Series: Romero's Dead series

It's perfectly natural to want to cringe at the mere thought of a Night of the Living Dead remake — one shot in full color no less — but hear me out: Tom Savini's 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead does a respectable job of reworking George Romero's 1968 classic to a fit more modern archetype. Well-known for his make-up effects (on films such as Friday the 13th and Romero's own Dawn of the Dead), Savini understandably leans toward a more visceral revision to the already ghastly classic.(read more...)

I'm not a huge rap fan, but the latest slew of zombie flicks (Resident Evil, House of the Dead, the Dawn of the Dead remake) kind of reminds me of that Dr. Dre song "Forgot About Dre." With all the undead brouhaha, seems like Hollywood forgot about the progenitor of the modern zombie film - George A. Romero.

Well, now he's back with a brand-new film in the Dead series, Land of the Dead. The good news: it's a welcome addition to the genre, especially in an era where American horror has become so watered down and unexciting. The less-good news: it's not as successful as I'd hoped.
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It's rare when a movie transcends pop culture's usual 15 minutes of fame and becomes a time-tested classic. It's rarer still when the movie is a low-budget, black and white independent feature produced so far off Hollywood's radar that it didn't receive national distribution. What this particular little movie had going for it was a fresh, talented director and the public's hitherto undiscovered phobia about and fascination with flesh eating zombies! Filmed in 1967 by then fledgling director George A. Romero, Night of the Living Dead is a film that while raw in some of its production, was and is spot-on in evoking the most dreadful and deep-seeded of frights.(read more...)

After months of rumors, whispers, impatient foot-stomping, and a major Hollywood remake, the Dawn of the Dead: Ultimate Edition DVD is finally out. And oh boy, is this worth the dough.

George A. Romero's sequel to Night of the Living Dead progresses the overarching story of its predecessor (the recently dead rise and try to eat the alive) by a few weeks. The zombie population has reached epidemic levels, and private homes are no longer safe to inhabit. Attempting to escape the chaos are four people in a helicopter. In a search for supplies, they find a massive indoor shopping center (a relatively new concept at the time of the film's production) and battle the undead inside for dominance. But the zombies aren't the only enemy they face...(read more...)

By 1985, George A. Romero had basically nothing left to prove. His resumé was stuffed with the kind of classics that most directors couldn't come near, even with unlimited backing and unhindered creative control. He'd told some of the most frightening stories ever about zombies, about people, about vampires, and about the EC Comics he grew up with. Sitting on the top of his game, he crafted the screenplay for an epic zombie film the likes the world had never seen -- and probably never will.(read more...)