Fails the Bechdel test
Dawn of the Dead
1978. Directed by George A. Romero, written by George A. Romero.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 2 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
The zombie apocalypse has hit Earth. Two personnel from a TV station and two policemen set off in a helicopter to find a safe place to hide out. Their search leads them to a shopping mall where they manage to find a place that, while not zombie-free, is quite secure. So far, so good.
- Released
- 02 Sep 1978
- Genres
- Horror, Thriller
- Rated
- Unrated
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 71 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Peter 144 lines, man
- Roger 117 lines, man
- Steve 109 lines, man
- Fran 89 lines, woman
- Voice 23 lines
- Scientist 11 lines, man
- Commander 9 lines
- Givens 7 lines, man
- Officer 2 7 lines
- Officer 3 7 lines
Full cast, 92 people
- David Emge as Stephen "Flyboy" Andrews
- Ken Foree as Peter Washington
- Scott H. Reiniger as Roger "Trooper" DeMarco
- Gaylen Ross as Francine "Fran" Parker
- David Crawford as Dr. James Foster
- David Early as Sidney Berman
- Richard France as Dr. Milliard Rausch
- Howard Smith as TV Commentator
- Daniel Dietrich as Dan Givens
- Fred Baker as Police Commander
- James A. Baffico as Wooley
- Rod Stouffer as Roy Tucker
- Jese Del Gre as Old Priest
- Clayton McKinnon as Officer in Project Apt.
- John Rice as Officer in Project Apt.
- Ted Bank as Officer at Police Dock
- Randy Kovitz as Officer at Police Dock
- Patrick McCloskey as Officer at Police Dock
- Joseph Pilato as Officer at Police Dock
- Pasquale Buba as Motorcycle Raider
- Tony Buba as Motorcycle Raider
- Tom Savini as Motorcycle Raider
- Larry Vaira as Motorcycle Raider
- Marty Schiff as Motorcycle Raider
- Taso N. Stavrakis as Motorcycle Raider
- Sharon Ceccatti as Lead Zombie (Nurse)
- Mike Christopher as Lead Zombie (Hare Krishna)
- Clayton Hill as Lead Zombie
- John Amplas as 2nd Guy on Roof (uncredited)
- Greg Besnak as Fu Manchu Zombie (uncredited)
- Rik Billock as Gray Suited Zombie (uncredited)
- Christine Forrest as TV Producer / Zombie / Mall Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
- Roy Frumkes as Pie-in-Face Zombie (uncredited)
- Debra Gordon as Red Turtleneck Sweater Zombie (uncredited)
- Michael Gornick as Radio News Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
- Jim Krut as Helicopter Zombie (uncredited)
- Donald Rubinstein as Parking Lot Zombie (uncredited)
- George A. Romero as TV Director / Biker (uncredited)
- Warner Shook as Security Guard Zombie (uncredited)
- Sara Venable as Leotard Zombie (uncredited)
- Laura Ziemba as Ice Skating Rink Zombie
- Robert Williams as Soldier in Apartment Project
- John 'Weezer' Wickerham as Black Knit Cap Sunglasses Bearded Biker
- Vickie Walters as Brown Leather Jacket Biker Chick
- Billie Walters as Biker Chick Wearing Brown Headband
- Vincent Vok as WGON - TV Station Employee
- Susan Vermazen as Dark Curly Haired Plaid Shirted Zombie
- Bobbi Van Eman as Beautiful Curly Haired Female WGON-TV Technician
- Jeanette Lansel Vaira as Biker Chick
- Danny Vail as Mall Zombie
- Milt Thompson as Checkered Shirted Zombie Who Attacks Stephen
- Ralph Tallo as Stephen's Grey Suited Airport Zombie Attacker
- Stephen M. Silverman as Zombie
- Donna Siegel as Dark Haired Light Brown Bloused Woman
- Gina Sestak as Longhaired Glasses Zombie
- Frank A. Serrao as Fat Grey-Suited Zombie
- Mike Savini as Zombie Boy in Airport Chart House
- Donna Savini as Zombie Girl in Airport Chart House
- Charlie Peters as Bearded White Collared Shirted WGON-TV Crew Member
- Jeff Paul as Biker Who Shoots Flyboy
- Ken Nagin as Pendant Headband Biker with Axe
- Robert V. Michelucci as Bearded Scope Zombie / Zombie Who Attacks Mousey
- Doug Mertz as Preppie Zombie - 2nd Pie-In Face
- Molly McCloskey as Lovely Woman at WGON (uncredited)
- Nick Mastandrea as Mall Zombie Outside Gun Store
- Leonard Lies as Machete Zombie
- Ed Letteri as Long-Haired Man by Door at WGON-TV
- Maxine Lapiduss as Redhead Zombie Outside J.C. Penny
- Robert Langer as Mustachioed Plaid-Shirted Zombie Eating Bikers' Flesh
- Ralph Langer as Green Collared-Shirted Zombie in Ice Skating Rink
- Tommy Lafitte as Miguel, The Zombie
- 'Wild Bill' Laczko as Head Bandage Redneck
- Katherine Kolbert as Brunette Biker Chick Throwing Pies and Cakes
- C. Courtney Joyner as Zombie Wearing Eyeglasses
- Jeannie Jefferies as Blonde Zombie Who Attacks Roger in Truck
- Jon Hayden as Featured Zombie
- John Harrison as Screwdriver Zombie
- Barry Gress as Parking Lot Zombie Knocking Sign Over
- Ingeborg Forrest as Mall Zombie Wearing Blue Nightgown
- Cliff Forrest as Tony, Man at WGON - TV ('You all right?')
- Tom Dubensky as Young WGON-TV Man Wearing Plaid Shirt
- Zilla Clinton as Blonde Biker Chick Riding Motorcycle
- Mary Lee Casey as Featured Light Blue Bathrobe Zombie
- Adolph Caesar as Narrator of Theatrical Trailer
- David W. Butler as 2nd Biker in Elevator
- Ben Barenholtz as Cowboy Hat Zombie Hit by Sledge
- Renee Banks as Wild Haired Plaid Shirted Apartment Zombie
- Joe Abeln as Redneck Rifleman That Misses
- Nick Tallo as Motorcycle Raider
- Joe Shelby as Motorcycle Raider
- Rudy Ricci as Motorcycle Raider
- Joey Baffico as Zombie Attacking Roger (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 18 are women's.
94 lines from women, 422 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
22 women and 69 men in the cast. 2 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 590.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 40 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (694), men 85% (4,000). Women have 18% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
31
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 11% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- George A. Romero (man)
- Written by
- George A. Romero (man)
- Produced by
- Richard P. Rubinstein (man), Alfredo Cuomo (gender not listed), Claudio Argento (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Gornick (man)
- Edited by
- George A. Romero (man)
- Music by
- Massimo Morante (gender not listed), Claudio Simonetti (man), Agostino Marangolo (man), Fabio Pignatelli (man)
- Costumes by
- Josie Caruso (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- John Amplas (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 9 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Gaylen Ross 28
Men
Scott H. Reiniger 29, Ken Foree 30, David Emge 31, Daniel Dietrich 36, David Early 40, Richard France 40, Howard Smith 41, Fred Baker 46
Exhibit G: the money
It made 103.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $640,000
- Box office
- $66 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 590 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
