero". horro-movies.ca. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
33.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead Remake: DOA". About.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
34.^ Jump up to: a b "Day of the Dead - Jeffrey Reddick interview". ugo.com. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
35.Jump up ^ Horn, John (July 10, 2013). "'Chainsaw' producers to remake Romero's 'Day of the Dead'". Los Angeles Times.
36.Jump up ^ Horn, John (July 10, 2013). ""The Walking Dead” Gave Homage to ‘Dawn of the Dead’ In Last Night’s Finale; Bub Also Made a Cameo!". BD.
37.Jump up ^ "Day of the Dead Comic Preview".
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Day of the Dead (1985 film)
Day of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Day of the Dead at AllMovie
Day of the Dead at Box Office Mojo
Day of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Homepage of the Dead
Film page at Love Horror
Original Day of the Dead script


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Dawn of the Dead

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Dawn of the Dead (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Shaun of the Dead.

Dawn of the Dead
Painted theatrical release that includes various credits, an ominous zombie looking over the horizon, and the words "Dawn of the Dead" in military print below.
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
George A. Romero
Produced by
Richard P. Rubinstein
Claudio Argento
Alfredo Cuomo

Written by
George A. Romero
Starring
David Emge
Ken Foree
Scott Reiniger
Gaylen Ross

Music by
Goblin
Dario Argento
De Wolfe Music Library

Cinematography
Michael Gornick
Edited by
Dario Argento
George A. Romero


Production
 company

Laurel Group Inc.

Distributed by
United Film Distribution Company

Release dates

September 2, 1978 (Italy)
April 20, 1979 (United States)


Running time

118 minutes (Italy)
127 minutes (United States)
139 minutes (US extended cut)

Country
Italy
United States

Language
English
Budget
$650,000[1]
Box office
$55 million[2]
Dawn of the Dead (also known internationally as Zombi) is a 1978 Italian-American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero.[3] It was the second film made in Romero's Living Dead series, but contains no characters or settings from Night of the Living Dead, and shows in a larger scale the apocalyptic effects on society. In the film, a phenomenon of unknown origin has caused the reanimation of the dead, who prey on human flesh, which subsequently causes mass hysteria. The cast features David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger and Gaylen Ross as survivors of the outbreak who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall.[3]
Dawn of the Dead was filmed over approximately four months, from late 1977 to early 1978, in the Pennsylvania cities of Pittsburgh and Monroeville.[4] Its primary filming location was the Monroeville Mall. The film was made on a relatively modest budget estimated at $650,000, and was a significant box office success for its time, grossing approximately $55 million worldwide.[2] Since opening in theaters in 1978, and despite heavy gore content, reviews for the film have been nearly unanimously positive.[5]
In addition to four official sequels, the film has spawned numerous parodies and pop culture references. A remake of the movie premiered in the United States on March 19, 2004. It was labeled a "re-imagining" of the original film's concept.[6] In 2008, Dawn of the Dead was chosen by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time,[7] along with Night of the Living Dead.[8]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot 1.1 Alternate ending
2 Cast
3 Development 3.1 Pre-production
3.2 Production 3.2.1 Make-up and effects
3.2.2 Music
3.3 Post-production and releases
4 Reception 4.1 Box office
4.2 Critical reaction
5 Home media
6 Remake
7 Book
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Plot[edit]
The United States is devastated by an unknown phenomenon which reanimates recently deceased human beings as flesh-eating zombies. Despite the best efforts by the U.S. government and local authorities to control the situation, society is beginning to collapse and the remaining survivors are given to chaos. Some rural communities and the military have been effective in fighting the zombies in open country, but cities are helpless and largely overrun. Confusion reigns at the WGON television studio in Philadelphia by the phenomenon's third week, where staff member Stephen Andrews and Francine Parker are planning to steal the station's traffic helicopter to escape the zombies. Meanwhile, police SWAT officer Roger DiMarco and his team raid an apartment building where the residents are defying the martial law of delivering their dead to National Guardsmen. Some residents fight back with handguns and rifles, and are slaughtered by both the overzealous SWAT team and their own reanimated dead. During the raid, Roger meets Peter Washington, part of another SWAT team, and they become friends. Roger tells Peter that his friend Stephen intends to take his network's helicopter, and suggests that Peter come with them. The matter is decided when they are informed of a group of zombies sheltered in the basement, which they execute with grim determination.
That night, Roger and Peter escape Philadelphia with Francine and Stephen in the helicopter. Following some close calls while stopping for fuel, the group comes across a shopping mall, which becomes their sanctuary. To make the mall safe for habitation, they block the entrances with trucks to keep the undead masses outside from building up enough cumulative force to break through; they also craft a wooden "false wall" to hide the access to their living space. During the cleanup operation, Roger becomes reckless and is bitten, dooming himself to the infection. After clearing the mall of zombies, the four enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle with all the resources available to them. As time goes by, however, they come to perceive themselves as imprisoned by the zombies, especially since Francine is four months pregnant. Peter offers to abort the child, but this is rejected. The men begin to consider leaving; Stephen, now seeing the mall as a kind of kingdom, opposes the plan, but teaches Francine how to operate the helicopter in case of emergency. Roger eventually succumbs to his wounds, reanimates, and is shot by Peter. All emergency broadcast transmissions eventually cease, suggesting that civilization as they know it has completely collapsed.
Their ironic salvation occurs when a gang of motorcyclists, having seen the helicopter during one of Francine's flying lessons, break into and start looting the mall, which allows hundreds of zombies inside. Stephen forces a gun battle with the bikers and is shot in the arm; he tries to escape through an elevator shaft, but is cornered by the undead and bitten several times. As some of the bikers, shot by Peter, were consumed by the zombies, the rest retreat with their stolen goods. A reanimated Stephen (apparently knowing enough to remember the false wall) breaks through it and leads the undead to Francine and Peter. As Stephen enters their hideout, Peter kills him while Francine escapes to the roof. Peter then locks himself in a room and contemplates suicide. When zombies burst into the room, he has a change of heart and fights his way up to the roof, where he joins Francine. The two then fly away in the partially fueled helicopter to an uncertain future.
Alternate ending[edit]
According to the original screenplay, Peter and Francine were to kill themselves, Peter by shooting himself and Fran by driving her head into the spinning helicopter blades. The ending credits would run over a shot of the helicopter blades turning until the engine winds down, implying that Peter and Fran would not have gotten far if they had chosen to escape.[9] During production it was decided to change the ending of the film.
Much of the lead-in to the two suicides remains in the film, as Francine leans out of the helicopter upon seeing the zombies approach and Peter puts a gun to his head, ready to shoot himself. An additional scene, showing a zombie having the top of its head cut off by the helicopter blades (thus foreshadowing Francine's suicide) was included early in the film. Romero has stated that the original ending was scrapped before being shot, although behind the scenes photos show the original version was at least tested. The head appliance made for Fran's suicide was instead used in the opening SWAT raid, made-up to resemble an African-American male and blown apart by a shotgun blast.[10]
Cast[edit]
David Emge as Stephen "Flyboy" Andrews
Ken Foree as Peter Washington
Scott Reiniger as Roger "Trooper" DeMarco
Gaylen Ross as Francine Parker
David Crawford as Dr. James Foster
David Early as Mr. Sidney Berman
Richard France as Dr. Millard Rausch, Scientist
Howard Smith as TV Commentator
Daniel Dietrich as Mr. Dan Givens
Fred Baker as Police Commander
Jim Baffico as Wooley, Maniacal SWAT Cop
Rod Stoufer as Rod Tucker, Young SWAT Cop on Roof
Jese del Gre as Old Priest
Joe Pilato as Head Officer at Police Dock
Randy Kovitz as 2nd Officer at Police Dock/Biker (wearing blue beret & sunglasses)
Ted Bank as 3rd Officer at Police Dock (wearing yellow sunglasses)
Patrick McCloskey as 4th Officer at Police Dock (smoking cigar)
Rudy Ricci as The Biker Leader (Radio Operator wearing Nazi Helmet)
Tom Savini as Blades, Assistant Head Biker/Mechanic Zombie shot through glass/Zombie hit by truck
Larry Vaira as Mousey, Tommy-Gun Biker (riding in sidecar)
Marty Schiff as Moonbaby, Biker (Blades' Sidekick)
Taso Stavrakis as Sledge, Biker (with Sledgehammer)/Fountain Zombie/Sailor Zombie/Chestburst Zombie
Nick Tallo as Jack, Biker (with seltzer bottle)
Joe Shelby as Martinez, Bandit Leader/Red Shirted Zombie in car/Biker, Van Driver (wearing cowboy hat & glasses)
Tony Buba as Pedro, Biker (wearing sombrero)
Pasquale Buba as Biker (wearing serape)
Butchie as Butchie, Wild Haired Bearded Biker (riding Harley-Davidson Panhead Bike with sidecar)/Biker (Timmy's Friend)
Barbara Lifsher as Mary "Chickie", Blonde Biker Chick driving Van
Dave Hawkins as Biker
Tom Kapusta as Biker (wearing black biker cap hat & glasses)
Ken Nagin as Pendant Headband Biker (with axe)
Gary Hartman as Blonde Biker (wearing black helmet & olive-green jacket)
Lenny Roman as White Headband Biker riding Harley Motorcycle
George Heake as Biker with Long Hair
Jeff Paul as Biker who shoots Flyboy
Bobby Dauk as Biker
Katherine Kolbert as Brunette Biker Chick (throwing pies & cakes)
Zilla Clinton as Blonde Biker Chick (riding motorcycle)
Cindy Roman as Blue Bandana Biker Chick riding with White Headband Biker
Billie Walters as Biker Chick (wearing brown headband)
Vickie Walters as Biker Chick
Jeanette Lansel Vaira as Biker Chick
Development[edit]
Pre-production[edit]
The history of Dawn of the Dead began in 1974, when George A. Romero was invited by friend Mark Mason of Oxford Development Company—whom Romero knew from an acquaintance at his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon—to visit the Monroeville Mall, which Mason's company managed. After showing Romero hidden parts of the mall, during which Romero noted the bliss of the consumers, Mason jokingly suggested that someone would be able to survive in the mall should an emergency ever occur.[11] With this inspiration, Romero began to write the screenplay for the film.
Romero and his producer, Richard P. Rubinstein, were unable to procure any domestic investors for the new project. By chance, word of the sequel reached Italian horror director Dario Argento. A fan of Night of the Living Dead and an early critical proponent of the film, Argento was eager to help the horror classic receive a sequel. He met Romero and Rubinstein, helping to secure financing in exchange for international distribution rights. Argento invited Romero to Rome so he would have a change of scenery while writing the screenplay. The two could also then discuss plot developments.[12] Romero was able to secure the availability of Monroeville Mall as well as additional financing through his connections with the mall's owners at Oxford Development.[11] Once the casting was completed, principal shooting was scheduled to begin in Pennsylvania on November 13, 1977.
Production[edit]
Principal photography for Dawn of the Living Dead (its working title at the time) began on November 13, 1977 at the Monroeville Mall. Use of an actual, open shopping mall during the Christmas shopping season caused numerous time constraints. Filming began nightly once the mall closed, starting at 11 PM and ending at 7 AM, when automated music came on. As December arrived, the production decided against having the crew remove and replace the Christmas decorations—a task that had proved to be too time consuming. Filming was shut down during the last three weeks of the year to avoid the possible continuity difficulties and lost shooting time. Production would resume on January 3, 1978. During the break in filming, Romero took the opportunity to begin editing his existing footage.[13]
The airfield scenes were filmed at the Harold W. Brown Memorial Airfield in Monroeville,[14] an airport located about ten miles from the mall that is still in use.[15] The scenes of the group's hideout at the top of the mall were filmed on a set built at Romero's then-production company, The Latent Image.[16] The elevator shaft was located there as well, as no such area of the mall actually existed. The gun store was also not located in the mall—for filming, the crew used Firearms Unlimited, a shop that existed in the East Liberty district of Pittsburgh at the time.
Principal photography on Dawn of the Dead ended February 1978, and Romero's process of editing would begin. By using numerous angles during the filming, Romero allowed himself an array of possibilities during editing—choosing from these many shots to reassemble into a sequence that could dictate any number of responses from the viewer simply by changing an angle or deleting or extending portions of scenes. This amount of superfluous footage is evidenced by the numerous international cuts, which in some cases affects the regional version's tone and flow.
Make-up and effects[edit]



 An example of the bright hue of the fake blood, gray face make-up, and special effects in Dawn of the Dead.


 The famous Headshot scene at the beginning of the film
Tom Savini, who had been offered the chance to provide special effects and make-up for Romero's first zombie film, Night of the Living Dead, before being drafted into the Vietnam War, made his debut as an effects artist on Dawn of the Dead.[17] Savini had been known for his make-up in horror for some time, prior to Dawn of the Dead, and in his book explaining special effects techniques, Bizarro, explains how his time in Vietnam influenced his craft.[18] He had a crew of eight to assist in applying gray makeup to two to three hundred extras each weekend during the shoot.[19] One of his assistants during production was Joseph Pilato, who played a police captain in the film and would go on to play the lead villain in the film's sequel, Day of the Dead.[19]
The makeup for the multitudes of extras in the film was a basic blue or gray tinge to the face of each extra. Some featured zombies, who would be seen close-up or on-screen longer than others, had more time spent on their look. Many of the featured zombies became part of the fanfare, with nicknames based upon their look or activity—such as Machete Zombie,[20] Sweater Zombie,[20] and Nurse Zombie.[20] "Sweater zombie" Clayton Hill, was described by a crew member as "one of the most convincing zombies of the bunch" citing his skill at maintaining his stiff pose and rolling his eyes back into his head, including heading down the wrong way in an escalator while in character.[21]
A cast of Gaylen Ross' head that was to be used in the original ending of the film (involving a suicide rather than the escape scene finally used) ended up as an exploding head during the tenement building scene. The head, filled with food scraps, was shot with an actual shotgun to get the head to explode.[17] One of the unintentional standout effects was the bright, fluorescent color of the fake blood that was used in the film. Savini was an early opponent of the blood, produced by 3M, but Romero thought it added to the film, claiming it emphasised the comic book feel of the movie.[22]
Music[edit]
See also: Dawn of the Dead (soundtracks)
The film's music varies with Romero's and Argento's cuts. For Romero's theatrical version, musical cues and selections were chosen from the De Wolfe Music Library, a compilation of stock music scores and cues. In the montage scene featuring the hunters and National Guard, the song played in the background is "'Cause I'm a Man" by the Pretty Things; the song was first released on the group's LP Electric Banana.[23] The music heard playing in a sequence in the mall and over the film's end credits is an instrumental titled "The Gonk"—a polka style tune from the De Wolfe Music Library, with a chorus of zombie moans added by Romero.[24]
For Argento's international cut, the Italian director used the band Goblin (incorrectly credited as "The Goblins") extensively. Goblin is a four-piece Italian band that mostly provides contract work for film soundtracks. Argento, who received a credit for original music alongside Goblin, collaborated with the group to get music for his cut of the film. Romero used three of their pieces in his theatrical release version. The Goblin score would later find its way onto a Dawn of the Dead-inspired film, Hell of the Living Dead. The version of Dawn released on video in the mid-nineties under the label "Director's Cut" does not use most of the Goblin tracks, as they had not been completed at the time of that edit.
Post-production and releases[edit]
Dawn of the Dead has received a number of re-cuts and re-edits, due mostly to Argento's rights to edit the film for international foreign language release. Romero controlled the final cut of the film for English-language territories. In addition, the film was edited further by censors or distributors in certain countries. Romero, acting as the editor for his film, completed a hasty 139-minute version of the film (now known as the Extended, or Director's Cut) for premiere at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. This was later pared down to 127 minutes for the U.S. theatrical release. In an era before the NC-17 rating was available from the Motion Picture Association of America, the US theatrical cut of the film earned the taboo rating of X from the association because of its graphic violence. Rejecting this rating, Romero and the producers chose to release the film unrated to help the film's commercial success.[25] United Film Distribution Company eventually agreed to release it domestically in the United States. It premiered in the US in New York City on April 20, 1979.[26] The film was refused classification in Australia twice: in its theatrical release in 1978 and once again in 1979. The cuts presented to the Australian Classification Board were Argento's cut and Romero's cut, respectively. Dawn of the Dead was finally passed in the country with an R18+ rating in February 1980.[27] It was banned in Queensland until at least 1986.
Internationally, Argento controlled the Euro cut for non-English speaking countries. The version he created clocked in at 119 minutes. It included changes such as more music from Goblin than the three cuts completed by Romero, removal of some expository scenes, and a faster cutting pace.[28] Released in Italy in September 1978, it actually debuted nearly nine months before the US theatrical cut.[26] In Italy it was released under the full title Zombi: L’alba dei Morti Viventi, followed in March 1979 in France as Zombie: Le Crépuscule des Morts Vivants, in Spain as Zombi: El Regreso de los Muertos Vivientes, in the Netherlands as Zombie: In De Greep van de Zombies, in Germany by Constantin Film as Zombie, and in Denmark as Zombie: Rædslernes Morgen.[26][29]
Despite the various alternate versions of the film available, Dawn of the Dead was successful internationally. Its success in then-West Germany earned it the Golden Screen Award, given to films that have at least three million admissions within 18 months of release.[30] A majority of these versions were released on DVD in the 2004 Special Edition, and have previously been released on VHS. The freelance photographer Richard Burke, working for Pittsburgh Magazine, released in May 2010 the first exclusive Behind-the-Scenes photos from the set.[31][32]
Reception[edit]
Dawn of the Dead premiered theatrically in New York City on April 20, 1979, and a month afterward in Los Angeles, California on May 11, 1979.[33]
Box office[edit]
Dawn of the Dead performed well thanks both to commercial advertising and word-of-mouth. Ad campaigns and posters declared the film "the most intensely shocking motion picture experience for all times".[34] The film earned $900,000 on its opening weekend in the United States (total estimate at 5 million), an international gross of 40 million, followed by a worldwide gross revenue of $55 million, making it the most profitable film in the Dead series.[2][35]
Critical reaction[edit]
Dawn of the Dead—unlike many other "gory" horror staples of its time—has received heavy praise from film reviews since its initial release. The film was regarded by many as one of the best films of 1978,[36][37][38][39] and it holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 36 reviews.[40] The 25th anniversary issue of Fangoria named it the best horror film of 1979 (although it was released a year earlier),[41] and Entertainment Weekly ranked it #27 on a list of "The Top 50 Cult Films."[42] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it four out of four stars and proclaimed it "one of the best horror films ever made." While conceding Dawn of the Dead to be "gruesome, sickening, disgusting, violent, brutal and appalling," Ebert said that "nobody ever said art had to be in good taste."[43] Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique praised the film, calling it a "broader" version of Night of the Living Dead,[34] and gave particular credit to the acting and themes explored: "the acting performances are uniformly strong; and the script develops its themes more explicitly, with obvious satirical jabs at modern consumer society, as epitomized by the indoor shopping mall where a small band of human survivors take shelter from the zombie plague sweeping the country." He went on to say that Dawn of the Dead was a "savage (if tongue-in-cheek) attack on the foibles of modern society", showcasing explicit gore and horror and turning them into "a form of art".[34]
Dawn of the Dead was not without its detractors. Similar to the preceding Night of the Living Dead, some critical reviewers did not like the gory special effects. Particularly displeased at the large amount of gore and graphic violence was The New York Times critic Janet Maslin, who claimed she walked out after the first 15 minutes due to "a pet peeve about flesh-eating zombies who never stop snacking,"[44] and Gene Shalit of NBC's Today show dismissed it as "Yawn of the Living." Others, particularly Variety Magazine, attacked the film's writing, claiming that the violence and gore detracts from any development of the characters, making them "uninteresting", resulting in a loss of impact. Variety wrote: "Dawn pummels the viewer with a series of ever-more-grisly events—decapitations, shootings, knifings, flesh tearings - that make Romero's special effects man, Tom Savini, the real "star" of the film—the actors are as woodenly uninteresting as the characters they play."[45] Pauline Kael wrote that, in contrast to the "truly frightening" Night of the Living Dead, "you begin to laugh with relief that you're not being emotionally challenged or even affected; [Dawn of the Dead is] just a gross-out."[46] Leslie Halliwell of Halliwell's Film Guide stated the film was "occasionally laughable, otherwise sickening or boring."
Dawn of the Dead is now widely considered a classic.[47][48][49] The film was selected as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time by Empire magazine in 2008.[7] It was also named as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made, a list published by The New York Times.[50]
Home media[edit]
In 2004, after numerous VHS, Laserdisc and DVD releases of several different versions of the film from various companies, Anchor Bay Entertainment released a definitive Ultimate Edition DVD box set of Dawn of the Dead, following a single-disc U.S. theatrical cut released earlier in the year. The set features all three widely available versions of the film, along with different commentary tracks for each version, documentaries and extras.[51] Also re-released with the DVD set was Roy Frumkes' Document of the Dead, which chronicled the making of Dawn of the Dead and Romero's career to that point. The Ultimate Edition earned a Saturn Award for Best Classic Film Release.[52]
The U.S. theatrical cut of Dawn of the Dead was released in high definition on the Blu-ray Disc format on October 7, 2007, in the USA. It was released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom by Arrow Video which includes the theatrical cut and 2 DVDs with the Cannes and Argento cut.
Remake[edit]
Main article: Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
The remake was directed by Zack Snyder in 2004 in his directorial debut. It stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber with cameos from original cast members Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger and Tom Savini.
Book[edit]
The Paperback based on the film was written by George A. Romero and will release May 26, 2015 over Gallery Books.[53]
See also[edit]
List of American films of 1978
List of zombie films
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Dawn of the Dead (soundtracks)
Dawn of the Dead in popular culture
The Return of the Living Dead
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Box Office Information for Dawn of the Dead. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c "Dawn of the Dead". The Numbers.
3.^ Jump up to: a b J.C. Maçek III (June 15, 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
4.Jump up ^ "Filming locations". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead (1978)". Rotten Tomatoes.
6.Jump up ^ Living Corpse Interviews: James Gunn, "re-imagining" is mentioned an interview with the writer of Dawn of the Dead (2004)
7.^ Jump up to: a b "Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
8.Jump up ^ "Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
9.Jump up ^ Dawn Of The Dead Script at Script-o-Rama
10.Jump up ^ Alternate Dawn ending surfaces. at Horrorexpress.com
11.^ Jump up to: a b The mall at The Zombie Farm
12.Jump up ^ Biodrowski, Steve. "Dawn of the Dead (1979)". Cinema Fantastique. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
13.Jump up ^ Quint interviews FX God Greg Nicotero on LAND OF THE DEAD! Exclusive gore pics, too! on Ain't it Cool News
14.Jump up ^ Trivia for Dawn of the Dead at Turner Classic Movies
15.Jump up ^ Pittsburgh Monroeville Airport, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
16.Jump up ^ Former Latent Image Office at Dark Destinations
17.^ Jump up to: a b Lord of Gore Slasherama.com
18.Jump up ^ Tom Savini, Bizarro!: The Art and Technique of Special Make-Up Effects (New York: Harmony Books, 1983), 11.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Mason, R.H. "An Interview With The Villain". Fangoria (reprinted). Archived from the original on October 23, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c Carnival of the Damned at Origins becomes a "Cast Party!"[dead link] GamingReport.com
21.Jump up ^ Balingit, Moriah. "Obituary: Clayton Hill / Played a lead zombie in 'Dawn of the Dead', Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 27, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
22.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Blu-ray) DVDTalk review
23.Jump up ^ Rave Up With The Electric Banana at Movie Grooves
24.Jump up ^ De Wolfe track listing
25.Jump up ^ A review of Document of the Dead, a documentary on the film's production.
26.^ Jump up to: a b c Release information on IMDb.com
27.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead (1978) censorship history in Australia at Refused Classifcation
28.Jump up ^ Dario Argento’s Zombi: Dawn of the Dead review by Michael Elliott
29.Jump up ^ Company credits from IMDb
30.Jump up ^ Golden Screen, Germany: 1980 IMDB.com
31.Jump up ^ OMFG of the Day: Old Negatives Discovered from Dawn of the Dead Shoot!
32.Jump up ^ New Behind-the-Scenes Images: George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead
33.Jump up ^ Distribution and Release Date information for Dawn of the Dead at IMDb. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c Dawn of the Dead, a review by Steve Biodrowski for Cinefantastique
35.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead at Film Site. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
36.Jump up ^ "The Greatest Films of 1978". Filmsite.org. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
37.Jump up ^ "The 10 Best Movies of 1978". Film.com. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
38.Jump up ^ "The Best Movies of 1978 by Rank". Films101.com. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
39.Jump up ^ "Most Popular Feature Films Released in 1978". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
40.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
41.Jump up ^ "1979: Dawn of the Dead". Fangoria 234: 55. June 2004.
42.Jump up ^ "Entertainment Weekly's "The Top 50 Cult Films"". Filmsite.org. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
43.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead, a review by Roger Ebert
44.Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet (April 20, 1979). "Movie Review Dawn of the Dead (1978)". The New York Times.
45.Jump up ^ Variety Staff (April 22, 1979). "Movie Review Dawn of the Dead (1978)". Variety.
46.Jump up ^ Kael, Pauline (1984). "Waddlers And Bikers". Taking It All In. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 194–201. ISBN 0-03-069361-6.
47.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead: Award Wins and Nominations". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
48.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
49.Jump up ^ The Sadistic '70s at CTV Television Network
50.Jump up ^ "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made". The New York Times. April 29, 2003. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
51.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead - Ultimate Edition, Anchor Bay Entertainment.com
52.Jump up ^ Saturn Awards
53.Jump up ^ Gallery Books Announces: DAWN OF THE DEAD by George A. Romero
External links[edit]
Dawn of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Dawn of the Dead at AllMovie
Dawn of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Homepage of the Dead


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Dawn of the Dead

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Dawn of the Dead (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Shaun of the Dead.

Dawn of the Dead
Painted theatrical release that includes various credits, an ominous zombie looking over the horizon, and the words "Dawn of the Dead" in military print below.
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
George A. Romero
Produced by
Richard P. Rubinstein
Claudio Argento
Alfredo Cuomo

Written by
George A. Romero
Starring
David Emge
Ken Foree
Scott Reiniger
Gaylen Ross

Music by
Goblin
Dario Argento
De Wolfe Music Library

Cinematography
Michael Gornick
Edited by
Dario Argento
George A. Romero


Production
 company

Laurel Group Inc.

