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Dawn of the Dead
by Jon Towlson
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Book Presentation:
George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) is celebrated both as a 'splatter' movie and as a satire of 1970s consumerism. One of the most financially successful independent films ever produced, Dawn of the Dead presented a strong vision to audiences of the time in terms of its excessive, often shocking violence. It challenged censorship internationally and caused controversy in the United States and the UK. The film created problems with distributors because of its length and its graphic content; with the MPAA who awarded it an 'X' in America (a rating usually reserved for pornography); with the BBFC in the UK who completely recut it; and in various European territories where it was released in several versions.
Arguably, excess is at the heart of Dawn of the Dead, integral to its meaning: not only in its scenes of gore, its in-your-face social satire and its gaudy pop-kitsch style but in the production history of the film itself. This Devil's Advocate explores the various ways in which Romero took Dawn of the Dead into areas of extremity during its scripting, production and distribution; and the responses of industry, censorship bodies, reviewers and audiences of the time to the film's excesses. Taking the approach of a micro-historical study, Jon Towlson offers a close analysis of the film's production context to explore the cultural significance of Dawn of the Dead as a 'rebel text' and an example of oppositional cinema.
About the Author:
Jon Towlson is the author of The Turn to Gruesomeness in American Horror Films, 1931-1936 (2016); Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Auteur's 'Constellations' series (2016); and the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award-nominated Subversive Horror Cinema: Countercultural Messages of Films from Frankenstein to the Present (2014).
See the publisher website: Liverpool University Press
See Dawn of the Dead (1978) on IMDB ...
> From the same author:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (2016)
by Jon Towlson
Subject: One Film > Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Subversive Horror Cinema (2014)
Countercultural Messages of Films from Frankenstein to the Present
by Jon Towlson
> On a related topic:
Not of the Living Dead (2023)
The Non-Zombie Films of George A. Romero
by Noah Simon Jampol, Cain Miller, Leah Richards and John R. Ziegler
Subject: Director > George A. Romero
George A. Romero's Independent Cinema (2022)
Horror, Industry, Economics
by Tom Fallows
Subject: Director > George A. Romero
Un-American Dreams (2022)
Apocalyptic Science Fiction, Disimagined Community, and Bad Hope in the American Century
Subject: Genre > Disaster films
Dark Directions (2012)
Romero, Craven, Carpenter, and the Modern Horror Film
Subject: Director > George A. Romero, Wes Craven, John Carpenter
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