Army of the Dead’s Zombie Horse is Made With Practical Effects

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Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead used practical effects to create its zombie horse, according to producer Deborah Snyder. Next month will see the release of Snyder's return to the zombie genre with Army of the Dead, an original tale that combines the undead with a heist plot. Snyder has emphasized this is not a sequel to his 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, but instead introduces a new kind of zombie to the world. Between Army of the Dead and additional spin-offs that are in development, this universe offers its own kind of rules.

Army of the Dead follows a crew of mercenaries headed up by Dave Bautista's Scott Ward as they venture into a closed-off Las Vegas. Their goal? Steal the $200 million lying underneath a casino. The obstacles? Hundreds of zombies, who have all been contained to the city. Within the world Snyder has created, there are alpha zombies who are faster and more intelligent, as well as their followers (known as "shamblers"). Additionally, Army of the Dead contains undead animals, most notably seen through a fearsome tiger in the movie's trailer.

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Evidently, Army of the Dead will also have a zombie horse. As part of Screen Rant's visit to the Army of the Dead set, producer Deborah Snyder explained how the horse was brought to life (or, afterlife?) with practical effects. This was done largely through the help of artist Gabe Bartalo, who brought his work to the film. Snyder said:

Deborah Snyder: Zack also, we found this guy Gabe Bartalo who did this art exhibit a few years back where he made these horses that work kind of like, they weren't the zombified, but they were… this is what they look like, all distressed, so he created us a zombie horse that we did practically on the set. We found that, with the horses, especially when they train them, they put a lot of blankets on them for comfort, or they'll put it on their head, like the blinders, so it actually calms them down. So we built this nylon suit and then we put appliances on the horse. It was really fun. It was also a really difficult because we were in New Mexico in the middle of the summer and the suits are not that breathable, so we had to have short times where we could shoot with him, and then the horse had to be wet down and we didn't expect that part of it. One of the challenges with a zombie horse. But I think the idea is “what's the new news?” as well as what are people really liking and traditional, you know, we can kind of have a mix of both.

Zombie films aren't anything new these days, but Army of the Dead hopes to bring some new twists to the well-explored genre. The addition of hierarchies and undead animals feels like a good start, and it's even more exciting to hear that in the case of the latter, some of them will actually be real. Some of Snyder's practical effects have been glimpsed through various set photos, but the horse has yet to be revealed. It will be quite interesting to see how the practically-created zombiefied animal looks onscreen.

Snyder and co-screenwriter Shay Hatten have put a lot of thought into the Army of the Dead world, to the point of actually coming up with a bible to keep everything straight. For example, animals can be infected by the zombie virus, save for birds, since they could easily fly out of Las Vegas and infect others throughout the country. Two Army of the Dead prequels will further flesh out the world, and they could also include some horrifying animal designs. Zombie fans might think they've seen it all, but that isn't quite the case anymore.