Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray

Dawn of the Dead

 (1978)

Action | Drama | Horror



As modern society is consumed by zombie carnage, four desperate survivors barricade themselves inside a shopping mall to battle the flesh-eating hordes of the undead. This is the ferocious horror classic, featuring landmark gore effects by Tom Savini, that remains one of the most important – and most controversial – horror films in history.

For more details about Dawn of the Dead on Blu-ray, see the Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray Review

Starring: Scott Reiniger, Ken Foree, David Emge, Gaylen Ross, Tom Savini
Director: George A. Romero

Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Starz presents Dawn of the Dead in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with a 1080p transfer. This is a drab film that has always looked a little dark to me. This may sound strange, but this is a movie you can almost smell based on the visual look (and a lot of the time, especially early on, it doesn't smell good). The Blu-ray presentation is nothing short of remarkable when compared to the most recent DVD release. There are a few speckles of dirt here and there, but overall this is a clean and clear transfer. I didn't notice any overt edge enhancement like what I saw in Evil Dead II. Fine detail that wasn't noticeable in previous versions is here. There is a depth to the text in the opening credits I never noticed before. Flesh tones never falter and the overall color palette never wavers. Blood actually looks red in this release! The blood issue is mentioned in the commentary and though they admit it looks fake, the filmmakers believe it adds to the cartoonish feel of the violence. Nevertheless, it looks great here, the best I have seen it yet. I've seen previous editions where there was a definite heavy orange tint to the blood (I've never seen the film on anything but home video). Minute detail in the gore, especially splatterings and drippings of blood, look dramatically improved here. There was quite a bit of noise on the old DVD editions, even the most recent one, but the print on the Blu-ray is pristine. I didn't think this was going to be a huge upgrade from the DVD while I was watching it, but to my surprise it blows the DVD away. There is no question that, video-wise, this the best Dawn of the Dead has ever looked on home video.

Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


As with all the other Starz releases I have reviewed so far, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 5.1 Uncompressed soundtracks are included. Oddly enough, there is a DTS logo on the disc, but no DTS track is available on the actual program (note that the "Ultimate Edition" DVD does include DTS). Also available is the film's original mono soundtrack. I am very pleased that Starz included this track. I'm all for including as much of the original source material as possible. For the purpose of this review, however, I screened the film with the multichannel audio options. Part of the movie's music is performed by Goblin (the famous group that has worked with Dario Argento on films like Suspiria and Deep Red). The theme is mixed with creepy moaning sounds and features heavy synthesizer usage and as a result sounds dated, but it works very well with the film. Parts of the remainder of the score come across as sounding a little distorted, but I can't say if that is due to the presentation here or if this is how it was intended to sound. There is a good deal of clarity across the front soundstage, but dialogue is sometimes drowned out by the heavy, pulsating LFE track and synthesizer score, especially in the final act of the film. The track features good separation and a natural flow as the action travels across the screen. There isn't much happening in the rear, though we do get several nice effects scattered throughout, but there were several points in the movie where I felt the track could have been re- mixed a little better to more envelop the viewer in the action. All of this is moot if you are a purist and intended to listen to the mono track, which sounds just fine but suffers from some of the same problems as the multichannel tracks, such as dialogue lost amidst music and effects.

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