Zombi is Argento's
European version of Romero's Dawn of the Dead
Zombi is the European edit of
George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
The original had a significant impact on the horror genre and on
American audiences, and Argento took the show on the European road with
an equally powerful effect.
Review byThe Zombie Master Lee
Roberts August 25, 2006
European
Title: Zombi Release: 1979 Written
and Directed by: George A. Romero Edited
by: Dario Argento
Starring: Scott Reiniger as Roger Ken
Foree as Peter Gaylen Ross as Fran David
Emge as Stephen
In 1978, Dario Argento, best known for such horror classics as Suspiria,
Deep Red, and Tenebre, was the
script consultant for Dawn of the Dead. Argento
wanted to release Dawn in Europe and was given the
ok from George Romero to re-edit it for a different audience.
Argento did not change the story. Zombi
is still about four people who, while trying to keep from being
overcome by the zombies that seem to be everywhere, find a shopping
mall that at first is viewed as a God send full of both their needs and
their wants, but ends up being a prison with zombies always on the
outside trying to get in.
For more information on the story please see the review for Dawn
of the Dead.
What Argento did was change the overall
atmosphere. Knowing his audience, Argento re-edited Dawn
to have a gloomier feel than the American version. Gone is the
“humor” of the American version, replaced by the
more
intense action in Zombi specifically meant for the
European
audience. He also replaced the light hearted
“muzak”
soundtrack with a more savage score by Goblin, the same group that
scored both Suspiria and Deep Red.
Ironically though, Argento’s Zombi has
less gore than Romero’s and is subsequently about 10 minutes
shorter as well.
Both versions are good, though the
American version is still the better
of the two. What I recommend is watching both. We have been given a rare
opportunity to look into the minds of two legends in horror
and witness each one offer there different visions of the same exact
film.
NOTE: The release of Zombi led Lucio Fulci to
release Zombi
2
hoping to cash in on Argento’s success. Though not a sequel,
it did help to introduce the world to another master
of the art of zombie film making. Questions
or comments about Zombi? Contact us!
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