What are you doing on Saturday the 5th of April? Same old same old? Fancy something different? You could be experiencing a film that Empire magazine selected as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, one that Entertainment Weekly ranked as #27 of The Top 50 Cult Films, and one that sustains a ripe 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s right, George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead will show you the meaning of something going viral.
There’s more, after their knock and sell out live performance of the score for Suspiria in Belfast last year, the Italian progressive rock band Simonetti’s Goblin are returning to Belfast. On Saturday night they’ll be performing the soundtrack they wrote for Dawn of the Dead, in the flesh. Simonetti’s Goblin’s performance of the soundtrack to Dawn of the Dead will be a first for Northern Ireland. Goblin composed the score for the 1978 film, and so Simonetti’s Goblin, (renamed after their drummer left) are the only people who could resurrect the thudding beats and power chords of one of the most influential soundtracks ever produced. The live performance of the soundtrack is an intense, synth-rich and unprecedentedly creepy way to experience a film that so disturbed the New York Times critic Janet Maslin, that she left appalled after just fifteen minutes.
So let’s all break the work, eat, sleep, repeat cycle, because I’ve just checked my diary and on the 5th of April it says Zombie Apocalypse (and 11:30am Dentist). My advice? We should all grab a nice comfy seat in a nice safe venue like the Waterfront and quick, because just like the necromantic plague that will sweep unchecked across the USA, and possibly the world, this event is selling out fast.
When there’s no more room in the Waterfront, you just won’t be allowed in.
Tickets for the 5th April show (8pm start) are now available online at www.belfastfilmfestival.org or by phoning (0044) 28 9024 6609.
The event is being run by Belfast Film Festival in partnership with Belfast Waterfront Hall.