WhenThe Walking Deadreturned from its holiday hiatus last month, fans learned that one of the zombies in the mid-season premiere was actually a tribute toDr. Tongue, an iconic zombie from theGeorge A. Romerozombie classicDay of the Dead. That particular movie was also the first gig forGreg Nicotero, who serves as a director, producer and special make-up effects guru onThe Walking Dead.Greg Nicoterorecently took to Instagram, where he revealed that this weekend’s episode,Say Yes, features a tribute to another horror classic, the 1982 filmCreepshow.
Greg Nicoteroshared onInstagrama photo of a zombie who has been trapped in a box office booth. While you can’t get a great look at the zombie itself, hardcore fans ofCreepshowwill immediately recognize this nod, since it references the iconicCreepshowposter where a gruesome skeleton with one eye is passing movie tickets through the box office window slot. Here’s whatGreg Nicoterohad to say about thiszombie tributein his Instagram post, where he also revealed that this episode is his 19th as a director.
“Maybe a “Creepshow” tribute in this upcoming episode ofThe Walking Dead. My 19th episode as director. See you Sunday! All Rick, AllMichonne, All Walkers! @amcthewalkingdead Off to London for @foxintchannels and @walkerstalkercon #creepshow #twd #knbefxgroup”
This reference continues a long tradition of paying tribute to iconic zombies from horror lore. In the penultimate Season 4 episode Us, many fans noticed that theDay of the Deadzombie “Bub” popped up as one of the many zombies that Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) and Tara Chambler (Alanna Masterson) had to fend off during a scene in a train tunnel. InDay of the Dead, Bub, played by Sherman Howard, wasn’t you’re typical zombie. Despite being undead, he actually remembered parts of his past life and could be taught how to perform basic tasks like listening to music. Other classic zombies referenced inThe Walking Deadinclude the Plaid Shirt Zombie in the originalDawn of the Dead, the mud zombie fromLucio Fulci’sZombieand a reference toJack Goodman’s zombie corpse fromAn American Werewolf in London.
This particular zombie isn’t trapped in a movie box office though, but the box office of an amusement park, which, in and of it self, may also serve as a tribute to the 2009 movieZombieland. The end of that movie featured the main characters, played byJesse Eisenberg,Woody Harrelson,Emma StoneandAbigail Breslin, trying to fend off a horde of zombies at an amusement park. The story followsRick and Michonneas they head out in search of guns for Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), while Rosita appears to be on a journey of her own. Take a look atGreg Nicotero’s Instagram post below as we continue the countdown towards this week’s episode ofThe Walking Dead, along with the originalCreepshowposter.
