Behind-the-scenes picture of an effect that was going to be used for Fran's death at the end of '
Dawn of the Dead' (1978)
This scene was ultimately not used
George Romero said: "
I really pulled toward the tragic ending but then I couldn't decide whether I was doing it just because I wanted a family resemblance to the first film. The effect didn't work great — it would have been spectacular to have her stand up in the blades and I'm sure that had the effect been successful I would have kept it that way. I just woke up one day and decided to let them go simply because I liked them too much"
To create this effect, Tom Savini used a dummy dressed up in Fran's clothes and fitted with a mold off Gaylen Ross's head, packed with squibs. A wooden rig held the body in place, suspended by fishing lines. Tom detonated the squibs and the false head was decapitated.