Distributed by
United Film Distribution Company

Release dates

September 2, 1978 (Italy)
April 20, 1979 (United States)


Running time

118 minutes (Italy)
127 minutes (United States)
139 minutes (US extended cut)

Country
Italy
United States

Language
English
Budget
$650,000[1]
Box office
$55 million[2]
Dawn of the Dead (also known internationally as Zombi) is a 1978 Italian-American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero.[3] It was the second film made in Romero's Living Dead series, but contains no characters or settings from Night of the Living Dead, and shows in a larger scale the apocalyptic effects on society. In the film, a phenomenon of unknown origin has caused the reanimation of the dead, who prey on human flesh, which subsequently causes mass hysteria. The cast features David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger and Gaylen Ross as survivors of the outbreak who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall.[3]
Dawn of the Dead was filmed over approximately four months, from late 1977 to early 1978, in the Pennsylvania cities of Pittsburgh and Monroeville.[4] Its primary filming location was the Monroeville Mall. The film was made on a relatively modest budget estimated at $650,000, and was a significant box office success for its time, grossing approximately $55 million worldwide.[2] Since opening in theaters in 1978, and despite heavy gore content, reviews for the film have been nearly unanimously positive.[5]
In addition to four official sequels, the film has spawned numerous parodies and pop culture references. A remake of the movie premiered in the United States on March 19, 2004. It was labeled a "re-imagining" of the original film's concept.[6] In 2008, Dawn of the Dead was chosen by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time,[7] along with Night of the Living Dead.[8]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot 1.1 Alternate ending
2 Cast
3 Development 3.1 Pre-production
3.2 Production 3.2.1 Make-up and effects
3.2.2 Music
3.3 Post-production and releases
4 Reception 4.1 Box office
4.2 Critical reaction
5 Home media
6 Remake
7 Book
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Plot[edit]
The United States is devastated by an unknown phenomenon which reanimates recently deceased human beings as flesh-eating zombies. Despite the best efforts by the U.S. government and local authorities to control the situation, society is beginning to collapse and the remaining survivors are given to chaos. Some rural communities and the military have been effective in fighting the zombies in open country, but cities are helpless and largely overrun. Confusion reigns at the WGON television studio in Philadelphia by the phenomenon's third week, where staff member Stephen Andrews and Francine Parker are planning to steal the station's traffic helicopter to escape the zombies. Meanwhile, police SWAT officer Roger DiMarco and his team raid an apartment building where the residents are defying the martial law of delivering their dead to National Guardsmen. Some residents fight back with handguns and rifles, and are slaughtered by both the overzealous SWAT team and their own reanimated dead. During the raid, Roger meets Peter Washington, part of another SWAT team, and they become friends. Roger tells Peter that his friend Stephen intends to take his network's helicopter, and suggests that Peter come with them. The matter is decided when they are informed of a group of zombies sheltered in the basement, which they execute with grim determination.
That night, Roger and Peter escape Philadelphia with Francine and Stephen in the helicopter. Following some close calls while stopping for fuel, the group comes across a shopping mall, which becomes their sanctuary. To make the mall safe for habitation, they block the entrances with trucks to keep the undead masses outside from building up enough cumulative force to break through; they also craft a wooden "false wall" to hide the access to their living space. During the cleanup operation, Roger becomes reckless and is bitten, dooming himself to the infection. After clearing the mall of zombies, the four enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle with all the resources available to them. As time goes by, however, they come to perceive themselves as imprisoned by the zombies, especially since Francine is four months pregnant. Peter offers to abort the child, but this is rejected. The men begin to consider leaving; Stephen, now seeing the mall as a kind of kingdom, opposes the plan, but teaches Francine how to operate the helicopter in case of emergency. Roger eventually succumbs to his wounds, reanimates, and is shot by Peter. All emergency broadcast transmissions eventually cease, suggesting that civilization as they know it has completely collapsed.
Their ironic salvation occurs when a gang of motorcyclists, having seen the helicopter during one of Francine's flying lessons, break into and start looting the mall, which allows hundreds of zombies inside. Stephen forces a gun battle with the bikers and is shot in the arm; he tries to escape through an elevator shaft, but is cornered by the undead and bitten several times. As some of the bikers, shot by Peter, were consumed by the zombies, the rest retreat with their stolen goods. A reanimated Stephen (apparently knowing enough to remember the false wall) breaks through it and leads the undead to Francine and Peter. As Stephen enters their hideout, Peter kills him while Francine escapes to the roof. Peter then locks himself in a room and contemplates suicide. When zombies burst into the room, he has a change of heart and fights his way up to the roof, where he joins Francine. The two then fly away in the partially fueled helicopter to an uncertain future.
Alternate ending[edit]
According to the original screenplay, Peter and Francine were to kill themselves, Peter by shooting himself and Fran by driving her head into the spinning helicopter blades. The ending credits would run over a shot of the helicopter blades turning until the engine winds down, implying that Peter and Fran would not have gotten far if they had chosen to escape.[9] During production it was decided to change the ending of the film.
Much of the lead-in to the two suicides remains in the film, as Francine leans out of the helicopter upon seeing the zombies approach and Peter puts a gun to his head, ready to shoot himself. An additional scene, showing a zombie having the top of its head cut off by the helicopter blades (thus foreshadowing Francine's suicide) was included early in the film. Romero has stated that the original ending was scrapped before being shot, although behind the scenes photos show the original version was at least tested. The head appliance made for Fran's suicide was instead used in the opening SWAT raid, made-up to resemble an African-American male and blown apart by a shotgun blast.[10]
Cast[edit]
David Emge as Stephen "Flyboy" Andrews
Ken Foree as Peter Washington
Scott Reiniger as Roger "Trooper" DeMarco
Gaylen Ross as Francine Parker
David Crawford as Dr. James Foster
David Early as Mr. Sidney Berman
Richard France as Dr. Millard Rausch, Scientist
Howard Smith as TV Commentator
Daniel Dietrich as Mr. Dan Givens
Fred Baker as Police Commander
Jim Baffico as Wooley, Maniacal SWAT Cop
Rod Stoufer as Rod Tucker, Young SWAT Cop on Roof
Jese del Gre as Old Priest
Joe Pilato as Head Officer at Police Dock
Randy Kovitz as 2nd Officer at Police Dock/Biker (wearing blue beret & sunglasses)
Ted Bank as 3rd Officer at Police Dock (wearing yellow sunglasses)
Patrick McCloskey as 4th Officer at Police Dock (smoking cigar)
Rudy Ricci as The Biker Leader (Radio Operator wearing Nazi Helmet)
Tom Savini as Blades, Assistant Head Biker/Mechanic Zombie shot through glass/Zombie hit by truck
Larry Vaira as Mousey, Tommy-Gun Biker (riding in sidecar)
Marty Schiff as Moonbaby, Biker (Blades' Sidekick)
Taso Stavrakis as Sledge, Biker (with Sledgehammer)/Fountain Zombie/Sailor Zombie/Chestburst Zombie
Nick Tallo as Jack, Biker (with seltzer bottle)
Joe Shelby as Martinez, Bandit Leader/Red Shirted Zombie in car/Biker, Van Driver (wearing cowboy hat & glasses)
Tony Buba as Pedro, Biker (wearing sombrero)
Pasquale Buba as Biker (wearing serape)
Butchie as Butchie, Wild Haired Bearded Biker (riding Harley-Davidson Panhead Bike with sidecar)/Biker (Timmy's Friend)
Barbara Lifsher as Mary "Chickie", Blonde Biker Chick driving Van
Dave Hawkins as Biker
Tom Kapusta as Biker (wearing black biker cap hat & glasses)
Ken Nagin as Pendant Headband Biker (with axe)
Gary Hartman as Blonde Biker (wearing black helmet & olive-green jacket)
Lenny Roman as White Headband Biker riding Harley Motorcycle
George Heake as Biker with Long Hair
Jeff Paul as Biker who shoots Flyboy
Bobby Dauk as Biker
Katherine Kolbert as Brunette Biker Chick (throwing pies & cakes)
Zilla Clinton as Blonde Biker Chick (riding motorcycle)
Cindy Roman as Blue Bandana Biker Chick riding with White Headband Biker
Billie Walters as Biker Chick (wearing brown headband)
Vickie Walters as Biker Chick
Jeanette Lansel Vaira as Biker Chick
Development[edit]
Pre-production[edit]
The history of Dawn of the Dead began in 1974, when George A. Romero was invited by friend Mark Mason of Oxford Development Company—whom Romero knew from an acquaintance at his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon—to visit the Monroeville Mall, which Mason's company managed. After showing Romero hidden parts of the mall, during which Romero noted the bliss of the consumers, Mason jokingly suggested that someone would be able to survive in the mall should an emergency ever occur.[11] With this inspiration, Romero began to write the screenplay for the film.
Romero and his producer, Richard P. Rubinstein, were unable to procure any domestic investors for the new project. By chance, word of the sequel reached Italian horror director Dario Argento. A fan of Night of the Living Dead and an early critical proponent of the film, Argento was eager to help the horror classic receive a sequel. He met Romero and Rubinstein, helping to secure financing in exchange for international distribution rights. Argento invited Romero to Rome so he would have a change of scenery while writing the screenplay. The two could also then discuss plot developments.[12] Romero was able to secure the availability of Monroeville Mall as well as additional financing through his connections with the mall's owners at Oxford Development.[11] Once the casting was completed, principal shooting was scheduled to begin in Pennsylvania on November 13, 1977.
Production[edit]
Principal photography for Dawn of the Living Dead (its working title at the time) began on November 13, 1977 at the Monroeville Mall. Use of an actual, open shopping mall during the Christmas shopping season caused numerous time constraints. Filming began nightly once the mall closed, starting at 11 PM and ending at 7 AM, when automated music came on. As December arrived, the production decided against having the crew remove and replace the Christmas decorations—a task that had proved to be too time consuming. Filming was shut down during the last three weeks of the year to avoid the possible continuity difficulties and lost shooting time. Production would resume on January 3, 1978. During the break in filming, Romero took the opportunity to begin editing his existing footage.[13]
The airfield scenes were filmed at the Harold W. Brown Memorial Airfield in Monroeville,[14] an airport located about ten miles from the mall that is still in use.[15] The scenes of the group's hideout at the top of the mall were filmed on a set built at Romero's then-production company, The Latent Image.[16] The elevator shaft was located there as well, as no such area of the mall actually existed. The gun store was also not located in the mall—for filming, the crew used Firearms Unlimited, a shop that existed in the East Liberty district of Pittsburgh at the time.
Principal photography on Dawn of the Dead ended February 1978, and Romero's process of editing would begin. By using numerous angles during the filming, Romero allowed himself an array of possibilities during editing—choosing from these many shots to reassemble into a sequence that could dictate any number of responses from the viewer simply by changing an angle or deleting or extending portions of scenes. This amount of superfluous footage is evidenced by the numerous international cuts, which in some cases affects the regional version's tone and flow.
Make-up and effects[edit]



 An example of the bright hue of the fake blood, gray face make-up, and special effects in Dawn of the Dead.


 The famous Headshot scene at the beginning of the film
Tom Savini, who had been offered the chance to provide special effects and make-up for Romero's first zombie film, Night of the Living Dead, before being drafted into the Vietnam War, made his debut as an effects artist on Dawn of the Dead.[17] Savini had been known for his make-up in horror for some time, prior to Dawn of the Dead, and in his book explaining special effects techniques, Bizarro, explains how his time in Vietnam influenced his craft.[18] He had a crew of eight to assist in applying gray makeup to two to three hundred extras each weekend during the shoot.[19] One of his assistants during production was Joseph Pilato, who played a police captain in the film and would go on to play the lead villain in the film's sequel, Day of the Dead.[19]
The makeup for the multitudes of extras in the film was a basic blue or gray tinge to the face of each extra. Some featured zombies, who would be seen close-up or on-screen longer than others, had more time spent on their look. Many of the featured zombies became part of the fanfare, with nicknames based upon their look or activity—such as Machete Zombie,[20] Sweater Zombie,[20] and Nurse Zombie.[20] "Sweater zombie" Clayton Hill, was described by a crew member as "one of the most convincing zombies of the bunch" citing his skill at maintaining his stiff pose and rolling his eyes back into his head, including heading down the wrong way in an escalator while in character.[21]
A cast of Gaylen Ross' head that was to be used in the original ending of the film (involving a suicide rather than the escape scene finally used) ended up as an exploding head during the tenement building scene. The head, filled with food scraps, was shot with an actual shotgun to get the head to explode.[17] One of the unintentional standout effects was the bright, fluorescent color of the fake blood that was used in the film. Savini was an early opponent of the blood, produced by 3M, but Romero thought it added to the film, claiming it emphasised the comic book feel of the movie.[22]
Music[edit]
See also: Dawn of the Dead (soundtracks)
The film's music varies with Romero's and Argento's cuts. For Romero's theatrical version, musical cues and selections were chosen from the De Wolfe Music Library, a compilation of stock music scores and cues. In the montage scene featuring the hunters and National Guard, the song played in the background is "'Cause I'm a Man" by the Pretty Things; the song was first released on the group's LP Electric Banana.[23] The music heard playing in a sequence in the mall and over the film's end credits is an instrumental titled "The Gonk"—a polka style tune from the De Wolfe Music Library, with a chorus of zombie moans added by Romero.[24]
For Argento's international cut, the Italian director used the band Goblin (incorrectly credited as "The Goblins") extensively. Goblin is a four-piece Italian band that mostly provides contract work for film soundtracks. Argento, who received a credit for original music alongside Goblin, collaborated with the group to get music for his cut of the film. Romero used three of their pieces in his theatrical release version. The Goblin score would later find its way onto a Dawn of the Dead-inspired film, Hell of the Living Dead. The version of Dawn released on video in the mid-nineties under the label "Director's Cut" does not use most of the Goblin tracks, as they had not been completed at the time of that edit.
Post-production and releases[edit]
Dawn of the Dead has received a number of re-cuts and re-edits, due mostly to Argento's rights to edit the film for international foreign language release. Romero controlled the final cut of the film for English-language territories. In addition, the film was edited further by censors or distributors in certain countries. Romero, acting as the editor for his film, completed a hasty 139-minute version of the film (now known as the Extended, or Director's Cut) for premiere at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. This was later pared down to 127 minutes for the U.S. theatrical release. In an era before the NC-17 rating was available from the Motion Picture Association of America, the US theatrical cut of the film earned the taboo rating of X from the association because of its graphic violence. Rejecting this rating, Romero and the producers chose to release the film unrated to help the film's commercial success.[25] United Film Distribution Company eventually agreed to release it domestically in the United States. It premiered in the US in New York City on April 20, 1979.[26] The film was refused classification in Australia twice: in its theatrical release in 1978 and once again in 1979. The cuts presented to the Australian Classification Board were Argento's cut and Romero's cut, respectively. Dawn of the Dead was finally passed in the country with an R18+ rating in February 1980.[27] It was banned in Queensland until at least 1986.
Internationally, Argento controlled the Euro cut for non-English speaking countries. The version he created clocked in at 119 minutes. It included changes such as more music from Goblin than the three cuts completed by Romero, removal of some expository scenes, and a faster cutting pace.[28] Released in Italy in September 1978, it actually debuted nearly nine months before the US theatrical cut.[26] In Italy it was released under the full title Zombi: L’alba dei Morti Viventi, followed in March 1979 in France as Zombie: Le Crépuscule des Morts Vivants, in Spain as Zombi: El Regreso de los Muertos Vivientes, in the Netherlands as Zombie: In De Greep van de Zombies, in Germany by Constantin Film as Zombie, and in Denmark as Zombie: Rædslernes Morgen.[26][29]
Despite the various alternate versions of the film available, Dawn of the Dead was successful internationally. Its success in then-West Germany earned it the Golden Screen Award, given to films that have at least three million admissions within 18 months of release.[30] A majority of these versions were released on DVD in the 2004 Special Edition, and have previously been released on VHS. The freelance photographer Richard Burke, working for Pittsburgh Magazine, released in May 2010 the first exclusive Behind-the-Scenes photos from the set.[31][32]
Reception[edit]
Dawn of the Dead premiered theatrically in New York City on April 20, 1979, and a month afterward in Los Angeles, California on May 11, 1979.[33]
Box office[edit]
Dawn of the Dead performed well thanks both to commercial advertising and word-of-mouth. Ad campaigns and posters declared the film "the most intensely shocking motion picture experience for all times".[34] The film earned $900,000 on its opening weekend in the United States (total estimate at 5 million), an international gross of 40 million, followed by a worldwide gross revenue of $55 million, making it the most profitable film in the Dead series.[2][35]
Critical reaction[edit]
Dawn of the Dead—unlike many other "gory" horror staples of its time—has received heavy praise from film reviews since its initial release. The film was regarded by many as one of the best films of 1978,[36][37][38][39] and it holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 36 reviews.[40] The 25th anniversary issue of Fangoria named it the best horror film of 1979 (although it was released a year earlier),[41] and Entertainment Weekly ranked it #27 on a list of "The Top 50 Cult Films."[42] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it four out of four stars and proclaimed it "one of the best horror films ever made." While conceding Dawn of the Dead to be "gruesome, sickening, disgusting, violent, brutal and appalling," Ebert said that "nobody ever said art had to be in good taste."[43] Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique praised the film, calling it a "broader" version of Night of the Living Dead,[34] and gave particular credit to the acting and themes explored: "the acting performances are uniformly strong; and the script develops its themes more explicitly, with obvious satirical jabs at modern consumer society, as epitomized by the indoor shopping mall where a small band of human survivors take shelter from the zombie plague sweeping the country." He went on to say that Dawn of the Dead was a "savage (if tongue-in-cheek) attack on the foibles of modern society", showcasing explicit gore and horror and turning them into "a form of art".[34]
Dawn of the Dead was not without its detractors. Similar to the preceding Night of the Living Dead, some critical reviewers did not like the gory special effects. Particularly displeased at the large amount of gore and graphic violence was The New York Times critic Janet Maslin, who claimed she walked out after the first 15 minutes due to "a pet peeve about flesh-eating zombies who never stop snacking,"[44] and Gene Shalit of NBC's Today show dismissed it as "Yawn of the Living." Others, particularly Variety Magazine, attacked the film's writing, claiming that the violence and gore detracts from any development of the characters, making them "uninteresting", resulting in a loss of impact. Variety wrote: "Dawn pummels the viewer with a series of ever-more-grisly events—decapitations, shootings, knifings, flesh tearings - that make Romero's special effects man, Tom Savini, the real "star" of the film—the actors are as woodenly uninteresting as the characters they play."[45] Pauline Kael wrote that, in contrast to the "truly frightening" Night of the Living Dead, "you begin to laugh with relief that you're not being emotionally challenged or even affected; [Dawn of the Dead is] just a gross-out."[46] Leslie Halliwell of Halliwell's Film Guide stated the film was "occasionally laughable, otherwise sickening or boring."
Dawn of the Dead is now widely considered a classic.[47][48][49] The film was selected as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time by Empire magazine in 2008.[7] It was also named as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made, a list published by The New York Times.[50]
Home media[edit]
In 2004, after numerous VHS, Laserdisc and DVD releases of several different versions of the film from various companies, Anchor Bay Entertainment released a definitive Ultimate Edition DVD box set of Dawn of the Dead, following a single-disc U.S. theatrical cut released earlier in the year. The set features all three widely available versions of the film, along with different commentary tracks for each version, documentaries and extras.[51] Also re-released with the DVD set was Roy Frumkes' Document of the Dead, which chronicled the making of Dawn of the Dead and Romero's career to that point. The Ultimate Edition earned a Saturn Award for Best Classic Film Release.[52]
The U.S. theatrical cut of Dawn of the Dead was released in high definition on the Blu-ray Disc format on October 7, 2007, in the USA. It was released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom by Arrow Video which includes the theatrical cut and 2 DVDs with the Cannes and Argento cut.
Remake[edit]
Main article: Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
The remake was directed by Zack Snyder in 2004 in his directorial debut. It stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber with cameos from original cast members Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger and Tom Savini.
Book[edit]
The Paperback based on the film was written by George A. Romero and will release May 26, 2015 over Gallery Books.[53]
See also[edit]
List of American films of 1978
List of zombie films
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Dawn of the Dead (soundtracks)
Dawn of the Dead in popular culture
The Return of the Living Dead
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Box Office Information for Dawn of the Dead. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c "Dawn of the Dead". The Numbers.
3.^ Jump up to: a b J.C. Maçek III (June 15, 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
4.Jump up ^ "Filming locations". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead (1978)". Rotten Tomatoes.
6.Jump up ^ Living Corpse Interviews: James Gunn, "re-imagining" is mentioned an interview with the writer of Dawn of the Dead (2004)
7.^ Jump up to: a b "Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
8.Jump up ^ "Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
9.Jump up ^ Dawn Of The Dead Script at Script-o-Rama
10.Jump up ^ Alternate Dawn ending surfaces. at Horrorexpress.com
11.^ Jump up to: a b The mall at The Zombie Farm
12.Jump up ^ Biodrowski, Steve. "Dawn of the Dead (1979)". Cinema Fantastique. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
13.Jump up ^ Quint interviews FX God Greg Nicotero on LAND OF THE DEAD! Exclusive gore pics, too! on Ain't it Cool News
14.Jump up ^ Trivia for Dawn of the Dead at Turner Classic Movies
15.Jump up ^ Pittsburgh Monroeville Airport, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
16.Jump up ^ Former Latent Image Office at Dark Destinations
17.^ Jump up to: a b Lord of Gore Slasherama.com
18.Jump up ^ Tom Savini, Bizarro!: The Art and Technique of Special Make-Up Effects (New York: Harmony Books, 1983), 11.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Mason, R.H. "An Interview With The Villain". Fangoria (reprinted). Archived from the original on October 23, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c Carnival of the Damned at Origins becomes a "Cast Party!"[dead link] GamingReport.com
21.Jump up ^ Balingit, Moriah. "Obituary: Clayton Hill / Played a lead zombie in 'Dawn of the Dead', Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 27, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
22.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead (1978) (Blu-ray) DVDTalk review
23.Jump up ^ Rave Up With The Electric Banana at Movie Grooves
24.Jump up ^ De Wolfe track listing
25.Jump up ^ A review of Document of the Dead, a documentary on the film's production.
26.^ Jump up to: a b c Release information on IMDb.com
27.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead (1978) censorship history in Australia at Refused Classifcation
28.Jump up ^ Dario Argento’s Zombi: Dawn of the Dead review by Michael Elliott
29.Jump up ^ Company credits from IMDb
30.Jump up ^ Golden Screen, Germany: 1980 IMDB.com
31.Jump up ^ OMFG of the Day: Old Negatives Discovered from Dawn of the Dead Shoot!
32.Jump up ^ New Behind-the-Scenes Images: George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead
33.Jump up ^ Distribution and Release Date information for Dawn of the Dead at IMDb. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c Dawn of the Dead, a review by Steve Biodrowski for Cinefantastique
35.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead at Film Site. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
36.Jump up ^ "The Greatest Films of 1978". Filmsite.org. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
37.Jump up ^ "The 10 Best Movies of 1978". Film.com. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
38.Jump up ^ "The Best Movies of 1978 by Rank". Films101.com. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
39.Jump up ^ "Most Popular Feature Films Released in 1978". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
40.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
41.Jump up ^ "1979: Dawn of the Dead". Fangoria 234: 55. June 2004.
42.Jump up ^ "Entertainment Weekly's "The Top 50 Cult Films"". Filmsite.org. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
43.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead, a review by Roger Ebert
44.Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet (April 20, 1979). "Movie Review Dawn of the Dead (1978)". The New York Times.
45.Jump up ^ Variety Staff (April 22, 1979). "Movie Review Dawn of the Dead (1978)". Variety.
46.Jump up ^ Kael, Pauline (1984). "Waddlers And Bikers". Taking It All In. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 194–201. ISBN 0-03-069361-6.
47.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead: Award Wins and Nominations". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
48.Jump up ^ "Dawn of the Dead Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
49.Jump up ^ The Sadistic '70s at CTV Television Network
50.Jump up ^ "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made". The New York Times. April 29, 2003. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
51.Jump up ^ Dawn of the Dead - Ultimate Edition, Anchor Bay Entertainment.com
52.Jump up ^ Saturn Awards
53.Jump up ^ Gallery Books Announces: DAWN OF THE DEAD by George A. Romero
External links[edit]
Dawn of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Dawn of the Dead at AllMovie
Dawn of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Homepage of the Dead


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Categories: 1978 films
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1970s science fiction films
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Action horror films
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Color sequels of black-and-white films
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Italian independent films
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Films set in department stores
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Night of the Living Dead

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For other uses, see Night of the Living Dead (disambiguation).

Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead affiche.jpg
Cinematic Release Poster

Directed by
George A. Romero
Produced by
Karl Hardman
Russell Streiner
Written by
George A. Romero
John A. Russo
Starring
Duane Jones
Judith O'Dea
Karl Hardman
Marilyn Eastman
Keith Wayne
Judith Ridley
Bill Cardille
Kyra Schon

Music by
William Loose
Fred Steiner
 (stock recording)
Cinematography
George A. Romero
Edited by
George A. Romero
 John A. Russo

Production
 company

Image Ten
 Laurel Group
 Market Square Productions

Distributed by
The Walter Reade Organization

Release dates

October 1, 1968


Running time
 96 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$114,000[1]
Box office
$30 million[1]


File:Night of the Living Dead (1968 film).webm
Play media


Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead (a.k.a. Night of the Flesh Eaters; not to be confused with the 2008 movie Night of the Flesh Eaters directed and written by J.R. McGarrity) is a 1968 American independent zombie horror film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a US$114,000 budget. The film became a financial success, grossing $12 million domestically and $18 million internationally. It has been a cult classic ever since. Night of the Living Dead was heavily criticized at its release for its explicit gore, but eventually garnered critical acclaim and has been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as a film deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."[2][3]
The story follows characters Ben (Duane Jones), Barbra (Judith O'Dea), and five others trapped in a rural farmhouse in Pennsylvania which is attacked by unnamed "living dead" monsters, drawing on earlier depictions in popular culture of zombies. Night of the Living Dead was the basis of five subsequent Living Dead films (1978–2010) also directed by Romero, and has inspired remakes.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development and pre-production
3.2 Writing
3.3 Filming 3.3.1 Principal photography
3.3.2 Directing
3.4 Post-production
3.5 Soundtrack
4 Controversy
5 Reception 5.1 Critical response
5.2 Influence
6 Revisions
7 Film series 7.1 Romero's Dead films
7.2 Return of the Living Dead series
7.3 Origins
7.4 Remakes and other related films
8 Copyright status
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links

Plot summary[edit]
Barbra (Judith O'Dea) and Johnny Blair (Russell Streiner) drive to rural Pennsylvania for an annual visit to their father's grave, at their mother's request. Noticing Barbra's discomfort, Johnny teases, "They're coming to get you, Barbra", before she is attacked by a strange man (Bill Hinzman). Johnny tries to rescue his sister, but breaks his neck on a gravestone, killing himself. Barbra flees by car but crashes into a tree. With the stranger in pursuit, she escapes on foot, and later arrives at a farmhouse where she discovers a woman's mangled corpse. Running out of the house, she is confronted by strange menacing figures like the man in the graveyard. Ben (Duane Jones) takes her into the house, where Barbra slowly descends into shock and insanity as Ben drives the monsters from the house and seals the doors and windows.



 The zombies swarm around the house, searching for living human flesh.
Ben and Barbra are unaware that the farmhouse has a cellar, housing an angry married couple Harry (Karl Hardman) and Helen Cooper (Marilyn Eastman) and their daughter Karen (Kyra Schon), who sought refuge after a group of zombies overturned their car; and teenage couple Tom (Keith Wayne) and Judy (Judith Ridley), who arrived after hearing an emergency broadcast about a series of brutal murders. Karen has fallen seriously ill after being bitten by one of the zombies. They venture upstairs when Ben turns on a radio, while Barbra awakens from a stupor. Harry demands that everyone hide in the cellar, but Ben deems it a "deathtrap" and continues, upstairs, to barricade the house, with Tom's help.
Radio reports explain that a state of mass murder is sweeping across the eastern United States. When Ben finds a television, the emergency broadcaster reports that the recently deceased have become reanimated and are consuming the flesh of the living. Experts, scientists, and the United States military fail to discover the cause, though one scientist suspects radioactive contamination from a space probe returning from Venus, which was deliberately exploded in the Earth's atmosphere when the radiation was detected.



 The Cooper family hiding in the cellar.
When the reports list local rescue centers offering refuge and safety, Ben plans to obtain medical care for Karen. Ben and Tom therefore refuel Ben's truck, while Harry hurls Molotov cocktails from an upper window at the "undead". Fearing for Tom's safety, Judy follows him. At the pump, Tom accidentally spills gasoline on the truck, setting it ablaze. Tom and Judy try to drive the truck away from the pump, but Judy is unable to free herself from its door, and the truck explodes, instantly killing Tom and Judy.
Ben returns to the house, but is locked out by Harry, and forces entry. Angered by Harry's cowardice, Ben beats him, while the undead feed on the remains of Tom and Judy. In the house, a news report reveals that, aside from setting the "reactivated bodies" on fire, only a gunshot or heavy blow to the head can stop them, and that posses of armed men are patrolling the countryside to restore order.
Moments later, the lights go out and the living dead break through the barricades. Harry grabs Ben's rifle and threatens to shoot him, but Ben wrestles the gun away and fires. Mortally wounded, Harry stumbles into the cellar and collapses next to Karen, who has also died from her illness. The undead try to pull Helen and Barbra through the windows, but Helen frees herself and goes down into the cellar, to find a reanimated Karen eating Harry. Helen, paralyzed by shock, falls as Karen stabs her to death with a masonry trowel. Barbra, seeing Johnny among the living dead, is carried away by the horde and devoured. The undead overrun the house, and Ben seals himself inside the cellar (ironically, the course of action he originally argued against), where he finds Harry and Helen starting to reanimate and shoots them.
The next morning, Ben is awakened by the gunshots of sheriff's deputies killing all the zombies they find. Venturing upstairs, he is killed by a member of the posse. The film ends with a series of still shots as Ben is placed onto a burning pyre, along with other dead bodies.
Cast[edit]



 Ben, played by Duane Jones.Duane Jones as Ben: The lead role of Ben was played by unknown stage actor Duane Jones. His performance depicted Ben as a "comparatively calm and resourceful Negro" (in real life, a distinguished gentleman and former university professor), according to a movie reviewer in 1969.[4] Casting Jones as the hero was, in 1968, potentially controversial. At the time, it was not typical for a black man to be the hero of a U.S. film when the rest of the cast was composed of white actors; but Romero said that Jones "simply gave the best audition".[5] After Night of the Living Dead, he was in a few other films, and continued as a theater actor and director until his death in 1988.[6] Despite his other film roles, Jones worried that people only recognized him as Ben.[7]
Judith O'Dea as Barbra Blair: Judith O'Dea, a 23-year-old commercial and stage actress, had once worked for Hardman and Eastman in Pittsburgh. At the time of audition, O'Dea was in Hollywood seeking to enter the movie business. She remarked in an interview that starring in the film was a positive experience for her, although she admitted that horror movies terrified her, particularly Vincent Price's House of Wax (1953). Besides acting, O'Dea performed her own stunts, which she jokingly claimed amounted to "lots of running". Assessing Night of the Living Dead, she stated "I honestly had no idea it would have such a lasting impact on our culture". She was just as surprised by the renown the film brought her: "People treat you differently. [I'm] ho-hum Judy O'Dea until they realize [I'm] Barbra from Night of the Living Dead. All of a sudden [I'm] not so ho-hum anymore!"[8]
Karl Hardman as Harry Cooper
Marilyn Eastman as Helen Cooper: Eastman also played a female undead eating an insect.
Keith Wayne as Tom
Judith Ridley as Judy: Judith Ridley later co-starred in Romero's There's Always Vanilla (1971).
Kyra Schon as Karen Cooper: Karen was played by Hardman's 11-year-old daughter.
Charles Craig as Newscaster / Undead
Bill Hinzman as Cemetery Living Dead: The cemetery living dead who kills Johnny in the first scene. Hinzman also appeared in new scenes that were filmed for the 30th anniversary edition of the film.
George Kosana as Sheriff McClelland: Kosana was Image Ten's production manager.
Russell Streiner as Johnny Blair (Russell Streiner makes a cameo appearance as Sheriff McClelland in the 1990 remake of the film where he is also Executive Producer)
Bill Cardille, a.k.a., "Chilly Billy Cardilly." Cardille was well-known locally as a Pittsburgh TV man who had his own horror movie show, "Chiller Theater" on TV late Saturday nights in the 1960s and '70s. Bill portrays a WIIC-TV, Channel 11 (a real Pittsburgh TV station) news reporter. (Bill Cardille also makes a cameo appearance as the TV news reporter in the 1990 remake of the film)
Romero's friends and acquaintances were recruited as zombie extras. Romero stated, "We had a film company doing commercials and industrial films so there were a lot of people from the advertising game who all wanted to come out and be zombies, and a lot of them did." He adds amusingly, "Some people from around Evans City who just thought it was a goof came out to get caked in makeup and lumber around."[9]
Production[edit]
Development and pre-production[edit]
While attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Romero embarked upon his career in the film industry. In the 1960s, he directed and produced television commercials and industrial films for The Latent Image, a company he co-founded with friends John Russo and Russell Streiner. During this period, the trio grew bored making commercials and wanted to film a horror movie. According to Romero, they wanted to capitalize on the film industry's "thirst for the bizarre".[10] He and Streiner contacted Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, president and vice president respectively of a Pittsburgh-based industrial film firm called Hardman Associates, Inc., and pitched their idea for a then-untitled horror film.[10] Convinced by Romero, a production company called Image Ten was formed which included Romero, Russo, Streiner, Hardman and Eastman. The initial budget was $6,000 with the ten members of the production company investing $600 each for a share of the profits. When it was found that another $6,000 was required another ten investors were found but this was also soon found to be inadequate. Image Ten eventually raised approximately $114,000 for the budget.[10][11]
Writing[edit]
Co-written as a horror comedy by John Russo and George A. Romero under the title Monster Flick,[12] an early screenplay draft concerned the exploits of teenage aliens who visit Earth and befriend human teenagers. A second version of the script featured a young man who runs away from home and discovers rotting human corpses that aliens use for food scattered across a meadow. Russo came up with the concept that they would be the recently dead only, because they could not afford to bring long-dead people out of their graves, or at least "we" thought. He also came up with the idea that they would be "flesh-eaters." Romero decided he liked those two ideas and without them, it would have been labeled a true 'rip-off' of "Richard Matheson's I Am Legend" novel (1954). The final draft, written mainly by Russo during three days in 1967, focused on reanimated human corpses – Romero refers to them as ghouls – that consume the flesh of the living.[13] In a 1997 interview with the BBC's Forbidden Weekend, Romero explained that the script developed into a three-part short story. Part one became Night of the Living Dead. Sequels Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) were adapted from the two remaining parts.[14]
Romero drew inspiration from Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (1954), a horror/science fiction novel about a plague that ravages a futuristic Los Angeles. The infected in I Am Legend become vampire-like creatures and prey on the uninfected.[11][15][16] Discussing the creation of Night of the Living Dead, Romero remarked, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[17] Romero further explained:

