2. Dawn Of The Dead (1978) – Consumerism
George A. Romero is a pioneer of the horror genre, with his contributions to the zombie helping to create one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time. After the genre classic Night of the Living Dead, Romero made Dawn of the Dead, often considered one of the greatest and most influential horror movies ever made. It follows a group of people who take refuge in a shopping mall after an unknown phenomenon causes the reanimation of dead humans.
Dawn of the Dead‘s satire of consumerism is fairly obvious, and like Alien, years of in-depth analysis mean that it’s relatively well-known that the film examines the nature of modern consumer society. The ways in which Dawn of the Dead sets about this deeper theme are interesting, particularly as it proved somewhat pivotal in the genre as a whole with regards to symbolism and deeper meaning. The metaphors are relatively simple, but they’re conceived in a way that makes Dawn of the Dead deceptively clever.
The primary setting for the film being a shopping mall is key: it’s even implied that the zombies are likely to flock there instinctively, drawn there by the vague memories of their lives spent browsing its many stores. This consumerist greed becomes an issue for the film’s human characters, as they fight to protect the mall (“we claimed it – it’s ours“), and the zombies are representations of the mindless consumerism that modern society encourages. It’s this imagery that has contributed to Dawn of the Dead being hailed as one of the greatest horror movies ever made, and it gives the film a staggering sense of depth in its symbolism.