American man, and that is the head that is  blown off by a shotgun blast at the beginning of the film. To create  the exploding head effect, Savini cleared the set and had the head  shot at with an actual shotgun. Romero decided that this conclusion  would be too depressing (after the horrors that have occurred) and,  partially at the suggestion of his future wife,  Christine Forrest (qv), gave Peter and Fran a little bit of hope.