Which is the better film: Night of the Living Dead vs Dawn of the Dead

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Which is the better film?

[Pedderrs]

The theatrical cut of Dawn of the Dead has always been the pinnacle of the zombie sub-genre for me personally. The action set pieces are incredible well done considering the budget and the location of the mall is visually more interesting than the isolated farm house in Night of the Living Dead or the underground bunker in Day of the Dead. Everything from the helicopter shots looking down on the infected countryside to the opening scene at the disillusioned WGON television studio gives you a real sense of scale. The comedy in Dawn of the Dead and the make-up of the zombies undermines the horror elements for some, but for me the cartoonish humour just unsettles me more, and the zombie make-up is a small detail that, if anything, has become iconic today. Goblin's work on the soundtrack is phenomenal too. Fews films unsettle me and creep me out more than Romero's Dawn of the Dead. It's a stunning epic, and I love it.

[Al_The_Strange]

After two viewings, I could never really get into NOTLD. I don't know what it is about it, but I just find it boring and bland. Nothing about it shocked or repulsed me. Felt no tension. Couldn't care about any of the characters or anything they did. The only thing I really remember is the dude nailing boards to the door--I guess that summarizes the point of it, just like the last half of The Birds people are trapped and desperate.

DOTD, however, is much more up my alley. It's much more colorful--not only because it's a color film, but also because there's more camp, but also more extreme gore and more color to the characters. It goes through episodes of tension, which rarely drag or wear out their welcome. Its social themes engage me much more. Of the two films, this is the one that does it for me.

It's like comparing the first two Terminators (of which I always liked the second more than the first, even though the first may be a better film). NOTLD may be regarded as the superior film for its notoriety, legacy, reputation, and for being an original influence on so many other films. But I believe DOTD refined all of the previous films' strengths and delivered a unique classic in its own right. Something bigger with more zest.

[CZAR]

Neither. I take both remakes over the original all day long. Got Em!!

[Pedderrs]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Neither. I take both remakes over the original all day long. Got Em!!

Well, there is no accounting for taste.

[DanTheMan]

The original Dawn of the Dead.

[AKORIS]

Dawn Of The Dead is the better film despite the fact that both movies were shot on a limited budget. Dawn has an epic feel to it despite its shortcomings.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Dawn all day every day. Night of the Living Dead is an imporatant film and it kick started a genre that is going strong today. However Dawn is just the better movie imo. It took a place everyone loved back in those days (a mall) and made it the setting for a horror movie. It worked great.

As a side note I sometimes think of how I would survive a zombie apocalypse and I seriously have the perfect plan of where to stay...shocked it is never shown as an option. My idea is to hold up in a warehouse. My warehouse I work in is food grade and is a quarter of a mile long full of food. The warehouse is raised 4 feet off ground and other than dock doors the only way in is thick metal security locked doors. I figure you back trailers into every door in the building which blocks any possible way for them to get in plus the trailers would be full of more stuff to live on. You could live awhile just based on the stuff in my building.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Pedderrs

Well, there is no accounting for taste.

Right. I never liked the original NOTLD but I did like the original DOTD when I was a kid. Watched it more recent and didnt care for it. Got Em!!

[Troll2fan]

DotD by a mile.

[Doctor Jack]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Neither. I take both remakes over the original all day long. Got Em!!

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Got Em!!

[willtopower]

Night

[BladeRunner2007]

Dawn of the Dead

[ThatOneGuy]

While I respect Night for what it is, Dawn is infinitely more entertaining.

[Ray Jackson]

I've only seen the original Dawn of the Dead once and I thought it was pretty cheesy.

...I'll go with NOTLD on this one.

[MJD64]

I happen to like all of Romero's zombie films. Night, Dawn, Day, Land and Diary.Survival not so much.

Still, Night remains a watershed horror film with a genuinely eerie quality, the amateurish qualities it retains actually work in it's favor. Dawn is very entertaining and well-made, but it lacks the raw feel that makes Night so effective, at least for me.

[Popcorn_Bliss]

Definitely Night Of The Living Dead (1968) for me. It was truly revolutionary and laid the groundwork for the good but not as chilling Dawn Of The Dead a decade later.

The black and white alone gives the 1968 classic a more morbid and stark atmosphere and I find the zombies to be more "humanistic" and chilling.

I still contend that my four cornerstones of horror would be:

Psycho 1960
Night Of The Living Dead 1968
The Exorcist 1973
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974

Between all four you essentially have the ingredients of every horror film attempted after 1974. Not that there weren't other classics before them or horror staples that followed them...

[Trekkie313]

Can't stand watching the original NOTLD without commentary.

Day > Dawn > NOTLD

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Popcorn_Bliss

Definitely Night Of The Living Dead (1968) for me. It was truly revolutionary and laid the groundwork for the good but not as chilling Dawn Of The Dead a decade later.

The black and white alone gives the 1968 classic a more morbid and stark atmosphere and I find the zombies to be more "humanistic" and chilling.

I still contend that my four cornerstones of horror would be:

Psycho 1960
Night Of The Living Dead 1968
The Exorcist 1973
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974

Between all four you essentially have the ingredients of every horror film attempted after 1974. Not that there weren't other classics before them or horror staples that followed them...

I think Halloween has to be on the Mount Rushmore of horror films.

Not sure which of your selections I would take out.

Maybe Night Of, because Psycho covers the 1960s.

Or The Exorcist, because neither the writer or the director view it as a true horror film.

...but Halloween has to be on there imo.