Snyder’s directorial debut came in 2004 with a remake of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Because of the whole remake identity that the film possessed, in particular because it was based on such an iconic source, it didn’t make Snyder a household name the way his later signature works would, but this one still carries with it a few trademark touches that would make it memorable, such as wild action sequences that really wouldn’t pop up again in a Snyder movie until Man of Steel.
As much as I am a fan of Sarah Polley’s, her involvement in Dawn of the Dead left less of an impression on me than the incredibly haunting images of zombies (or whatever they are) chasing down moving cars. This isn’t the usual zombie movie where these reanimated corpses become the walking dead. These are the sprinting dead. The option of running away from the hordes of stumbling and limping figures doesn’t exist in this world. That instantly makes for a more terrifying and captivating horror experience. As a debut, it’s fairly successful, especially since it holds up fairly well when inevitably compared to the original version.
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