George Romero was born on 4 February 1940. He is almost always referred to as George A Romero. I have no idea why. No one is confused!
Romero needs no introduction. He’s probably the best-known horror director in the world. He started his career making industrial films. Then he hooked up with John Russo and others to make Night of the Living Dead. It is one of those films that I love but never want to see again. I’m sure most psychotronic fans know what I mean.
I do think he had something of a tragic career. He made so many sequels to Night. In fact, his last three films were sequels. He made a total of six films in the series. I’m not complaining. They are all quite watchable. I’m pretty fond of Land of the Dead (the fourth film). Of all the films, Dawn of the Dead is probably the most loved. I’m not a big fan of it but I understand why others are.
Romero did a lot of good things with these Night sequels. But it does get a little boring. Still, I should probably create a page on the series.
I thought I had seen every George Romero film. But I was wrong! He made a romantic comedy (There’s Always Vanilla) and a dysfunctional family drama (Season of the Witch). And he made a couple of non-horror films too: a preachy drama about art or authenticity or something (Knightriders) and an excellent PSA about the treatment of the elderly in our society (The Amusement Park).
Bearing in mind that I haven’t seen a couple of his films, I think Romero’s masterpiece is Martin. I am pretty done with traditional vampire films. I still like them — especially the Hammer Dracula films. But other than make vampires “cool” and “sexy,” few filmmakers do anything with the concept.
In Martin, Romero does something new. And it’s really good! But few people have seen it. Here’s your chance!
Image cropped from George Romero by Nicolas Genin under CC BY-SA 2.0.