Dawn of the Dead (2004) image analysis - 2

This scene from Dawn of the Dead (2004) is one of the most memorable aspects of body horror in the film. A close up shot of Ana leaning into the woman to check her pulse confirms to the audience that the woman is dead. However, as Ana informs the other characters, dramatic non-diegetic parallel music works in conjunction with a shot of the woman sitting up to shock the audience and inform them that the woman is now a zombie. Another close up of the woman’s eye confirms the audience’s thoughts and the pace of the scene changes from slow montage to a quick montage as the action kicks in and Ana is forced to fight. Clear aspects of a typical female survivor are evident when Ana stabs the woman through her eye leaving her to bleed out on the floor. This demonstrates to the audience that although she is a woman, Ana has a lot of fight in her and isn’t one of the weaker more frail characters.

This could relate to the context of the film as 2004 was the year that women came together in America to march for women’s rights against the perceived sexism of George Bush, this was an important ideological standpoint. The strength, determination and knowledge that Ana’s character has demonstrates that her gender is irrelevant to her survival. This also relates to the fear of death which is an obvious theme throughout the film but is particularly present in this scene.  For example, the increased pace and the character’s fearful expressions demonstrate how every character is living in turmoil wondering when there will be another attack. And, once again, the fast moving monster indicates how the action aspects of film have dominated many horrors since the late 90s, a style that can also be seen in other films such as John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998) where fast montage is used to convey the idea that these monsters are fast moving and more dangerous.