Starring Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, Scott Reiniger, and David Emge

Meanwhile, station manager Fran, and her boyfriend Stephen (the WGON traffic reporter) have come up with a plan to steal the station's helicopter in an attempt to flee the city, along with another one of their friends, Roger (a local S.W.A.T. member). Fran is slilghtly reluctant at first, having some desire to stay with the station to broadcast the news, but Stephen convinces her say "...we've got to survive...somebody's got to survive." A camera man tells Fran that it is okay for her to leave because the emergency networks are taking over.

Roger, in the meantime, is raiding a local tenement where the residents have been storing the recently dead in the basement of the building. For some reason, tennament dwellers have been keeping the recently dead in the basement of Apartment Complex 107. It started off innocenlty enough, but the as law enforement agents heard of what was going on, it was decided by city officials that SWAT memember were to raid the complex and kill any and all living dead located within the building.

Martinez, a local Puetro Rican tennant, has organized a few of his buddies with some handguns and rifles in an attempt to keep the law enforcement officials out. The raid begins with a slight skirmish, with both sides exchanging gunfire.

The fight is quickly over, with Philadelphia SWAT taking command of the building within a few short minutes. However, a renegade SWAT member, Wooley, looses his cool and starts blasting Puerto Ricans and African-Americans at his leisure. Roger tries in vain to stop Wooley, but he is only taken down by another SWAT member's gun. The crowd is stunned and hushed. Roger noticed the tall man who shot Wooley.

Once Wooley was dispatched with, the law enforcement officials can get back to what they were order to do -- take out zombies. The first apartment in the complex reveals several zombies, mangled and disfigures from some strange death. Some of the SWAT members are shocked at what they see. The zombies, sensing warm flesh, immediately attack Roger and several other SWAT members. Two of the zombies are killed, but one manages to walk right by the cops and out the apartment door. One SWAT member, who was almost eaten, wasn't able to take the pressure, sticks a gun to his own head, and takes his own life.

Roger is disturbed by the scene and runs into the basement in order to gain some composure. He is not alone down there. In the basement, Roger meets the man who shot his commanding officer. At first he is afraid that the tall officer might shoot him, too, because he witnessed what happened to Wooley. Playing it cool, Roger tells the man that he didn't see how Wooley died.

Convinced of Roger's sincerity, the tall man takes off his gas mask and shows himself. They talk for a moment about how everybody is running; running away and thinking if they run far enough they might get away from what is going on. Roger is running, too. He tells the tall SWAT officer, who's name is Peter, that he and his friends are going to steal the WGON traffic helicopter. "Man, there are a lot of people out," says Roger as he shares a cigarette with Peter. "I could run. I could run right tonight. Do you think it's right to run?"

Before Peter can answer, a door burst open and an old priest with one leg steps forth from the door. The priest tells the two men that this is the basement where all the recently dead people are being kept. Peter and Roger let the old priest leave, but not before he dispenses and ominous warning. "When the dead walk, Seniores, we must stop the killing or lose the war."

The assault on the complex begins again, this time with Peter and Roger systematically executing each zombie in the basement. More and more zombies are found throughout the building. A door is broken down and dozens of dead are unleashed into the building. SWAT member and national guardsmen continue to run through Apartment Complex 107 trying to kill as many zombies as they can. Family members are running around crazy, not really comprehending what is going on. One particular women runs into the arms of her dead husband convieniently bites her neck and arm before being pulled off of her by law enforecement agents.

The four refugees take off in the WGON traffic helicopter and head over the Pennsylvania countryside. None of them really have any idea where they can go since the zombies are everywhere. As they fly over the Pennsylvania countryside, the companions notice that the national guard has been called out in an effort to destroy as many of the living dead as they come across. Local law enforecement officials, along with the local rednecks, are standing next to the guardsmen giving them a hand in helping put bullets into the brains of the wandering dead.

On a whim, they drop the helicopter on top of a gigantic indoor mall. The mall is totally deserted, except for the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of living dead roaming the halls and stores. Flying over the complex they can see that the dead are wandering aimlessly about the parking lot, not really knowing why they choose to come here. The dead gaze into store windows, claw mindlessly at material items, and shuffle through the corridors with no real sense of purpose. Why do they come here, asks Fran. "Some sort of instinct," Stephen says. "This was an important place in their lives."

They soon gain access to the mall through a glass ceiling and enter into a part of the building that is used for storing civil defense items, like bottled water and Spam (yummy). Peter, investing the roof outside, finds that the mall's power supply is physi-nuclear and the juice is running.

After a couple of hours of resting up and eating some Spam, Roger and Peter get the idea to check out the rest of the mall. Roger says that this mall could be a goldmine and Peter agrees. The two SWAT members dash out in the halls, going from store to store, dodging zombies left and right! You can actually feel the fun these two guys are having, running around in a mall belonging all to themselves, blasting a zombie head off here and there!

After picking up a few necessities (a radio, television, and Jack Daniel's), the group decides that they will take up a permanent residence in the mall. Roger and Peter devise a plan to put semi-trailers at all the mall entrances so no other zombies can get in. Once the doors are locked, they plan to kill the rest of the zombies that are locked inside.

Not all goes well while implementing the plan. Roger, the fun-loving goofball, is bitten by one of the living dead while hot-wiring one of the trucks. A zombie bite is fatal, no matter how small.

Peter, Fran, Steven, and Roger do eventually get all the doors blocked off, but they cannot celebrate. Roger is infected and everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before he becomes on of the living dead.

Peter and Steven end up shooting all the zombies inside the mall. Roger is too sick to do anything.

Later, Roger is laying on his death bed. Peter, his friend, is trying to comfort him. Both he and Roger know that Peter is going to have to kill Roger. "Don't do it until you're sure I'm coming back!" says Roger. "I'm gonna try not to. I'm gonna try not to." Truly, it was the movie's most poignant moments.

And then there were three.

Life goes on for the remaining survivors. Steven and Peter bury Roger's body in fake garden in the middle of the mall. Everyone tries to act normal, but the lonliness that hangs over the group is stifling.

Weeks pass and nothing happens. The television quits broadcasting and the radio quits broadcasting. They are all alone.

Then one day a motorcycle gang spots the helicopter on top of the mall and they decide to bust in and loot it. The raiders destroy everything in the mall, shooting it up and taking things at random. They also let in the hundreds of zombies that were once locked out.

Peter and Steven fight off the zombies and the radiers as best they can, but to no avail. Steven is shot by one of the gang members and gets locked in an elevator where he is eventually attacked by zombies.

Peter makes his way back to Fran on top of the mall roof. Fran gets the chopper warmed up and is ready to take off and escape from the mall. Peter, who wants to kill himself, has a change of heart at the last moment and joins Fran in the helicopter. The two fly away into the sunrise, leaving the mall and the zombies behind.

The end.

I recently had a chance to read the original script for this movie at Hompage of the Dead. Not too much different from the original film and book, except for the ending. The original screenplay has Fran's little dog getting eaten by zombies as they are coming up the stairs. Peter forces Fran up to the helicopter then blows his own brains out. Fran escapes to the chopper with a few supplies. She waits a moment in the helicopter hoping that Peter has changed his mind. Fran then steps out of the whirly-bird and accidently gets her head lopped off by the spinning blades. That's it.

Director George Romero doesn't remember filming two different endings for this movie, but special effects artist Tom Savini remembers it well. The only problem is there doesn't seem to be print of the original ending ANYWHERE.