I thought I Am Legend was about revolution. I said if you're going to do something about revolution, you should start at the beginning. I mean, Richard starts his book with one man left; everybody in the world has become a vampire. I said we got to start at the beginning and tweak it up a little bit. I couldn't use vampires because he did, so I wanted something that would be an earth-shaking change. Something that was forever, something that was really at the heart of it. I said, so what if the dead stop staying dead? ... And the stories are about how people respond or fail to respond to this. That's really all [the zombies] ever represented to me. In Richard's book, in the original I Am Legend, that's what I thought that book was about. There's this global change and there's one guy holding out saying, wait a minute, I'm still a human. He's wrong. Go ahead. Join them. You'll live forever! In a certain sense he's wrong but on the other hand, you've got to respect him for taking that position.[18]
Official film adaptations of Matheson's novel appeared in 1964 as The Last Man on Earth, in 1971 as The Omega Man, and the 2007 release I Am Legend. Matheson was not impressed by Romero's interpretation, feeling that "It was ... kind of cornball",[19] though he later said, "George Romero's a nice guy, though. I don't harbor any animosity toward him".[20] Critic Danél Griffin remarked, "Romero freely admits that his film was a direct rip-off of Matheson's novel; I would be a little less harsh in my description and say that Romero merely expanded the author's ideas with deviations so completely original that [Night of the Living Dead] is expelled from being labeled a true 'rip-off'".[21]
Russo and Romero revised the screenplay while filming. Karl Hardman attributed the edits to lead actor Duane Jones:

The script had been written with the character Ben as a rather simple truck driver. His dialogue was that of a lower class / uneducated person. Duane Jones was a very well educated man [and he] simply refused to do the role as it was written. As I recall, I believe that Duane himself upgraded his own dialogue to reflect how he felt the character should present himself.[10]
Eastman modified cellar scenes featuring dialogue between Helen and Harry Cooper.[10] According to lead actress Judith O'Dea, much of the dialogue was improvised. She told an interviewer, "I don't know if there was an actual working script! We would go over what basically had to be done, then just did it the way we each felt it should be done".[8] One example offered by O'Dea concerns a scene where Barbra tells Ben about Johnny's death:

The sequence where Ben is breaking up the table to block the entrance and I'm on the couch and start telling him the story of what happened [to Johnny] it's all ad-libbed. This is what we want to get across [...] tell the story about me and Johnny in the car and me being attacked. That was it [...] all improv. We filmed it once. There was a concern we didn't get the sound right, but fortunately they were able to use it.[8]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography[edit]



Evans City Cemetery in 2007.
The small budget dictated much of the production process. According to Hardman, "We knew that we could not raise enough money to shoot a film on a par with the classic horror films with which we had all grown up. The best that we could do was to place our cast in a remote spot and then bring the horror to be visited on them in that spot".[10] Scenes were filmed near Evans City, Pennsylvania, 30 miles (48 km) north of Pittsburgh in rural Butler County; the opening sequence was shot at the Evans City Cemetery on Franklin Road, south of the borough. The interior upstairs scenes were filmed in a downtown Evans City home that later became the offices of a prominent local physician and family doctor (Allsop). This home is still standing on South Washington St. (locally called Mars-Evans City Road), between the intersecting streets of South Jackson and Van Buren. The cemetery chapel was under warrant for demolition; however, Gary R. Steiner led a successful effort to raise $50,000 to restore the building, and the chapel is currently undergoing renovations.[22][23]
The outdoor, indoor (downstairs) and basement scenes were filmed at a location northeast of Evans City, near a park. The basement door (external view) shown in the film was cut into a wall by the production team and led nowhere. As this house was scheduled for demolition, damage during filming was permitted. The site is now a turf farm.[24][25]
Props and special effects were fairly simple and limited by the budget. The blood, for example, was Bosco Chocolate Syrup drizzled over cast members' bodies.[26] Consumed flesh consisted of roasted ham and entrails donated by one of the actors, who also owned a chain of butcher shops. Costumes consisted of second-hand clothing from cast members and Goodwill. Zombie makeup varied during the film. Initially makeup was limited to white skin with blackened eyes; but as filming progressed mortician's wax was used to simulate wounds and decay to make the zombies more frightening. As filming was not linear, the piebald faces appear sporadically. Eastman supervised the special effects, wardrobe and makeup.[10] Filming took place between June and December 1967 under the working title Night of Anubis and later Night of the Flesh Eaters.[12][27] The small budget led Romero to shoot on 35 mm black-and-white film. The completed film ultimately benefited from the decision, as film historian Joseph Maddrey describes the black-and-white filming as "guerrilla-style", resembling "the unflinching authority of a wartime newsreel". Maddrey adds, it "seem[s] as much like a documentary on the loss of social stability as an exploitation film".[28]
Directing[edit]
Night of the Living Dead was the first feature-length film directed by George A. Romero. His initial work involved filming shorts for Pittsburgh public broadcaster WQED's children's series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[29][30] Romero's decision to direct Night of the Living Dead essentially launched his career as a horror director. He took the helm of the sequels as well as Season of the Witch (1972), The Crazies (1973), Martin (1977), Creepshow (1982) and The Dark Half (1993).[31] Critics saw the influence of the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s in Romero's directorial style. Stephen Paul Miller, for instance, witnessed "a revival of fifties schlock shock... and the army general's television discussion of military operations in the film echoes the often inevitable calling-in of the army in fifties horror films". Miller admits that "Night of the Living Dead takes greater relish in mocking these military operations through the general's pompous demeanor" and the government's inability to source the zombie epidemic or protect the citizenry.[32] Romero describes the mood he wished to establish: "The film opens with a situation that has already disintegrated to a point of little hope, and it moves progressively toward absolute despair and ultimate tragedy".[33] According to film historian Carl Royer, Romero "employs chiaroscuro (film noir style) lighting to emphasize humanity's nightmare alienation from itself".[34]
While some critics dismissed Romero's film because of the graphic scenes, writer R. H. W. Dillard claimed that the "open-eyed detailing" of taboo heightened the film's success. He asks, "What girl has not, at one time or another, wished to kill her mother? And Karen, in the film, offers a particularly vivid opportunity to commit the forbidden deed vicariously".[35] Romero featured social taboos as key themes, particularly cannibalism. Although zombie cannibals were inspired by Matheson's I Am Legend, film historian Robin Wood sees the flesh-eating scenes of Night of the Living Dead as a late-1960s critique of American capitalism. Wood asserts that the zombies represent capitalists, and "cannibalism represents the ultimate in possessiveness, hence the logical end of human relations under capitalism". He argues that the zombies' victims symbolized the repression of "the Other" in bourgeoisie American society, namely civil rights activists, feminists, homosexuals, and counterculturalists in general.[36]
Post-production[edit]
Members of Image Ten were involved in filming and post-production, participating in loading camera magazines, gaffing, constructing props, recording sounds and editing.[11] Production stills were shot and printed by Karl Hardman, who stated in an interview that a "number of cast members formed a production line in the darkroom for developing, washing and drying of the prints as I made the exposures. As I recall, I shot over 1,250 pictures during the production".[10] Upon completion of post-production, Image Ten found it difficult to secure a distributor willing to show the film with the gruesome scenes intact. Columbia and American International Pictures declined after requests to soften it and re-shoot the final scene were rejected by producers.[37] Romero admitted that "none of us wanted to do that. We couldn't imagine a happy ending. . . . Everyone want[ed] a Hollywood ending, but we stuck to our guns".[29] The Manhattan-based Walter Reade Organization agreed to show the film uncensored, but changed the title from Night of the Flesh Eaters to Night of the Living Dead because a film had already been produced under a similar title to the former.[27] While changing the title, the copyright notice was accidentally deleted from the early releases of the film.[38]
Karl Hardman told an interviewer that the music came from the extensive film music library of WRS Studio. Much of what was used in the film was purchased from Capitol Production Music, the production music library of Capitol Records, and an album of the soundtrack was released at one point. Stock music selections included works by WRS sound tech Richard Lococo, Philip Green, Geordie Hormel, Ib Glindemann, William Loose, John Seely, Jack Meakin and Spencer Moore.
The opening title music with the car on the road had been used in a 1961 episode of the TV series Ben Casey entitled "I Remember a Lemon Tree" (that piece of music accompanying each time that George C. Scott's character, a doctor who is secretly a drug addict, is injecting himself with morphine), and is also featured in an episode of Naked City entitled "Bullets Cost Too Much". Most of the music in the film had previously been used on the soundtrack for the science-fiction B-movie Teenagers from Outer Space (1959). The eerie musical piece during the tense scene in the film where Ben finds the rifle in the closet inside the farmhouse as the radio reports of mayhem play in the background can be heard in longer and more complete form during the opening credits and the beginning of The Devil's Messenger (1961) starring Lon Chaney, Jr. Another piece, accompanying Barbra's flight from the cemetery zombie, was taken from the score for The Hideous Sun Demon (1959). According to WRS, "We chose a selection of music for each of the various scenes and then George made the final selections. We then took those selections and augmented them electronically". Sound tech R. Lococo's choices worked well, as Film historian Sumiko Higashi believes that the music "signifies the nature of events that await".[39]
Sound effects were created by WRS Studio in Pittsburgh. "Sound engineer Richard Lococo recorded all of the live sound effects used in the film". Lococo recalled, "Of all the sound effects that we created, the one that still gives me goose bumps when I hear it, is Marilyn's screaming as [Helen Cooper] is killed by her daughter. Judy O'Dea's screaming is a close second. Both were looped in and out of echo over and over again".
Soundtrack[edit]

Night of the Living Dead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Film score by Various Artists

Released
1982
Genre
Soundtrack
Label
Varèse Sarabande
Producer
Scot W. Holton
Compiler
Scot Holton
A soundtrack album featuring music and dialogue cues from the film was compiled and released on LP by Varèse Sarabande in 1982; it has never been reissued on CD. In 2008, recording group 400 Lonely Things released the album Tonight of the Living Dead, "an instrumental album composed entirely of ambient music and sound effects sampled from Romero's 1968 horror classic".[40] In 2010, the record company Zero Day Releasing released the CD They Won't Stay Dead!: Music from the soundtrack of Night of the Living Dead. It features all-new digitally restored audio from original library LPs and reels.

[show]Side one









   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

[show]Side two









   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Controversy[edit]
Night of the Living Dead premiered on October 1, 1968 at the Fulton Theater in Pittsburgh.[41] Nationally, it was shown as a Saturday afternoon matinée – as was typical for horror films at the time – and attracted an audience consisting of pre-teens and adolescents.[42][43] The MPAA film rating system was not in place until November 1968, so even young children were not prohibited from purchasing tickets. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times chided theater owners and parents who allowed children access to the film with such potent content for a horror film they were entirely unprepared for. "I don't think the younger kids really knew what hit them," he said. "They were used to going to movies, sure, and they'd seen some horror movies before, sure, but this was something else." According to Ebert, the film affected the audience immediately:[43]

The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying... It's hard to remember what sort of effect this movie might have had on you when you were six or seven. But try to remember. At that age, kids take the events on the screen seriously, and they identify fiercely with the hero. When the hero is killed, that's not an unhappy ending but a tragic one: Nobody got out alive. It's just over, that's all.
Response from Variety after the initial release reflects the outrage generated by Romero's film: "Until the Supreme Court establishes clear-cut guidelines for the pornography of violence, Night of the Living Dead will serve nicely as an outer-limit definition by example. In [a] mere 90 minutes this horror film (pun intended) casts serious aspersions on the integrity and social responsibility of its Pittsburgh-based makers, distributor Walter Reade, the film industry as a whole and [exhibitors] who book [the picture], as well as raising doubts about the future of the regional cinema movement and about the moral health of film goers who cheerfully opt for this unrelieved orgy of sadism..."[44]
One commentator asserts that the film garnered little attention from critics, "except to provoke argument about censoring its grisly scenes".[45]
Reception[edit]
Despite the controversy, five years after the premiere Paul McCullough of Take One observed that Night of the Living Dead was the "most profitable horror film ever [...] produced outside the walls of a major studio".[46] The film had earned between $12 and $15 million at the American box office after a decade. It was translated into more than 25 languages and released across Europe, Canada and Australia.[45] Night of the Living Dead grossed $30 million internationally, and the Wall Street Journal reported that it was the top grossing film in Europe in 1969.[47][48]
More than 40 years after its release, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives positive reviews; review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively collected 52 reviews and gave Night of the Living Dead a 96% "Certified Fresh",[49] and it is regarded by many as one of the best films of 1968.[50][51][52] In 2008, the film was ranked by Empire magazine No. 397 of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[53] The New York Times also placed the film on their Best 1000 Movies Ever list.[54] In January 2010, Total Film included the film on its list of The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.[55] Rolling Stone magazine named Night of the Living Dead one of The 100 Maverick Movies in the Last 100 Years.[56] Reader's digest found it to be the 12th scariest movie of all time.[57]
Night of the Living Dead was also awarded two distinguished honors decades after its debut. The Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry in 1999 with other films deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".[2][58] In 2001, the film was ranked No. 93 by the American Film Institute on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills list, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies.[59] The zombies in the picture were also a candidate for AFI's AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains, in the villains category, but failed to make the official list.[60] The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 5th scariest film ever made.[61] The film also ranked No. 9 on Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.[62]
Critical response[edit]
 Reviewers disliked the film's gory special effects. Variety labeled Night of the Living Dead an "unrelieved orgy of sadism" and questioned the "integrity and social responsibility of its Pittsburgh-based makers".[63] The New York Times critic Vincent Canby referred to the film as a "junk movie" as well as "spare, uncluttered, but really silly".[64]
Some reviewers cited the film as groundbreaking. Pauline Kael called the film "one of the most gruesomely terrifying movies ever made – and when you leave the theatre you may wish you could forget the whole horrible experience. . . . The film's grainy, banal seriousness works for it – gives it a crude realism".[65] A Film Daily critic commented, "This is a pearl of a horror picture that exhibits all the earmarks of a sleeper."[66] While Roger Ebert criticized the matinée screening, he admitted that he "admires the movie itself".[43] Critic Rex Reed wrote, "If you want to see what turns a B movie into a classic [...] don't miss Night of the Living Dead. It is unthinkable for anyone seriously interested in horror movies not to see it."[67]



 Some feminist writers have criticized the film for portraying Barbra, the chief female character, as catatonic and helpless.
Since the release, some critics and film historians have seen Night of the Living Dead as a subversive film that critiques 1960s American society, international Cold War politics and domestic racism. Elliot Stein of The Village Voice saw the film as an ardent critique of American involvement in Vietnam, arguing that it "was not set in Transylvania, but Pennsylvania – this was Middle America at war, and the zombie carnage seemed a grotesque echo of the conflict then raging in Vietnam".[68] Film historian Sumiko Higashi concurs, arguing that Night of the Living Dead was a film about the horrors of the Vietnam era. While she admits that "there are no Vietnamese in Night of the Living Dead, [...] they constitute an absent presence whose significance can be understood if narrative is construed". She points to aspects of the Vietnam War paralleled in the film: grainy black-and-white newsreels, search and destroy operations, helicopters, and graphic carnage.[69]
While George Romero denies he hired Duane Jones simply because he was black, reviewer Mark Deming notes that "the grim fate of Duane Jones, the sole heroic figure and only African-American, had added resonance with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X fresh in the minds of most Americans".[5][70] Stein adds, "In this first-ever subversive horror movie, the resourceful black hero survives the zombies only to be killed by a redneck posse".[68] The deaths of Ben, Barbra and the supporting cast offered audiences an uncomfortable, nihilistic glimpse unusual for the genre.[71]
Other prevalent themes included "disillusionment with government and patriarchal nuclear family"[68] and "the flaws inherent in the media, local and federal government agencies, and the entire mechanism of civil defense".[72] Film historian Linda Badley explains that the film was so horrifying because the monsters were not creatures from outer space or some exotic environment, "They're us".[73] Romero confessed that the film was designed to reflect the tensions of the time: "It was 1968, man. Everybody had a 'message'. The anger and attitude and all that's there is just because it was the Sixties. We lived at the farmhouse, so we were always into raps about the implication and the meaning, so some of that crept in".[5]
Other commentators, most notably Chris Iacovelli, assert that this is a film classic and should be praised for its ground-breaking and thought-provoking approach to bringing the discussion of humanity’s disregard and aversion to others outside their class/caste/ethnicity from the halls of academia and into the homes of mainstream America.[citation needed]
Influence[edit]
See also: Zombie (fictional)



 Living dead Karen Cooper eating her father's corpse.
Romero revolutionized the horror film genre with Night of the Living Dead; according to Almar Haflidason of the BBC, the film represented "a new dawn in horror film-making".[74] The film has also effectively redefined the use of the term "zombie". While the word "zombie" itself is never used - the word used in the film is ghoul - Romero's film introduced the theme of zombies as reanimated, flesh-eating cannibals.[41][75][76] Early zombie films like Victor Halperin's White Zombie (1932) and Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie (1943) concerned living people enslaved by a Voodoo witch doctor, not flesh-eating, decaying, reanimated bodies; many were set in the Caribbean.
The film and its successors spawned countless imitators, in cinema, television and video gaming, that borrowed elements instituted by Romero.[3] Night of the Living Dead ushered in the splatter film subgenre. As one film historian points out, horror prior to Romero's film had mostly involved rubber masks and costumes, cardboard sets, or mysterious figures lurking in the shadows. They were set in locations far removed from rural and suburban America.[77] Romero revealed the power behind exploitation and setting horror in ordinary, unexceptional locations and offered a template for making an "effective and lucrative" film on a "minuscule budget".[78] Slasher films of the 1970s and 80s such as John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980), and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) "owe much to the original Night of the Living Dead", according to author Barry Keith Grant.[79]
Revisions[edit]



 The film has been subject to numerous revisions. This screenshot is from the 2004 colorized version.
The first revisions of Night of the Living Dead involved colorization by home video distributors. Hal Roach Studios released a colorized version in 1986 that featured ghouls with pale green skin.[80] Another colorized version appeared in 1997 from Anchor Bay Entertainment with grey-skinned zombies.[81] In 2004, Legend Films produced a new colorized version. Technology critic Gary W. Tooze wrote that "The colorization is damn impressive", but noticed the print used was not as sharp as other releases of the film.[82] In 2009, Legend Films coproduced a colorized 3D version of the film with PassmoreLab, a company that converts 2-D film into 3-D format.[83] The film was theatrically released on October 14, 2010.[84] According to Legend Films founder Barry Sandrew, Night of the Living Dead is the first entirely live action 2-D film to be converted to 3-D.[85][86]
In 1999, co-writer John A. Russo released a modified version called Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition.[87] He filmed additional scenes and recorded a revised soundtrack composed by Scott Vladimir Licina. In an interview with Fangoria magazine, Russo explained that he wanted to "give the movie a more modern pace".[88] Russo took liberties with the original script. The additions are neither clearly identified nor even listed. However, Entertainment Weekly reported "no bad blood" between Russo and Romero. The magazine quoted Romero as saying, "I didn't want to touch Night of the Living Dead".[89] Critics panned the revised film, notably Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News. Knowles promised to permanently ban anyone from his publication who offered positive criticism of the film.[90] A sequel called Children of the Living Dead followed in 2001.[91]
A collaborative animated project known as Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated was screened at several film festivals[92][93][94][95] and was released onto DVD on July 27, 2010 by Wild Eye Releasing.[96][citation needed][97][98] This project aims to "reanimate" the 1968 film by replacing Romero's celluloid images with animation done in a wide variety of styles by artists from around the world, laid over the original audio from Romero's version.[99] Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated premiered theatrically on October 10, 2009 in Ramsey, New Jersey[100] at the Zombie Encounter and Film Festival.[101] Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated was nominated in the category of Best Independent Production (film, documentary or short) for the 8th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, but lost to American Scary, a documentary on television horror movie hosts.[102]
In 2009, Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame released a single-person "riff" on the movie, providing humorous commentary through the course of the movie. Later a revision was made featuring Nelson along with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy who had previously worked with Nelson on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The movie is available as downloadable video file or as a DVD through the group's website RiffTrax which is under the influence of Legend Films.[103]
Film series[edit]
Main article: Living Dead
Romero's Dead films[edit]
Main article: Night of the Living Dead (film series)
Night of the Living Dead is the first of six ...of the Dead films directed by George Romero. Following the 1968 film, Romero released Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. Each film traces the evolution of the living dead epidemic in the United States and humanity's desperate attempts to cope with it. As in Night of the Living Dead, Romero peppered the other films in the series with critiques specific to the periods in which they were released.
Return of the Living Dead series[edit]
Main article: Return of the Living Dead (film series)
The same year Day of the Dead premiered, Night of the Living Dead co-writer John Russo released a film titled The Return of the Living Dead that offers an alternate continuity to the original film than Dawn of the Dead, but acted more as a parody or satire and is not considered a sequel to the original 1968 film. Russo's film spawned four sequels. Return of the Living Dead sparked a legal battle with Romero, who believed Russo marketed his film in direct competition with Day of the Dead as a sequel to the original film. In the case Dawn Associates v. Links, Romero accused Russo of "appropriat[ing] part of the title of the prior work", plagiarizing Dawn of the Dead's advertising slogan ("When there is no more room in hell [...] the dead will walk the earth"), and copying stills from the original 1968 film. Romero was ultimately granted a restraining order that forced Russo to cease his advertising campaign. Russo, however, was allowed to retain his title.[104]
Origins[edit]
George Cameron Romero, the son of director George A. Romero, is currently in pre-production on Origins, which will serve as a prequel to the original film.[105] Cameron Romero co-wrote along with Darrin Reed and Bryce C. Campbell.[106] The film will be produced by Ted Field and Aldo LaPietra for Radar Pictures.[107]
Remakes and other related films[edit]
Night of the Living Dead has been remade twice. The first remake, debuting in 1990, was directed by special effects artist Tom Savini. It was based on the original screenplay, but included more gore and a revised plot that portrayed Barbra[108] (Patricia Tallman) as a capable and active heroine. Tony Todd played the role of Ben. Film historian Barry Grant saw the new Barbra as a corrective on the part of Romero. He suggests that the character was made stronger to rectify the depiction of female characters in the original film.[109] The second remake was in 3-D and released in September 2006 under the title Night of the Living Dead 3D, directed by Jeff Broadstreet. Unlike Savini's 1990 film, Broadstreet's project was not affiliated with Romero.[110] Broadstreet's film was followed in 2012 by the prequel Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation.[111]
On September 15, 2009, it was announced that Simon West planned a 3D retelling of the original movie, to be titled Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D.[112][113] The movie is being written and directed by Zebediah de Soto. The cast includes Tony Todd as Ben, Danielle Harris as Barbra, Joseph Pilato as Harry Cooper, Alona Tal as Helen Cooper, Bill Moseley as Johnny, Tom Sizemore as Chief McClellan and newcomers Erin Braswell as Judy and Michael Diskint as Tom.[114][115][116][117][118][119]
Director Doug Schulze's 2011 film Mimesis (a.k.a. Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead) relates the story of a group of horror film fans who become involved in a "real-life" version of the 1968 film.[120][121]
Due to the film's perceived public domain status, several independent film companies have also done remakes of the film.
Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (2012) - British director James Plumb made this remake set in Wales.[122]
A Night of the Living Dead (2014) - Shattered Images Films and Cullen Park Productions released a remake with new twists and characters, written and directed by Chad Zuver.[123]
Night of the Living Dead: Genesis (2015) - Director Matt Cloude initially announced this remake project in 2011.[124] The film has undergone several transitions in the ensuing years. It brings back several alumni of Romero's initial trilogy, including Judith O'Dea as the Barbra character. The film is currently still in production.
Copyright status[edit]
Night of the Living Dead entered the public domain because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints. In 1968, United States copyright law required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright.[125] Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title.[38][126]
A limited number of theatrical release prints were distributed by Walter Reade and these copies could have been shelved if Romero and Image Ten had elected to do so. This would have given Romero the opportunity to rename the film, do a few brief "creative" edits, and then obtain a new copyright. But this was never done and the theatrical releases continued to be distributed until eventually reprinted and distributed by home video distributors.
Because of the public domain status, the film is sold on home video by many distributors. As of 2012, the Amazon.com lists copies of Night of the Living Dead numbering 52 on VHS, 181 on DVD, and 9 on Blu-ray.[127] The original film is available to view or download free on Internet sites, such as Internet Archive, Hulu, and YouTube.[128][129][130] As of February 11, 2015, it is the Internet Archive's most-downloaded film, with over two million downloads.[131]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Film portal
Portal icon Horror fiction portal
Living Dead series
List of films considered the best
List of films in the public domain in the United States

