As is the case with most rabid horror fans, I tend to re-watch each of my favorite movies at least once a year, to the point that I admittedly slack a little bit on new releases, in favor of spending my nights with movies that I've already seen countless times. The fun thing about re-watching movies that you can pretty much recite all the dialogue along with is that you really don't have to pay attention to the story, so you can kinda just toss them on in the background, and do whatever else it is you need to do. Or you can do what I often find myself doing; paying extreme attention .... not to the story or the main characters, but to what's going on in the background; the extras, the toys sitting on shelves, minor continuity errors, and fun little things of that sort.
Last night I popped in the original Dawn of the Dead for the umpteenth time, and I realized something that turned my night of watching a movie I thought I had gotten everything out of into an incredibly fun little egg hunt. What'd I realize, you ask? I realized that the blue-faced zombie extras in Dawn of the Dead are an absolute riot to watch and pay attention to. In fact, closely examining them may be even more entertaining that what's going on in the actual movie (OK so not really, but you get the idea).
Though many of the zombies from Dawn of the Dead have made convention careers out of their brief roles, and some have even been given action figures and nicknames, tonight I want to take a look at 10 hand selected Dawn of the Dead zombies that have never quite gotten the respect they deserve. They've never been given nicknames. They've never made money off fans at conventions. And they've certainly never been immortalized in plastic. Tonight, here on Freddy In Space, we shine the spotlight on them; the runts of the Dawn zombie litter.
Here are 10 Dawn of the Dead zombies that don't get no respect!
MELTED ICE CREAM ZOMBIE
This guy here is one of the first zombies seen in the film, gnawing on a foot in the ill fated apartment building, and looking like he's had a big bowl of melted ice cream dumped onto his head. Definitely one of the more unique ghouls of the bunch, and the awesome makeup job almost makes you wish that they had the time to make all the zombies look as gruesome as he. Then again, a big charm of the movie is the silly look of the zombies, so perhaps it's best the way it is!
WORLD'S HEALTHIEST FEMALE ZOMBIE
MELTED ICE CREAM ZOMBIE
This guy here is one of the first zombies seen in the film, gnawing on a foot in the ill fated apartment building, and looking like he's had a big bowl of melted ice cream dumped onto his head. Definitely one of the more unique ghouls of the bunch, and the awesome makeup job almost makes you wish that they had the time to make all the zombies look as gruesome as he. Then again, a big charm of the movie is the silly look of the zombies, so perhaps it's best the way it is!
WORLD'S HEALTHIEST FEMALE ZOMBIE
With so many background zombies to slap blue face paint on, I suppose a couple were bound to slip through the cracks, and make it onto the screen without a drop of zombie makeup on. Such is the case with the female in this horde, who not only isn't wearing any makeup, but also isn't even remotely trying to act like a zombie. She's cute, we'll give her that, but I've also gotta go ahead and crown her the worst zombie extra of all time. And in my world, worst means best.
WORLD'S HEALTHIEST MALE ZOMBIE
Now here's a zombie who's really got his shit together. From the healthy pink skin color to the well coiffed hair to the tailored suit .... dude looks like a goddamn President, not an undead corpse!! Another one that must've slipped through the cracks. Either that or he snuck onto the set, to photobomb the zombies. Either way, he's my hero.
COIN COLLECTOR ZOMBIE
If there was ever a zombie who deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, it's Coin Collector Zombie. While all his undead pals are roaming around ripping out throats and devouring brain matter, this old chap just wants to dig through the mall's fountain, and scoop up handfuls of coins. Lot of wishes in there, sir. And we're counting on you to keep them safe. #indianajones #crazyralph
DJANGO ZOMBIE
I don't know what this dude's deal is, but I know for sure that I wouldn't want to mess with him; either as a zombie, or before he turned. You'll find Broomhilda, Django Zombie, don't ever give up the search.
OVERREACTION ZOMBIE
There are a lot of humorous reactions different zombies have to getting shot, but my hands down favorite is the wild dance this Randall Floyd looking zombie engages in, after taking a bullet to the chest. The actor seems to genuinely be shocked by the impact of the squib blast, and totally taken off guard. CLICK HERE to see him in action.
DELAYED REACTION ZOMBIE
On the other end of the reaction scale is this Mick Foley looking zombie, who seems to not even feel his squib go off. CLICK HERE to see Delayed Reaction Zombie, in all his delayed glory! Epic fall, dude. Epic fall.
SUICIDAL ZOMBIE
Is there anything sadder than a dead guy who can't even kill himself? Suicidal Zombie is first seen stealing Roger's gun, and then he's spotted at several points throughout the film, desperately trying to re-kill himself. In a humorous twist at the end, he steals Peter's gun and tosses Roger's aside, having a go at it with a different weapon. Sadly, he never succeeds. Poor guy. Maybe try leaning the gun on the ground, and pulling the trigger with your toes? Or just get married to Courtney Love. She'll take care of it for ya.
TOM SAVINI ZOMBIE
Before he ever appears on screen as the character Blades, Tom Savini has a little cameo as a zombie, who meets a gruesome fate when Roger plows into him with a big ass truck. All the times I've seen Dawn of the Dead, I never noticed this little fun fact until this viewing!
WELL FED ZOMBIE
And finally, since we can't very well go on all day with this silly post, we've got this heavyset gentleman, who is trying to get into the mall about an hour into the film. Later on, he's seen inside the mall and he takes a pretty gruesome kill shot to the head, toppling over into one of the waterfall ponds, and giving us an upshorts shot that we probably could've done without. The amount of times I rewound and re-watched this scene, in slow motion, in a desperate attempt to find a ball slip, is actually quite unsettling.
To all of you zombies, please know that you are deeply loved and respected. If not by the entire community, then at the very least here on Freddy In Space. I hope you take some comfort in that. And I thank you for making re-watching Dawn of the Dead for the 136th time so much fun!!
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