10 More Horror Movies That Had No Right To Be This Good
9. Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
Those who were there at ground zero when Universal announced a remake of George A. Romero's zombie masterpiece Dawn of the Dead will remember just how skeptical - if not downright pissed off - fans of the original were.
More to the point, giving such a hallowed property to a no-name music video director called Zack Snyder and a writer of junky Troma movies by the name of James Gunn? Pfft. This had "disaster" written all over it.
But huge props to Snyder, whose bold directorial debut was a more-than-worthy reimagining of Romero's classic which ably justified its own existence.
Rather than rehash the original film beat-for-beat, Snyder and Gunn's retelling is a leaner, arguably meaner rendition of the same core concept, shedding the more overt satire of Romero's version but doubling down on the deeply visceral hopelessness of its apocalyptic scenario.
Girded by its manic energy and the efforts of a solid ensemble cast, Dawn of the Dead '04 is close to a cinematic miracle - a movie every card-carrying horror fan was dreading, and yet one which turned out to be a damn gift to them all.