References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Mark Hughes (October 30, 2013). "The Top Ten Best Low-Budget Horror Movies of All Time". Forbes. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
2.^ Jump up to: a b "U.S. film registry adds 25 new titles", November 16, 1999, at CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c J.C. Maçek III (June 15, 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
4.Jump up ^ Kevin Thomas, review of Night of the Living Dead, Los Angeles Times, January 10, 1969, reprinted in The A-List: The National Society of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films, ed. Jay Carr (Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2002), p. 199, ISBN 978-0-306-81096-1 .
5.^ Jump up to: a b c George A. Romero, quoted in Jones, Rough Guide to Horror Movies, p. 118.
6.Jump up ^ Fraser, C. Gerald (July 28, 1988). "Duane L. Jones, 51, Actor and Director of Stage Works, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
7.Jump up ^ Duane Jones interview, Bonus Materials, Night of the Living Dead, Millennium Edition (DVD, Elite Entertainment, 2002).
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Judith O'Dea interview, in Collum, Assault of the Killer B's, p. 4.
9.Jump up ^ George A. Romero interview, quoted at Homepage of the Dead. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman interview, quoted at Homepage of the Dead. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c George A. Romero, Preface to John Russo, The Complete Night of the Living Dead Filmbook (Pittsburgh: Imagine, Inc., 1985), pp. 6–7, ISBN 978-0-911137-03-3 .
12.^ Jump up to: a b Scrapbook, Special Features, Night of the Living Dead, Millennium Edition (DVD, Elite Entertainment, 2002).
13.Jump up ^ John A. Russo, The Complete Night of the Living Dead book (Pittsburgh: Imagine, Inc., 1985), ISBN 978-0-911137-03-3 , quoted in "Treatment/Original Script", Bonus Materials, Night of the Living Dead, Millennium Edition (DVD, Elite Entertainment, 2002), ASIN B00005Y6Y2.
14.Jump up ^ George A. Romero interview, Forbidden Weekend, BBC, February 2, 1997.
15.Jump up ^ Richard Matheson, I Am Legend (1954; New York: Orb Books, 1995), ISBN 978-0-312-86504-7 .
16.Jump up ^ Marco Lanzagorta, review of Night of the Living Dead, Millennium Edition DVD, at Pop Matters. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
17.Jump up ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead" — Night of the Living Dead DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
18.Jump up ^ Interview: George A. Romero On Diary of the Dead Mariana McConnell, Cinema Blend, January 14, 2008
19.Jump up ^ Richard Matheson interview, in Tom Weaver, Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999), p. 307, ISBN 978-0-7864-0755-2.
20.Jump up ^ Clark Collis, An Author You Can't Refuse, Entertainment Weekly, December 7, 2007.
21.Jump up ^ The Last Man on Earth review by Danél Griffin, Film as Art: Danél Griffin's Guide to Cinema
22.Jump up ^ "Save the Evans City Cemetery Chapel". Retrieved October 4, 2013.
23.Jump up ^ "Zombie fans celebrate iconic 'Night of the Living Dead'". Retrieved October 4, 2013.
24.Jump up ^ "Evans Cemetery: Then and Now" at Homepage of the Dead. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
25.Jump up ^ Alan Jones, mistakenly cites the Allegheny Cemetery on Butler Street in Pittsburgh as the filming location. Alan Jones, The Rough Guide to Horror Movies (New York: Rough Guides, 2005), p. 118, ISBN 978-1-84353-521-8 .
26.Jump up ^ "The Filming" of Night of the Living Dead at Homepage of the Dead. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
27.^ Jump up to: a b "Frightful Facts" at House of Horrors. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
28.Jump up ^ Joseph Maddrey, Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004), p. 51, ISBN 978-0-7864-1860-2 .
29.^ Jump up to: a b George A. Romero interview, quoted at "George A. Romero Bio", Special Features, Dawn of the Dead, Special Divimax Edition (DVD, Anchor Bay, 2004), ASIN B0001611DI.
30.Jump up ^ George A. Romero (January 28, 2004). "Bloody Diary: Part 3". diamonddead.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2006.
31.Jump up ^ George A. Romero biography at HorrorDirectors.com. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
32.Jump up ^ Stephen Paul Miller, The Seventies Now: Culture as Surveillance (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999), p. 81, ISBN 978-0-8223-2166-8 .
33.Jump up ^ George A. Romero, quoted in Royer, The Spectacle Of Isolation, p. 15.
34.Jump up ^ Carl Royer, The Spectacle of Isolation in Horror Films: Dark Parades Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth Press, (2005), p. 15, ISBN 978-0-7890-2264-6 .
35.Jump up ^ R. H. W. Dillard, "Night of the Living Dead: It's Not Like Just a Wind That's Passing Through", in American Horrors: Essays on the Modern American Horror Film, ed. Gregory A. Waller (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), p. 15, ISBN 978-0-252-01448-2 .
36.Jump up ^ Robin Wood, "An Introduction to the American Horror Film", in Movies and Methods, Vol. II, ed. Bill Nichols (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), p. 213, ISBN 978-0-520-05409-7 .
37.Jump up ^ Jason Paul Collum, Assault of the Killer B's: Interviews with 20 Cult Film Actresses (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004), p. 4, ISBN 978-0-7864-1818-3.
38.^ Jump up to: a b Boluk, Stephanie; Lenz, Wylie (June 16, 2011). "Introduction: Generation Z, the Age of Apocalypse". In Boluk, Stephanie; Lenz, Wylie. Generation Zombie: Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture. Jefferson, North Carolina, US: McFarland & Company. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7864-6140-0. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
39.Jump up ^ Sumiko Higashi, "Night of the Living Dead: A Horror Film about the Horrors of the Vietnam Era", in From Hanoi to Hollywood
40.Jump up ^ Paul Corupe, "They're Coming to Remix You, Barbra", Rue Morgue (No. 92, August 2009), p. 63
41.^ Jump up to: a b Collum, Assault of the Killer B's, p. 3.
42.Jump up ^ King, Stephen (1983). Danse Macabre. New York: Berkley Books. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-0-425-10433-0.
43.^ Jump up to: a b c Ebert, Roger (January 5, 1969). "Night of the Living Dead". Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago). Retrieved 2015-03-20.
44.Jump up ^ Russel, Jamie (2008). Book of the Dead. Surry England: FAB press ltd. p. 65. ISBN 1-903254-33-7.
45.^ Jump up to: a b Higashi, "Night of the Living Dead", p. 175.
46.Jump up ^ Paul McCullough, "A Pittsburgh Horror Story", Take One 4 (No. 6, July–August 1973), p. 8.
47.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead at VH1.com. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
48.Jump up ^ Wall Street Journal (New York), quoted in Dillard, "Night of the Living Dead", p. 15.
49.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Dead". Flixster Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
50.Jump up ^ "Greatest Films of 1968". Filmsite.org. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
51.Jump up ^ "The Best Movies of 1968 by Rank". Films101.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
52.Jump up ^ "Most Popular Feature Films Released in 1968". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
53.Jump up ^ "Empire Features". Empire. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
54.Jump up ^ Film, The (April 29, 2003). "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – Reviews – Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
55.Jump up ^ "Total Film features: 100 Greatest Movies of All Time". Total Film. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
56.Jump up ^ "100 Maverick Movies in the Last 100 Years". Rolling Stone. Published by AMC Filmsite.org. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
57.Jump up ^ http://www.rd.com/slideshows/the-31-scariest-movies/#slideshow=slide12
58.Jump up ^ "Librarian of Congress Names 25 More Films to National Film Registry", November 16, 1999, at Library of Congress. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
59.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills, at American Film Institute. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
60.Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains: The 400 Nominated Characters" (PDF). afi.com. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
61.Jump up ^ "Chicago Critics' Scariest Films". AltFilmGuide.com. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
62.Jump up ^ "Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
63.Jump up ^ Variety, review of Night of the Living Dead, October 15, 1968, quoted in Higashi, "Night of the Living Dead", p. 184.
64.Jump up ^ Vincent Canby, "Getting Beyond Myra and The Valley of the Junk", New York Times, July 5, 1970, p. 49.
65.Jump up ^ Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies (Henry Holt and Company, 1991), ISBN 978-0-8050-1367-2 .
66.Jump up ^ Film Daily, review of Night of the Living Dead, as quoted in Higashi, "Night of the Living Dead", p. 175.
67.Jump up ^ Rex Reed, quoted at House of Horrors. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
68.^ Jump up to: a b c Elliot Stein, "The Dead Zones: 'George A. Romero' at the American Museum of the Moving Image", The Village Voice (New York), January 7, 2003. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
69.Jump up ^ Higashi, "Night of the Living Dead", p. 181.
70.Jump up ^ Mark Deming, review of Night of the Living Dead, at Allmovie. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
71.Jump up ^ Jones, Rough Guide to Horror, pp. 117–118.
72.Jump up ^ Gregory A. Waller, Introduction to American Horrors, p. 4.
73.Jump up ^ Linda Badley, Film, Horror, and the Body Fantastic (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995), p. 25, ISBN 978-0-313-27523-4 .
74.Jump up ^ Almar Haflidason, review of Night of the Living Dead, March 20, 2001, at BBC. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
75.Jump up ^ Andrew Tudor, Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie (Oxford, Eng.: Blackwell Publishing, 1989), p. 101, ISBN 978-0-631-16992-5 .
76.Jump up ^ W. Scott Poole, Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting (Waco, Texas: Baylor, 2011) pp. 194–195, ISBN 978-1-60258-314-6 .
77.Jump up ^ Jones, Rough Guide to Horror, p. 117.
78.Jump up ^ Adam Rockoff, Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978–1986 (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2002), p.35, ISBN 978-0-7864-1227-3.
79.Jump up ^ Grant, "Taking Back the Night of the Living Dead", p. 201.
80.Jump up ^ "Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) – Night of the Living Dead". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
81.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead (VHS, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 1997), ASIN 6301231864.
82.Jump up ^ Tooze, Gary W. "Review of Night of the Living Dead". DVD Beaver. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
83.Jump up ^ "Johnny Ramone Tribute Includes Night of the Living Dead in 3D". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
84.Jump up ^ "Zombie Classic "Night of the Living Dead, Now in 3D!" Begins Its First Theatrical Run". PRWeb (Vocus). October 17, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
85.Jump up ^ Legend Films, Inc. (December 23, 2008). ""Night of the Living Dead" to Be Released in Color and 3D". Business Wire. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
86.Jump up ^ "Trailer for 3D 'Night of the Living Dead' Re-Release". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
87.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition (DVD, 1999), ASIN B00000JXVO.
88.Jump up ^ John A. Russo interview, Fangoria, quoted at Homepage of the Dead.
89.Jump up ^ Entertainment Weekly, quoted at Homepage of the Dead. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
90.Jump up ^ Harry Knowles, review of Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, at Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
91.Jump up ^ Neil Fawcett (January 8, 2002). "Tor Ramsey Email - Director of Children of the Living Dead". homepageofthedead.com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
92.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Dead Re-animated FREE New Jersey Screening". HorrorMovies.ca. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
93.Jump up ^ "Horror Movie Reviews and Commentary". No Room in Hell. December 6, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
94.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Dead Reanimated". Metro Cinema. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
95.Jump up ^ "Tempe Film: Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated on Thursday 1/28". Events.getoutaz.com. January 28, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
96.Jump up ^ Coming Soon
97.Jump up ^ Garth, February 20, 2010 1:03 am. "Reviews: Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated Review". Twitchfilm.net. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
98.Jump up ^ "Interview with Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated's Mike Schneider". ShootForTheHead.com. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
99.Jump up ^ Official NOTLD:Reanimated Site-- http://www.notldr.com/ retrieved October 16, 2009
100.Jump up ^ Bryan White (September 24, 2009). "Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated East Coast Premier!". Cinema-suicide.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
101.Jump up ^ "Zombie Encounter & Film Festival – October 10, 2009". Science Fiction Society of Northern New Jersey. September 25, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
102.Jump up ^ "Rondo Hatton Awards 2009 Winners". Rondoaward.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
103.Jump up ^ "DVD Review: RiffTrax - Night of the Living Dead". Blogcritics.org. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
104.Jump up ^ Patrick J. Flinn, Handbook of Intellectual Property Claims and Remedies: 2004 Supplement (New York: Aspen Publishers, 1999), pp. 24–25, ISBN 978-0-7355-1125-5 .
105.Jump up ^ "'Night of the Living Dead' Prequel, 'Origins,' Gains New Producer". bloody-disgusting.com. January 10, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
106.Jump up ^ Romero's Origins
107.Jump up ^ "'Night of the Living Dead' Origins Movie Gains Momentum with Radar Pictures". Variety. January 10, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
108.Jump up ^ The character's name is spelled Barbara in the remake, not Barbra.
109.Jump up ^ Barry Keith Grant, "Taking Back the Night of the Living Dead: George Romero, Feminism and the Horror Film" , in The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film, ed. Barry K. Grant (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996), ISBN 978-0-292-72794-6 .
110.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead 3-D official site. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
111.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation - New Stills and L.A. Premiere Details". Dreadcentral.com. January 10, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
112.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Dead in 3D Again?". Dreadcentral.com. September 16, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
113.Jump up ^ "'Night of the Living Dead' Origin Story Told in 3D CGI". Bloody-disgusting.com. September 16, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
114.Jump up ^ "Terror Tweets: NOTLD: Origins Casting News and Area 51 Update". Dreadcentral.com. September 25, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
115.Jump up ^ "Casting for NOTLD: Origins Coming Together". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
116.Jump up ^ "Danielle Harris to Topline 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins'". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
117.Jump up ^ Submitted by dorkydude on Tue, October 20, 2009 – 3:54 pm. (October 20, 2009). "Exclusive: First Look at Night of the Living Dead: Origins". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
118.Jump up ^ "BD Horror News – Awesome First Look at 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins'". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
119.Jump up ^ "Exclusive: First Look at Tony Todd as Ben – Night of the Living Dead: Origins | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
120.Jump up ^ "Director Talks Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead". Shocktillyoudrop.com. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
121.Jump up ^ ""MIMESIS": Night of Living the Dead". Fangoria.com. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
122.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead at the Internet Movie Database
123.Jump up ^ "Night of the Living Dead getting another remake". HorrorSociety.com. April 18, 2014.
124.Jump up ^ "Another Night of the Living Dead Remake in 2012". horror-movies.ca. April 8, 2011.
125.Jump up ^ U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 92, Copyright Law of the United States of America, Chapter 4: Copyright Notice, Deposit, and Registration, Omission of notice on certain copies and phonorecords.
126.Jump up ^ United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Technology and the Law, Legal Issues that Arise when Color is Added to Films Originally Produced, Sold and Distributed in Black and White (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1988), p. 83.
127.Jump up ^ Merchandise for Night of the Living Dead at the Amazon.com. Retrieved January 28, 2012. Some incorrect products may be counted as such.
128.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead at Internet Archive. Retrieved June 24, 2006.
129.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead at Video on YouTube. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
130.Jump up ^ Night of the Living Dead at Hulu. January 28, 2012.
131.Jump up ^ "Most Downloaded Items", Internet Archive, 2015. Web.
Further reading[edit]
Becker, Matt. "A Point of Little Hope: Hippie Horror Films and the Politics of Ambivalence". The Velvet Light Trap (No. 57, Spring 2006): pp. 42–59.
Carroll, Noël. "The Nature of Horror". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 46 (No. 1, Autumn 1987): pp. 51–59.
Crane, Jonathan Lake. Terror and Everyday Life: Singular Moments in the History of the Horror Film. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8039-5849-4.
Dinello, Daniel. Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-292-70986-7.
Harper, Stephen. "Night of the Living Dead: Reappraising an Undead Classic". Bright Lights Film Journal (Issue 50, November 2005): online.
Heffernan, Kevin. Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953–1968. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8223-3215-2 .
Heffernan, Kevin. "Inner-City Exhibition and the Genre Film: Distributing Night of the Living Dead (1968)". Cinema Journal 41 (No. 3, Spring 2002): pp. 59–77.
Jancovich, Mark, Antonio Lazaro Reboll, Julian Stringer, and Andy Willis, eds. Defining Cult Movies: The Cultural Politics of Oppositional Taste. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7190-6631-3
Lowenstein, Adam. Shocking Representation: Historical Trauma, National Cinema, and the Modern Horror Film. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-231-13246-6.
Maye, Harun. "Rewriting the Dead: The Tension between Nostalgia and Perversion in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968)". In: Nostalgia or Perversion? Gothic Rewriting from the Eighteenth Century until the Present Day. Ed. Isabella van Elferen. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2007. ISBN 978-1-84718-247-0.
Moreman, Christopher M. "A Modern Meditation on Death: Identifying Buddhist Teachings in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead," Contemporary Buddhism 9 (No. 2, 2008): pp. 151–165.
Newman, Robert. "The Haunting of 1968". South Central Review 16 (No. 4, Winter 1999): pp. 53–61.
Paffenroth, Kim. Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth. Waco, Texas: Baylor, 2006. ISBN 978-1-932792-65-2.
Pharr, Mary. "Greek Gifts: Vision and Revision in Two Versions of Night of the Living Dead". In Trajectories of the Fantastic. Ed. Michael A. Morrison. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-313-29646-8.
Pinedo, Isabel Cristina. Recreational Terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-7914-3441-3.
Russell, Jamie. Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema. Surrey: Fab Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-903254-33-2.
Shapiro, Jerome F. Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film. London: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 978-0-415-93660-6.
Wood, Robin. Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-231-05777-6.
Young, Lola. Fear of the Dark: 'Race', Gender and Sexuality in the Cinema. London: Routledge, 1996. ISBN 978-0-415-09709-3.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Night of the Living Dead.
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead in HD on YouTube
Night of the Living Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Night of the Living Dead is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Night of the Living Dead at AllMovie
Night of the Living Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Night of the Living Dead musical adaptation
Homepage of the Dead
A Night of the Living Dead 2014 IMDB


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Films directed by George A. Romero






















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v ·
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Living Dead films


Romero's Dead series
Night of the Living Dead (1968) ·
 Dawn of the Dead (1978) ·
 Day of the Dead (1985) ·
 Land of the Dead (2005) ·
 Diary of the Dead (2007) ·
 Survival of the Dead (2009)
 

Dead series remakes
Night of the Living Dead (1990) ·
 Dawn of the Dead (2004) ·
 Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006) ·
 Day of the Dead (2008)
 

Russo's Dead series
Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition (1999)
 

Return of the Living Dead series
The Return of the Living Dead (1985) ·
 Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) ·
 Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) ·
 Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (2005) ·
 Return of the Living Dead: Rave from the Grave (2005)
 

Unofficial sequels
Zombi series  (Zombi 2 (1979) ·
 Zombi 3 (1988) ·
 Zombi 4: After Death (1989) ·
 Zombi 5: Killing Birds (1988) ·
 Zombie 6: Monster Hunter (1981) ·
 Zombie 7 (1980))
   ·
 Children of the Living Dead (2001) ·
 Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005) ·
 Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane (2007) ·
 Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation (2012) ·
 Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D (2014)
 

Parodies
Night of the Living Bread (1990) ·
 Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) ·
 Night of the Living Carrots (2011)
 

Homages
Flesheater (1988) ·
 Shaun of the Dead (2004) ·
 Fido (2006) ·
 Dance of the Dead (2008) ·
 Zone of the Dead (2009) ·
 Juan of the Dead (2011)
 

Related topics
Return of the Living Dead (1977) ·
 Document of the Dead (1985) ·
 Escape of the Living Dead (2005) ·
 Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green (2005) ·
 City of the Dead (Cancelled) ·
 Empire of the Dead (2014– )
 

  


Categories: 1968 films
English-language films
1968 horror films
1960s science fiction films
American independent films
American science fiction horror films
Black-and-white films
Directorial debut films
Films directed by George A. Romero
Films set in Pennsylvania
Films set in abandoned houses
Films shot in Pennsylvania
New Line Cinema films
Night of the Living Dead (film series)
United States National Film Registry films
Varèse Sarabande soundtracks
Zombie films
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Night of the Living Dead

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Night of the Living Dead (disambiguation).

Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead affiche.jpg
Cinematic Release Poster

Directed by
George A. Romero
Produced by
Karl Hardman
Russell Streiner
Written by
George A. Romero
John A. Russo
Starring
Duane Jones
Judith O'Dea
Karl Hardman
Marilyn Eastman
Keith Wayne
Judith Ridley
Bill Cardille
Kyra Schon

Music by
William Loose
Fred Steiner
 (stock recording)
Cinematography
George A. Romero
Edited by
George A. Romero
 John A. Russo

Production
 company

Image Ten
 Laurel Group
 Market Square Productions

Distributed by
The Walter Reade Organization

Release dates

October 1, 1968


Running time
 96 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$114,000[1]
Box office
$30 million[1]


File:Night of the Living Dead (1968 film).webm
Play media


Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead (a.k.a. Night of the Flesh Eaters; not to be confused with the 2008 movie Night of the Flesh Eaters directed and written by J.R. McGarrity) is a 1968 American independent zombie horror film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a US$114,000 budget. The film became a financial success, grossing $12 million domestically and $18 million internationally. It has been a cult classic ever since. Night of the Living Dead was heavily criticized at its release for its explicit gore, but eventually garnered critical acclaim and has been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as a film deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."[2][3]
The story follows characters Ben (Duane Jones), Barbra (Judith O'Dea), and five others trapped in a rural farmhouse in Pennsylvania which is attacked by unnamed "living dead" monsters, drawing on earlier depictions in popular culture of zombies. Night of the Living Dead was the basis of five subsequent Living Dead films (1978–2010) also directed by Romero, and has inspired remakes.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development and pre-production
3.2 Writing
3.3 Filming 3.3.1 Principal photography
3.3.2 Directing
3.4 Post-production
3.5 Soundtrack
4 Controversy
5 Reception 5.1 Critical response
5.2 Influence
6 Revisions
7 Film series 7.1 Romero's Dead films
7.2 Return of the Living Dead series
7.3 Origins
7.4 Remakes and other related films
8 Copyright status
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links

Plot summary[edit]
Barbra (Judith O'Dea) and Johnny Blair (Russell Streiner) drive to rural Pennsylvania for an annual visit to their father's grave, at their mother's request. Noticing Barbra's discomfort, Johnny teases, "They're coming to get you, Barbra", before she is attacked by a strange man (Bill Hinzman). Johnny tries to rescue his sister, but breaks his neck on a gravestone, killing himself. Barbra flees by car but crashes into a tree. With the stranger in pursuit, she escapes on foot, and later arrives at a farmhouse where she discovers a woman's mangled corpse. Running out of the house, she is confronted by strange menacing figures like the man in the graveyard. Ben (Duane Jones) takes her into the house, where Barbra slowly descends into shock and insanity as Ben drives the monsters from the house and seals the doors and windows.



 The zombies swarm around the house, searching for living human flesh.
Ben and Barbra are unaware that the farmhouse has a cellar, housing an angry married couple Harry (Karl Hardman) and Helen Cooper (Marilyn Eastman) and their daughter Karen (Kyra Schon), who sought refuge after a group of zombies overturned their car; and teenage couple Tom (Keith Wayne) and Judy (Judith Ridley), who arrived after hearing an emergency broadcast about a series of brutal murders. Karen has fallen seriously ill after being bitten by one of the zombies. They venture upstairs when Ben turns on a radio, while Barbra awakens from a stupor. Harry demands that everyone hide in the cellar, but Ben deems it a "deathtrap" and continues, upstairs, to barricade the house, with Tom's help.
Radio reports explain that a state of mass murder is sweeping across the eastern United States. When Ben finds a television, the emergency broadcaster reports that the recently deceased have become reanimated and are consuming the flesh of the living. Experts, scientists, and the United States military fail to discover the cause, though one scientist suspects radioactive contamination from a space probe returning from Venus, which was deliberately exploded in the Earth's atmosphere when the radiation was detected.



 The Cooper family hiding in the cellar.
When the reports list local rescue centers offering refuge and safety, Ben plans to obtain medical care for Karen. Ben and Tom therefore refuel Ben's truck, while Harry hurls Molotov cocktails from an upper window at the "undead". Fearing for Tom's safety, Judy follows him. At the pump, Tom accidentally spills gasoline on the truck, setting it ablaze. Tom and Judy try to drive the truck away from the pump, but Judy is unable to free herself from its door, and the truck explodes, instantly killing Tom and Judy.
Ben returns to the house, but is locked out by Harry, and forces entry. Angered by Harry's cowardice, Ben beats him, while the undead feed on the remains of Tom and Judy. In the house, a news report reveals that, aside from setting the "reactivated bodies" on fire, only a gunshot or heavy blow to the head can stop them, and that posses of armed men are patrolling the countryside to restore order.
Moments later, the lights go out and the living dead break through the barricades. Harry grabs Ben's rifle and threatens to shoot him, but Ben wrestles the gun away and fires. Mortally wounded, Harry stumbles into the cellar and collapses next to Karen, who has also died from her illness. The undead try to pull Helen and Barbra through the windows, but Helen frees herself and goes down into the cellar, to find a reanimated Karen eating Harry. Helen, paralyzed by shock, falls as Karen stabs her to death with a masonry trowel. Barbra, seeing Johnny among the living dead, is carried away by the horde and devoured. The undead overrun the house, and Ben seals himself inside the cellar (ironically, the course of action he originally argued against), where he finds Harry and Helen starting to reanimate and shoots them.
The next morning, Ben is awakened by the gunshots of sheriff's deputies killing all the zombies they find. Venturing upstairs, he is killed by a member of the posse. The film ends with a series of still shots as Ben is placed onto a burning pyre, along with other dead bodies.
Cast[edit]



 Ben, played by Duane Jones.Duane Jones as Ben: The lead role of Ben was played by unknown stage actor Duane Jones. His performance depicted Ben as a "comparatively calm and resourceful Negro" (in real life, a distinguished gentleman and former university professor), according to a movie reviewer in 1969.[4] Casting Jones as the hero was, in 1968, potentially controversial. At the time, it was not typical for a black man to be the hero of a U.S. film when the rest of the cast was composed of white actors; but Romero said that Jones "simply gave the best audition".[5] After Night of the Living Dead, he was in a few other films, and continued as a theater actor and director until his death in 1988.[6] Despite his other film roles, Jones worried that people only recognized him as Ben.[7]
Judith O'Dea as Barbra Blair: Judith O'Dea, a 23-year-old commercial and stage actress, had once worked for Hardman and Eastman in Pittsburgh. At the time of audition, O'Dea was in Hollywood seeking to enter the movie business. She remarked in an interview that starring in the film was a positive experience for her, although she admitted that horror movies terrified her, particularly Vincent Price's House of Wax (1953). Besides acting, O'Dea performed her own stunts, which she jokingly claimed amounted to "lots of running". Assessing Night of the Living Dead, she stated "I honestly had no idea it would have such a lasting impact on our culture". She was just as surprised by the renown the film brought her: "People treat you differently. [I'm] ho-hum Judy O'Dea until they realize [I'm] Barbra from Night of the Living Dead. All of a sudden [I'm] not so ho-hum anymore!"[8]
Karl Hardman as Harry Cooper
Marilyn Eastman as Helen Cooper: Eastman also played a female undead eating an insect.
Keith Wayne as Tom
Judith Ridley as Judy: Judith Ridley later co-starred in Romero's There's Always Vanilla (1971).
Kyra Schon as Karen Cooper: Karen was played by Hardman's 11-year-old daughter.
Charles Craig as Newscaster / Undead
Bill Hinzman as Cemetery Living Dead: The cemetery living dead who kills Johnny in the first scene. Hinzman also appeared in new scenes that were filmed for the 30th anniversary edition of the film.
George Kosana as Sheriff McClelland: Kosana was Image Ten's production manager.
Russell Streiner as Johnny Blair (Russell Streiner makes a cameo appearance as Sheriff McClelland in the 1990 remake of the film where he is also Executive Producer)
Bill Cardille, a.k.a., "Chilly Billy Cardilly." Cardille was well-known locally as a Pittsburgh TV man who had his own horror movie show, "Chiller Theater" on TV late Saturday nights in the 1960s and '70s. Bill portrays a WIIC-TV, Channel 11 (a real Pittsburgh TV station) news reporter. (Bill Cardille also makes a cameo appearance as the TV news reporter in the 1990 remake of the film)
Romero's friends and acquaintances were recruited as zombie extras. Romero stated, "We had a film company doing commercials and industrial films so there were a lot of people from the advertising game who all wanted to come out and be zombies, and a lot of them did." He adds amusingly, "Some people from around Evans City who just thought it was a goof came out to get caked in makeup and lumber around."[9]
Production[edit]
Development and pre-production[edit]
While attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Romero embarked upon his career in the film industry. In the 1960s, he directed and produced television commercials and industrial films for The Latent Image, a company he co-founded with friends John Russo and Russell Streiner. During this period, the trio grew bored making commercials and wanted to film a horror movie. According to Romero, they wanted to capitalize on the film industry's "thirst for the bizarre".[10] He and Streiner contacted Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, president and vice president respectively of a Pittsburgh-based industrial film firm called Hardman Associates, Inc., and pitched their idea for a then-untitled horror film.[10] Convinced by Romero, a production company called Image Ten was formed which included Romero, Russo, Streiner, Hardman and Eastman. The initial budget was $6,000 with the ten members of the production company investing $600 each for a share of the profits. When it was found that another $6,000 was required another ten investors were found but this was also soon found to be inadequate. Image Ten eventually raised approximately $114,000 for the budget.[10][11]
Writing[edit]
Co-written as a horror comedy by John Russo and George A. Romero under the title Monster Flick,[12] an early screenplay draft concerned the exploits of teenage aliens who visit Earth and befriend human teenagers. A second version of the script featured a young man who runs away from home and discovers rotting human corpses that aliens use for food scattered across a meadow. Russo came up with the concept that they would be the recently dead only, because they could not afford to bring long-dead people out of their graves, or at least "we" thought. He also came up with the idea that they would be "flesh-eaters." Romero decided he liked those two ideas and without them, it would have been labeled a true 'rip-off' of "Richard Matheson's I Am Legend" novel (1954). The final draft, written mainly by Russo during three days in 1967, focused on reanimated human corpses – Romero refers to them as ghouls – that consume the flesh of the living.[13] In a 1997 interview with the BBC's Forbidden Weekend, Romero explained that the script developed into a three-part short story. Part one became Night of the Living Dead. Sequels Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) were adapted from the two remaining parts.[14]
Romero drew inspiration from Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (1954), a horror/science fiction novel about a plague that ravages a futuristic Los Angeles. The infected in I Am Legend become vampire-like creatures and prey on the uninfected.[11][15][16] Discussing the creation of Night of the Living Dead, Romero remarked, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[17] Romero further explained:

I thought I Am Legend was about revolution. I said if you're going to do something about revolution, you should start at the beginning. I mean, Richard starts his book with one man left; everybody in the world has become a vampire. I said we got to start at the beginning and tweak it up a little bit. I couldn't use vampires because he did, so I wanted something that would be an earth-shaking change. Something that was forever, something that was really at the heart of it. I said, so what if the dead stop staying dead? ... And the stories are about how people respond or fail to respond to this. That's really all [the zombies] ever represented to me. In Richard's book, in the original I Am Legend, that's what I thought that book was about. There's this global change and there's one guy holding out saying, wait a minute, I'm still a human. He's wrong. Go ahead. Join them. You'll live forever! In a certain sense he's wrong but on the other hand, you've got to respect him for taking that position.[18]
Official film adaptations of Matheson's novel appeared in 1964 as The Last Man on Earth, in 1971 as The Omega Man, and the 2007 release I Am Legend. Matheson was not impressed by Romero's interpretation, feeling that "It was ... kind of cornball",[19] though he later said, "George Romero's a nice guy, though. I don't harbor any animosity toward him".[20] Critic Danél Griffin remarked, "Romero freely admits that his film was a direct rip-off of Matheson's novel; I would be a little less harsh in my description and say that Romero merely expanded the author's ideas with deviations so completely original that [Night of the Living Dead] is expelled from being labeled a true 'rip-off'".[21]
Russo and Romero revised the screenplay while filming. Karl Hardman attributed the edits to lead actor Duane Jones:

The script had been written with the character Ben as a rather simple truck driver. His dialogue was that of a lower class / uneducated person. Duane Jones was a very well educated man [and he] simply refused to do the role as it was written. As I recall, I believe that Duane himself upgraded his own dialogue to reflect how he felt the character should present himself.[10]
Eastman modified cellar scenes featuring dialogue between Helen and Harry Cooper.[10] According to lead actress Judith O'Dea, much of the dialogue was improvised. She told an interviewer, "I don't know if there was an actual working script! We would go over what basically had to be done, then just did it the way we each felt it should be done".[8] One example offered by O'Dea concerns a scene where Barbra tells Ben about Johnny's death:

The sequence where Ben is breaking up the table to block the entrance and I'm on the couch and start telling him the story of what happened [to Johnny] it's all ad-libbed. This is what we want to get across [...] tell the story about me and Johnny in the car and me being attacked. That was it [...] all improv. We filmed it once. There was a concern we didn't get the sound right, but fortunately they were able to use it.[8]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography[edit]



