9 Remakes That Were More Influential Than The Original

6. Dawn Of The Dead

Bourne Films
Universal

The George Romero zombie films practically invented the genre, bringing together social commentary with top-notch gore. Dawn Of The Dead is his masterpiece, a big pulpy action film where a group of survivors take over a shopping centre and try to pretend they’re not living in a zombie apocalypse.

That said, there’s no denying that Zach Snyder’s supercharged remake in 2004 revived the genre in a massive way. The zombie movie had pretty much been buried for twenty years by that stage, and while 28 Days Later was a sleeper hit it was really Snyder’s Dawn that gave it a proper kick up the a***. It got rid of the slow-moving zombies in favour of feral sprinters, and the movie's huge success allowed the zombie renaissance we’re currently living through.

Everything from The Walking Dead to World War Z owes a nod to the Dawn remake, although at this point audiences might be a bit zombied out. The original is the better movie, but the impact of the remake can't be ignored.

Contributor
Contributor

Handsome. Charismatic. Intelligent. Noble. Witty. I'm none of these things, but I'm a half decent writer, I guess.