Censored for 5 years, this zombie movie hits theaters and it’s the pinnacle of the genre!

Night of the Living Dead Ten years later, the king of zombie movies returned in 1978 with Dawn of the Dead (translated into French by Zombie). The story follows a group of survivors who take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall.

Although life is organized inside, the situation is deteriorating outside. Bloodthirsty immortals have invaded Earth and are hunting its inhabitants.

Forbidden to children under 16 George A. Romero’s iconic film hits theaters in a restored version on October 25th and is not to be missed! “Night of the Living Dead” by the same author is back in the cinema and you must see it! At its height, Zombie was censored in France before being released in theaters 5 years after its American release on May 11, 1983.

At the time, the Motion Picture Control Commission decided to censor this work due to its political aspect. The commission members would document the bikers’ attack and their delight in the idea of ​​massacring the living dead. “Frightened philosophy, with humanity and subhumanity.“This joy “Kill fellow citizens, kill subhumans”would create “Roots of Nazi Ideology”According to a commission created in the late 1970s.

Heads explode and blood spills

Beyond being a very violent and goofy film, Zombie remains a brutal political lampoon and a scathing attack on consumer society. The filmmaker spares us nothing, between hectoliters of blood, guts spilling on the ground, and exploding heads.

Filming took place at the Monroeville Mall, a suburb of Pittsburgh, from November 1977 to February 1978. Tom Savin, George A. Romero’s collaborator and friend, was responsible for the film’s makeup and special effects. This artist, who was 32 years old at the time, later became a true horror legend.

Thanks to him, the fondness of Night of the Living Dead, covered by the use of black and white, is no longer present in Zombie. Savini, a true master of special effects makeup, managed to offer a very realistic result that is still considered avant-garde today.

5 rules of zombie movies

If it’s not the first film to feature the living dead (for that, you have to go back to 1943 with Jacques Tourney’s Voodoo), Zombie is a film that deconstructs the rules of the genre. Here are the 5 guidelines that have become the standard:

– Zombies don’t run

– You have to shoot him in the head to kill him forever

– Never get bitten by a zombie

– We don’t know why they come back to life

– You should never say the word “zombie”

Ironically, the French title contradicts one of these principles. Remember that the original title of the film is Dawn of the Dead, which can literally be translated as Dawn of the Living Dead. Note that many filmmakers claim zombie influence.

From Zack Snyder to The Walking Dead

We can cite Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Zack Snyder (author of the remake called Army of the Dead) or Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror, One Night in Hell). In addition, The Walking Dead owes a lot to Zombie, whose influence on the first seasons of the cult series is felt immensely.

Zombie was released in theaters on October 25.