Evans City Cemetery in 2007.
The small budget dictated much of the production process. According to Hardman, "We knew that we could not raise enough money to shoot a film on a par with the classic horror films with which we had all grown up. The best that we could do was to place our cast in a remote spot and then bring the horror to be visited on them in that spot".[10] Scenes were filmed near Evans City, Pennsylvania, 30 miles (48 km) north of Pittsburgh in rural Butler County; the opening sequence was shot at the Evans City Cemetery on Franklin Road, south of the borough. The interior upstairs scenes were filmed in a downtown Evans City home that later became the offices of a prominent local physician and family doctor (Allsop). This home is still standing on South Washington St. (locally called Mars-Evans City Road), between the intersecting streets of South Jackson and Van Buren. The cemetery chapel was under warrant for demolition; however, Gary R. Steiner led a successful effort to raise $50,000 to restore the building, and the chapel is currently undergoing renovations.[22][23]
The outdoor, indoor (downstairs) and basement scenes were filmed at a location northeast of Evans City, near a park. The basement door (external view) shown in the film was cut into a wall by the production team and led nowhere. As this house was scheduled for demolition, damage during filming was permitted. The site is now a turf farm.[24][25]
Props and special effects were fairly simple and limited by the budget. The blood, for example, was Bosco Chocolate Syrup drizzled over cast members' bodies.[26] Consumed flesh consisted of roasted ham and entrails donated by one of the actors, who also owned a chain of butcher shops. Costumes consisted of second-hand clothing from cast members and Goodwill. Zombie makeup varied during the film. Initially makeup was limited to white skin with blackened eyes; but as filming progressed mortician's wax was used to simulate wounds and decay to make the zombies more frightening. As filming was not linear, the piebald faces appear sporadically. Eastman supervised the special effects, wardrobe and makeup.[10] Filming took place between June and December 1967 under the working title Night of Anubis and later Night of the Flesh Eaters.[12][27] The small budget led Romero to shoot on 35 mm black-and-white film. The completed film ultimately benefited from the decision, as film historian Joseph Maddrey describes the black-and-white filming as "guerrilla-style", resembling "the unflinching authority of a wartime newsreel". Maddrey adds, it "seem[s] as much like a documentary on the loss of social stability as an exploitation film".[28]
Directing[edit]
Night of the Living Dead was the first feature-length film directed by George A. Romero. His initial work involved filming shorts for Pittsburgh public broadcaster WQED's children's series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[29][30] Romero's decision to direct Night of the Living Dead essentially launched his career as a horror director. He took the helm of the sequels as well as Season of the Witch (1972), The Crazies (1973), Martin (1977), Creepshow (1982) and The Dark Half (1993).[31] Critics saw the influence of the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s in Romero's directorial style. Stephen Paul Miller, for instance, witnessed "a revival of fifties schlock shock... and the army general's television discussion of military operations in the film echoes the often inevitable calling-in of the army in fifties horror films". Miller admits that "Night of the Living Dead takes greater relish in mocking these military operations through the general's pompous demeanor" and the government's inability to source the zombie epidemic or protect the citizenry.[32] Romero describes the mood he wished to establish: "The film opens with a situation that has already disintegrated to a point of little hope, and it moves progressively toward absolute despair and ultimate tragedy".[33] According to film historian Carl Royer, Romero "employs chiaroscuro (film noir style) lighting to emphasize humanity's nightmare alienation from itself".[34]
While some critics dismissed Romero's film because of the graphic scenes, writer R. H. W. Dillard claimed that the "open-eyed detailing" of taboo heightened the film's success. He asks, "What girl has not, at one time or another, wished to kill her mother? And Karen, in the film, offers a particularly vivid opportunity to commit the forbidden deed vicariously".[35] Romero featured social taboos as key themes, particularly cannibalism. Although zombie cannibals were inspired by Matheson's I Am Legend, film historian Robin Wood sees the flesh-eating scenes of Night of the Living Dead as a late-1960s critique of American capitalism. Wood asserts that the zombies represent capitalists, and "cannibalism represents the ultimate in possessiveness, hence the logical end of human relations under capitalism". He argues that the zombies' victims symbolized the repression of "the Other" in bourgeoisie American society, namely civil rights activists, feminists, homosexuals, and counterculturalists in general.[36]
Post-production[edit]
Members of Image Ten were involved in filming and post-production, participating in loading camera magazines, gaffing, constructing props, recording sounds and editing.[11] Production stills were shot and printed by Karl Hardman, who stated in an interview that a "number of cast members formed a production line in the darkroom for developing, washing and drying of the prints as I made the exposures. As I recall, I shot over 1,250 pictures during the production".[10] Upon completion of post-production, Image Ten found it difficult to secure a distributor willing to show the film with the gruesome scenes intact. Columbia and American International Pictures declined after requests to soften it and re-shoot the final scene were rejected by producers.[37] Romero admitted that "none of us wanted to do that. We couldn't imagine a happy ending. . . . Everyone want[ed] a Hollywood ending, but we stuck to our guns".[29] The Manhattan-based Walter Reade Organization agreed to show the film uncensored, but changed the title from Night of the Flesh Eaters to Night of the Living Dead because a film had already been produced under a similar title to the former.[27] While changing the title, the copyright notice was accidentally deleted from the early releases of the film.[38]
Karl Hardman told an interviewer that the music came from the extensive film music library of WRS Studio. Much of what was used in the film was purchased from Capitol Production Music, the production music library of Capitol Records, and an album of the soundtrack was released at one point. Stock music selections included works by WRS sound tech Richard Lococo, Philip Green, Geordie Hormel, Ib Glindemann, William Loose, John Seely, Jack Meakin and Spencer Moore.
The opening title music with the car on the road had been used in a 1961 episode of the TV series Ben Casey entitled "I Remember a Lemon Tree" (that piece of music accompanying each time that George C. Scott's character, a doctor who is secretly a drug addict, is injecting himself with morphine), and is also featured in an episode of Naked City entitled "Bullets Cost Too Much". Most of the music in the film had previously been used on the soundtrack for the science-fiction B-movie Teenagers from Outer Space (1959). The eerie musical piece during the tense scene in the film where Ben finds the rifle in the closet inside the farmhouse as the radio reports of mayhem play in the background can be heard in longer and more complete form during the opening credits and the beginning of The Devil's Messenger (1961) starring Lon Chaney, Jr. Another piece, accompanying Barbra's flight from the cemetery zombie, was taken from the score for The Hideous Sun Demon (1959). According to WRS, "We chose a selection of music for each of the various scenes and then George made the final selections. We then took those selections and augmented them electronically". Sound tech R. Lococo's choices worked well, as Film historian Sumiko Higashi believes that the music "signifies the nature of events that await".[39]
Sound effects were created by WRS Studio in Pittsburgh. "Sound engineer Richard Lococo recorded all of the live sound effects used in the film". Lococo recalled, "Of all the sound effects that we created, the one that still gives me goose bumps when I hear it, is Marilyn's screaming as [Helen Cooper] is killed by her daughter. Judy O'Dea's screaming is a close second. Both were looped in and out of echo over and over again".
Soundtrack[edit]

Night of the Living Dead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Film score by Various Artists

Released
1982
Genre
Soundtrack
Label
Varèse Sarabande
Producer
Scot W. Holton
Compiler
Scot Holton
A soundtrack album featuring music and dialogue cues from the film was compiled and released on LP by Varèse Sarabande in 1982; it has never been reissued on CD. In 2008, recording group 400 Lonely Things released the album Tonight of the Living Dead, "an instrumental album composed entirely of ambient music and sound effects sampled from Romero's 1968 horror classic".[40] In 2010, the record company Zero Day Releasing released the CD They Won't Stay Dead!: Music from the soundtrack of Night of the Living Dead. It features all-new digitally restored audio from original library LPs and reels.

[show]Side one









   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

[show]Side two









   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Controversy[edit]
Night of the Living Dead premiered on October 1, 1968 at the Fulton Theater in Pittsburgh.[41] Nationally, it was shown as a Saturday afternoon matinée – as was typical for horror films at the time – and attracted an audience consisting of pre-teens and adolescents.[42][43] The MPAA film rating system was not in place until November 1968, so even young children were not prohibited from purchasing tickets. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times chided theater owners and parents who allowed children access to the film with such potent content for a horror film they were entirely unprepared for. "I don't think the younger kids really knew what hit them," he said. "They were used to going to movies, sure, and they'd seen some horror movies before, sure, but this was something else." According to Ebert, the film affected the audience immediately:[43]

The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying... It's hard to remember what sort of effect this movie might have had on you when you were six or seven. But try to remember. At that age, kids take the events on the screen seriously, and they identify fiercely with the hero. When the hero is killed, that's not an unhappy ending but a tragic one: Nobody got out alive. It's just over, that's all.
Response from Variety after the initial release reflects the outrage generated by Romero's film: "Until the Supreme Court establishes clear-cut guidelines for the pornography of violence, Night of the Living Dead will serve nicely as an outer-limit definition by example. In [a] mere 90 minutes this horror film (pun intended) casts serious aspersions on the integrity and social responsibility of its Pittsburgh-based makers, distributor Walter Reade, the film industry as a whole and [exhibitors] who book [the picture], as well as raising doubts about the future of the regional cinema movement and about the moral health of film goers who cheerfully opt for this unrelieved orgy of sadism..."[44]
One commentator asserts that the film garnered little attention from critics, "except to provoke argument about censoring its grisly scenes".[45]
Reception[edit]
Despite the controversy, five years after the premiere Paul McCullough of Take One observed that Night of the Living Dead was the "most profitable horror film ever [...] produced outside the walls of a major studio".[46] The film had earned between $12 and $15 million at the American box office after a decade. It was translated into more than 25 languages and released across Europe, Canada and Australia.[45] Night of the Living Dead grossed $30 million internationally, and the Wall Street Journal reported that it was the top grossing film in Europe in 1969.[47][48]
More than 40 years after its release, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives positive reviews; review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively collected 52 reviews and gave Night of the Living Dead a 96% "Certified Fresh",[49] and it is regarded by many as one of the best films of 1968.[50][51][52] In 2008, the film was ranked by Empire magazine No. 397 of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[53] The New York Times also placed the film on their Best 1000 Movies Ever list.[54] In January 2010, Total Film included the film on its list of The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.[55] Rolling Stone magazine named Night of the Living Dead one of The 100 Maverick Movies in the Last 100 Years.[56] Reader's digest found it to be the 12th scariest movie of all time.[57]
Night of the Living Dead was also awarded two distinguished honors decades after its debut. The Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry in 1999 with other films deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".[2][58] In 2001, the film was ranked No. 93 by the American Film Institute on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills list, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies.[59] The zombies in the picture were also a candidate for AFI's AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains, in the villains category, but failed to make the official list.[60] The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 5th scariest film ever made.[61] The film also ranked No. 9 on Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.[62]
Critical response[edit]
 Reviewers disliked the film's gory special effects. Variety labeled Night of the Living Dead an "unrelieved orgy of sadism" and questioned the "integrity and social responsibility of its Pittsburgh-based makers".[63] The New York Times critic Vincent Canby referred to the film as a "junk movie" as well as "spare, uncluttered, but really silly".[64]
Some reviewers cited the film as groundbreaking. Pauline Kael called the film "one of the most gruesomely terrifying movies ever made – and when you leave the theatre you may wish you could forget the whole horrible experience. . . . The film's grainy, banal seriousness works for it – gives it a crude realism".[65] A Film Daily critic commented, "This is a pearl of a horror picture that exhibits all the earmarks of a sleeper."[66] While Roger Ebert criticized the matinée screening, he admitted that he "admires the movie itself".[43] Critic Rex Reed wrote, "If you want to see what turns a B movie into a classic [...] don't miss Night of the Living Dead. It is unthinkable for anyone seriously interested in horror movies not to see it."[67]



 Some feminist writers have criticized the film for portraying Barbra, the chief female character, as catatonic and helpless.
Since the release, some critics and film historians have seen Night of the Living Dead as a subversive film that critiques 1960s American society, international Cold War politics and domestic racism. Elliot Stein of The Village Voice saw the film as an ardent critique of American involvement in Vietnam, arguing that it "was not set in Transylvania, but Pennsylvania – this was Middle America at war, and the zombie carnage seemed a grotesque echo of the conflict then raging in Vietnam".[68] Film historian Sumiko Higashi concurs, arguing that Night of the Living Dead was a film about the horrors of the Vietnam era. While she admits that "there are no Vietnamese in Night of the Living Dead, [...] they constitute an absent presence whose significance can be understood if narrative is construed". She points to aspects of the Vietnam War paralleled in the film: grainy black-and-white newsreels, search and destroy operations, helicopters, and graphic carnage.[69]
While George Romero denies he hired Duane Jones simply because he was black, reviewer Mark Deming notes that "the grim fate of Duane Jones, the sole heroic figure and only African-American, had added resonance with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X fresh in the minds of most Americans".[5][70] Stein adds, "In this first-ever subversive horror movie, the resourceful black hero survives the zombies only to be killed by a redneck posse".[68] The deaths of Ben, Barbra and the supporting cast offered audiences an uncomfortable, nihilistic glimpse unusual for the genre.[71]
Other prevalent themes included "disillusionment with government and patriarchal nuclear family"[68] and "the flaws inherent in the media, local and federal government agencies, and the entire mechanism of civil defense".[72] Film historian Linda Badley explains that the film was so horrifying because the monsters were not creatures from outer space or some exotic environment, "They're us".[73] Romero confessed that the film was designed to reflect the tensions of the time: "It was 1968, man. Everybody had a 'message'. The anger and attitude and all that's there is just because it was the Sixties. We lived at the farmhouse, so we were always into raps about the implication and the meaning, so some of that crept in".[5]
Other commentators, most notably Chris Iacovelli, assert that this is a film classic and should be praised for its ground-breaking and thought-provoking approach to bringing the discussion of humanity’s disregard and aversion to others outside their class/caste/ethnicity from the halls of academia and into the homes of mainstream America.[citation needed]
Influence[edit]
See also: Zombie (fictional)



 Living dead Karen Cooper eating her father's corpse.
Romero revolutionized the horror film genre with Night of the Living Dead; according to Almar Haflidason of the BBC, the film represented "a new dawn in horror film-making".[74] The film has also effectively redefined the use of the term "zombie". While the word "zombie" itself is never used - the word used in the film is ghoul - Romero's film introduced the theme of zombies as reanimated, flesh-eating cannibals.[41][75][76] Early zombie films like Victor Halperin's White Zombie (1932) and Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie (1943) concerned living people enslaved by a Voodoo witch doctor, not flesh-eating, decaying, reanimated bodies; many were set in the Caribbean.
The film and its successors spawned countless imitators, in cinema, television and video gaming, that borrowed elements instituted by Romero.[3] Night of the Living Dead ushered in the splatter film subgenre. As one film historian points out, horror prior to Romero's film had mostly involved rubber masks and costumes, cardboard sets, or mysterious figures lurking in the shadows. They were set in locations far removed from rural and suburban America.[77] Romero revealed the power behind exploitation and setting horror in ordinary, unexceptional locations and offered a template for making an "effective and lucrative" film on a "minuscule budget".[78] Slasher films of the 1970s and 80s such as John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980), and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) "owe much to the original Night of the Living Dead", according to author Barry Keith Grant.[79]
Revisions[edit]



 The film has been subject to numerous revisions. This screenshot is from the 2004 colorized version.
The first revisions of Night of the Living Dead involved colorization by home video distributors. Hal Roach Studios released a colorized version in 1986 that featured ghouls with pale green skin.[80] Another colorized version appeared in 1997 from Anchor Bay Entertainment with grey-skinned zombies.[81] In 2004, Legend Films produced a new colorized version. Technology critic Gary W. Tooze wrote that "The colorization is damn impressive", but noticed the print used was not as sharp as other releases of the film.[82] In 2009, Legend Films coproduced a colorized 3D version of the film with PassmoreLab, a company that converts 2-D film into 3-D format.[83] The film was theatrically released on October 14, 2010.[84] According to Legend Films founder Barry Sandrew, Night of the Living Dead is the first entirely live action 2-D film to be converted to 3-D.[85][86]
In 1999, co-writer John A. Russo released a modified version called Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition.[87] He filmed additional scenes and recorded a revised soundtrack composed by Scott Vladimir Licina. In an interview with Fangoria magazine, Russo explained that he wanted to "give the movie a more modern pace".[88] Russo took liberties with the original script. The additions are neither clearly identified nor even listed. However, Entertainment Weekly reported "no bad blood" between Russo and Romero. The magazine quoted Romero as saying, "I didn't want to touch Night of the Living Dead".[89] Critics panned the revised film, notably Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News. Knowles promised to permanently ban anyone from his publication who offered positive criticism of the film.[90] A sequel called Children of the Living Dead followed in 2001.[91]
A collaborative animated project known as Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated was screened at several film festivals[92][93][94][95] and was released onto DVD on July 27, 2010 by Wild Eye Releasing.[96][citation needed][97][98] This project aims to "reanimate" the 1968 film by replacing Romero's celluloid images with animation done in a wide variety of styles by artists from around the world, laid over the original audio from Romero's version.[99] Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated premiered theatrically on October 10, 2009 in Ramsey, New Jersey[100] at the Zombie Encounter and Film Festival.[101] Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated was nominated in the category of Best Independent Production (film, documentary or short) for the 8th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, but lost to American Scary, a documentary on television horror movie hosts.[102]
In 2009, Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame released a single-person "riff" on the movie, providing humorous commentary through the course of the movie. Later a revision was made featuring Nelson along with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy who had previously worked with Nelson on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The movie is available as downloadable video file or as a DVD through the group's website RiffTrax which is under the influence of Legend Films.[103]
Film series[edit]
Main article: Living Dead
Romero's Dead films[edit]
Main article: Night of the Living Dead (film series)
Night of the Living Dead is the first of six ...of the Dead films directed by George Romero. Following the 1968 film, Romero released Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. Each film traces the evolution of the living dead epidemic in the United States and humanity's desperate attempts to cope with it. As in Night of the Living Dead, Romero peppered the other films in the series with critiques specific to the periods in which they were released.
Return of the Living Dead series[edit]
Main article: Return of the Living Dead (film series)
The same year Day of the Dead premiered, Night of the Living Dead co-writer John Russo released a film titled The Return of the Living Dead that offers an alternate continuity to the original film than Dawn of the Dead, but acted more as a parody or satire and is not considered a sequel to the original 1968 film. Russo's film spawned four sequels. Return of the Living Dead sparked a legal battle with Romero, who believed Russo marketed his film in direct competition with Day of the Dead as a sequel to the original film. In the case Dawn Associates v. Links, Romero accused Russo of "appropriat[ing] part of the title of the prior work", plagiarizing Dawn of the Dead's advertising slogan ("When there is no more room in hell [...] the dead will walk the earth"), and copying stills from the original 1968 film. Romero was ultimately granted a restraining order that forced Russo to cease his advertising campaign. Russo, however, was allowed to retain his title.[104]
Origins[edit]
George Cameron Romero, the son of director George A. Romero, is currently in pre-production on Origins, which will serve as a prequel to the original film.[105] Cameron Romero co-wrote along with Darrin Reed and Bryce C. Campbell.[106] The film will be produced by Ted Field and Aldo LaPietra for Radar Pictures.[107]
Remakes and other related films[edit]
Night of the Living Dead has been remade twice. The first remake, debuting in 1990, was directed by special effects artist Tom Savini. It was based on the original screenplay, but included more gore and a revised plot that portrayed Barbra[108] (Patricia Tallman) as a capable and active heroine. Tony Todd played the role of Ben. Film historian Barry Grant saw the new Barbra as a corrective on the part of Romero. He suggests that the character was made stronger to rectify the depiction of female characters in the original film.[109] The second remake was in 3-D and released in September 2006 under the title Night of the Living Dead 3D, directed by Jeff Broadstreet. Unlike Savini's 1990 film, Broadstreet's project was not affiliated with Romero.[110] Broadstreet's film was followed in 2012 by the prequel Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation.[111]
On September 15, 2009, it was announced that Simon West planned a 3D retelling of the original movie, to be titled Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D.[112][113] The movie is being written and directed by Zebediah de Soto. The cast includes Tony Todd as Ben, Danielle Harris as Barbra, Joseph Pilato as Harry Cooper, Alona Tal as Helen Cooper, Bill Moseley as Johnny, Tom Sizemore as Chief McClellan and newcomers Erin Braswell as Judy and Michael Diskint as Tom.[114][115][116][117][118][119]
Director Doug Schulze's 2011 film Mimesis (a.k.a. Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead) relates the story of a group of horror film fans who become involved in a "real-life" version of the 1968 film.[120][121]
Due to the film's perceived public domain status, several independent film companies have also done remakes of the film.
Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (2012) - British director James Plumb made this remake set in Wales.[122]
A Night of the Living Dead (2014) - Shattered Images Films and Cullen Park Productions released a remake with new twists and characters, written and directed by Chad Zuver.[123]
Night of the Living Dead: Genesis (2015) - Director Matt Cloude initially announced this remake project in 2011.[124] The film has undergone several transitions in the ensuing years. It brings back several alumni of Romero's initial trilogy, including Judith O'Dea as the Barbra character. The film is currently still in production.
Copyright status[edit]
Night of the Living Dead entered the public domain because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints. In 1968, United States copyright law required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright.[125] Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title.[38][126]
A limited number of theatrical release prints were distributed by Walter Reade and these copies could have been shelved if Romero and Image Ten had elected to do so. This would have given Romero the opportunity to rename the film, do a few brief "creative" edits, and then obtain a new copyright. But this was never done and the theatrical releases continued to be distributed until eventually reprinted and distributed by home video distributors.
Because of the public domain status, the film is sold on home video by many distributors. As of 2012, the Amazon.com lists copies of Night of the Living Dead numbering 52 on VHS, 181 on DVD, and 9 on Blu-ray.[127] The original film is available to view or download free on Internet sites, such as Internet Archive, Hulu, and YouTube.[128][129][130] As of February 11, 2015, it is the Internet Archive's most-downloaded film, with over two million downloads.[131]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Film portal
Portal icon Horror fiction portal
Living Dead series
List of films considered the best
List of films in the public domain in the United States

References[edit]
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Further reading[edit]
Becker, Matt. "A Point of Little Hope: Hippie Horror Films and the Politics of Ambivalence". The Velvet Light Trap (No. 57, Spring 2006): pp. 42–59.
Carroll, Noël. "The Nature of Horror". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 46 (No. 1, Autumn 1987): pp. 51–59.
Crane, Jonathan Lake. Terror and Everyday Life: Singular Moments in the History of the Horror Film. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8039-5849-4.
Dinello, Daniel. Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-292-70986-7.
Harper, Stephen. "Night of the Living Dead: Reappraising an Undead Classic". Bright Lights Film Journal (Issue 50, November 2005): online.
Heffernan, Kevin. Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953–1968. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8223-3215-2 .
Heffernan, Kevin. "Inner-City Exhibition and the Genre Film: Distributing Night of the Living Dead (1968)". Cinema Journal 41 (No. 3, Spring 2002): pp. 59–77.
Jancovich, Mark, Antonio Lazaro Reboll, Julian Stringer, and Andy Willis, eds. Defining Cult Movies: The Cultural Politics of Oppositional Taste. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7190-6631-3
Lowenstein, Adam. Shocking Representation: Historical Trauma, National Cinema, and the Modern Horror Film. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-231-13246-6.
Maye, Harun. "Rewriting the Dead: The Tension between Nostalgia and Perversion in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968)". In: Nostalgia or Perversion? Gothic Rewriting from the Eighteenth Century until the Present Day. Ed. Isabella van Elferen. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2007. ISBN 978-1-84718-247-0.
Moreman, Christopher M. "A Modern Meditation on Death: Identifying Buddhist Teachings in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead," Contemporary Buddhism 9 (No. 2, 2008): pp. 151–165.
Newman, Robert. "The Haunting of 1968". South Central Review 16 (No. 4, Winter 1999): pp. 53–61.
Paffenroth, Kim. Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth. Waco, Texas: Baylor, 2006. ISBN 978-1-932792-65-2.
Pharr, Mary. "Greek Gifts: Vision and Revision in Two Versions of Night of the Living Dead". In Trajectories of the Fantastic. Ed. Michael A. Morrison. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-313-29646-8.
Pinedo, Isabel Cristina. Recreational Terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-7914-3441-3.
Russell, Jamie. Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema. Surrey: Fab Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-903254-33-2.
Shapiro, Jerome F. Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film. London: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 978-0-415-93660-6.
Wood, Robin. Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-231-05777-6.
Young, Lola. Fear of the Dark: 'Race', Gender and Sexuality in the Cinema. London: Routledge, 1996. ISBN 978-0-415-09709-3.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Night of the Living Dead.
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead in HD on YouTube
Night of the Living Dead at the Internet Movie Database
Night of the Living Dead is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Night of the Living Dead at AllMovie
Night of the Living Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
Night of the Living Dead musical adaptation
Homepage of the Dead
A Night of the Living Dead 2014 IMDB


[show]
v ·
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 e
 
Films directed by George A. Romero






















[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Living Dead films


Romero's Dead series
Night of the Living Dead (1968) ·
 Dawn of the Dead (1978) ·
 Day of the Dead (1985) ·
 Land of the Dead (2005) ·
 Diary of the Dead (2007) ·
 Survival of the Dead (2009)
 

Dead series remakes
Night of the Living Dead (1990) ·
 Dawn of the Dead (2004) ·
 Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006) ·
 Day of the Dead (2008)
 

Russo's Dead series
Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition (1999)
 

Return of the Living Dead series
The Return of the Living Dead (1985) ·
 Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) ·
 Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) ·
 Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (2005) ·
 Return of the Living Dead: Rave from the Grave (2005)
 

Unofficial sequels
Zombi series  (Zombi 2 (1979) ·
 Zombi 3 (1988) ·
 Zombi 4: After Death (1989) ·
 Zombi 5: Killing Birds (1988) ·
 Zombie 6: Monster Hunter (1981) ·
 Zombie 7 (1980))
   ·
 Children of the Living Dead (2001) ·
 Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005) ·
 Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane (2007) ·
 Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation (2012) ·
 Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D (2014)
 

Parodies
Night of the Living Bread (1990) ·
 Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) ·
 Night of the Living Carrots (2011)
 

Homages
Flesheater (1988) ·
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I Am Legend (novel)

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Jump to: navigation, search

I Am Legend
IAmLegend25028.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Richard Matheson
Country
USA
Language
English
Genre
Science fiction, horror, zombie fiction, vampire fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction
Publisher
Gold Medal

Publication date
 1954
Media type
Paperback
Pages
160 (1954 edition)
I Am Legend is a 1954 horror fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was influential in the development of the zombie genre and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease. The novel was a success and was adapted to film as The Last Man on Earth in 1964, as The Omega Man in 1971, and as I Am Legend in 2007, along with a direct-to-video 2007 production capitalizing on that film, I Am Omega. The novel was also the inspiration behind the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Critical reception
3 Influence
4 Adaptations 4.1 Comics
4.2 Radio play
4.3 Films 4.3.1 The Last Man on Earth
4.3.2 The Omega Man
4.3.3 I Am Legend
4.3.4 I Am Omega

5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Robert Neville is the apparent sole survivor of a pandemic whose symptoms resemble vampirism. It is said that the pandemic was caused by a war, and that it was spread by dust storms in the cities and an explosion in the mosquito population. The narrative details Neville's daily life in Los Angeles as he attempts to comprehend, research, and possibly cure the disease, to which he is immune. Neville's past is revealed through flashbacks; the disease claimed his wife and daughter, and he was forced to kill his wife after she seemingly rose from the dead as a vampire and attacked him.
Neville survives by barricading himself by sunset inside his house, further protected by garlic, mirrors, and crucifixes. Swarms of vampires, led by Neville's neighbor, Ben Cortman, regularly surround his house, trying to find ways to get inside. During the day, he scavenges for supplies and searches out the inactive vampires, driving stakes into their hearts to kill them. He finds brief solace in a stray dog that finds its way to his house. Desperate for company, Neville slowly earns the dog's trust with food and brings it into the house. Despite his efforts, the dog proves to be infected and dies a week later.
After bouts of depression and alcoholism, Neville decides to find out the scientific cause of the pandemic. He obtains books and other research materials from a library, and through painstaking research discovers the root of the disease in a strain of bacteria capable of infecting both deceased and living hosts. He also discovers that the vampires are affected by the garlic, mirrors, and crosses because of "hysterical blindness", the result of previous psychological conditioning of the infected. Driven insane by the disease, the infected now react as they believe they should when confronted with these items. Even then, their reaction is constrained to the beliefs of the particular person; for example, a Christian vampire would fear the cross, but a Jewish vampire would not.
Neville also discovers more efficient means of killing the vampires, other than just driving a stake into their hearts. This includes exposing them to direct sunlight (which kills the bacteria) or inflicting deep wounds on their bodies so that the bacteria switch from being anaerobic symbionts to aerobic parasites, rapidly consuming their hosts when exposed to air. He is now killing such large numbers of vampires in his daily forays that his nightly visitors have diminished significantly.
After three years, Neville sees an apparently uninfected woman, Ruth, abroad in the daylight, and captures her. After some convincing, Ruth tells him her story of how she and her husband survived the pandemic (though her husband was killed two weeks earlier). Neville is puzzled by the fact that she is upset when he speaks of killing vampires; he thinks that if her story of survival was true, she would have become hardened to the act. He attempts to test whether she is a vampire by exposing her to garlic, which causes her to recoil violently. At night Neville is startled awake and finds Ruth fully clothed at the front door of the house. Suspicious, he questions her motives, but relates the trauma of his past, whereupon they comfort each other. Ruth reluctantly allows him to take a blood sample but knocks him unconscious when the sample reveals that she is infected.
When he wakes, Neville discovers a note from Ruth confessing that she is actually infected and that Neville was responsible for her husband's death. Ruth admits that she was sent to spy on him. The infected have slowly overcome their disease until they can spend short periods of time in sunlight, and are attempting to build a new society. They have developed medication which helps them to overcome the most severe symptoms of the infection. Ruth warns Neville that her people will attempt to capture him, and that he should leave his house and escape to the mountains.
Neville cannot bring himself to leave his house, however, and assumes that he will be captured and treated fairly by the new society. Infected members of the new society eventually attack the house. During the attack, the members of the new society violently dispatch the other vampires outside the house, and Neville becomes alarmed at the grim enjoyment they appear to take from this task. Realising that the intention of the attackers may be to kill him rather than to capture him he tries to defend himself with a pistol, leading to one of the infected shooting and badly injuring him.
Neville wakes in a barred cell where he is visited by Ruth, who informs him that she is a ranking member of the new society but, unlike the others, does not resent him. Ruth attempts to present a facade of indifference to Neville, but is unable to maintain it during her discussion with him. After discussing the effects of Neville's vampire killing activities on the new society, she acknowledges the need for Neville's execution and gives him pills, claiming they will "make it easier". Badly injured, Neville accepts his fate and asks Ruth not to let this society become heartless. Ruth kisses him and leaves.
Neville goes to his prison window and sees the infected waiting for his execution. He now sees that the infected view him with the same hatred and fear that he once felt for the vampires; he realizes that he, a remnant of old humanity, is now a legend to the new race born of the infection. He recognises that their desire to kill him is not something he can condemn. As the pills take effect, he thinks: "[I am] a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever. I am legend".
Critical reception[edit]
As related from In Search of Wonder (1956), Damon Knight wrote:[1]

The book is full of good ideas, every other one of which is immediately dropped and kicked out of sight. The characters are child's drawings, as blank-eyed and expressionless as the author himself in his back-cover photograph. The plot limps. All the same, the story could have been an admirable minor work in the tradition of Dracula, if only the author, or somebody, had not insisted on encumbering it with the year's most childish set of 'scientific' rationalizations.
Galaxy reviewer Groff Conklin described Legend as "a weird [and] rather slow-moving first novel ... a horrid, violent, sometimes exciting but too often overdone tour de force."[2] Anthony Boucher praised the novel, saying "Matheson has added a new variant on the Last Man theme ... and has given striking vigor to his invention by a forceful style of storytelling which derives from the best hard-boiled crime novels".[3]
Dan Schneider from International Writers Magazine: Book Review wrote in 2005:[4]

... despite having vampires in it, [the novel] is not a novel on vampires, nor even a horror nor sci-fi novel at all, in the deepest sense. Instead, it is perhaps the greatest novel written on human loneliness. It far surpasses Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe in that regard. Its insights into what it is to be human go far beyond genre, and is all the more surprising because, having read his short stories--which range from competent but simplistic, to having classic Twilight Zone twists (he was a major contributor to the original TV series)--there is nothing within those short stories that suggests the supreme majesty of the existential masterpiece I Am Legend was aborning.
In 2012, the Horror Writers Association gave I Am Legend the special Vampire Novel of the Century Award.[5]
Influence[edit]
Although Matheson calls the assailants in his novel "vampires", and though their condition is transmitted through blood and garlic is an apotropaic-like repellant, there is little similarity between them and vampires as developed by John William Polidori and his successors, which come straight out of the gothic novel tradition. I Am Legend influenced the zombie genre and popularized the concept of a worldwide zombie apocalypse.[6] Although the idea has now become commonplace, a scientific origin for vampirism or zombies was fairly original when written.[7] According to Clasen:[8]

