How to Make Cheap Zombie Makeup

Liquid latex is the best way to make good zombie makeup, whether for a Halloween costume or for a movie. But that can be expensive on a budget, and there are ways to cheat and still make some believable and cheap zombie makeup for whatever you need. While most are probably looking for Halloween costume advice, this article assumes you're looking at cheap zombie make up for a movie.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Chocolate Syrup (especially if shooting in black and white)
• Oatmeal
• Fake blood and/or strawberry syrup
• Toilet paper
• Celery (optional for the "stringy flesh wounds")
• Corn Syrup

1. Look around online for various sites of people who have used methods other than liquid latex to create some realistic and cheap zombie make up. There are many different ways of making realistic cheap zombie makeup and looking around online could give you some ideas.

2. If you're shooting a black and white movie (a la the classic original "Night of the Living Dead"), then some black rings around the eyes and chocolate syrup could be enough. Chocolate Syrup was actually what Romero used in the original movie. All you would need is that, maybe a little oatmeal with red food coloring for the right shade, and the disheveled look could be excellent.

3. There are three things that are common with virtually any zombies from any movie: bloody mouth, disheveled appearance, and ashen face or sunken eyes. Catch this combination and a lot of other minor "mistakes" in making cheap zombie makeup can be forgiven. Take special care around the mouth. Using cocoa in your blood mix, or blue food coloring mixed with the red, or chocolate syrup in order to make a darker mix.

4. Toilet paper and oatmeal, as well as some elmer's glue, can be made to fake woulds or lesions. They won't look great close up, but for a Halloween costume or a group of zombies in a movie, it should work well enough, especially from a distance.

5. Corn syrup tends to stick well, and so mixed properly it can make a decent amount of fake blood if you can't afford the actual fake blood. Especially for an independent zombie film, the blood can make or break your zombies.

6. Dishevel the clothes, and if you need that one gruesome injury, try soaking celery in red dye and red corn syrup, then stringing it out. This can look like stringy flesh if done right, so you can have your one zombie with the makeup to pull off the busted limb wound.

7. Have fun, and don't be afraid to experiment for the right colors and textures you need to make some fantastic cheap zombie makeup.

Tips & Warnings

• Mess around with a combination of these things to find the look that works for you
• Without liquid latex, you'll need to use camera tricks if shooting a zombie movie to make some of these effects work best

Resources

• Zombie Doctor Costume
• Zombie Rot Makeup
• Good How To Videos on Making Cheap Zombie Makeup

[Monteath]

on 5/26/2009 Hi Mizstace. I had a friend who's trying to make some good low budget indie films tell me that one. Not sure if he thought that up or got it from someone else. He's done some pretty decent stuff - it's amazing how resourceful some of these guys can get. Gives me encouragement on the future of film, especially since technology makes the indie scene so much more viable. Thanks for the comment on my cheap zombie make up article!

[mizstace]

on 5/23/2009 love it! i really think the celery trick sounds really great.