With the new version of “Dawn of the Dead” packing them in at the box office we thought it might be a good idea (and a whole lot of fun) to go through our library of DVD’s and find a few horror movie suggestions for those of you new to this whole ’the dead are coming back to life’ horror premise. While there are more and better films out there than the five we’re reviewing today we can at least assure you that, if you liked the new “Dawn of the Dead,” you’re going to at least be amused by how well (or bad depending on your tastes) George A. Romero’s original version of “Dawn…” stands next to its flashier successor.

Released theatrically without an MPAA rating back in 1979, “Dawn…” continues on the same time frame in which the original b&w “Night of the Living Dead” played back in the 1960’s (and which “Day of the Dead” also used in the 1980’s!). The dead are coming back to life, and neither authorities nor the TV people can give a satisfactory answer to the growing frustration of a population under attack. Chaos and anarchy gradually take over the land, and a group of four human survivors (played by no-name actors whose names aren’t even worth mentioning) take refuge in a shopping mall overrun by zombies. TV and radio are down, but at least they have a helicopter with a little bit of fuel on the roof in case there’s a need to escape at the last minute. Once they clear the mall of zombies the four survivors (three men and a pregnant woman) live off the stores, consuming items for survival and passing time enjoying the best material possessions that the American consumer society has taught people to accept as happiness.

This might explain why hundreds of undead people remain outside the shopping mall in which our heroes are stuck in for what seems like months. It’s as if a lifetime of consumerism indoctrinated in them since youth has given way to a primitive urge to gather into the equivalent of the old American town’s center square. Then a bad of roving bikers (led by Tom Savini, the make-up man responsible for “Dawn’s” outstanding horror effects and buckets of gore), traveling from place to place to survive, decide to crash into the mall and steal the supplies for themselves instead of sharing them with those living there. You thought dead-on-undead attacks were childish and stupid? Wait ‘till you see the human heroes the movie has stuck us with fighting like children over the only thing left for them to fight over: a freaking mall. Though there are enough blown heads, spilled intestines and bloody sights to keep gore freaks happy with both versions of “Dawn of the Dead” the ’79 original captures the isolation and loneliness from living inside a mall far better than the ’04 version. In the new version the decision to leave the mall in search for a better place comes suddenly and unexpectedly, while Romero’s original relishes ramming its anti-consumer message through the movie’s 127 min. running time.

So, which “Dawn…” movie is better? I personally love them both, and have to admit to being unable to view this ’79 version as highly as I used to after seeing how well the new version of “Dawn…” mixes “28 Days Later”-type cinematography with today’s best computer and make-up effects. Still, this horror movie has withstood the test of time well because today’s society is even more consumer-driven and materialistic than in decades past. The mall, its stores, the products inside them and how they affected the humans living in them (as well as the zombies outside trying to get in) were the real stars of “Dawn of the Dead,” and the updated version was wise to retain that metaphor as a reminder that horror movies can have ideas and brains to go along with the spilled guts. Speaking of which, this Unrated U.S. Theatrical version of “Dawn…” still has the OTT Tom Savini touch that has made Romero’s “Dead” trilogy a rite of passage for cinema buffs the world over. Chapter 21’s ‘guts’ scene still grosses the hell out of yours truly even after seeing it a couple of times, and nothing in the ’04 “Dawn” comes close to it.