Now that AMC's
The Walking Dead has reached the conclusion of its lengthy and dramatic fourth season, I'm guessing that the die-hard zombie fans are going to have to get their fill elsewhere. Many, like myself, are going to revisit the classics, and not just because there's a serious lack of ghoulish new DVD releases to get our teeth into.
Did anybody notice a familiar face in one of the latter episodes of
The Walking Dead last month?
Yup, that's none other than Bub from George A. Romero's original zombie trilogy conclusion
Day of the Dead. If you don't know that is, ask a bunch of your zombie fan friends to stand around you in a circle and then point at you and laugh.
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| Or maybe we'll just have Bub shoot you himself. |
The Walking Dead's very own zombie effects guru Greg Nicotero recently teased that the show would feature its biggest classic zombie tribute yet, and in episode 15, titled "Us," audiences spotted the unlikely
Day of the Dead hero getting up to no good in the train tunnel Glenn and Tara were battling to get through. The first thing I said to myself was, "Wow, Bub, how did you get out of that abandoned missile silo and get all the way across Florida?" Then again, he's had 19 years to figure it out I guess.
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| Maybe then he's been Dancin' in the Dark! |
Nicotero, who got his big break working in special effects with the legendary "Wizard of Gore" Tom Savini on that 1985 cult classic and who also had a feature part as the ill-fated Private Johnson, couldn't get the original actor, Sherman Howard, to play the part, however. The part went to zombie regular James Barker. No bother to Howard, who is a literal rock after bringing Bub to life the first time around.
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| Sherman Howard, who originally played Bub. |
As a huge fan of the original trilogy, I was captivated by
Day of the Dead not only because of Savini's advanced zombie effects and gore and its haunting atmosphere, but also because the protagonists' worst enemies are the people they count on the most to survive. Despite Romero having to make the movie on a tiny budget and therefore completely rethink his endgame, and despite the finished product being mauled by both critics and fans over the early years,
Day of the Dead is now one of the greatest offerings in zombie movie history. So here's a tribute of my own to Bub and to the daddy of all things zombie related.
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| "Coochie Coo, Ima eat you!" |
Sound off, Fanboys! Who saw Bub, and who do you think they'll tribute next? Comments below and thanks for reading.
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