Dawn of the Dead

Trivia: When Kenneth and Andy play chess they use the Alamo chess set. This is symbolic of the situation - a handful of survivors outnumbered by the enemy's forces.

Grigory the Wanderer

Trivia: The sheriff in the movie was Tom Savini, who did the makeup and special effects in the 1978 version and also had a cameo as a biker in the '78 version. (00:25:35)

Pam-I-am

Trivia: Stay for the duration of the credits. The movie doesn't end with them sailing away. There is a continuation in the credits.

Trivia: The opening sequence features a vehicle losing control and crashing into a gas station causing a large explosion. This is the same scene that Ben describes to Barbara in the original "Night of the Living Dead" (1968).

Trivia: Ken Foree, Peter in the original and the Televangelist in the 2004 version, gets to deliver the tagline in both films. "When there's no more room in hell the dead will walk the Earth." (00:34:30)

Trivia: The sheriff is played by the same actor who played 'Sex Machine' in From Dusk Till Dawn. And just after his television spot, the pregnant girl hides the bite that eventually turns her, just as Sex Machine did. (00:25:35)

Dawn of the Dead trivia picture

Trivia: The bloated woman who is brought into the mall in the truck is actually played by a man. His name is Ermes Blarasin, and he is a stuntman.

Grigory the Wanderer

Trivia: During the movie there are parts especially outside where an orangy tint comes over the screen. This is an homage to the 1978 version of Dawn of the Dead, which was shot in this type of hue.

Tobin OReilly

Trivia: During the shot where the camera zooms in on Ana's car, a helicopter is flying behind her. This is the same helicopter the survivors from the original Dawn of the Dead used to escape the city. (00:09:15)

Trivia: The mall the survivors are in is called the Crossroads mall. This seems fitting since humanity is at a crossroads in the film flirting between survival and extinction.

Tobin OReilly

Dawn of the Dead trivia picture

Trivia: The director Zack Snyder has a cameo. He plays one of the security guards in the White House.

Dr Wilson

Trivia: When the first set of survivors enter the mall listen closely, the song that is playing on the mall speakers is a stylised rendition of "Don't worry, be happy". Somewhat ironic given the situation.

Factual error: When the survivors are first in the mall, you can see a store called Roots with a Canadian beaver logo. While the movie was filmed in Canada, it is supposed to take place in the USA where Roots has a different logo. (00:17:05)

More mistakes in Dawn of the Dead

Michael: So what's the plan?
C.J: The plan is you drink a nice tall glass of shut the fuck up!

More quotes from Dawn of the Dead

Question: I noticed on Andy's final moments video on the DVD, the month on the camera goes from May(When he explains the Hollywood Squares game.) To June when he finally turns to a zombie. Was the movie supposed to take place in a month or is that just a simple mistake?

Answer: Yes, part of the point of Andy's video is to give the viewer the timespan of the film.

Grumpy Scot

More questions & answers from Dawn of the Dead

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.