On any given occasion, the zombie extras were put through the ‘assembly line’, where the majority had a simple layer of grey cake makeup applied to their skin ( A pressed powder that was applied using a damp sponge) to give the illusion of death. However, on a few occasions Tom decided to add some different effects.

"A third of that movie was improvised. We would sit around and think, let’s tear his head off, or lets take a saw to his face and cut the top of his head off. We would go to the shopping mall at seven at night and leave at seven in the morning, and it was just the best fun you can imagine. The joy and happiness came from thinking of a way to kill people and then actually doing it. Sometimes when you’re under pressure you can come up with your best ideas. There would be me and an assistant to do the straight make-up. For a few days we brought four or five friends in and made a little zombie assembly line. They would paint the zombies grey and I would do the gore make-up. If we knew that a zombie was going to die a glorious death hanging on to a car, then I would double them and do the stunt" - Tom Savini

THE HEAD EXPLOSION

For this amazing illusion, Tom Savini and his crew began experimenting with several casts. First off, Savini wired explosives to the mock head but the result was disappointing. Instead of obtaining a huge blast, the head simply expanded from the inside out. Savini then concluded that they should just blow it off with a 12 gauge shotgun, which is exactly what they did.
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THE MACHETE ZOMBIE

This was yet another simple but devastatingly effective illusion. In preference to using a dummy head, Tom Savini took a genuine machete to a blacksmiths and had the shape of actor Lenny Lies head cut into the blade.
On set, Savini (playing the biker Blades) simply placed the pre-cut blade on Lenny's head and jerked it away. All the production crew now had to do was to reverse the film, giving the impression that the blade was slammed into the zombies head with real force.
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THE CHOPPER ZOMBIE

Another of the more memorable scenes from Dawn of the Dead was where a zombie came face to face with the blades of Stephen's traffic helicopter. Again, it is an effect that leaves you wondering how the hell they did it, when in fact it was very simple. The actor Jim Krut , who had a very low forehead, had an appliance put on the top of his head which was filled with blood. A wig was then placed on top and the Frankenstein look completed. Fish wire was attatched to the appliance and on a certain command, the people holding the wire ran in different directions, tearing the head apart. The chopper blades were then matted onto the picture, giving the illusion that the zombie really did make contact.
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GUNSHOT EFFECTS

The technique used for gunshot wounds in DOTD is still used in the latest movies. Basically, a metal plate is placed on an actor where the shot is going to go off, with a small charge and a blood bag placed on top of it. The charge is then connected to a detonating wire. Meanwhile the actors clothing is scored with a knife where the charge is to be placed. Off camera, a member of the SFX crew (who has connected the detonation wire to the detonation box) triggers the blast, bursting the blood bag and creating the effect.
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TASO'S INTESTINES

This effect was yet again relatively simplistic, only requiring quite a lengthly time in the make-up chair for actor Taso Stavrakis . A false stomach constructed from foam latex was applied to him, filled with blood and genuine sheep intestines amongst other things. Once the appliance was fitted, it was simply left to the zombies to stick their hands in and pull the appliance apart. (If you look closely in the film, you can identify the false section.)
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