Lined Up to Play Dead

The notice in local newspapers called for “zombies and military types,” and a crowd of about 90 people turned up in a Valencia parking lot Wednesday afternoon seeking movie immortality--as dead people.

In ghoulish makeup and torn clothing, they came to audition as extras for “Return of the Living Dead, Part II,” a sequel to the 1985 horror spoof, “Return of the Living Dead.” The film is scheduled to begin shooting in the Santa Clarita Valley in January, said its producer, Bill Gilmore.

The aspiring zombies filled out forms and were told they would receive a call before January.

Many were actors ready with resumes and glossy photographs. Others, however, said they simply were fans of horror films.

“I’ve always wanted to play a zombie,” said Troy Fromin, 19, of Northridge.

Fromin said he trimmed his collar-length hair to a crew cut so he would “stand out from the crowd.” He brought along a calf’s brain in a plastic container and offered to eat it to demonstrate just how zombie-like he could be. Nobody asked him to demonstrate.

Roger Harris, an energy conservation representative for Southern California Edison, said his children saw the first movie and encouraged him to become one of the living dead.

Bob Mueller drove from La Mirada to put his pale, stoop-shouldered appearance to use furthering his acting career. “Most of the guys I worked with on the last movie said I looked like a zombie anyway,” Mueller said.

Gray-haired and distinguished-looking Elroy Wiese of Glendale said he recently had been an extra in another “blood and guts, thriller and chiller” because he loves horror movies.

Gilmore said he will hold several more auditions before casting 750 extras. The producer said he wants “all types, all sexes, all ages--a good mix of the graveyard.” The extras will be paid $32.50 per day.

One candidate Wednesday, animal trainer and screen extra Sunny Foulkes of Van Nuys, said she is a practitioner of the obsolete medical treatment of bloodletting. But even if she is cast, Foulkes said she would refuse to see the film.

It would be “too gory,” she said.