Dawn of The Dead (1979) image analysis (3)

This famous scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979) was cut from the initial release of the film in Britain in 1979 because before the film was released a school shooting in Britain occurred and therefore didn’t want to portray the power of guns after these events. The still shot is of a black man being shot by racist white man, called Wooley. This is during an attack on an apartment where some zombies lived, however the man in the image was not a zombie. Wooley is soon after killed in the film by the black hero, Peter. This was another way for George Romero to portray the recklessness of racism. This shot shows another aspect to Romero’s personality as auteur as he liked to push the boundaries of gore. This effect of the head explosion was created by Tom Savini; who specialised in make-up and special effects. Tom Savini served in the Vietnam War and experienced some horrific sights and this inspired him to work in the arts of body horror and film. His effects show the truth of violence and death as he has experienced it for how it really is. The Vietnam War was within the society in the 1970’s, which spread general misery, along with President Nixon and the Watergate scandal.