1979's Dawn of the Dead was of course George A. Romero's epic sequel to his 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead.

Released eleven years after the first film, Dawn broke records and was a huge influence on horror movies that followed. Truly a Wild Bunch of the terror genre, Dawn similarly revolutionized the way on-screen violence was presented.

Dario Argento was one of the producers behind this and both he and Romero were excited about working together, since they had been fans ofeach other's work.

Besides working on the film in this capacity, Argento was responsible for developing the music score with the group Goblin, who had composed and performed the music so memorably for a few of his own films.

Add to this mix the over-the-top and comic book special effects by Tom Savini, and you have what many people consider a masterpiece.

At WGON, a television station in Philadelphia, pandemonium has broken out. Amidst reports that zombies are on the loose and attacking people (events which began in Night of the Living Dead), the crew wonders whether they'll be able to stay on the air.

At the moment, an official is live on the air arguing with the host of the show about what is transpiring. The official claims his warnings about the dead coming back to life were ignored.

Station manager Francine (Gaylen Ross) is frantic as she struggles to give viewers information about rescue stations that have been set up around the country and which are quickly dwindling.

She is reluctant at first, but accepts an offer from her boyfriend Stephen (David Emge) to meet at a helicopter on the roof of the station later in the evening. (Stephen is WGON's traffic reporter.)

Taping continues on the show as the official claims the undead are killing for food and are eating their victims. The only way to kill them is to shoot at their brains or sever their brains from their bodies. In addition, he says that martial law has been declared in Philadelphia and around the United States.

In one of the poorer sections of the city, a SWAT team descends on a housing project in which the inhabitants have been taken hostage by a group of thugs. After a violent shootout, they enter the building. Wooley (James A. Baffico), the overzealous and racist head of the team, goes haywire and fires at everyone in sight.

As he's about to enter one of the apartments, he's shot down by one of his own men. Inside, the floor is littered with human body parts.

Grey-faced zombies are roaming around and several are dispatched with shot to their heads by some of the officers. In the stairwell, a young Spanish woman sees someone she recognizes and runs towards him. She embraces the young man, but he takes a bite out of her neck and arm.

Blood is spurting everywhere and the zombie is shot dead. The mayhem is too much for one of the young officers, who sticks a gun in his own mouth and fires.

Roger (Scott H. Reiniger), who was in Wooley's unit, goes down into the basement for a reprieve.

Peter (Ken Foree), another SWAT member, finds him there and they talk about escaping on Stephen's helicopter. An old priest with a leg missing (Jesse Del Gre), walks in and tells them he's given the last rites to a group of undead in one of the other rooms in the basement.

The man warns the officers that the zombies will soon become stronger and overtake the living. Peter and Roger find the room and see a gruesome site...a group of zombies sitting around on the floor eating human flesh and body parts.

Roger says he believes the people who live in the building must have put them in the basement because "they still believe there's respect in dying." The two men shoot the zombies to put them out of their final misery.

They meet up with Stephen and Francine at the helicopter and take off into the night, uncertain about their future. By daylight, the four are able to see that the epidemic is spreading.

In a field below, a large group of people (whom Stephen refers to as "rednecks"), are engaging in a turkey shoot with the zombies in the area. They're having a grand old time as they drink, pose for photos, and take shots at the approaching undead.

The four friends land near a gas station to fuel up the helicopter. While waiting, Stephen is attacked by two zombies, one of which he subdues with a hammer to its head. Soon, they're descended upon from all sides, including by two small children. One of the undead comes too close to the blades of the helicopter and gets the the top of his head sliced off (Great special effect!)

Flying above a huge mall, the group lands on the roof to take refuge inside. Francine wonders why the zombies have come there.

Stephen gives her an incisive answer...he says it's instinct...memory...what they used to do. "This was an important place in their lives" he adds.

Peter breaks through a window and lowers himself into the building, with the other three right behind. They find a room to hide out in, but Peter and Roger soon get the urge to branch out into the mall for necessities. Francine is against this idea but stays behind with Stephen.

Down a long corridor, Peter and Roger find the security and control room, where they turn on the escalators, exhibits, fountains, and even some muzak. The two then run amok in the shops, filling a toy wagon with items.

They lure the zombies to one side of the shop so they can make their way back to safety.Roger is set upon by one of them but manages to impale a screwdriver through his ear.

Meanwhile, Stephen worries about his friends and leaves Francine to join them. He ends up in the basement and is pursued by a lone zombie. Almost unable to load his gun in time, Stephen just barely manages to shoot his attacker in the head. Other zombies follow but Peter saves him just in time.

Then the two of them plus Roger dash through one of the department stores to get back to Francine. (They realize they can get around by going up an elevator shaft and through the heating ducts.)

