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. Romero’s script is banal when not incoherent – those who haven’t seen Night of the Living Dead may have some difficulty deciphering exactly what’s going on at the outset of Dawn.
The plot isn’t worth detailed description. Enough said those carnivorous corpses that stalked through Night return in sufficient numbers to threaten extinction of the entire US population.
Pic was shot for under $1.5 million in the Pittsburgh area, Romero’s professional base. Michael Gornick’s photography warrants a special nod.
