Fall 1982
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other print media pick up on a story that involves one of the “props” Tom Savini has used for Dawn of the Dead almost five years prior; namely the immobile, skeleton-like corpse that can be seen “sitting” in the basement next to a couple of snacking zombies during the housing project raid scenes early in the film.
Dawn of the Dead Skeleton - Right
Savini, all the while thinking it was fake, had originally rented the skeleton from a man named Larry Wintersteller of “Maier’s Costume Shop” in uptown Pittsburgh, dressed it up in white sheets, added to its bones what was later described as something resembling “mummified human skin” (actually made of rubber, cotton and Rice Krispies cereals), and returned it after the shoot with the make-up still intact.
Real or Fake?
A few years later, Wintersteller sells the item on to Marylinn Wick, owner of another Pittsburgh-based store called “Costume World”, who places it in a coffin and offers it as a $100 rent-out prop for Halloween parties.
So good she wants real bones back!
It is there that, in September 1982, a local police officer discovers the skeleton by total coincidence and, upon spotting the leftovers of Savini’s “skin” appliances, assumes it to be a potential corpus delicti.
Skelly taken by the Feds!
After being legally confiscated and examined by Allegheny County coroner Dr. Joshua Perper, the bones are identified as the actual, 100 year-old remains of “a white middle-aged woman”, and, in March 1983, eventually get laid to rest during an official funeral service at Pittsburgh’s Mount Lebanon Cemetery that incorporates limousine transportation and six pallbearers. (As an aside, Marylinn Wick’s “Costume World, Inc.” will later grow into a major corporation, while Dr. Joshua Perper goes on to spend some time in the public spotlight for heading the seven-week examination of Anna Nicole Smith’s body following her drug-induced death in February 2007.)
Dead and Buried.
May 11, 1983
Distributed by René Chateau, Dawn of the Dead is given its first widespread theatrical release in France, under the title of Zombie: Les Crepescules de Morts Vivants.
Lenny as the Machete Zombie
May 13, 1983
Dawn of the Dead in a heavily cut “R” rated version
FDC re-releases Dawn of the Dead in a heavily cut “R” rated version, to be shown in double bills alongside Romero’s most current film, the Stephen King anthology Creepshow.
However, reactions from movie audiences are so massively and uniformly negative that the distributors are forced to withdraw this version from circulation, even issuing a press statement that basically apologizes to all the outraged purist fans.
Indeed, the “R” rated edit is surrendered to the MPAA and never shown again
1983
1983 Thorn/EMI’s debut U.S. home video release of Dawn of the Dead (whose box art utilizes the front cover design of the 1979 poster book) goes on to shift 750,000 copies domestically.
Dawn of the Dead Thorn EMI Video
July 3, 1985
A horde of flesh-eating ghouls about to devour their creator’s career in 1985.
Limited theatrical U.S. release of the third instalment in George Romero’s original zombie trilogy, Day of the Dead.
The film’s box office business suffers greatly from both poor distribution on UFDC’s part and the strong competition of a simultaneously released zombie comedy written and directed by Dan O’Bannon, The Return of the Living Dead, which turns out a surprise hit and is favored over Day by movie audiences and critics alike.
In addition to marking Romero’s final collaboration with Richard Rubinstein and Michael Gornick prior to him leaving Laurel altogether, Day of the Dead also remains the director’s last foray into zombie territory for the next two decades; a period that will see his career seriously stalling.
September 27, 1986
Metallica bassist Cliff Burton
Original Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, a major fan of the film who has sported an original Dawn of the Dead shirt at many of the band’s concerts, dies in a tragic road accident in Sweden while on a European tour.