MINI REVIEW: Dawn of the Night of the Dead

Apparently Dawn of the Night of the Dead is quite well known to zombie lovers and many people have seen this 25 years ago. I, for one, just recently heard of it. It’s pretty much the bare basic of Night of the Living Dead: redneck hunters attack flesh-eating zombies. What makes this short film so good isn’t just its cheesy, retro, bad-videotape feel but rather the comedy. The zombies, dressed in poorly done makeup, walk single file and do ground synchronization stunts while chanting, “Dawn of the Night of the Dead.” The hunters, with their redneck appearances, plaid shirts and puffy vests, march single file while chanting, “Beat ‘em or burn ‘em.” I guess the reason why it’s so funny the first time is because it reminds me of Monty Python (ex: one of the zombies rips the guys arms off with no indication of a struggle) with a sort of West Side Story vibe. The only problem is, it’s only funny the first time.