"I Am Legend is the product of an anxious artistic mind working in an anxious cultural climate. However, it is also a playful take on an old archetype, the vampire (the reader is even treated to Neville’s reading and put-down of Bram Stoker's Dracula). Matheson goes to great lengths to rationalize or naturalize the vampire myth, transplanting the monster from the otherworldly realms of folklore and Victorian supernaturalism to the test tube of medical inquiry and rational causation. With I Am Legend, Matheson instituted the germ theory of vampirism, a take on the old archetype which has since been tackled by other writers (notably, Dan Simmons in Children of the Night from 1992)."
Though referred to as "the first modern vampire novel",[9] it is as a novel of social theme that I Am Legend made a lasting impression on the cinematic zombie genre, by way of director George A. Romero, who acknowledged its influence and that of its 1964 adaptation, The Last Man on Earth, upon his seminal film Night of the Living Dead (1968).[6][10][11][12] Discussing the creation of Night of the Living Dead, Romero remarked, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[13] Moreover, film critics noted similarities between Night of the Living Dead (1968) and The Last Man on Earth (1964).[14][15]
Stephen King said, "Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me".[16] Film critics noted that the British film 28 Days Later (2002) and its sequel 28 Weeks Later both feature a rabies-type plague ravaging Great Britain, analogous to I Am Legend.[17]
Adaptations[edit]
Comics[edit]
The book has also been adapted into a comic book mini-series titled Richard Matheson's I Am Legend by Steve Niles and Elman Brown. It was published in 1991 by Eclipse Comics and collected into a trade paperback by IDW Publishing.[18][19][20]
An unrelated film tie in was released in 2007 as a one-shot I Am Legend: Awakening published in a San Diego Comic Con special by Vertigo.[21]
Radio play[edit]
A nine-part abridged reading of the novel performed by Angus MacInnes was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in January 2006.[22]
Films[edit]
I Am Legend has been adapted to a feature-length film four times (one of which does not credit Matheson as the source). Differing from the book each of them portrays the Neville character as an accomplished scientist. The first three adaptations show him finding a remedy and passing it on. Adaptations differ from the novel by setting the events after three years from the disaster, instead of happening “in the span of” three years. Also adaptations are set in the near future, a few years after film release, while the novel is set twenty years after its publication date.
The Last Man on Earth[edit]
Main article: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
In 1964, Vincent Price starred as Dr. Robert Morgan (rather than "Neville") in The Last Man on Earth (the original title of this Italian production was L'ultimo uomo della Terra). Matheson wrote the original screenplay for this adaptation, but due to later rewrites did not wish his name to appear in the credits; as a result, Matheson is credited under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson."[23]
The Omega Man[edit]
Main article: The Omega Man
In 1971, a far different version was produced, entitled The Omega Man. It starred Charlton Heston (as Robert Neville) and Anthony Zerbe. Matheson had no influence on the screenplay for this film,[24] and although the general premise remains, it deviates from the novel in several ways, completely removing the infected's vampiric characteristics except for their sensitivity to light. In this version, the infected are portrayed as nocturnal, black-robed, albino mutants, collectively known as The Family. Though intelligent, they eschew all modern technology, believing it (and those who use it, such as Neville) to be evil and the cause of humanity's downfall.
I Am Legend[edit]
Main article: I Am Legend (film)
In 2007, a third adaptation of the novel was produced, this time titled I Am Legend. Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith as Robert Neville, this film uses both Matheson's novel and the 1971 Omega Man film as its source.[25] However, this adaptation also deviates significantly from the novel. In this version, the infection is caused by a virus originally intended to cure cancer. Some vampiric elements are retained, such as sensitivity to UV light and attraction to blood. The infected are portrayed as nocturnal, feral creatures of limited intelligence but with superhuman strength who feed on the uninfected. Other creatures, such as dogs, are also infected by the virus. The ending of the film was also altered to portray Neville as sacrificing his life to save humanity, rather than being executed for crimes against the surviving vampiric humans.[6] The film takes place in New York City in the years 2009 and 2012 rather than Los Angeles in 1975-1977.
I Am Omega[edit]
Main article: I Am Omega
The Asylum production I Am Omega was 2007 American feature length direct to video release, starring Mark Dacascos. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, which is overrun by savage, cannibalistic humans who have degenerated into a feral subspecies as the result of a genetic virus. Once again, the adaption deviates from the novel, and does not credit Matheson.
In this adaption, 'Renchard' has been forced to live in a daily struggle for survival against the mutants. Renchard is contacted via webcam by Brianna (Jennifer Lee Wiggins), another survivor who was stranded in Los Angeles while trying to find Antioch, a community of survivors. Renchard is forced to aid her and two others escape the city in which he has strategically placed time bombs, set to go off in 24 hours.
This film was rushed into production by The Asylum and released a month prior to the bigger budget Francis Lawrence project.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Novels portal
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction The Last Man
Survivalism
Vampire literature
Zombie (fictional)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Knight, Damon (1967). In Search of Wonder. Chicago: Advent.
2.Jump up ^ "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1955, p.121
3.Jump up ^ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, November 1954, p.99.
4.Jump up ^ Schneider, Dan (1953-01-05). "I am Legend by Richard Matheson". hackwriters.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
5.Jump up ^ 2011 Bram Stoker Award™ winners and Vampire Novel of the Century Award winner
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Deborah Christie, Sarah Juliet Lauro, ed. (2011). Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human. Fordham Univ Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-8232-3447-9, 9780823234479.
7.Jump up ^ "Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening"[dead link]
8.Jump up ^ Clasen, Mathias (2010). "Vampire Apocalypse: A Biocultural Critique of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend". Philosophy and Literature.
9.Jump up ^ David Carroll and Kyla Ward, "The Horror Timeline" Burnt Toast No. 13.
10.Jump up ^ "House of Horrors Presents: The Night of the Living Dead"
11.Jump up ^ "Steve Biodrowski, Retrospective: Night of the Living Dead (1968)"
12.Jump up ^ Richard Matheson Interview, in Tom Weaver, Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999), p. 307, ISBN 0-7864-0755-7.
13.Jump up ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead" — Night of the Living Dead DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
14.Jump up ^ "Thomas Scalzo, The Last Man on Earth (Film Review)"
15.Jump up ^ "Danel Griffin The Last Man on Earth (Film Review)"
16.Jump up ^ "The Legend that inspired me". The Times (London). 2006-07-22. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
17.Jump up ^ "28 Days Later Movie Review (2002). Channel 4 Film. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
18.Jump up ^ Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening
19.Jump up ^ I Am Legend at the Grand Comics Database
20.Jump up ^ I Am Legend at the Comic Book DB
21.Jump up ^ I Am Legend: Awakening at the Comic Book DB
22.Jump up ^ "BBC Radio 7 - I am Legend". Radiolistings.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-02-04.
23.Jump up ^ Stan Wiater; Matthew R. Bradley; Paul Stuve (2009). The Twilight and Other Zones: The Dark Worlds of Richard Matheson. Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-0-8065-3113-7. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
24.Jump up ^ "Omega Man, The". Sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
25.Jump up ^ end credits: "Based on the screenplay by John & Joyce Corrington, and the novel by Richard Matheson"
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: I Am Legend (novel)
The I Am Legend Book Archive


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Categories: 1954 novels
1950s science fiction novels
American post-apocalyptic novels
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Novels by Richard Matheson
American novels adapted into films
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Viral outbreaks in literature
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I Am Legend (novel)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

I Am Legend
IAmLegend25028.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Richard Matheson
Country
USA
Language
English
Genre
Science fiction, horror, zombie fiction, vampire fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction
Publisher
Gold Medal

Publication date
 1954
Media type
Paperback
Pages
160 (1954 edition)
I Am Legend is a 1954 horror fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was influential in the development of the zombie genre and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease. The novel was a success and was adapted to film as The Last Man on Earth in 1964, as The Omega Man in 1971, and as I Am Legend in 2007, along with a direct-to-video 2007 production capitalizing on that film, I Am Omega. The novel was also the inspiration behind the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Critical reception
3 Influence
4 Adaptations 4.1 Comics
4.2 Radio play
4.3 Films 4.3.1 The Last Man on Earth
4.3.2 The Omega Man
4.3.3 I Am Legend
4.3.4 I Am Omega

5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Robert Neville is the apparent sole survivor of a pandemic whose symptoms resemble vampirism. It is said that the pandemic was caused by a war, and that it was spread by dust storms in the cities and an explosion in the mosquito population. The narrative details Neville's daily life in Los Angeles as he attempts to comprehend, research, and possibly cure the disease, to which he is immune. Neville's past is revealed through flashbacks; the disease claimed his wife and daughter, and he was forced to kill his wife after she seemingly rose from the dead as a vampire and attacked him.
Neville survives by barricading himself by sunset inside his house, further protected by garlic, mirrors, and crucifixes. Swarms of vampires, led by Neville's neighbor, Ben Cortman, regularly surround his house, trying to find ways to get inside. During the day, he scavenges for supplies and searches out the inactive vampires, driving stakes into their hearts to kill them. He finds brief solace in a stray dog that finds its way to his house. Desperate for company, Neville slowly earns the dog's trust with food and brings it into the house. Despite his efforts, the dog proves to be infected and dies a week later.
After bouts of depression and alcoholism, Neville decides to find out the scientific cause of the pandemic. He obtains books and other research materials from a library, and through painstaking research discovers the root of the disease in a strain of bacteria capable of infecting both deceased and living hosts. He also discovers that the vampires are affected by the garlic, mirrors, and crosses because of "hysterical blindness", the result of previous psychological conditioning of the infected. Driven insane by the disease, the infected now react as they believe they should when confronted with these items. Even then, their reaction is constrained to the beliefs of the particular person; for example, a Christian vampire would fear the cross, but a Jewish vampire would not.
Neville also discovers more efficient means of killing the vampires, other than just driving a stake into their hearts. This includes exposing them to direct sunlight (which kills the bacteria) or inflicting deep wounds on their bodies so that the bacteria switch from being anaerobic symbionts to aerobic parasites, rapidly consuming their hosts when exposed to air. He is now killing such large numbers of vampires in his daily forays that his nightly visitors have diminished significantly.
After three years, Neville sees an apparently uninfected woman, Ruth, abroad in the daylight, and captures her. After some convincing, Ruth tells him her story of how she and her husband survived the pandemic (though her husband was killed two weeks earlier). Neville is puzzled by the fact that she is upset when he speaks of killing vampires; he thinks that if her story of survival was true, she would have become hardened to the act. He attempts to test whether she is a vampire by exposing her to garlic, which causes her to recoil violently. At night Neville is startled awake and finds Ruth fully clothed at the front door of the house. Suspicious, he questions her motives, but relates the trauma of his past, whereupon they comfort each other. Ruth reluctantly allows him to take a blood sample but knocks him unconscious when the sample reveals that she is infected.
When he wakes, Neville discovers a note from Ruth confessing that she is actually infected and that Neville was responsible for her husband's death. Ruth admits that she was sent to spy on him. The infected have slowly overcome their disease until they can spend short periods of time in sunlight, and are attempting to build a new society. They have developed medication which helps them to overcome the most severe symptoms of the infection. Ruth warns Neville that her people will attempt to capture him, and that he should leave his house and escape to the mountains.
Neville cannot bring himself to leave his house, however, and assumes that he will be captured and treated fairly by the new society. Infected members of the new society eventually attack the house. During the attack, the members of the new society violently dispatch the other vampires outside the house, and Neville becomes alarmed at the grim enjoyment they appear to take from this task. Realising that the intention of the attackers may be to kill him rather than to capture him he tries to defend himself with a pistol, leading to one of the infected shooting and badly injuring him.
Neville wakes in a barred cell where he is visited by Ruth, who informs him that she is a ranking member of the new society but, unlike the others, does not resent him. Ruth attempts to present a facade of indifference to Neville, but is unable to maintain it during her discussion with him. After discussing the effects of Neville's vampire killing activities on the new society, she acknowledges the need for Neville's execution and gives him pills, claiming they will "make it easier". Badly injured, Neville accepts his fate and asks Ruth not to let this society become heartless. Ruth kisses him and leaves.
Neville goes to his prison window and sees the infected waiting for his execution. He now sees that the infected view him with the same hatred and fear that he once felt for the vampires; he realizes that he, a remnant of old humanity, is now a legend to the new race born of the infection. He recognises that their desire to kill him is not something he can condemn. As the pills take effect, he thinks: "[I am] a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever. I am legend".
Critical reception[edit]
As related from In Search of Wonder (1956), Damon Knight wrote:[1]

The book is full of good ideas, every other one of which is immediately dropped and kicked out of sight. The characters are child's drawings, as blank-eyed and expressionless as the author himself in his back-cover photograph. The plot limps. All the same, the story could have been an admirable minor work in the tradition of Dracula, if only the author, or somebody, had not insisted on encumbering it with the year's most childish set of 'scientific' rationalizations.
Galaxy reviewer Groff Conklin described Legend as "a weird [and] rather slow-moving first novel ... a horrid, violent, sometimes exciting but too often overdone tour de force."[2] Anthony Boucher praised the novel, saying "Matheson has added a new variant on the Last Man theme ... and has given striking vigor to his invention by a forceful style of storytelling which derives from the best hard-boiled crime novels".[3]
Dan Schneider from International Writers Magazine: Book Review wrote in 2005:[4]

... despite having vampires in it, [the novel] is not a novel on vampires, nor even a horror nor sci-fi novel at all, in the deepest sense. Instead, it is perhaps the greatest novel written on human loneliness. It far surpasses Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe in that regard. Its insights into what it is to be human go far beyond genre, and is all the more surprising because, having read his short stories--which range from competent but simplistic, to having classic Twilight Zone twists (he was a major contributor to the original TV series)--there is nothing within those short stories that suggests the supreme majesty of the existential masterpiece I Am Legend was aborning.
In 2012, the Horror Writers Association gave I Am Legend the special Vampire Novel of the Century Award.[5]
Influence[edit]
Although Matheson calls the assailants in his novel "vampires", and though their condition is transmitted through blood and garlic is an apotropaic-like repellant, there is little similarity between them and vampires as developed by John William Polidori and his successors, which come straight out of the gothic novel tradition. I Am Legend influenced the zombie genre and popularized the concept of a worldwide zombie apocalypse.[6] Although the idea has now become commonplace, a scientific origin for vampirism or zombies was fairly original when written.[7] According to Clasen:[8]

"I Am Legend is the product of an anxious artistic mind working in an anxious cultural climate. However, it is also a playful take on an old archetype, the vampire (the reader is even treated to Neville’s reading and put-down of Bram Stoker's Dracula). Matheson goes to great lengths to rationalize or naturalize the vampire myth, transplanting the monster from the otherworldly realms of folklore and Victorian supernaturalism to the test tube of medical inquiry and rational causation. With I Am Legend, Matheson instituted the germ theory of vampirism, a take on the old archetype which has since been tackled by other writers (notably, Dan Simmons in Children of the Night from 1992)."
Though referred to as "the first modern vampire novel",[9] it is as a novel of social theme that I Am Legend made a lasting impression on the cinematic zombie genre, by way of director George A. Romero, who acknowledged its influence and that of its 1964 adaptation, The Last Man on Earth, upon his seminal film Night of the Living Dead (1968).[6][10][11][12] Discussing the creation of Night of the Living Dead, Romero remarked, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[13] Moreover, film critics noted similarities between Night of the Living Dead (1968) and The Last Man on Earth (1964).[14][15]
Stephen King said, "Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me".[16] Film critics noted that the British film 28 Days Later (2002) and its sequel 28 Weeks Later both feature a rabies-type plague ravaging Great Britain, analogous to I Am Legend.[17]
Adaptations[edit]
Comics[edit]
The book has also been adapted into a comic book mini-series titled Richard Matheson's I Am Legend by Steve Niles and Elman Brown. It was published in 1991 by Eclipse Comics and collected into a trade paperback by IDW Publishing.[18][19][20]
An unrelated film tie in was released in 2007 as a one-shot I Am Legend: Awakening published in a San Diego Comic Con special by Vertigo.[21]
Radio play[edit]
A nine-part abridged reading of the novel performed by Angus MacInnes was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in January 2006.[22]
Films[edit]
I Am Legend has been adapted to a feature-length film four times (one of which does not credit Matheson as the source). Differing from the book each of them portrays the Neville character as an accomplished scientist. The first three adaptations show him finding a remedy and passing it on. Adaptations differ from the novel by setting the events after three years from the disaster, instead of happening “in the span of” three years. Also adaptations are set in the near future, a few years after film release, while the novel is set twenty years after its publication date.
The Last Man on Earth[edit]
Main article: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
In 1964, Vincent Price starred as Dr. Robert Morgan (rather than "Neville") in The Last Man on Earth (the original title of this Italian production was L'ultimo uomo della Terra). Matheson wrote the original screenplay for this adaptation, but due to later rewrites did not wish his name to appear in the credits; as a result, Matheson is credited under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson."[23]
The Omega Man[edit]
Main article: The Omega Man
In 1971, a far different version was produced, entitled The Omega Man. It starred Charlton Heston (as Robert Neville) and Anthony Zerbe. Matheson had no influence on the screenplay for this film,[24] and although the general premise remains, it deviates from the novel in several ways, completely removing the infected's vampiric characteristics except for their sensitivity to light. In this version, the infected are portrayed as nocturnal, black-robed, albino mutants, collectively known as The Family. Though intelligent, they eschew all modern technology, believing it (and those who use it, such as Neville) to be evil and the cause of humanity's downfall.
I Am Legend[edit]
Main article: I Am Legend (film)
In 2007, a third adaptation of the novel was produced, this time titled I Am Legend. Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith as Robert Neville, this film uses both Matheson's novel and the 1971 Omega Man film as its source.[25] However, this adaptation also deviates significantly from the novel. In this version, the infection is caused by a virus originally intended to cure cancer. Some vampiric elements are retained, such as sensitivity to UV light and attraction to blood. The infected are portrayed as nocturnal, feral creatures of limited intelligence but with superhuman strength who feed on the uninfected. Other creatures, such as dogs, are also infected by the virus. The ending of the film was also altered to portray Neville as sacrificing his life to save humanity, rather than being executed for crimes against the surviving vampiric humans.[6] The film takes place in New York City in the years 2009 and 2012 rather than Los Angeles in 1975-1977.
I Am Omega[edit]
Main article: I Am Omega
The Asylum production I Am Omega was 2007 American feature length direct to video release, starring Mark Dacascos. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, which is overrun by savage, cannibalistic humans who have degenerated into a feral subspecies as the result of a genetic virus. Once again, the adaption deviates from the novel, and does not credit Matheson.
In this adaption, 'Renchard' has been forced to live in a daily struggle for survival against the mutants. Renchard is contacted via webcam by Brianna (Jennifer Lee Wiggins), another survivor who was stranded in Los Angeles while trying to find Antioch, a community of survivors. Renchard is forced to aid her and two others escape the city in which he has strategically placed time bombs, set to go off in 24 hours.
This film was rushed into production by The Asylum and released a month prior to the bigger budget Francis Lawrence project.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Novels portal
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction The Last Man
Survivalism
Vampire literature
Zombie (fictional)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Knight, Damon (1967). In Search of Wonder. Chicago: Advent.
2.Jump up ^ "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1955, p.121
3.Jump up ^ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, November 1954, p.99.
4.Jump up ^ Schneider, Dan (1953-01-05). "I am Legend by Richard Matheson". hackwriters.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
5.Jump up ^ 2011 Bram Stoker Award™ winners and Vampire Novel of the Century Award winner
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Deborah Christie, Sarah Juliet Lauro, ed. (2011). Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human. Fordham Univ Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-8232-3447-9, 9780823234479.
7.Jump up ^ "Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening"[dead link]
8.Jump up ^ Clasen, Mathias (2010). "Vampire Apocalypse: A Biocultural Critique of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend". Philosophy and Literature.
9.Jump up ^ David Carroll and Kyla Ward, "The Horror Timeline" Burnt Toast No. 13.
10.Jump up ^ "House of Horrors Presents: The Night of the Living Dead"
11.Jump up ^ "Steve Biodrowski, Retrospective: Night of the Living Dead (1968)"
12.Jump up ^ Richard Matheson Interview, in Tom Weaver, Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999), p. 307, ISBN 0-7864-0755-7.
13.Jump up ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead" — Night of the Living Dead DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
14.Jump up ^ "Thomas Scalzo, The Last Man on Earth (Film Review)"
15.Jump up ^ "Danel Griffin The Last Man on Earth (Film Review)"
16.Jump up ^ "The Legend that inspired me". The Times (London). 2006-07-22. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
17.Jump up ^ "28 Days Later Movie Review (2002). Channel 4 Film. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
18.Jump up ^ Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening
19.Jump up ^ I Am Legend at the Grand Comics Database
20.Jump up ^ I Am Legend at the Comic Book DB
21.Jump up ^ I Am Legend: Awakening at the Comic Book DB
22.Jump up ^ "BBC Radio 7 - I am Legend". Radiolistings.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-02-04.
23.Jump up ^ Stan Wiater; Matthew R. Bradley; Paul Stuve (2009). The Twilight and Other Zones: The Dark Worlds of Richard Matheson. Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-0-8065-3113-7. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
24.Jump up ^ "Omega Man, The". Sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
25.Jump up ^ end credits: "Based on the screenplay by John & Joyce Corrington, and the novel by Richard Matheson"
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: I Am Legend (novel)
The I Am Legend Book Archive


[show]
v ·
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Richard Matheson's I Am Legend












[show]
v ·
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Richard Matheson
























































































  


Categories: 1954 novels
1950s science fiction novels
American post-apocalyptic novels
American horror novels
American vampire novels
Novels by Richard Matheson
American novels adapted into films
Novels set in Los Angeles, California
Viral outbreaks in literature
Solitude in fiction
Science fiction horror novels





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I Am Legend (novel)

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I Am Legend
IAmLegend25028.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Richard Matheson
Country
USA
Language
English
Genre
Science fiction, horror, zombie fiction, vampire fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction
Publisher
Gold Medal

Publication date
 1954
Media type
Paperback
Pages
160 (1954 edition)
I Am Legend is a 1954 horror fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was influential in the development of the zombie genre and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease. The novel was a success and was adapted to film as The Last Man on Earth in 1964, as The Omega Man in 1971, and as I Am Legend in 2007, along with a direct-to-video 2007 production capitalizing on that film, I Am Omega. The novel was also the inspiration behind the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Critical reception
3 Influence
4 Adaptations 4.1 Comics
4.2 Radio play
4.3 Films 4.3.1 The Last Man on Earth
4.3.2 The Omega Man
4.3.3 I Am Legend
4.3.4 I Am Omega

5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Robert Neville is the apparent sole survivor of a pandemic whose symptoms resemble vampirism. It is said that the pandemic was caused by a war, and that it was spread by dust storms in the cities and an explosion in the mosquito population. The narrative details Neville's daily life in Los Angeles as he attempts to comprehend, research, and possibly cure the disease, to which he is immune. Neville's past is revealed through flashbacks; the disease claimed his wife and daughter, and he was forced to kill his wife after she seemingly rose from the dead as a vampire and attacked him.
Neville survives by barricading himself by sunset inside his house, further protected by garlic, mirrors, and crucifixes. Swarms of vampires, led by Neville's neighbor, Ben Cortman, regularly surround his house, trying to find ways to get inside. During the day, he scavenges for supplies and searches out the inactive vampires, driving stakes into their hearts to kill them. He finds brief solace in a stray dog that finds its way to his house. Desperate for company, Neville slowly earns the dog's trust with food and brings it into the house. Despite his efforts, the dog proves to be infected and dies a week later.
After bouts of depression and alcoholism, Neville decides to find out the scientific cause of the pandemic. He obtains books and other research materials from a library, and through painstaking research discovers the root of the disease in a strain of bacteria capable of infecting both deceased and living hosts. He also discovers that the vampires are affected by the garlic, mirrors, and crosses because of "hysterical blindness", the result of previous psychological conditioning of the infected. Driven insane by the disease, the infected now react as they believe they should when confronted with these items. Even then, their reaction is constrained to the beliefs of the particular person; for example, a Christian vampire would fear the cross, but a Jewish vampire would not.
Neville also discovers more efficient means of killing the vampires, other than just driving a stake into their hearts. This includes exposing them to direct sunlight (which kills the bacteria) or inflicting deep wounds on their bodies so that the bacteria switch from being anaerobic symbionts to aerobic parasites, rapidly consuming their hosts when exposed to air. He is now killing such large numbers of vampires in his daily forays that his nightly visitors have diminished significantly.
After three years, Neville sees an apparently uninfected woman, Ruth, abroad in the daylight, and captures her. After some convincing, Ruth tells him her story of how she and her husband survived the pandemic (though her husband was killed two weeks earlier). Neville is puzzled by the fact that she is upset when he speaks of killing vampires; he thinks that if her story of survival was true, she would have become hardened to the act. He attempts to test whether she is a vampire by exposing her to garlic, which causes her to recoil violently. At night Neville is startled awake and finds Ruth fully clothed at the front door of the house. Suspicious, he questions her motives, but relates the trauma of his past, whereupon they comfort each other. Ruth reluctantly allows him to take a blood sample but knocks him unconscious when the sample reveals that she is infected.
When he wakes, Neville discovers a note from Ruth confessing that she is actually infected and that Neville was responsible for her husband's death. Ruth admits that she was sent to spy on him. The infected have slowly overcome their disease until they can spend short periods of time in sunlight, and are attempting to build a new society. They have developed medication which helps them to overcome the most severe symptoms of the infection. Ruth warns Neville that her people will attempt to capture him, and that he should leave his house and escape to the mountains.
Neville cannot bring himself to leave his house, however, and assumes that he will be captured and treated fairly by the new society. Infected members of the new society eventually attack the house. During the attack, the members of the new society violently dispatch the other vampires outside the house, and Neville becomes alarmed at the grim enjoyment they appear to take from this task. Realising that the intention of the attackers may be to kill him rather than to capture him he tries to defend himself with a pistol, leading to one of the infected shooting and badly injuring him.
Neville wakes in a barred cell where he is visited by Ruth, who informs him that she is a ranking member of the new society but, unlike the others, does not resent him. Ruth attempts to present a facade of indifference to Neville, but is unable to maintain it during her discussion with him. After discussing the effects of Neville's vampire killing activities on the new society, she acknowledges the need for Neville's execution and gives him pills, claiming they will "make it easier". Badly injured, Neville accepts his fate and asks Ruth not to let this society become heartless. Ruth kisses him and leaves.
Neville goes to his prison window and sees the infected waiting for his execution. He now sees that the infected view him with the same hatred and fear that he once felt for the vampires; he realizes that he, a remnant of old humanity, is now a legend to the new race born of the infection. He recognises that their desire to kill him is not something he can condemn. As the pills take effect, he thinks: "[I am] a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever. I am legend".
Critical reception[edit]
As related from In Search of Wonder (1956), Damon Knight wrote:[1]

The book is full of good ideas, every other one of which is immediately dropped and kicked out of sight. The characters are child's drawings, as blank-eyed and expressionless as the author himself in his back-cover photograph. The plot limps. All the same, the story could have been an admirable minor work in the tradition of Dracula, if only the author, or somebody, had not insisted on encumbering it with the year's most childish set of 'scientific' rationalizations.
Galaxy reviewer Groff Conklin described Legend as "a weird [and] rather slow-moving first novel ... a horrid, violent, sometimes exciting but too often overdone tour de force."[2] Anthony Boucher praised the novel, saying "Matheson has added a new variant on the Last Man theme ... and has given striking vigor to his invention by a forceful style of storytelling which derives from the best hard-boiled crime novels".[3]
Dan Schneider from International Writers Magazine: Book Review wrote in 2005:[4]

... despite having vampires in it, [the novel] is not a novel on vampires, nor even a horror nor sci-fi novel at all, in the deepest sense. Instead, it is perhaps the greatest novel written on human loneliness. It far surpasses Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe in that regard. Its insights into what it is to be human go far beyond genre, and is all the more surprising because, having read his short stories--which range from competent but simplistic, to having classic Twilight Zone twists (he was a major contributor to the original TV series)--there is nothing within those short stories that suggests the supreme majesty of the existential masterpiece I Am Legend was aborning.
In 2012, the Horror Writers Association gave I Am Legend the special Vampire Novel of the Century Award.[5]
Influence[edit]
Although Matheson calls the assailants in his novel "vampires", and though their condition is transmitted through blood and garlic is an apotropaic-like repellant, there is little similarity between them and vampires as developed by John William Polidori and his successors, which come straight out of the gothic novel tradition. I Am Legend influenced the zombie genre and popularized the concept of a worldwide zombie apocalypse.[6] Although the idea has now become commonplace, a scientific origin for vampirism or zombies was fairly original when written.[7] According to Clasen:[8]

