Dawn Of The Dead Movies In Order
Hollie Kipps
Living Dead is a blanket term for various films and series that all originated with the seminal 1968 zombie movie Night of the Living Dead created by George A. Romero and John A. Russo.
After the film's initial success, the two creators split in disagreement regarding where the series should go and a contract was drawn up. Any future Romero films would lose the "Living" prefix and simply be referred to as Dead movies and Russo, who wanted to branch the series off into literary territory, would retain the rights to "Living Dead" (though fans nevertheless refer to Romero's as Living Dead films). Thus, both series would be considered canon and each would be able to do what they liked with the continuity of the projects.
Labeled Trilogy of the Dead until Land of the Dead, this is considered by most fans as the one true series. Each film is laden with social commentary on topics ranging from racism to consumerism. The films are not produced as direct follow-ups from one another. The films' only continuation is the epidemic of the living dead, the situation advancing with each film, but with different characters and even moving the time ahead from the last to the time in which they were filmed despite the world's progression being the only interlocking aspect of the series. They are different stories telling how different people react to the same phenomenon ranging from citizens to cops to army officials and back again. There are no real happy endings to the films as each takes places in a world that has gotten worse since the last time we saw it, the number of zombies ever increasing and the fate of the small amount remaining living always in the balance.
The fifth film, which premiered on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released on dvd May 20, 2008, does not continue the depiction of the progress of the world; instead it goes back to the beginning of events from the first film, but is nonetheless contemporary as the sequels are. Romero does not consider any of his Dead films sequels since none of the characters or story continue from one film to the next. Only the premise that there are zombies is the same.
The films that originally made up Romero's trilogy have all have been remade in order. However, these remakes do not follow on from each other and are entirely different films. This is because they were all made by different people and have no real link between.
The official Night of the Living Dead remake, released in 1990, was produced for two reasons. First, a rival company was planning a remake which Romero did not want to see happen without his involvement. Second, it was seen as an opportunity for the original creators to finally get some money back from the name Night of the Living Dead. The film saw another team-up with Tom Savini and Romero, though not in the same roles, as Savini directed the film based on a script by Romero.
The Dawn of the Dead remake also received mixed feelings, with common criticisms such as the altering of the "rules" by having the zombies running rather than the standard slow lumbering. However, reviews were generally favorable, with Romero himself stating that it was "much better" than he had expected, but he considered it an action movie rather than a horror film.
The Day of the Dead remake took a completely different approach, and recieved bad reviews. The only thing it had in common with the original was that an army guy, though remade as national guard in this version, learns how to use a gun after turning into a zombie. Also, he as well appears to be on the side of good (i.e. humans)
Russo actually has two separate series that claim the Living Dead name. The first was Return of the Living Dead, which originated as a book written by Russo. It was later adapted to a film by Dan O'Bannon, which spawned its own series of movies, with a total of four sequels. This could be seen more as a spin-off of Night of the Living Dead rather than sequels, as the first movie treats Night of the Living Dead as a movie that was based on real events in Return of the Living Dead's universe. The first two films in this series differ from Romero's Living Dead films in that they are not serious and employ silly humour, as well as using different zombie "rules."
Then, in 1998, Russo went back to the original Night of the Living Dead to reshoot extra sequences into the film. This version, which was officially named Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, added a subplot, alternate opening, and new score. Children of the Living Dead was then produced as a direct sequel to Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, as it followed up on scenes that were newly inserted.
There are also some other films that have been released as sequels to various films in Romero's Living Dead series, most likely to ride on the name recognition that Romero's films enjoy. They have been produced due to the various mix-ups with the copyright and ownership of the movies, Romero himself owns only Dawn of the Dead from his first four films.
Romero, it has to be noted, is often positive of derivations of his work, stating that any new film in the horror genre is a step forward, whether completely original or a 'copycat'. Even going as far as putting the star and director of 'Shaun of the Dead' in his film 'Land of the Dead' as zombies.
Although the majority of the Living Dead media has been films, there has been times when related projects have been released in other media. Specifically, there have been a handful of books and comics books that take place in the Living Dead universe. As with the films, some of them are officially endorsed while others unofficially use the universe.
The Night of the Living Dead franchise is kind of like a tree. Different films split off into different branches. Some of the films get remakes, and those remakes develop into their own series. Then there are the sequels to the original series, which are unrelated to the sequels of the remakes.
Twilight of the Dead is the next film in the Night of the Living Dead franchise. The story was developed by George A. Romero before his death in 2017. The film will be set on a tropical island, where the last humans on Earth struggle to survive in a world of zombies. Brad Anderson is set to direct the film, with Roundtable Entertainment producing. The film was delayed by the actor and writers strikes of 2023 but has resumed production. It is currently unknown if Twilight of the Living Dead will be released in theaters or directly to a streaming service. As of now, there is no confirmed release date.
Many of the Living Dead films can be viewed in any order. Although there are a few rare cases of recurring characters, most of the films focus on new protagonists, with no relationship to the past films. The throughline is the zombies, and the state of the world. For a deeper look at the continuity behind the Living Dead films, please refer to the chronological section of this guide.
If you want to watch the Night of the Living Dead film series, here is where you can find the core films. Night of the Living Dead is available to stream on Starz. Day of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead are available on Tubi. Dawn of the Dead and Land of the Dead are not currently available on any streaming service, but they are available to rent or purchase from a variety of video-on-demand platforms, including Prime Video. Please keep in mind that the availability of those movies might change as streaming licenses expire, which could put the films on a different service.
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