Breaking Down the Fourth Wall: A Visit to the Monroeville Mall from ‘Dawn of the Dead’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Well my fellow nerds and geeks, I think it is finally safe to say, that we’ve outright saved the best for last when it comes to some of the movie locations that I’ve visited throughout the years. Sure, there are more, and maybe someday I’ll discuss those as well. But in the here and the now, it’s time to talk about the coolest movie location that I’ve ever visited; the Monroeville Mall from the 1978 horror classic, Dawn of the Dead. And well, this is a location that is near and dear to my heart because George Romero’s zombie opus is precisely why I got into writing in the first place, which means that arriving at the place where it was filmed, was quite the red-letter day.
 
It happened on a weekday in March in 2000 and oddly enough, it arrived on a whim. For I was in upstate New York, visiting a friend and one evening during my vacation, the movie in question came up, as did the ever casual mention that Pennsylvania was only a few hours away and well…that got the old brain cookin’ and I thought that maybe, must maybe…now might be the time to just hop into the rental car and head that way and the next morning, I did just that. It was ironically Dawn when I headed out, and I won’t lie. It felt like Christmas in that car and as the hours rolled on my excitement only grew, to the point where I was antsy in the car as I turned my car off of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and onto Business Route 22 toward Monroeville.
 
Now this leg of the journey, was downright excruciating. After all, I was so close, and I kept glancing out the window to see it in the distance. But in the end, that simply wasn’t in the cards. Instead this old mall had a far more dramatic reveal in mind. For there was a long and winding entrance to this mall, which oddly enough is nestled in a basin and well, that made my arrival as epic as it was for the characters in the film and to make it all the more eerie, the weather that day was similar to the group’s arrival in the movie. It was chilly, and bleak and silent at first and well, I once I finally picked a parking spot, I made a point a explore every nook and cranny of this place. I started with a full walk around the perimeter, just to get a feel for the enormity of the place and it was wild to see iconic stores from the movie still standing and eventually my travels took me to an important area featured in the film, the Southeast Lower Level Entrance.

---

For this is where several critical scenes took place, most of them involving the trucks that the main characters parked there and man, it was just incredible to find a bench next to those doors where I could sit and take the whole experience in. I mean this was it, this was THE mall and well, my adventures were only beginning because a funny moment reminded me that I still had an interior to explore. The reminder in question, was an elderly gentlemen moving about for exercise purposes behind the glass and well, that instantly reminded me of the story of how the special effects team had to work hard to have the zombies herded and away from the prying eyes of the elderly who came here to exercise in the morning to keep them from being shocked at the sight of a gory walking corpse and well, there was really no better hint than that to get my butt inside and well, that’s when the real magic happened.
 
Because in 2000, the mall hadn’t undergone the major renovations that are present today. Everything outside of the food court was as it was when Romero filmed there back in the day and it was eerie and humbling to walk the same halls as George Romero and see where every single scene was filmed. I got to walk down the main hallway that led to maintenance, which of course led to the group’s secret hideaway. I got see the water fountain where all kinds of critical moments happened in the third act and I even got to go inside Penny’s and ride the elevator where Flyboy died and well, this was nerdy heaven, and inspirational and everything in between.
 
In fact, I was so happy, that I spent the entire day there, enjoying lunch and dinner there and I even went so far as to buy a copy of the movie on VHS at Suncoast, which was a fun moment as well since the Cashier told me they thought this movie looked creepy, and I had the opportunity to recommend it and point out that it was filmed in this exact mall and well, in many ways, I simply did not want to go. This was a horrific Disneyland, where the dead once walked with vacant glee, and their slouched steps and empty eyes helped to terrorize and influence generations of writers and filmmakers and well, while the mall may continue to change, I have this moment to always reflect upon and this truly was, the coolest movie location I’ve ever seen and someday, I really need to go back and enjoy the wonder of the Monroeville Mall once again…

---