"I Am Legend is the product of an anxious artistic mind working in an anxious cultural climate. However, it is also a playful take on an old archetype, the vampire (the reader is even treated to Neville’s reading and put-down of Bram Stoker's Dracula). Matheson goes to great lengths to rationalize or naturalize the vampire myth, transplanting the monster from the otherworldly realms of folklore and Victorian supernaturalism to the test tube of medical inquiry and rational causation. With I Am Legend, Matheson instituted the germ theory of vampirism, a take on the old archetype which has since been tackled by other writers (notably, Dan Simmons in Children of the Night from 1992)."
Though referred to as "the first modern vampire novel",[9] it is as a novel of social theme that I Am Legend made a lasting impression on the cinematic zombie genre, by way of director George A. Romero, who acknowledged its influence and that of its 1964 adaptation, The Last Man on Earth, upon his seminal film Night of the Living Dead (1968).[6][10][11][12] Discussing the creation of Night of the Living Dead, Romero remarked, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend."[13] Moreover, film critics noted similarities between Night of the Living Dead (1968) and The Last Man on Earth (1964).[14][15]
Stephen King said, "Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me".[16] Film critics noted that the British film 28 Days Later (2002) and its sequel 28 Weeks Later both feature a rabies-type plague ravaging Great Britain, analogous to I Am Legend.[17]
Adaptations[edit]
Comics[edit]
The book has also been adapted into a comic book mini-series titled Richard Matheson's I Am Legend by Steve Niles and Elman Brown. It was published in 1991 by Eclipse Comics and collected into a trade paperback by IDW Publishing.[18][19][20]
An unrelated film tie in was released in 2007 as a one-shot I Am Legend: Awakening published in a San Diego Comic Con special by Vertigo.[21]
Radio play[edit]
A nine-part abridged reading of the novel performed by Angus MacInnes was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in January 2006.[22]
Films[edit]
I Am Legend has been adapted to a feature-length film four times (one of which does not credit Matheson as the source). Differing from the book each of them portrays the Neville character as an accomplished scientist. The first three adaptations show him finding a remedy and passing it on. Adaptations differ from the novel by setting the events after three years from the disaster, instead of happening “in the span of” three years. Also adaptations are set in the near future, a few years after film release, while the novel is set twenty years after its publication date.
The Last Man on Earth[edit]
Main article: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)
In 1964, Vincent Price starred as Dr. Robert Morgan (rather than "Neville") in The Last Man on Earth (the original title of this Italian production was L'ultimo uomo della Terra). Matheson wrote the original screenplay for this adaptation, but due to later rewrites did not wish his name to appear in the credits; as a result, Matheson is credited under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson."[23]
The Omega Man[edit]
Main article: The Omega Man
In 1971, a far different version was produced, entitled The Omega Man. It starred Charlton Heston (as Robert Neville) and Anthony Zerbe. Matheson had no influence on the screenplay for this film,[24] and although the general premise remains, it deviates from the novel in several ways, completely removing the infected's vampiric characteristics except for their sensitivity to light. In this version, the infected are portrayed as nocturnal, black-robed, albino mutants, collectively known as The Family. Though intelligent, they eschew all modern technology, believing it (and those who use it, such as Neville) to be evil and the cause of humanity's downfall.
I Am Legend[edit]
Main article: I Am Legend (film)
In 2007, a third adaptation of the novel was produced, this time titled I Am Legend. Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith as Robert Neville, this film uses both Matheson's novel and the 1971 Omega Man film as its source.[25] However, this adaptation also deviates significantly from the novel. In this version, the infection is caused by a virus originally intended to cure cancer. Some vampiric elements are retained, such as sensitivity to UV light and attraction to blood. The infected are portrayed as nocturnal, feral creatures of limited intelligence but with superhuman strength who feed on the uninfected. Other creatures, such as dogs, are also infected by the virus. The ending of the film was also altered to portray Neville as sacrificing his life to save humanity, rather than being executed for crimes against the surviving vampiric humans.[6] The film takes place in New York City in the years 2009 and 2012 rather than Los Angeles in 1975-1977.
I Am Omega[edit]
Main article: I Am Omega
The Asylum production I Am Omega was 2007 American feature length direct to video release, starring Mark Dacascos. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, which is overrun by savage, cannibalistic humans who have degenerated into a feral subspecies as the result of a genetic virus. Once again, the adaption deviates from the novel, and does not credit Matheson.
In this adaption, 'Renchard' has been forced to live in a daily struggle for survival against the mutants. Renchard is contacted via webcam by Brianna (Jennifer Lee Wiggins), another survivor who was stranded in Los Angeles while trying to find Antioch, a community of survivors. Renchard is forced to aid her and two others escape the city in which he has strategically placed time bombs, set to go off in 24 hours.
This film was rushed into production by The Asylum and released a month prior to the bigger budget Francis Lawrence project.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Novels portal
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction The Last Man
Survivalism
Vampire literature
Zombie (fictional)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Knight, Damon (1967). In Search of Wonder. Chicago: Advent.
2.Jump up ^ "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1955, p.121
3.Jump up ^ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, November 1954, p.99.
4.Jump up ^ Schneider, Dan (1953-01-05). "I am Legend by Richard Matheson". hackwriters.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
5.Jump up ^ 2011 Bram Stoker Award™ winners and Vampire Novel of the Century Award winner
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Deborah Christie, Sarah Juliet Lauro, ed. (2011). Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human. Fordham Univ Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-8232-3447-9, 9780823234479.
7.Jump up ^ "Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening"[dead link]
8.Jump up ^ Clasen, Mathias (2010). "Vampire Apocalypse: A Biocultural Critique of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend". Philosophy and Literature.
9.Jump up ^ David Carroll and Kyla Ward, "The Horror Timeline" Burnt Toast No. 13.
10.Jump up ^ "House of Horrors Presents: The Night of the Living Dead"
11.Jump up ^ "Steve Biodrowski, Retrospective: Night of the Living Dead (1968)"
12.Jump up ^ Richard Matheson Interview, in Tom Weaver, Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999), p. 307, ISBN 0-7864-0755-7.
13.Jump up ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead" — Night of the Living Dead DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
14.Jump up ^ "Thomas Scalzo, The Last Man on Earth (Film Review)"
15.Jump up ^ "Danel Griffin The Last Man on Earth (Film Review)"
16.Jump up ^ "The Legend that inspired me". The Times (London). 2006-07-22. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
17.Jump up ^ "28 Days Later Movie Review (2002). Channel 4 Film. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
18.Jump up ^ Nashuatelegraph.com: Tale with long history has legendary opening
19.Jump up ^ I Am Legend at the Grand Comics Database
20.Jump up ^ I Am Legend at the Comic Book DB
21.Jump up ^ I Am Legend: Awakening at the Comic Book DB
22.Jump up ^ "BBC Radio 7 - I am Legend". Radiolistings.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-02-04.
23.Jump up ^ Stan Wiater; Matthew R. Bradley; Paul Stuve (2009). The Twilight and Other Zones: The Dark Worlds of Richard Matheson. Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-0-8065-3113-7. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
24.Jump up ^ "Omega Man, The". Sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
25.Jump up ^ end credits: "Based on the screenplay by John & Joyce Corrington, and the novel by Richard Matheson"
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: I Am Legend (novel)
The I Am Legend Book Archive


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend












[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Richard Matheson
























































































  


Categories: 1954 novels
1950s science fiction novels
American post-apocalyptic novels
American horror novels
American vampire novels
Novels by Richard Matheson
American novels adapted into films
Novels set in Los Angeles, California
Viral outbreaks in literature
Solitude in fiction
Science fiction horror novels





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I Am Legend (film)

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I Am Legend
A man wearing leather clothes and holding a rifle walks alongside a dog on an empty street. A destroyed bridge is seen in the background. Atop the image is "Will Smith" and the tagline "The last man on Earth is not alone". Below is the film's title and credits.
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Francis Lawrence
Produced by
Akiva Goldsman
James Lassiter
David Heyman
Neal H. Moritz
Screenplay by
Mark Protosevich
 Akiva Goldsman
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Will Smith
Alice Braga
Dash Mihok
Music by
James Newton Howard
Cinematography
Andrew Lesnie
Edited by
Wayne Wahrman

Production
 company

Village Roadshow Pictures
Weed Road Pictures
Overbrook Entertainment
Heyday Films
Original Film

Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)

Release dates

December 14, 2007


Running time
 100 minutes
Country
United States[1][2]
Language
English
Budget
$150 million[3]
Box office
$585.3 million[3]
I Am Legend is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man.[4] Smith plays virologist Robert Neville, who is immune to a man-made virus originally created to cure cancer. He works to create a remedy while defending himself against mutants created by the virus.
Warner Bros. began developing I Am Legend in 1994, and various actors and directors were attached to the project, though production was delayed due to budgetary concerns related to the script. Production began in 2006 in New York City, filming mainly on location in the city, including a $5 million scene[5] at the Brooklyn Bridge.
I Am Legend was released on December 14, 2007 in the United States and Canada, and opened to the largest ever box office (not counting for inflation) for a non-Christmas film released in the U.S. in December. The film was the seventh-highest grossing film of 2007, earning $256 million domestically and $329 million internationally, for a total of $585 million.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development
3.2 Casting
3.3 Filming
3.4 Effects
3.5 Alternate ending
4 Release 4.1 Marketing
4.2 Box office
4.3 Home media
4.4 Soundtrack
5 Reception 5.1 Critical response
5.2 Accolades
6 Possible sequel or prequel
7 Reboot
8 Bibliography
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

Plot[edit]
In 2009, a genetically re-engineered measles virus, originally created as a cure for cancer, mutates into a lethal strain which kills 90 percent of those it infects, and turns the remaining 10% into predatory, nocturnal "Darkseekers" who are vulnerable to sunlight. Three years after the outbreak, US Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) lives an isolated life in New York City, which is now deserted, unsure if there are any other uninfected humans left in the world.
Neville's daily routine includes experimentation on infected rats to find a cure for the virus and trips through Manhattan to hunt for food and supplies. He also waits each day for a response to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, which instruct any uninfected survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. Flashbacks reveal that his wife and daughter died in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan, prior to the military-enforced quarantine of the island in 2009. Neville's loneliness is mitigated only by the companionship of his German Shepherd, Sam, interaction with mannequins he has set up as patrons at a video store, and recordings of old television broadcasts. At night, he barricades himself and Sam inside his heavily-fortified Washington Square Park home to hide from the Darkseekers. One day while hunting, Sam follows a deer into a dark building. Neville cautiously goes in after her and finds the deer's corpse along with Sam, but the building is infested by a colony of Darkseekers. Both manage to escape unharmed and the attacking Darkseekers are killed by the sunlight.
Neville finds a promising treatment derived from his own blood, so he sets a snare trap and captures a female Darkseeker while the alpha male Darkseeker watches from the shadows. Back in his laboratory in the basement of his house, Neville treats the female without success. The next day, he is ensnared in a trap similar to the one he used to capture the female, and by the time he manages to escape, it is dark and he is attacked by infected dogs. He and Sam manage to kill them but Sam is bitten in the fight. Neville brings Sam home and injects her with a strand of his serum, but when she shows signs of infection and tries to attack him, Neville is forced to kill her. The next night, driven over the edge by loneliness, he ventures out and suicidally attacks a group of Darkseekers. He is nearly killed, but is rescued by a pair of immune survivors, Anna (Alice Braga) and a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who have traveled from Maryland after hearing one of his broadcasts. They take the injured Neville back to his home where Anna explains that they survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship from São Paulo and are making their way to a putative survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont.
Neville once again attempts to administer a potential cure to the infected woman in his laboratory, but the next night a group of Darkseekers, who had followed Anna and Neville back the night before, attack the house and overrun its defenses. Neville, Anna, and Ethan retreat into the basement laboratory, sealing themselves in with the female Darkseeker Neville has been experimenting on. Discovering that the last treatment was successful, Neville draws a vial of her blood and gives it to Anna, before shutting her and Ethan inside a coal chute in the back of the lab. As one of the Darkseekers breaks into the laboratory, Neville detonates a grenade, killing the Darkseekers and himself. Anna and Ethan emerge the next morning and make their way to the survivor colony. Once there, Anna hands over the blood containing the cure.
Cast[edit]
Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville: A former U.S. Army medical doctor and scientist before the worldwide plague. He loses his wife and daughter in a helicopter crash shortly after Manhattan is quarantined and spends the next three years trying to find a cure while defending himself against the Darkseekers. He is immune to the virus and uses vials of his blood to try to create a cure.
Alice Braga as Anna Montez: A survivor from Brazil, who spent days harbored on a Red Cross ship in Philadelphia; after the city was overrun, she stayed with Ethan and several other survivors on the ship, but eventually, only she and Ethan survived, since they were immune and the others were either infected or killed. She followed Neville's broadcasts to track him.
Charlie Tahan as Ethan: A boy from Philadelphia who spent days on the ship with Anna and accompanied her when the ship was overrun.
Dash Mihok as the Darkseekers' alpha male
Abbey and Kona as Samantha: Neville's dog and only companion for three years.
Emma Thompson as Dr. Alice Krippin: The doctor who creates the cancer cure that inadvertently brings mankind to the brink of extinction; Neville dubs the virus "The Krippin Virus".
Salli Richardson as Zoe Neville: Robert's wife.
Willow Smith as Marley Neville: Robert's daughter
Lauren Haley as Darkseekers' alpha female
Darrell Foster as Mike
Pat Fraley as Voice of the President of the United States
Mike Patton as Voices of the Darkseekers
Production[edit]
Development[edit]



 Washington Square on October 31, 2006: the area is being set up for an evening shooting. In the background is the house Will Smith's character lives in.
The late 1990s brought a reemergence of the science fiction horror genre.[6] In 1995, Warner Bros. began developing the film project, having owned the rights to Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend since 1970[7] and having already made the 1971 adaptation The Omega Man. Mark Protosevich was hired to write the script after the studio was impressed with his spec script of The Cell. Protosevich's first draft took place in the year 2000 in San Francisco, California, and contained many similarities with the finished film, though the Darkseekers (called 'Hemocytes') were civilized to the point of the creatures in The Omega Man and Anna was a lone morphine addict; as well as the fact that there was a Hemocyte character named Christopher who joined forces with Neville. Warner Bros. immediately put the film on the fast track, attaching Neal H. Moritz as producer.[6]
Actors Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas,[8] and Mel Gibson[6] had been considered to star in the film,[8] using a script by Protosevich and with Ridley Scott as director; however, by June 1997 the studio's preference was for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In July, Scott and Schwarzenegger finalized negotiations,[9] with production slated to begin the coming September,[8] using Houston as a stand-in for the film's setting of Los Angeles.[10] Scott had Protosevich replaced by a screenwriter of his own choosing, John Logan, with whom he spent months of intensive work on a number of different drafts. The Scott/Logan version of I Am Legend was a mix of sci-fi and psychological thriller, without dialogue in the first hour and with a sombre ending.[6] The creatures in Logan's version were similar to the Darkseekers of the finished film in their animalistic, barbaric nature. The studio, fearing its lack of commercial appeal and merchandising potential, began to worry about the liberties they had given Scott – then on a negative streak of box office disappointments – and urged the production team to reconsider the lack of action in the screenplay. After an "esoteric" draft by writer Neal Jimenez, Warner Bros. reassigned Protosevich to the project, reluctantly working with Scott again.[6]
In December 1997, the project was called into question when the projected budget escalated to $108 million due to media and shareholder scrutiny of the studio in financing a big-budget film.[11] Scott rewrote the script in an attempt to reduce the film's budget by $20 million,[12] but in March 1998, the studio canceled the project due to continued budgetary concerns,[13] and quite possibly to the box office disappointment of Scott's last three films, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, White Squall, and G.I. Jane.[6] Likewise, Schwarzenegger's recent films at the time (Eraser and Warner Bros. own Batman & Robin) also underperformed, and the studio's latest experiences with big budget sci-fi movies Sphere and The Postman were negative as well.[6] In August 1998, director Rob Bowman was attached to the project,[14] with Protosevich hired to write a third all-new draft, far more action-oriented than his previous versions,[6] but the director (who reportedly wished for Nicolas Cage to play the lead) moved on to direct Reign of Fire[15] and the project did not get off the ground.
In March 2002, Schwarzenegger became the producer of I Am Legend, commencing negotiations with Michael Bay to direct and Will Smith to star in the film.[16] Bay and Smith were attracted to the project based on a redraft that would reduce its budget.[17] However, the project was shelved due to Warner Bros. president, Alan F. Horn's dislike of the script.[18] In 2004, Akiva Goldsman was asked by head of production Jeff Robinov to produce the film.[19] In September 2005, director Francis Lawrence signed on to helm the project, with production slated to begin in 2006. Guillermo del Toro was originally approached to direct by Smith but turned it down in order to direct Hellboy II: The Golden Army.[20] Lawrence, whose film Constantine was produced by Goldsman, was fascinated by empty urban environments. He said, "Something's always really excited me about that... to have experienced that much loss, to be without people or any kind of social interaction for that long."[19]
Goldsman took on the project as he admired the second I Am Legend film adaptation, The Omega Man.[21] A rewrite was done to distance the project from the other zombie films inspired by the novel,[16] as well as from the recently released 28 Days Later, although Goldsman was inspired by the scenes of a deserted London in the British horror film to create the scenes of a deserted New York City.[21] A 40-page scene-by-scene outline of the film was developed by May 2006. When delays occurred on Smith's film Hancock, which was scheduled for 2007, it was proposed to switch the actor's films. This meant filming would have to begin in sixteen weeks: production was green lit, using Goldsman's script and the outline.[19] Elements from Protosevich's script were introduced, while the crew consulted with experts on infectious diseases and solitary confinement.[21] Rewrites continued throughout filming, because of Smith's improvisational skills and Lawrence's preference to keep various scenes silent.[19] The director had watched Jane Campion’s film The Piano with a low volume so as to not disturb his newborn son, and realized that silence could be very effective cinema.[22]
Casting[edit]
Will Smith signed on to play Robert Neville in April 2006.[23] He said he took on I Am Legend because he felt it could be like "Gladiator [or] Forrest Gump—these are movies with wonderful, audience-pleasing elements but also uncompromised artistic value. [This] always felt like it had those possibilities to me."[21] The actor found Neville to be his toughest acting challenge since portraying Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001). He said that "when you're on your own, it is kind of hard to find conflict." The film's dark tone and exploration of whether Neville has gone insane during his isolation meant Smith had to restrain himself from falling into a humorous routine during takes.[24] To prepare for his role, Smith visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia. He also met with a person who had been in solitary confinement and a former prisoner of war.[25] Smith compared Neville to Job, who lost his children, livelihood, and health. Like the Book of Job, I Am Legend studies the questions, "Can he find a reason to continue? Can he find the hope or desire to excel and advance in life? Or does the death of everything around him create imminent death for himself?"[16] He also cited an influence in Tom Hanks' performance in Cast Away (2000).[21]
Abbey and Kona, both three-year-old German Shepherd Dogs, played Neville's dog Sam.[26] The rest of the supporting cast consists of Salli Richardson as Zoe, Robert's wife,[27] and Alice Braga as a survivor named Anna.[27] Willow Smith, Will Smith's daughter, makes her film debut as Marley, Neville's daughter.[28] Emma Thompson has an uncredited role as Dr. Alice Krippin, who appears on television explaining her vaccine for cancer that mutates into the virus.[29] Singer Mike Patton provided the guttural screams of the infected "hemocytes," and Dash Mihok provided the character animation for the infected "alpha male". There were several filler characters with uncredited roles in old news broadcasts and flashbacks, such as the unnamed President's voice (Pat Fraley), and the cast of The Today Show.
Filming[edit]

A below view of a large suspension bridge over a river connecting to an area covered with tall buildings. Another bridge and other buildings can be seen in the background.

 The Brooklyn Bridge, where a $5 million scene was filmed


 Marcy Avenue Armory
Akiva Goldsman decided to move the story from Los Angeles to New York City to take advantage of locations that would more easily show emptiness.[7] Goldsman explained, "L.A. looks empty at three o'clock in the afternoon, [but] New York is never empty . . . it was a much more interesting way of showing the windswept emptiness of the world."[24] Warner Bros. initially rejected this idea because of the logistics,[19] but Francis Lawrence was determined to shoot on location, to give the film a natural feel that would benefit from not shooting on soundstages. Lawrence went to the city with a camcorder, and filmed areas filled with crowds. Then, a special effects test was conducted to remove all those people. The test had a powerful effect on studio executives.[22] Michael Tadross convinced authorities to close busy areas such as the Grand Central Terminal viaduct, several blocks of Fifth Avenue and Washington Square Park.[19] The film was shot primarily in the anamorphic format, with flashback scenes shot in Super 35.[30]
Filming began on September 23, 2006.[31] The Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg was used for the interior of Neville's home,[24] while Greenwich Village was used for the exterior.[16] Other locations include the Tribeca section of Lower Manhattan, the aircraft carrier Intrepid, the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx and St. Patrick's Cathedral.[7] Weeds were imported from Florida and were strewn across locations to make the city look like it had overgrown with them.[19] The closure of major streets was controversial with New Yorkers. Will Smith said, "I don't think anyone's going to be able to do that in New York again anytime soon. People were not happy. That's the most middle fingers I've ever gotten in my career."[16]
A bridge scene was filmed for six consecutive nights in January on the Brooklyn Bridge to serve as a flashback scene in which New York's citizens evacuate the city. Shooting the scene consumed $5 million of the film's reported $150 million budget, which was likely the most expensive shot in the city to date. The scene, which had to meet requirements from 14 government agencies, involved 250 crew members and 1,000 extras, including 160 National Guard members.[32][33] Also present were several Humvees, three Strykers, a 110-foot (34 m) cutter, a 41-foot (12 m) utility boat, and two 25-foot (7.6 m) response boat small craft, as well as other vehicles including taxis, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances.[34] Filming concluded on March 31, 2007.[31] CGI was used to depict the main spans of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge collapsing as missiles from over passing military jets blew them up to quarantine Manhattan island.
Reshoots were conducted around November 2007. Lawrence noted, "We weren't seeing fully rendered shots until about a month ago. The movie starts to take on a whole other life. It's not until later that you can judge a movie as a whole and go, 'Huh, maybe we should shoot this little piece in the middle, or tweak this a little bit.' It just so happened that our re-shoots revolved around the end of the movie."[35]
Effects[edit]
A week into filming, Francis felt the infected (referred to as "Dark Seekers" or "hemocytes" in the script), who were being portrayed by actors wearing prosthetics, were not convincing. His decision to use CGI resulted in an increased budget and extended post-production, although the end results were not always well received.[36][37] The concept behind the infected was that their adrenal glands were open all of the time and Lawrence explained, "They needed to have an abandon in their performance that you just can’t get out of people in the middle of the night when they’re barefoot. And their metabolisms are really spiked, so they’re constantly hyperventilating, which you can’t really get actors to do for a long time or they pass out."[19] The actors remained on set to provide motion capture.[24][38] "The film's producers and sound people wanted the creatures in the movie to sound somewhat human, but not the standard," so Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More, was engaged to provide the screams and howls of the infected.[39]
In addition, CGI was used for the lions and deer in the film, and to erase pedestrians in shots of New York. Workers visible in windows, spectators and moving cars in the distance were all removed. In his vision of an empty New York, Lawrence cited John Ford as his influence: "We didn't want to make an apocalyptic movie where the landscape felt apocalyptic. A lot of the movie takes place on a beautiful day. There's something magical about the empty city as opposed to dark and scary that was the ideal that the cast and crew wanted."[21]
Alternate ending[edit]
Several scenes were changed before the film's release, especially the stand-off between Neville and the Darkseekers in his laboratory. In the ending, the alpha male makes a butterfly-shaped smear on the glass. Neville realizes that the alpha male is identifying the female he was experimenting upon by a butterfly tattoo, and the alpha male wants her back. Neville puts his gun down and returns the female. Neville and the alpha male both stare each other down; Neville apologizes to the Darkseekers; the alpha male accepts his apology, and the Darkseekers leave. Shocked by the ordeal, Neville sits down for a moment in his laboratory. Looking over the pictures of his numerous test subjects, the implications of his research methods begin to dawn on him. The final shot follows Neville, Anna, and Ethan as they drive away towards the survivor's camp in Vermont with the antidote.[40]
Release[edit]
I Am Legend was originally slated for a November 21, 2007 release in the United States and Canada,[41] but was delayed to December 14, 2007.[42] The film opened on December 26, 2007 in the United Kingdom,[43] and Ireland having been originally scheduled for January 4, 2008.[24]
In December 2007, China banned the release of American films in the country,[44] which is believed to have delayed the release of I Am Legend. Will Smith spoke to the chairman of China Film Group about securing a release date, later explaining, "We struggled very, very hard to try to get it to work out, but there are only a certain amount of foreign films that are allowed in."[25]
Premieres were held in Tokyo, New York and London. At the London premiere in Leicester Square, British comedian and actor Neg Dupree was arrested after pushing his way onto the red carpet and running around shouting 'I am Legend!'.[45] The stunt was part of his 'Neg's Urban Sports' section of comedy game show Balls of Steel.
Marketing[edit]
A tie-in comic from DC Comics and Vertigo Comics has been created, I Am Legend: Awakening.[46] The project draws upon collaboration from Bill Sienkiewicz, screenwriter Mark Protosevich, and author Orson Scott Card. The son of the original book's author, Richard Christian Matheson, also collaborated on the project. The project will advance from the comic to an online format in which animated featurettes (created by the team from Broken Saints) will be shown on the official website.[47]
In October 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures in conjunction with the Electric Sheep Company launched the online multiplayer game I Am Legend: Survival in the virtual world Second Life. The game is the largest launched in the virtual world in support of a film release, permitting people to play against each other as the infected or the uninfected across a replicated 60 acres (240,000 m2) of New York City.[48] The studio also hired the ad agency Crew Creative to develop a website that would be specifically viewable on the iPhone.[49]
Box office[edit]
I Am Legend grossed $77,211,321 on its opening weekend in 3,606 theaters, averaging $21,412 per venue, and placing it at the top of the box office. This set a record for highest grossing opening for a film for the month of December.[50] The film grossed $256,393,010 in North America and a total of $585,349,010 worldwide.[51] The film was the sixth highest grossing film of 2007 in North America, and as of April 2014 it still stands among the top 100 all-time highest grossing films both domestically and worldwide (unadjusted for ticket price inflation).[51]
Home media[edit]
The film was released on DVD on March 18, 2008 in two editions: a one-disc release, including the movie with four animated comics ("Death As a Gift," "Isolation," "Sacrificing the Few for the Many," and "Shelter"), and other DVD-ROM features; and a two-disc special edition that includes all these extras, an alternative theatrical version of the movie with an alternate ending,[52] and a digital copy of the film.[53] On the high-definition end, the movie has been released on the Blu-ray Disc format and HD DVD format along with the DVD release; with the HD-DVD version being released later on April 8, 2008.[54] Both HD releases include all the features available in the two-disc DVD edition.[54] A three-disk Ultimate Collector's Edition was also released on December 9, 2008.[55]
The film has sold 7.04 million DVDs and earned $126.2 million in revenue, making it the sixth best-selling DVD of 2008.[56] However, Warner Bros was reportedly "a little disappointed" with the film's performance on the DVD market.[57]
Soundtrack[edit]

I Am Legend

Film score by James Newton Howard

Released
January 15, 2008
Length
44:00
Label
Varèse Sarabande
Producer
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard chronology

The Water Horse I Am Legend 

The soundtrack for I Am Legend was released on January 15, 2008, under the record label Varèse Sarabande. The music was composed by James Newton Howard.

