Monroeville Mall - Dawn Of The Dead Set

One of the main reasons I love Dawn so much is because of its setting, I love films which are all set in one place (like BreakFast club). The Mall is located in Pensylvania and is still a popular mall today, although many of the shoppers probably dont know it was the set for the best film ever! It first opened in 1969 and has over 150 shops covering 1.3 million square feet, this makes it one of the nation's largest indoor shopping centers.

One day in the early 70's Romero was touring the mall when one of managers happened to mention that there was a proper civil defence bomb shelter in the mall and lots of linking passage ways. This was apparently stocked with food and put there in case of disaster. I cant understand how a little room full of food would help in disaster, and if it was a bomb shelter then why did it have a fragile glass roof, but nevermind. It was this information combined with the expressionless faces of the shoppers which lead Romero into thinking that this could be the ideal setting for his next Zombie Film!

Like all malls the Monroeville Mall has changed alot since 1979, most noticeably the clock tower is gone, the ice rink has been replaced by a food pavillion and the fountains spend most of their time covered up during holidays and important occasions (an eyesore maybe??). In the mid 80's the Penny's logo was changed to a more modern one and the escalator where Roger slid down has had metal spikes put on it to prevent people from re-enacting parts of the film, no doubt everyday people re-enact parts of the film in the Mall. Like for example getting their blood pressure taken in that famous machine (or a similar one if it isnt there) and maybe even going the sweet shop and pick up a whole bag of chocolate peanuts (or was it coffee?) and say 'Mange!'. Whatever happens I would like to goto that Mall before it is completely changed/destroyed, although I probably wont go ;-(.

I have also heard that the parking lot behind the mall where the trucks came down the hill and from where the bikers launched their raid on the mall is a must-see for any visiting Dawn enthusiast. I also know that the foilage where they buried Roger on the lower level with the little bridge is still there. No matter what changes occur to the mall over time I'm sure that it will still be easily recognisable simply because of its main layout and 'shell'. if youve visited the mall and have a tale to tell then please email me.

The Mall is fairly easy to get to: Fly to the Pittsburgh International airport and from there take a shuttle bus to the Radison hotel, located in the Mall's parking lot. The bus ride is about 35 minutes long. below is a table of information which you may find useful if you're planning a trip to the Monroeville Mall.