While waiting patiently in the stairwell, Francine notices a zombie coming up the stairs. She tries to barricade herself in one of the rooms, but the zombie pushes his way in. (Hunter: This "undead" character is kind of funny...it's a Hare Krishna...complete with shaved head, tambourine. Actually, I always thought he looked a lot like Paul Schaefer from "Late Night with David Letterman.")

Francine is temporarily able to fend him off with a flare until the other three arrive. She's shaken up, but Stephen tries to tell her they have it made in the mall (for now).

Later, when Roger says Francine looks sick, Stephen tells him she's pregnant. Francine tells the men in the group she doesn't want to be treated differently because of her condition, and asks to be left with a gun when they go off again. (On the TV, we see a scientist describe the zombie situation by saying they're not cannibals because they don't feed on each other...they feed on the warm blood of humans.)

Roger, Peter, and Stephen leave the mall to bring some semi-trucks and block the entrances. Roger is almost attacked and seemingly starts to lose his mind when the blood of a zombie is splattered all over him. He forgets his bag in another truck and has Peter drive him back for it.

Unfortunately, this time he's not so lucky...he gets bitten in his arm and has a chunk of his leg eaten off. The others wrap his wounds in bandages then stock up on weapons and ammunition.

They proceed to block the exits to the shopping center to keep any more zombies from getting in. Then Peter and Stephen slowly gather the dead ones and put them in freezer rooms.

As Roger (who's being led around in a wagon) gets sicker, the other three seemingly enjoy themselves with all the mall has to offer. They take money from a bank, eat all kinds of good food, and play at the arcade, among other things.

While watching the scientist on TV say that bombs should be dropped on all major cities, Peter notices that Roger has completely been transformed into a zombie and shoots him in the head. Peter, Francine, and Stephen solemnly bury their friend under a plant.

Time passes and Francine's pregnancy begins to show. She spends her time in an apartment she and the other two have set up, while a large group of zombies remain on the outside of the mall.

As Stephen teaches his girlfriend how to fly the helicopter, they're unaware that a group of motorcycle raiders (including one played by Tom Savini), are watching them and planning to invade the shopping center. Later that evening, that's just what they do. Francine, Peter, and Stephen are unable to keep the bikers and zombies out.

And so begins a wild frenzy of looting by the bikers and warfare between them, the zombies, and the three friends. Stephen is shot in the arm while trying to get back to the hideaway. As he tries to make it up to the elevator shaft, a group of zombies enter the elevator and grab him, taking huge bites out of him.

When Stephen doesn't answer her radio call, Francine tells Peter they should leave. But Stephen does indeed show up, undead and with other zombies in tow. Peter shoots him in the head and tells Francine to get to the helicopter. He plans to stay behind to distract the zombies away from her.

About to shoot himself, Peter changes his mind and makes it to the copter. Together, he and Francine fly off, unsure of how much fuel they have. With Francine to give birth soon, there's some hope for the human race to continue.

Like Night of the Living Dead, this classic ends on a relatively positive note. A scary premise, terrific make-up and special effects, and a literate, dark humored script which takes aim at consumerism, make Dawn of the Dead a must-see.

The carnage is breathtaking and in fact, Romero has said he wanted the film to have a numbing effect. He calls Dawn a "filmic pie in the face."

Dario Argento put out his own cut of Dawn of the Dead for European audiences and retitled it Zombi. It was released overseas a full eight months before audiences in the United States were able to see it, due to censorship problems.

The film ran into trouble with the ratings board and cuts were demanded in order to avoid an "X" rating. Romero and his distributor decided instead to release the film without any rating.

In answer to the question of whether the grisly special effects were fully scripted, Tom Savini had this to say: "George (Romero) is terrifically organized. He put all the scenes in Dawn of the Dead down on index cards, so that when you spread them out, you had the whole movie spread out before you.

And those scenes all overlapped, so that if you removed one, part of the puzzle was missing. That's by way of saying, yes, Dawn of the Dead's grisliness was definitely in the script. We did improvise some of the stuff, but well over fifty percent of it was in George's script beforehand."

The majority of the film was actually filmed in a real mall in Monroe, Pennsylvania. To build a set of this magnitude would have cost millions, but the filmmakers were able to secure usage because they knew someone on the Board of Directors.

Director Romero would follow this up with yet another sequel in 1985, the disappointing Day of the Dead.

Hunter: I was too scared to see this in the movies when I was a kid. The commercial was terrifying enough...a clip showing elevator doors opening and a group of zombies rushing in with their arms outstretched, kept me up at night!

When I finally saw it, I was struck by just how good it is. And it only gets better after repeated viewings. With all the blood and mayhem, Romero does a surprisingly good job with character development.

Jason: An epic undead playground this. Among its many strengths are an articulate and thoughtful script, 4 good actors, awesome special effects, and at its core, a harrowing foundation for its story. The Monroeville mall setting and its action is absolutely spellbinding to watch. The action is quick, unsettling and superb, spiced with bits of humor which work perfectly in this one because of its well-thought premise. One of the few, justifiable zombie classics...