I LOVED the Zach Snyder remake of Dawn of the Dead. It took the survival in the mall zombie apocalypse scenario and made it it's own, yet clearly there was great affection for this original tale of the hungry dead rising en masse. In this case, you have four people, (two SWAT cops, a helicopter pilot and a TV journalist) who find their way into a mall as civilization collapses around them. As they settle into their shelter, they have a rich environment full of items that not only can make their survival more probable, but even comfortable. They just have to deal with the ravening hordes of the undead...and eventually, humans who have let their humanity lapse in the collapse of civilization.
Sure, the characters aren't well developed (one thing Snyder's version did better), but Romero isn't really going for a character study with Dawn of the Dead anyway. He is doing more of a study in archetypes and making comments about the nature of humanity, in terms of civilization, economics and class. The zombies are clearly the ravening hordes of the dispossessed, at the window, pounding, but separated eternally, wanting, but not having. The gangs are the criminals, those looking to live in lawlessness, with "ordinary" people caught in the middle.
The original Night of the Living Dead also had threadbare characters, more interested in cultural commentary as well, in that case, more race than class or economics, but that is how George Romero works as a storyteller. With those two films, they were assembled well, the characters were interesting enough and the setting worked well enough to transport it.
Too bad it couldn't last (see review of Day of the Dead)...
PS. This movie was a clear inspiration for Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead, title pun aside, astute movie viewers and fans of Shaun will spot obvious cues. Listen to the music...
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