10 Zombie Movie Horror Fates Worse Than Death
2. Roger's Slow Demise - Dawn Of The Dead
Oh Roger, you careless, cocksure idiot.
It's completely his own fault, but that's not to say that fate of Dawn of the Dead's Roger isn't a horrendous one.
As part of a SWAT team sent in to clear the mall of zombies, Roger realises how grim the reality of the undead's ever-growing presence is and opts to seek sanctuary in the upper echelons of the mall alongside survivors Fran and Stephen. He and his fellow SWAT team colleague Peter settle nicely into mall life and all is well as the outside world goes to the dogs.
Where it all went wrong for Roger, though, is that he got too cocky. Becoming too comfortable is his relatively safe surroundings, a straightforward trip outside to block the mall's entrance with some trucks goes array when Roger's arrogance leads to him being bitten.
From that moment on, the audience and the film's core characters all know what ultimately lies ahead of Roger - and we then get to see this slow, depressing reality play out.
With his three buddies caring for him as his zombie transformation plays out, we see Roger go from fit and healthy to ill and weak, to then start to gradually lose his mental faculties, to then his inevitable death courtesy of a bullet in the brain by Peter.
George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead is viewed as the pinnacle when it comes to the zombie subgenre, and one of the major standout moments is the poignancy and emotion involved in the fate of Roger.
For Rog, a quick death seems a far better option than the gruelling, grim process he had to go through.