User Reviews

This zombie movie location tour is a heartfelt labour of love and a very enjoyable homage to Romero's living dead trilogy. Okay so this young french guy named Nicolas Garreau was a huge George A. Romero fan, so much so that he was willing to cross the channel to attend the 25th anniversary celebration of Dawn of the Dead at the infamous mall as well as visit several other notable sites from the trilogy on a three day trip, and he turned his hand-held camera recordings of the once in a lifetime trip into this travelogue documentary, which I think in its own way sheds a little light into the intense fandom some horror fans hold for their favourite movies, particularly of the great Dawn of the Dead, which has been downright worshipped over the years, and quite rightfully so, as it's a classic seminal horror movie viewing experience and I for one count it as my all-time favourite zombie picture! The 'actors' that Nicolas talks to are just people who had extremely bit non-speaking parts in Dawn as zombies like the nurse and the fellow who gets the top of his head gloriously sheared off by the helicopter blades in one legendary moment of ingenious makeup effects, but nonetheless they seem to have made something out of it over the years through the convention circuit. That's the thing about that movie though, the main stars of it like Ken Foree are awesome and indeed make it work, but all those little zombie moments also all go together with the bigger stuff that make up its very special macabre magic, and they actually are the stars of it as much as the real actors were, right? Hopefully big fans like me will get what I'm driving at! Garreau is a bit of an odd host, his thick french accent making him sound somewhat clipped and unenthusiastic, but he had a quiet kind of eagerness about his journey that's sweet and genuine. Plus he was rather hot on the eyes, so that helped out a bit also! The other reviewer is dead right, you do want to be there, and that's what I love about this and similar horror movie documentary programming involving pop culture explorer types, it has a bit of a feel like you're kind of vicariously sharing in the road trip, and I find it all very charming and engaging. You have no idea what could pop up, and I just find it fascinating seeing the horror movie landmarks as they look today and running the little mental comparison in my head with how they once appeared in the flicks. It would be so cool to stand in those places and feel the atmosphere of a film in that special way. For a fan there would be a certain 'lore' there. My favourite places that Nicolas visits are the small airport from Dawn and the underground vaults that were used as the main location for Day, and which are still claustrophobic and spooky as hell to this day! The best one for me though has gotta be the cemetery from the original Night of the Living dead which looks bizarrely frozen in time, it still eerily has the same layout and the way the sunlight hits the graves and the angle of the hill and it's such a beautiful peaceful place, it and the rural areas that lead up to it appear so unchanged since that movie that it's pretty amazing, and creepy! Part of this doc that I don't enjoy as much is when Ken Foree is parading himself around the mall after dark showing lucky fans the locations that he remembers from the movie. He appeared to be enjoying himself and I'm sure he got his payday but I thought it seemed a bit tacky and demeaning to him. I'd be grateful just to shake a person's hand and share a few words, maybe take a photo and get an autograph! So in the end Nicolas is satisfied with his dream movie location scouting odyssey, and so am I. This is a fun documentary that to me is very much a worthwhile watch every now and then when you're in the right mind to appreciate those classic pictures. Well done Mr. Garreau, au revoir! X