I Am Legend Soundtrack

No.
Title
Length

1. "My Name Is Robert Neville"   2:50
2. "Deer Hunting"   1:16
3. "Evacuation"   4:26
4. "Scan Her Again"   1:41
5. "Darkseeker Dogs"   2:16
6. "Sam's Gone"   1:45
7. "Talk To Me"   0:55
8. "The Pier"   5:17
9. "Can They Do That?"   2:09
10. "I'm Listening"   2:09
11. "The Jagged Edge"   5:15
12. "Reunited"   7:49
13. "I'm Sorry"   2:21
14. "Epilogue"   4:13
Total length:
 44:00 
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Most critics were favorable towards the film.[58] The consensus among favorable reviews was that Will Smith's performance overcame questionable special effects.[59] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 70%, based on 209 reviews.[60] At the similar website Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to each review, the film has received an average score of 65, based on 37 reviews.[61]
A. O. Scott wrote that Will Smith gave a "graceful and effortless performance" and also noted the "third-act collapse". He felt that the movie "does ponder some pretty deep questions about the collapse and persistence of human civilization".[62] Dana Stevens of Slate wrote that the movie lost its way around the hour mark, noting that "the Infected just aren't that scary."[29] NPR critic Bob Mondello noted the film's subtext concerning global terrorism and that this aspect made the film fit in perfectly with other, more direct cinematic explorations of the subject.[63] Richard Roeper gave the film a positive review on the television program At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, commending Will Smith as being in "prime form," also saying there are "some amazing sequences" and that there was "a pretty heavy screenplay for an action film."[64] The film has been criticized for diverging from Matheson's novel, especially in its portrayal of a specifically Christian theme.[65] Much of the negative criticism has concerned the film's third act,[36][37][66] some critics favoring the alternative ending in the DVD release.[52]
Popular Mechanics published an article on December 14, 2007[67] addressing some of the scientific issues raised by the film:
1.the rate of deterioration of urban structures, infrastructure, and survival of fauna and flora
2.the plausibility of a retrovirus spreading out of control as depicted in the film. (The measles virus depicted in the film, however, is not a retrovirus, but is in fact a part of the Paramyxovirus family.)
3.the mechanics of the Brooklyn Bridge's destruction
The magazine solicited reactions from Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, virologist W. Ian Lipkin, M.D., and Michel Bruneau, PhD, comparing their predictions with the film's depictions. The article raised the most questions regarding the virus' mutation and the medical results, and pointed out that a suspension bridge like the Brooklyn Bridge would likely completely collapse rather than losing only its middle span. Neville's method of producing power using gasoline-powered generators seemed the most credible: "This part of the tale is possible, if not entirely likely," Popular Mechanics editor Roy Berendsohn says.
Philosopher Slavoj Zizek criticized the film politically as being the most regressive adaptation from the novel (others being The Last Man on Earth in 1964 and The Omega Man in 1971). He claimed that while the original novel had a progressive multicultural message where Neville became a "legend" to the new creatures and is subsequently killed by them (much like vampires were legends to humans); the 2007 film finds a cure for the Darkseekers and it is delivered by a survivor through apparent divine intervention. According to Zizek this misses the original message and "openly opt[s] for religious fundamentalism."[68]
Accolades[edit]
 I Am Legend earned four nominations for the Visual Effects Society Awards,[69] and was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards,[70] Outstanding Film and Actor at the Image Awards,[71] and Best Sound at the Satellite Awards. In June 2008, Will Smith won a Saturn Award for Best Actor.[72] Will Smith also won the MTV Movie Awards for Best Male Performance.[73]
Possible sequel or prequel[edit]
Francis Lawrence said in late 2008 that there would be a prequel and that Will Smith would be reprising his role. He stated that the film would reveal what happens to Neville before the infected take over New York. D. B. Weiss was recruited to write the script, while Lawrence would direct "if we figure out the story". Smith stated the film would have Neville and his team going from New York City to Washington, D.C. and back again, as they made their last stand.[74] The film would again explore the premise of what it's like to be alone, as Lawrence explained, "... the tough thing is, how do we do that again and in a different way?"[75]
On May 3, 2011, Francis Lawrence stated that, so far as it involved him, the prequel was dead, with Lawrence stating, "I don't think that's ever going to happen."[76]
In 2012, Warner Bros. announced that deals had been made to produce "another installment" (not necessarily the rumored prequel), with the intention of having Will Smith reprise his role.[77]
Reboot[edit]
In April 2014, Warner Bros. bought a spec script entitled A Garden at the End of the World, described as a post-apocalyptic variation of The Searchers. Studio executives found so many similarities to I Am Legend in the screenplay that they asked the writer, Gary Graham, to rewrite it so it could serve as a reboot of the earlier film, hoping to create a new franchise. Will Smith, who is known for his reluctance to appear in sequels,[78] is not expected to appear in the new film.[78]
Bibliography[edit]
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson, Tor Books; Reissue edition (October 30, 2007), ISBN 0-7653-1874-1
See also[edit]
Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films
Vampire film
References[edit]
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27.^ Jump up to: a b Wilson Morales (September 19, 2006). "I Am Legend casting news". Blackfilm.com. Retrieved September 19, 2006.
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29.^ Jump up to: a b Stevens, Dana (December 14, 2007). "I Am Legend, reviewed". Slate. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
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31.^ Jump up to: a b Franklin, Garth (August 16, 2006). ""I Am Legend" Taking Time To Film". Dark Horizons. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
32.Jump up ^ Steuer, Joseph (April 24, 2007). "A 'Legend' in the making". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
33.Jump up ^ Addiego, Walter (December 14, 2007). "Review: I, human – Will Smith plays last man standing in 'I Am Legend'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
34.Jump up ^ Steuer, Joseph (April 24, 2007). "Government agencies cover filmmakers in red tape". Reuters. Retrieved September 17, 2007.
35.Jump up ^ "Francis Lawrence on I Am Legend Re-shoots". ShockTillYouDrop.com. December 3, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
36.^ Jump up to: a b Maher, Kevin (December 27, 2007). "I Am Legend review". London: The Times. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
37.^ Jump up to: a b Bloom, Bob (December 13, 2007). "I Am Legend review". rec.arts.movies.reviews. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
38.Jump up ^ "Sony Pictures Imageworks - I Am Legend". Retrieved 4 October 2014.
39.Jump up ^ Harris, Chris (December 13, 2007). "Mike Patton Hits The Big Screen, Voicing 'I Am Legend' Baddies And Scoring 'Perfect' Indie Flick". Retrieved January 3, 2008.
40.Jump up ^ Billington, Alex (March 5, 2008). "Must Watch: I Am Legend's Original Ending". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
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42.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
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45.Jump up ^ http://www.negdupree.com/urban-sports/uk/red-carpet-run/ Neg Dupree Red Carpet Run
46.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend: Awakening". Warner Bros. Retrieved January 23, 2008.[dead link]
47.Jump up ^ Erik Amaya (July 28, 2007). "CCI: This Book is Legend". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
48.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend: Survival Launched in Second Life". ComingSoon.net. October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
49.Jump up ^ Mayberry, Carly (October 11, 2007). "Site a 'Legend' for iPhone". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
50.Jump up ^ "‘I Am Legend’ sets big box-office record". MSNBC. Retrieved December 16, 2007.
51.^ Jump up to: a b "I Am Legend (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
52.^ Jump up to: a b Gilchrist, Todd; Monfette, Christopher (March 11, 2008). "I Am Legend (Two-Disc Special Edition) DVD Review". IGN. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
53.Jump up ^ Ault, Susanne (February 29, 2008). "I Am Legend to carry digital file". Video Business. Archived from the original on Sep 7, 2008. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
54.^ Jump up to: a b Lyons, Charles. "I Am Legend on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray". Retrieved February 3, 2008.
55.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend Ultimate Collector's Edition". WBShop.com. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
56.Jump up ^ "Top Selling DVDs of 2008". www.the-numbers.com. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
57.Jump up ^ Ault, Susan (April 16, 2008). "2008 Q1 about even with last year: Blu-ray helped offset drops in consumer spending". Video Business. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on Jan 7, 2009.
58.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
59.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
60.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
61.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
62.Jump up ^ Scott, A. O. (December 14, 2007). "Man About Town, and Very Alone". New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2007.
63.Jump up ^ "'I Am Legend' a One-Man American Metaphor". December 14, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
64.Jump up ^ "I Am Legend review". Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2007.[dead link]
65.Jump up ^ Journal of Religion & Film: Film Review: I Am Legend reviewed by Christopher M. Moreman
66.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (December 14, 2007). "Will Smith Gets Lost in His Legend". TIME. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
67.Jump up ^ McCarthy, Erin (December 14, 2007). "I Am Legend's Junk Science: Hollywood Sci-Fi vs. Reality". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
68.Jump up ^ Zizek, Slavoj (2011). Living in the End Times. Verso Books. p. 64. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
69.Jump up ^ "6th Annual VES Awards Recipients". Visual Effects Society. Retrieved April 11, 2010.[dead link]
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73.Jump up ^ "Will Smith Profile: Biography, Filmography & Photos". uk.movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
74.Jump up ^ Steve Weintraub (December 5, 2008). "Will Smith talks I AM LEGEND prequel". Collider.com. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
75.Jump up ^ "Director Talks "I Am Legend" Prequel". WorstPreviews.com. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
76.Jump up ^ "EXCLUSIVE: 'I Am Legend Prequel' Is Dead, Says Francis Lawrence". MoviesBlog.MTV.com. May 3, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
77.Jump up ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (February 17, 2012). "Warner Bros Plans More ‘I Am Legend’ With Will Smith". Deadline. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
78.^ Jump up to: a b "Warner Bros Connects With iPhone Salesman/Scribe’s Pitch For ‘I Am Legend’ Reboot". Deadline. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
External links[edit]
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I Am Legend (film)

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I Am Legend
A man wearing leather clothes and holding a rifle walks alongside a dog on an empty street. A destroyed bridge is seen in the background. Atop the image is "Will Smith" and the tagline "The last man on Earth is not alone". Below is the film's title and credits.
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Francis Lawrence
Produced by
Akiva Goldsman
James Lassiter
David Heyman
Neal H. Moritz
Screenplay by
Mark Protosevich
 Akiva Goldsman
Based on
I Am Legend
 by Richard Matheson
Starring
Will Smith
Alice Braga
Dash Mihok
Music by
James Newton Howard
Cinematography
Andrew Lesnie
Edited by
Wayne Wahrman

Production
 company

Village Roadshow Pictures
Weed Road Pictures
Overbrook Entertainment
Heyday Films
Original Film

Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)

Release dates

December 14, 2007


Running time
 100 minutes
Country
United States[1][2]
Language
English
Budget
$150 million[3]
Box office
$585.3 million[3]
I Am Legend is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man.[4] Smith plays virologist Robert Neville, who is immune to a man-made virus originally created to cure cancer. He works to create a remedy while defending himself against mutants created by the virus.
Warner Bros. began developing I Am Legend in 1994, and various actors and directors were attached to the project, though production was delayed due to budgetary concerns related to the script. Production began in 2006 in New York City, filming mainly on location in the city, including a $5 million scene[5] at the Brooklyn Bridge.
I Am Legend was released on December 14, 2007 in the United States and Canada, and opened to the largest ever box office (not counting for inflation) for a non-Christmas film released in the U.S. in December. The film was the seventh-highest grossing film of 2007, earning $256 million domestically and $329 million internationally, for a total of $585 million.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Development
3.2 Casting
3.3 Filming
3.4 Effects
3.5 Alternate ending
4 Release 4.1 Marketing
4.2 Box office
4.3 Home media
4.4 Soundtrack
5 Reception 5.1 Critical response
5.2 Accolades
6 Possible sequel or prequel
7 Reboot
8 Bibliography
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

Plot[edit]
In 2009, a genetically re-engineered measles virus, originally created as a cure for cancer, mutates into a lethal strain which kills 90 percent of those it infects, and turns the remaining 10% into predatory, nocturnal "Darkseekers" who are vulnerable to sunlight. Three years after the outbreak, US Army virologist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Will Smith) lives an isolated life in New York City, which is now deserted, unsure if there are any other uninfected humans left in the world.
Neville's daily routine includes experimentation on infected rats to find a cure for the virus and trips through Manhattan to hunt for food and supplies. He also waits each day for a response to his continuous recorded radio broadcasts, which instruct any uninfected survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. Flashbacks reveal that his wife and daughter died in a helicopter accident during the chaotic evacuation of Manhattan, prior to the military-enforced quarantine of the island in 2009. Neville's loneliness is mitigated only by the companionship of his German Shepherd, Sam, interaction with mannequins he has set up as patrons at a video store, and recordings of old television broadcasts. At night, he barricades himself and Sam inside his heavily-fortified Washington Square Park home to hide from the Darkseekers. One day while hunting, Sam follows a deer into a dark building. Neville cautiously goes in after her and finds the deer's corpse along with Sam, but the building is infested by a colony of Darkseekers. Both manage to escape unharmed and the attacking Darkseekers are killed by the sunlight.
Neville finds a promising treatment derived from his own blood, so he sets a snare trap and captures a female Darkseeker while the alpha male Darkseeker watches from the shadows. Back in his laboratory in the basement of his house, Neville treats the female without success. The next day, he is ensnared in a trap similar to the one he used to capture the female, and by the time he manages to escape, it is dark and he is attacked by infected dogs. He and Sam manage to kill them but Sam is bitten in the fight. Neville brings Sam home and injects her with a strand of his serum, but when she shows signs of infection and tries to attack him, Neville is forced to kill her. The next night, driven over the edge by loneliness, he ventures out and suicidally attacks a group of Darkseekers. He is nearly killed, but is rescued by a pair of immune survivors, Anna (Alice Braga) and a young boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who have traveled from Maryland after hearing one of his broadcasts. They take the injured Neville back to his home where Anna explains that they survived the outbreak aboard a Red Cross evacuation ship from São Paulo and are making their way to a putative survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont.
Neville once again attempts to administer a potential cure to the infected woman in his laboratory, but the next night a group of Darkseekers, who had followed Anna and Neville back the night before, attack the house and overrun its defenses. Neville, Anna, and Ethan retreat into the basement laboratory, sealing themselves in with the female Darkseeker Neville has been experimenting on. Discovering that the last treatment was successful, Neville draws a vial of her blood and gives it to Anna, before shutting her and Ethan inside a coal chute in the back of the lab. As one of the Darkseekers breaks into the laboratory, Neville detonates a grenade, killing the Darkseekers and himself. Anna and Ethan emerge the next morning and make their way to the survivor colony. Once there, Anna hands over the blood containing the cure.
Cast[edit]
Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville: A former U.S. Army medical doctor and scientist before the worldwide plague. He loses his wife and daughter in a helicopter crash shortly after Manhattan is quarantined and spends the next three years trying to find a cure while defending himself against the Darkseekers. He is immune to the virus and uses vials of his blood to try to create a cure.
Alice Braga as Anna Montez: A survivor from Brazil, who spent days harbored on a Red Cross ship in Philadelphia; after the city was overrun, she stayed with Ethan and several other survivors on the ship, but eventually, only she and Ethan survived, since they were immune and the others were either infected or killed. She followed Neville's broadcasts to track him.
Charlie Tahan as Ethan: A boy from Philadelphia who spent days on the ship with Anna and accompanied her when the ship was overrun.
Dash Mihok as the Darkseekers' alpha male
Abbey and Kona as Samantha: Neville's dog and only companion for three years.
Emma Thompson as Dr. Alice Krippin: The doctor who creates the cancer cure that inadvertently brings mankind to the brink of extinction; Neville dubs the virus "The Krippin Virus".
Salli Richardson as Zoe Neville: Robert's wife.
Willow Smith as Marley Neville: Robert's daughter
Lauren Haley as Darkseekers' alpha female
Darrell Foster as Mike
Pat Fraley as Voice of the President of the United States
Mike Patton as Voices of the Darkseekers
Production[edit]
Development[edit]



 Washington Square on October 31, 2006: the area is being set up for an evening shooting. In the background is the house Will Smith's character lives in.
The late 1990s brought a reemergence of the science fiction horror genre.[6] In 1995, Warner Bros. began developing the film project, having owned the rights to Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend since 1970[7] and having already made the 1971 adaptation The Omega Man. Mark Protosevich was hired to write the script after the studio was impressed with his spec script of The Cell. Protosevich's first draft took place in the year 2000 in San Francisco, California, and contained many similarities with the finished film, though the Darkseekers (called 'Hemocytes') were civilized to the point of the creatures in The Omega Man and Anna was a lone morphine addict; as well as the fact that there was a Hemocyte character named Christopher who joined forces with Neville. Warner Bros. immediately put the film on the fast track, attaching Neal H. Moritz as producer.[6]
Actors Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas,[8] and Mel Gibson[6] had been considered to star in the film,[8] using a script by Protosevich and with Ridley Scott as director; however, by June 1997 the studio's preference was for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In July, Scott and Schwarzenegger finalized negotiations,[9] with production slated to begin the coming September,[8] using Houston as a stand-in for the film's setting of Los Angeles.[10] Scott had Protosevich replaced by a screenwriter of his own choosing, John Logan, with whom he spent months of intensive work on a number of different drafts. The Scott/Logan version of I Am Legend was a mix of sci-fi and psychological thriller, without dialogue in the first hour and with a sombre ending.[6] The creatures in Logan's version were similar to the Darkseekers of the finished film in their animalistic, barbaric nature. The studio, fearing its lack of commercial appeal and merchandising potential, began to worry about the liberties they had given Scott – then on a negative streak of box office disappointments – and urged the production team to reconsider the lack of action in the screenplay. After an "esoteric" draft by writer Neal Jimenez, Warner Bros. reassigned Protosevich to the project, reluctantly working with Scott again.[6]
In December 1997, the project was called into question when the projected budget escalated to $108 million due to media and shareholder scrutiny of the studio in financing a big-budget film.[11] Scott rewrote the script in an attempt to reduce the film's budget by $20 million,[12] but in March 1998, the studio canceled the project due to continued budgetary concerns,[13] and quite possibly to the box office disappointment of Scott's last three films, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, White Squall, and G.I. Jane.[6] Likewise, Schwarzenegger's recent films at the time (Eraser and Warner Bros. own Batman & Robin) also underperformed, and the studio's latest experiences with big budget sci-fi movies Sphere and The Postman were negative as well.[6] In August 1998, director Rob Bowman was attached to the project,[14] with Protosevich hired to write a third all-new draft, far more action-oriented than his previous versions,[6] but the director (who reportedly wished for Nicolas Cage to play the lead) moved on to direct Reign of Fire[15] and the project did not get off the ground.
In March 2002, Schwarzenegger became the producer of I Am Legend, commencing negotiations with Michael Bay to direct and Will Smith to star in the film.[16] Bay and Smith were attracted to the project based on a redraft that would reduce its budget.[17] However, the project was shelved due to Warner Bros. president, Alan F. Horn's dislike of the script.[18] In 2004, Akiva Goldsman was asked by head of production Jeff Robinov to produce the film.[19] In September 2005, director Francis Lawrence signed on to helm the project, with production slated to begin in 2006. Guillermo del Toro was originally approached to direct by Smith but turned it down in order to direct Hellboy II: The Golden Army.[20] Lawrence, whose film Constantine was produced by Goldsman, was fascinated by empty urban environments. He said, "Something's always really excited me about that... to have experienced that much loss, to be without people or any kind of social interaction for that long."[19]
Goldsman took on the project as he admired the second I Am Legend film adaptation, The Omega Man.[21] A rewrite was done to distance the project from the other zombie films inspired by the novel,[16] as well as from the recently released 28 Days Later, although Goldsman was inspired by the scenes of a deserted London in the British horror film to create the scenes of a deserted New York City.[21] A 40-page scene-by-scene outline of the film was developed by May 2006. When delays occurred on Smith's film Hancock, which was scheduled for 2007, it was proposed to switch the actor's films. This meant filming would have to begin in sixteen weeks: production was green lit, using Goldsman's script and the outline.[19] Elements from Protosevich's script were introduced, while the crew consulted with experts on infectious diseases and solitary confinement.[21] Rewrites continued throughout filming, because of Smith's improvisational skills and Lawrence's preference to keep various scenes silent.[19] The director had watched Jane Campion’s film The Piano with a low volume so as to not disturb his newborn son, and realized that silence could be very effective cinema.[22]
Casting[edit]
Will Smith signed on to play Robert Neville in April 2006.[23] He said he took on I Am Legend because he felt it could be like "Gladiator [or] Forrest Gump—these are movies with wonderful, audience-pleasing elements but also uncompromised artistic value. [This] always felt like it had those possibilities to me."[21] The actor found Neville to be his toughest acting challenge since portraying Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001). He said that "when you're on your own, it is kind of hard to find conflict." The film's dark tone and exploration of whether Neville has gone insane during his isolation meant Smith had to restrain himself from falling into a humorous routine during takes.[24] To prepare for his role, Smith visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia. He also met with a person who had been in solitary confinement and a former prisoner of war.[25] Smith compared Neville to Job, who lost his children, livelihood, and health. Like the Book of Job, I Am Legend studies the questions, "Can he find a reason to continue? Can he find the hope or desire to excel and advance in life? Or does the death of everything around him create imminent death for himself?"[16] He also cited an influence in Tom Hanks' performance in Cast Away (2000).[21]
Abbey and Kona, both three-year-old German Shepherd Dogs, played Neville's dog Sam.[26] The rest of the supporting cast consists of Salli Richardson as Zoe, Robert's wife,[27] and Alice Braga as a survivor named Anna.[27] Willow Smith, Will Smith's daughter, makes her film debut as Marley, Neville's daughter.[28] Emma Thompson has an uncredited role as Dr. Alice Krippin, who appears on television explaining her vaccine for cancer that mutates into the virus.[29] Singer Mike Patton provided the guttural screams of the infected "hemocytes," and Dash Mihok provided the character animation for the infected "alpha male". There were several filler characters with uncredited roles in old news broadcasts and flashbacks, such as the unnamed President's voice (Pat Fraley), and the cast of The Today Show.
Filming[edit]

A below view of a large suspension bridge over a river connecting to an area covered with tall buildings. Another bridge and other buildings can be seen in the background.

 The Brooklyn Bridge, where a $5 million scene was filmed


 Marcy Avenue Armory
Akiva Goldsman decided to move the story from Los Angeles to New York City to take advantage of locations that would more easily show emptiness.[7] Goldsman explained, "L.A. looks empty at three o'clock in the afternoon, [but] New York is never empty . . . it was a much more interesting way of showing the windswept emptiness of the world."[24] Warner Bros. initially rejected this idea because of the logistics,[19] but Francis Lawrence was determined to shoot on location, to give the film a natural feel that would benefit from not shooting on soundstages. Lawrence went to the city with a camcorder, and filmed areas filled with crowds. Then, a special effects test was conducted to remove all those people. The test had a powerful effect on studio executives.[22] Michael Tadross convinced authorities to close busy areas such as the Grand Central Terminal viaduct, several blocks of Fifth Avenue and Washington Square Park.[19] The film was shot primarily in the anamorphic format, with flashback scenes shot in Super 35.[30]
Filming began on September 23, 2006.[31] The Marcy Avenue Armory in Williamsburg was used for the interior of Neville's home,[24] while Greenwich Village was used for the exterior.[16] Other locations include the Tribeca section of Lower Manhattan, the aircraft carrier Intrepid, the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx and St. Patrick's Cathedral.[7] Weeds were imported from Florida and were strewn across locations to make the city look like it had overgrown with them.[19] The closure of major streets was controversial with New Yorkers. Will Smith said, "I don't think anyone's going to be able to do that in New York again anytime soon. People were not happy. That's the most middle fingers I've ever gotten in my career."[16]
A bridge scene was filmed for six consecutive nights in January on the Brooklyn Bridge to serve as a flashback scene in which New York's citizens evacuate the city. Shooting the scene consumed $5 million of the film's reported $150 million budget, which was likely the most expensive shot in the city to date. The scene, which had to meet requirements from 14 government agencies, involved 250 crew members and 1,000 extras, including 160 National Guard members.[32][33] Also present were several Humvees, three Strykers, a 110-foot (34 m) cutter, a 41-foot (12 m) utility boat, and two 25-foot (7.6 m) response boat small craft, as well as other vehicles including taxis, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances.[34] Filming concluded on March 31, 2007.[31] CGI was used to depict the main spans of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge collapsing as missiles from over passing military jets blew them up to quarantine Manhattan island.
Reshoots were conducted around November 2007. Lawrence noted, "We weren't seeing fully rendered shots until about a month ago. The movie starts to take on a whole other life. It's not until later that you can judge a movie as a whole and go, 'Huh, maybe we should shoot this little piece in the middle, or tweak this a little bit.' It just so happened that our re-shoots revolved around the end of the movie."[35]
Effects[edit]
A week into filming, Francis felt the infected (referred to as "Dark Seekers" or "hemocytes" in the script), who were being portrayed by actors wearing prosthetics, were not convincing. His decision to use CGI resulted in an increased budget and extended post-production, although the end results were not always well received.[36][37] The concept behind the infected was that their adrenal glands were open all of the time and Lawrence explained, "They needed to have an abandon in their performance that you just can’t get out of people in the middle of the night when they’re barefoot. And their metabolisms are really spiked, so they’re constantly hyperventilating, which you can’t really get actors to do for a long time or they pass out."[19] The actors remained on set to provide motion capture.[24][38] "The film's producers and sound people wanted the creatures in the movie to sound somewhat human, but not the standard," so Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More, was engaged to provide the screams and howls of the infected.[39]
In addition, CGI was used for the lions and deer in the film, and to erase pedestrians in shots of New York. Workers visible in windows, spectators and moving cars in the distance were all removed. In his vision of an empty New York, Lawrence cited John Ford as his influence: "We didn't want to make an apocalyptic movie where the landscape felt apocalyptic. A lot of the movie takes place on a beautiful day. There's something magical about the empty city as opposed to dark and scary that was the ideal that the cast and crew wanted."[21]
Alternate ending[edit]
Several scenes were changed before the film's release, especially the stand-off between Neville and the Darkseekers in his laboratory. In the ending, the alpha male makes a butterfly-shaped smear on the glass. Neville realizes that the alpha male is identifying the female he was experimenting upon by a butterfly tattoo, and the alpha male wants her back. Neville puts his gun down and returns the female. Neville and the alpha male both stare each other down; Neville apologizes to the Darkseekers; the alpha male accepts his apology, and the Darkseekers leave. Shocked by the ordeal, Neville sits down for a moment in his laboratory. Looking over the pictures of his numerous test subjects, the implications of his research methods begin to dawn on him. The final shot follows Neville, Anna, and Ethan as they drive away towards the survivor's camp in Vermont with the antidote.[40]
Release[edit]
I Am Legend was originally slated for a November 21, 2007 release in the United States and Canada,[41] but was delayed to December 14, 2007.[42] The film opened on December 26, 2007 in the United Kingdom,[43] and Ireland having been originally scheduled for January 4, 2008.[24]
In December 2007, China banned the release of American films in the country,[44] which is believed to have delayed the release of I Am Legend. Will Smith spoke to the chairman of China Film Group about securing a release date, later explaining, "We struggled very, very hard to try to get it to work out, but there are only a certain amount of foreign films that are allowed in."[25]
Premieres were held in Tokyo, New York and London. At the London premiere in Leicester Square, British comedian and actor Neg Dupree was arrested after pushing his way onto the red carpet and running around shouting 'I am Legend!'.[45] The stunt was part of his 'Neg's Urban Sports' section of comedy game show Balls of Steel.
Marketing[edit]
A tie-in comic from DC Comics and Vertigo Comics has been created, I Am Legend: Awakening.[46] The project draws upon collaboration from Bill Sienkiewicz, screenwriter Mark Protosevich, and author Orson Scott Card. The son of the original book's author, Richard Christian Matheson, also collaborated on the project. The project will advance from the comic to an online format in which animated featurettes (created by the team from Broken Saints) will be shown on the official website.[47]
In October 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures in conjunction with the Electric Sheep Company launched the online multiplayer game I Am Legend: Survival in the virtual world Second Life. The game is the largest launched in the virtual world in support of a film release, permitting people to play against each other as the infected or the uninfected across a replicated 60 acres (240,000 m2) of New York City.[48] The studio also hired the ad agency Crew Creative to develop a website that would be specifically viewable on the iPhone.[49]
Box office[edit]
I Am Legend grossed $77,211,321 on its opening weekend in 3,606 theaters, averaging $21,412 per venue, and placing it at the top of the box office. This set a record for highest grossing opening for a film for the month of December.[50] The film grossed $256,393,010 in North America and a total of $585,349,010 worldwide.[51] The film was the sixth highest grossing film of 2007 in North America, and as of April 2014 it still stands among the top 100 all-time highest grossing films both domestically and worldwide (unadjusted for ticket price inflation).[51]
Home media[edit]
The film was released on DVD on March 18, 2008 in two editions: a one-disc release, including the movie with four animated comics ("Death As a Gift," "Isolation," "Sacrificing the Few for the Many," and "Shelter"), and other DVD-ROM features; and a two-disc special edition that includes all these extras, an alternative theatrical version of the movie with an alternate ending,[52] and a digital copy of the film.[53] On the high-definition end, the movie has been released on the Blu-ray Disc format and HD DVD format along with the DVD release; with the HD-DVD version being released later on April 8, 2008.[54] Both HD releases include all the features available in the two-disc DVD edition.[54] A three-disk Ultimate Collector's Edition was also released on December 9, 2008.[55]
The film has sold 7.04 million DVDs and earned $126.2 million in revenue, making it the sixth best-selling DVD of 2008.[56] However, Warner Bros was reportedly "a little disappointed" with the film's performance on the DVD market.[57]
Soundtrack[edit]

I Am Legend

Film score by James Newton Howard

Released
January 15, 2008
Length
44:00
Label
Varèse Sarabande
Producer
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard chronology

The Water Horse I Am Legend 

The soundtrack for I Am Legend was released on January 15, 2008, under the record label Varèse Sarabande. The music was composed by James Newton Howard.

I Am Legend Soundtrack

No.
Title
Length

1. "My Name Is Robert Neville"   2:50
2. "Deer Hunting"   1:16
3. "Evacuation"   4:26
4. "Scan Her Again"   1:41
5. "Darkseeker Dogs"   2:16
6. "Sam's Gone"   1:45
7. "Talk To Me"   0:55
8. "The Pier"   5:17
9. "Can They Do That?"   2:09
10. "I'm Listening"   2:09
11. "The Jagged Edge"   5:15
12. "Reunited"   7:49
13. "I'm Sorry"   2:21
14. "Epilogue"   4:13
Total length:
 44:00 
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Most critics were favorable towards the film.[58] The consensus among favorable reviews was that Will Smith's performance overcame questionable special effects.[59] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 70%, based on 209 reviews.[60] At the similar website Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to each review, the film has received an average score of 65, based on 37 reviews.[61]
A. O. Scott wrote that Will Smith gave a "graceful and effortless performance" and also noted the "third-act collapse". He felt that the movie "does ponder some pretty deep questions about the collapse and persistence of human civilization".[62] Dana Stevens of Slate wrote that the movie lost its way around the hour mark, noting that "the Infected just aren't that scary."[29] NPR critic Bob Mondello noted the film's subtext concerning global terrorism and that this aspect made the film fit in perfectly with other, more direct cinematic explorations of the subject.[63] Richard Roeper gave the film a positive review on the television program At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, commending Will Smith as being in "prime form," also saying there are "some amazing sequences" and that there was "a pretty heavy screenplay for an action film."[64] The film has been criticized for diverging from Matheson's novel, especially in its portrayal of a specifically Christian theme.[65] Much of the negative criticism has concerned the film's third act,[36][37][66] some critics favoring the alternative ending in the DVD release.[52]
Popular Mechanics published an article on December 14, 2007[67] addressing some of the scientific issues raised by the film:
1.the rate of deterioration of urban structures, infrastructure, and survival of fauna and flora
2.the plausibility of a retrovirus spreading out of control as depicted in the film. (The measles virus depicted in the film, however, is not a retrovirus, but is in fact a part of the Paramyxovirus family.)
3.the mechanics of the Brooklyn Bridge's destruction
The magazine solicited reactions from Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, virologist W. Ian Lipkin, M.D., and Michel Bruneau, PhD, comparing their predictions with the film's depictions. The article raised the most questions regarding the virus' mutation and the medical results, and pointed out that a suspension bridge like the Brooklyn Bridge would likely completely collapse rather than losing only its middle span. Neville's method of producing power using gasoline-powered generators seemed the most credible: "This part of the tale is possible, if not entirely likely," Popular Mechanics editor Roy Berendsohn says.
Philosopher Slavoj Zizek criticized the film politically as being the most regressive adaptation from the novel (others being The Last Man on Earth in 1964 and The Omega Man in 1971). He claimed that while the original novel had a progressive multicultural message where Neville became a "legend" to the new creatures and is subsequently killed by them (much like vampires were legends to humans); the 2007 film finds a cure for the Darkseekers and it is delivered by a survivor through apparent divine intervention. According to Zizek this misses the original message and "openly opt[s] for religious fundamentalism."[68]
Accolades[edit]
 I Am Legend earned four nominations for the Visual Effects Society Awards,[69] and was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards,[70] Outstanding Film and Actor at the Image Awards,[71] and Best Sound at the Satellite Awards. In June 2008, Will Smith won a Saturn Award for Best Actor.[72] Will Smith also won the MTV Movie Awards for Best Male Performance.[73]
Possible sequel or prequel[edit]
Francis Lawrence said in late 2008 that there would be a prequel and that Will Smith would be reprising his role. He stated that the film would reveal what happens to Neville before the infected take over New York. D. B. Weiss was recruited to write the script, while Lawrence would direct "if we figure out the story". Smith stated the film would have Neville and his team going from New York City to Washington, D.C. and back again, as they made their last stand.[74] The film would again explore the premise of what it's like to be alone, as Lawrence explained, "... the tough thing is, how do we do that again and in a different way?"[75]
On May 3, 2011, Francis Lawrence stated that, so far as it involved him, the prequel was dead, with Lawrence stating, "I don't think that's ever going to happen."[76]
In 2012, Warner Bros. announced that deals had been made to produce "another installment" (not necessarily the rumored prequel), with the intention of having Will Smith reprise his role.[77]
Reboot[edit]
In April 2014, Warner Bros. bought a spec script entitled A Garden at the End of the World, described as a post-apocalyptic variation of The Searchers. Studio executives found so many similarities to I Am Legend in the screenplay that they asked the writer, Gary Graham, to rewrite it so it could serve as a reboot of the earlier film, hoping to create a new franchise. Will Smith, who is known for his reluctance to appear in sequels,[78] is not expected to appear in the new film.[78]
Bibliography[edit]
I Am Legend, Richard Matheson, Tor Books; Reissue edition (October 30, 2007), ISBN 0-7653-1874-1
See also[edit]
Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films
Vampire film
References[edit]
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External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: I Am Legend (film)
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to I Am Legend (film).
I Am Legend at the Internet Movie Database
I Am Legend at AllMovie
I Am Legend at Rotten Tomatoes
I Am Legend at Metacritic


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Categories: 2007 films
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