Top 7 Most Shocking Moments from Day of the Dead
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Rejoice, horror fans! Day of the Dead: Collector’s Edition is out now on Blu-ray! Sporting a brand new transfer from the Scream Factory, it looks to provide all of the film’s shocks and incredible F/X work in stunning high-definition!
In celebration of this great new release, were happy to bring you cats the Top 7 Most Shocking Moments from Day of the Dead.
As we all know, Day of the Dead brought zombie F/X work to an entirely new level. Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero created some incredible moments in this film with effects that were totally fresh and shocking. And it’s those magical moments that we remember today with the Top 7 Most Shocking Moments from Day of the Dead.
Of course we have some honorable mentions. The movie starts right off with a shocking moment as we see the infamous zombie ‘Dr. Tongue’ lolling around. He’s simply shocking in his own right. Another cringe-worthy moment is the sight of one of Logan’s experiments: a naked, embalmed baby with a tube down its throat and one up its butt. It’s a really quick look, but that shot packs one helluva punch! We also have to mention the surviving disembodied head discovered by McDermott in Logan’s lab. Eww!
Logan’s Zombie Spills His Guts
At the 23-minute mark of the film, Logan is explaining some of his scientific findings to Sarah. As a conversation is going on between the two of them, one of the zombies Logan is working on reaches up violently and snaps the strap that was holding his arm. The zombie sits up, and when he does, all (and we mean ALL) his guts spill out of his body and onto the floor. Yuck! In conjunction with this, there’s another dream sequence Sarah has where her boyfriend, Miguel Salazar, suffers the same fate with all his innards spilling onto their bedroom floor. Nicely done.
All Hell Breaks Loose!
There are many similarities between Day of the Dead and “The Walking Dead,” and one of them is the fact that zombies are being held hostage for the purpose of researching them. In one scene where the undead are being removed from the holding area, lots of bad, bad things happen. At the 58-minute mark, a zombie gets loose and bites the throat of a soldier named Miller in a beautiful display of F/X mastery. Also at minute 58, another zombie bites Miguel’s arm, and to possibly save him (get ready, fans of “The Walking Dead,” here’s another similarity), Sarah chops off his arm above the bite and cauterizes it with a torch. Meanwhile, the bitten Miller begs Private Steel to shoot him and not let him turn into a zombie. Steel obliges, and the head shot is outstanding!
Frankenstein Feeding a Zombie
Logan, who was referred to as ‘Frankenstein’ by the band of soldiers throughout the film, kept a very special zombie named Bub for research purposes. Bub is Logan’s star student as he attempts to domesticate the zombies. At one point we realize that Logan is feeding this zombie ‘treats’ when it does a particularly good job. The ‘treats’ in question happen to be parts of one of the soldiers killed earlier in the film. All this good fun happens at approximately the 1-hour and 11-minute mark of the movie. Perhaps F/X artist Greg Nicotero harkened back to this scene for inspiration when they were filming “The Walking Dead” sequence where The Governor is feeding human remains to his zombie daughter, Penny.
McDermott Gets Head
McDermott is a member of the helicopter crew who finds a soft spot in his heart for Sarah. This friendship leads to McDermott being abandoned by the military forces into the caverns containing the captured zombies below the base. At the 1-hour and 19-minute mark, he gets quite slick wielding a shovel and manages to lop off the top of a zombie’s head with it. As he walks away with Sarah, we see the head still alive and kicking, eyes moving and all. Did Adam Green draw inspiration for his famous curb stomp scene in Hatchet II after watching Day of the Dead? Possibly.
Torrez Gets Torn Up
The real highlight of Savini and Nicotero’s F/X work comes toward the end of the film as the zombie horde grows and begins to attack the victims. Day of the Dead showed victims being literally torn apart by the undead in a way we hadn’t seen in film before. At the 1-hour and 26-minute mark, Private Torrez finds himself in a bad spot as the zombie horde converges on him. Through the magic of SF/X we see Torrez screaming, and then in the same shot his body begins to be torn apart. His head is removed with the mouth still moving. It’s an amazing practical effect that really comes off looking incredible.
Rickles Has an Eye for Zombies
Shortly after Torrez becomes zombie food, another solider meets a similar fate. Rickles tries to shoot his way out of his predicament but becomes overwhelmed by the sheer number of zombies, and at the 1-hour and 27-minute mark, they begin to disembowel him. One notable zombie pulls at his eyeball while another bites his fingers off, and the rest just grab and tear at whatever they can get. It’s another disturbingly real use of the practical F/X which made Day of the Dead an unforgettable film.
Rhodes Gets Torn in Two
Of course we couldn’t leave out the demise of the ruthless Captain Rhodes. Rhodes is more of a torment to the scientists living in the bunker than the zombies are as he attempts to rule with force. However, karma comes back to get him as he is unknowingly driven into a zombie horde by a gun-toting Bub the zombie. As part of the horde grab the top of him, other zombies rip the bottom of his body off, spilling Rhodes’ guts all over the floor as he defiantly screams at the undead beasts, “Choke on ’em! Choke on ’em!” It was indeed the most shocking moment in a film filled with them.
Day of the Dead: Collector’s Edition is available NOW!
Order Day of the Dead: Collector’s Edition directly from the Shout Factory website and get an exclusive 18″x24″ poster featuring their newly commissioned artwork! Warning: Only 300 have been printed so they are only available while supplies last!
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