Prime Video movie of the day: Dawn of the Dead remains the king of zombie movies

A group of bloodied zombies in Dawn of the Dead

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Movie of the day

Every day, we cut through the bottomless list of streaming options and recommend something to watch. See all our Netflix movie of the day picks, or our Prime Video movie of the day choices.

Dawn of the Dead is such an influential movie that even its 2004 parody Shaun of the Dead is just as iconic, providing us with what has been affectionately dubbed as a “zom-romcom”. With both movies going down in history, if you haven’t heard of the Romero classic, you’ve been living under a rock.

Thankfully, if you’re yet to watch it, it’s available to stream on Prime Video and there’s a couple of different cuts you can choose from. There’s the theatrical cut or the extended Cannes cut, so you have options whether you want extra scenes or would prefer to just stick with the classic.

The movie is set during an escalating zombie epidemic, where two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall. Even if you haven’t seen the movie in full, you’re bound to recognise some of its more famous moments.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) - US Trailer - YouTube

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Dawn of the Dead remains one of the most top-rated horror movies at 91% on the Tomatometer, making it one of the best Prime Video movies. Some big publications have sung the praises of the Romero movie, with audiences also favouring the movie at 90%. It is also a cult classic with plenty of keen horror fans loving it.

Famed critic Roger Ebert said in his review: “Dawn of the Dead is one of the best horror films ever made – and, as an inescapable result, one of the most horrifying. It is gruesome, sickening, disgusting, violent, brutal and appalling.”

While Almar Haflidason from the BBC said: it’s “a blend of horror, action, tension, and humour, it stands in a class of its own”.

Finally, the Chicago Reader said: “Dawn of the Dead is arguably Romero’s best zombie film, and its stark social satire (it takes place in a mall, where the excesses of capitalism help to sustain survivors of the zombie apocalypse) will wake you up figuratively if not literally.”

Lucy is a long-time movie and television lover who is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-ran blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving onto bigger websites such as What's on TV and What to Watch, with TechRadar being her most recent venture. Her interests primarily lie within horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a chilling story that keeps her thinking moments after the credits have rolled. Many of these creepy tales can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.

When she’s not scaring herself half to death with the various shows and movies she watches, she likes to unwind by playing video games on Easy Mode and has no shame in admitting she’s terrible at them. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and has a Blinky the Fish tattoo, solidifying her position as a complete nerd.