The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Dawn of the Dead
Horror · Science Fiction · 2004
A group of survivors take refuge in a shopping mall after the world is taken over by aggressive, flesh-eating zombies.
Movie details
Dawn of the Dead
“When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.”
2004 Horror · Science Fiction 1h 41m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
A group of survivors take refuge in a shopping mall after the world is taken over by aggressive, flesh-eating zombies.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Dawn of the Dead?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Dawn of the Dead
Horror · 1978
During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Night of the Living Dead
Horror · 1990
A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.
Mirrors
Horror · 2008
An ex-cop and his family are the target of an evil force that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home.
Evil Dead
Horror · 2013
Mia, a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother, David, his girlfriend, Natalie and their friends Olivia and Eric to accompany her to their family's remote forest cabin to help her through withdrawal. Eric finds a mysterious Book of the Dead at the cabin and reads aloud from it, awakening an ancient demon. All hell breaks loose when the malevolent entity possesses Mia.
Chopping Mall
Horror · 1986
High-tech robots equipped with state-of-the-art security devices have been recruited as the new mechanical "night watchmen" for the Park Plaza Mall. When a jolting bolt of lightning short-circuits the main computer control, the robots turn into "killbots" on the loose after unsuspecting shoppers!
Night of the Living Dead
Horror · 1968
A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.
Play Dead
Horror · 2025
A woman wakes up injured in a basement surrounded by corpses. To survive, she pretends to be dead while a grotesque ritual unfolds in the house above.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Horror · 2003
After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a chainsaw-wielding killer and his family of equally psychopathic killers.
Halloween
Horror · 2007
The early years of young Michael Myers and the events leading up to his fateful Halloween night murder rampage in the quiet town of Haddonfield, Illinois.
Strange Darling
Horror · 2024
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Zack Snyder
Written by
James Gunn · George A. Romero
Sarah Polley
Ana
Ving Rhames
Kenneth
Jake Weber
Michael
Michael Kelly
C.J.
Mekhi Phifer
Andre
Inna Korobkina
Luda
Kevin Zegers
Terry
Court is in session
Put Dawn of the Dead on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.