Let’s dive into the best collection of Dawn of the Dead Facts
Nothing says best classic zombie movie like Dawn of the Dead 1978, it is the best zombie movie of its time, breaking boundaries and setting standards for all genres of zombie movies. This is a true Classic in every sense of the word. If you are a zombie fan and have not seen this film, you owe it to yourself to see it as soon as possible.
We have put together a collection of horror facts about this great zombie survival horror movie.
The biggest fact for the movie is the reason the zombies looked so grey-blue is that Tom Savini chose the gray skin tone to show us rotting dead walking around as in the first film it was black and white which did not need to have the skin color depicted in this way, however the cameras captured the color in the spectrum of blue which many on set say they did not look like this in person.
We should mention, since we are on the subject of Tom Savini, that the two famous zombies at the airport attacked by Peter were bloodline related to Tom and cast by Donna and Mike Savini. Among the zombies in George A. Romero’s “Dead” films, these two are the only ones whose feet do not drag behind the setup.
On the second floor of the Monroeville Mall, zombie actors posed in a photo booth dressed in full zombie makeup. Following this, the sample pictures on the booth were replaced with ghoulish ones.
Dawn of the Dead returned to Theaters in October 2022 with a complete 3D version.
According to a report, extras working on this film were paid $1, received a donut, and received a Dawn of the Dead T-shirt.
When Peter and Roger are joking about their heights in the truck (Scott H. Reinger has 5’7” and Ken Foree has 6’5”), the scene was entirely improvised between them.
Monroeville Mall footage was filmed throughout the winter of 1977-1978, with a three-week respite over the Christmas holiday (during which other footage was filmed, including the TV studio). Filming began at the mall around 10 p.m., shortly after the mall closed, and ended at 6 a.m.
One of the most popular versions and the most complete version of the film that was bootlegged and passed around the internet for many years was a version of the film which combined all known footage from the multiple releases of the movie. This was known as Dawn Of The Dead: Extended Mall Hours Cut
Volunteers from the local community created the outdoor scene where hunters, emergency personnel, and soldiers shoot at zombies. Several hunters from the area showed up with firearms, officers from the local National Guard division were on hand, and local emergency crews (police, fire, ambulance) were on hand, all by voluntary response.
George A. Romero was threatened by the MPAA with an X rating if cuts weren’t made. Due to the hard-core pornographic stigma attached to X ratings, Romero refused to cut the film. As a result, Romero convinced his distributors to release the film without a rating. On every advertisement or trailer, however, it was noted that although the movie did not feature explicit sex, it was violent enough that underage admission was prohibited.
During the film, Gaylen Ross continued to hold back her screams. When Fran screams, she loses some of the strength she has possessed as a female character. According to her, George A. knew this. It was the last time he asked her.
Heading into even more Dawn of the Dead Facts we have.
Prerecorded announcements in the mall feature Christine Forrest (George A. Romero’s wife) speaking (“Attention, shoppers…”).
During the process of filming, Tom Savini utilized the same dummy. At that time, it experienced a number of destructions, including blowing up, burning, and shooting
Members of the local chapter of the Pagans Motorcycle Club played several members of the marauding biker gang. It was their own motorcycles that they drove.
Despite the fact that George A. Romero loved Scott H. Reiniger’s audition, he was initially hesitant to cast him as Roger, as he had already cast Ken Foree as Peter and was concerned about the height difference between the two actors. Romero was bluntly told by Reinger that no one in the audience would have paid attention to that detail after the first 15 minutes. Romero found Reiniger a short time later and told him that he got the part.
It was common for some of the zombie actors to drink too much at the Brown Derby, which was in the Monroeville Mall. A golf cart was stolen one night and crashed into a marble pillar, resulting in damage of over $7,000.
There were actually some amputee zombies (particularly in the scene of the tenement).
There was a skating rink at Monroeville Mall which was shown in the film. The food court has since taken its place.
This page will be updated again soon with more Dawn of the Dead Facts from the blockbuster 1978 film.
Do you love facts about horror movies? We have even more in our Facts portion of the website.
