The alternative ending to "Dawn of the Dead" is known by many people as the "suicide" ending, cause the last survivours kill them selfs.
The alternative ending is more dark and creepy with a touch of "Day of the Dead" in it.What I mean by that is it's unhappy and not as fun to watch.
The Originally Scripted Ending (From the Final Shooting Script)
Peter slams the door. He speaks quietly.
PETER
Go on...You get out of here.
FRAN
Peter...
PETER
I said...get out of here.
From the firestair, we hear the sudden yelping of the puppy as it falls victim to the creatures. The sound echoes through the barren spaces of the storage area.
FRAN
Oh, Jesus, Peter...Please...
PETER
I don't want to go...I really don't... You know that? I really don't.
Suddenly, the door flies open and the creatures lumber into the living space. Peter stares at them. He smiles slightly. The creatures advance, led by Stephen.
Fran starts to scream.
FRAN
Stephen...Stephen...
She makes a slight move for her lover, but Peter raises his super-gun and shoots the zombie through the head.
As Stephen falls, Fran comes up short. The act startles her into awareness. Peter faces her as the creatures come up behind him.
PETER
Move, woman!
Fran grabs the sacks and climbs the ladder to the roof.
The creatures advance on Peter. He backs away, trying to lead them from the skylight. They crash through the living space, upsetting the carefully planned room.
On the roof, Fran desperately starts the helicopter engine.
Peter backs into the storage room, slamming the door. The creatures approach the door and the super-gun roars one last time. The zombies push through the door and move in for their feast.
Several zombies manage to scramble up the skylight to the roof.
Fran stares, transfixed. The blades roar up to full speed.
The creatures advance toward the machine.
Fran steps out onto the running board, the creatures very close now. She crouches, watching for a moment, then looks up at the spinning blades.
She stands straight up, driving her head into the spinning blades.
A headless form falls to the roof. The zombies advance.
In a wide shot, silhouetted against the dawn sky, we see the creatures huddled under the chopper blades, feasting on their last victim.
The credits crawl up.
Just as the credits end...
the engine of the helicopter sputters...
and dies.
"This tells us that even if they had not commited suicide they were still bound to die. Romero scrapped this ending because he 'liked the characters too much'. Although Romero is sure that they never shot this scene, Tom Savini is sure they did shoot it and it is lying around somewhere (right where's that map to Pittsburgh!!). Im not sure what to believe because Romero would never forget something like that but then again Savini would never hallucinate something like that either! One Rumour was that the scene was lost in a warehouse flood incident. All I know for sure is that if anyone actually has that ending now, then it is worth a lot of money, Im sure millions of Dawn fans would pay thousands for the orginal ending to dawn in 16mm film format!!!"
Article courtesy of Gaz Murfin
"I read somewhere (I think on Norm England's site) that there was originally some three hours of film for Dawn, and an alternate ending where both Fran and Peter commit suicide."
"Though I do not want to see there characters die at the end of the movie, I'd like to see some of that missing footage, maybe an extra long video release with the suicide scenes added after the end of the movie."
"I especially want to see George and Christine Romero as Santa and Elf running around the mall blasting zombies."
"Now that would be cool."
Article courtesy of Mark Stewart
"From what I've gathered from several sources, the original ending footage did exist, as did the film's trimmings and odd unused scenes. All of it, though, may have been lost when Laurel broke up after the failure of the TV movie, The Langaliers (spelling?). It seems Rubinstien decided to clean house and the reels got tossed the wayside. When I worked with Romero last October I really wanted to ask him about Rubinstien and the fate of the film, but I could see that the moment our conversation touched upon the later Laurel years he seemed to tense up. Didn't want to press him, so I steered clear of that subject."
"As a Dawn fan who has always wanted to see this alternate ending (something I've been hearing about for the past fifteen years or more), I think that it's not likely it will ever turn up. Don May Jr. nearly killed himself trying to find the footage for inclusion on the Elite deluxe Dawn of the Dead laser set. Sure, it would be cool to see, but at least we have the movie on video, laser and DVD to watch at home at our leisure. I don't want to sound like my seventy-five year old father when he'd tell me about how much snow he'd have to trudge through to get to school each day when he was a kid, but before Dawn was on video I'd drive nearly an hour to see it as a mid-night movie, not getting home until almost 3:30 am. Something I did for nearly four years until it came out. Owning Dawn on laser is a dream by itself. Let's not get greedy."
Article courtesy of Norman England
If George A. Romero would of used this idea I would still like the movie, but not in the same way as I do today. YOUR BUD, -JAWN of the DEAD-
RISE FROM YOUR GRAVES AND LAY TO REST HERE
GO BACK TO MY DAWN OF THE DEAD RULES HOMEPAGE
