George A. Romero--R.I.P.

[cannibal cop]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...716-story.html


We just lost one of the great artists of horror, a true creative genius whose finest works--his original "Dead" trilogy (Night of the Living Dead and its two sequels)--form a unified, supremely hellish vision of life and death in a world of endless horror. For me, this trilogy remains unsurpassed, in film, fiction, art, you name it, by any of the other geniuses of horror, past or present (or future), heralded or unheralded, you can think of, in terms of lasting imaginative or visceral impact or any other measure that counts.

True, his best work was probably behind him (over 30 years behind, even), but it's a loss that still stings, especially when there's currently a clumsy, bloated, braindead parody of his work on air called "The Walking Dead" that probably enjoys more viewers per episode than Romero's entire output ever did in his lifetime.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Ligotti is very fond of the trilogy, too, and it wouldn't surprise me.

[njhorror]

I thought that this was interesting. One of my favorites too.

Romero died while listening to the score of one his favorite films, 1952’s “The Quiet Man,”

[cannibal cop]

Nice. A classy dude to the end.

[Gnosticangel]

Romero was one of the greats; the original Night of the Living Dead in black and white remains evocative and creepy. And I will never forget seeing the sequel, Dawn of the Dead, when it was released in 1978.

It was showing at a theater inside an enormous busy shopping mall, just like the one that the film's characters take refuge in to escape the hordes of flesh-eating zombies. One of the film's most memorable moments was when the zombies break in at last, leading to scenes of drooling zombies stumbling around fountains and into shops, or mindlessly riding the escalators up and down. At the time, many thought that this was a penetrating commentary on the mindless modern consumer; we are all zombies of a sort!

My experience of the film was altered/enhanced by a friend unexpectedly inviting me to drop acid on the way in (it was 1978 after all). In retrospect it was probably not the best decision that I ever made, at the time preferring to conduct my psychedelic explorations among flowers, birds and trees, or indoors in silence.

But then emerging from the film in that condition, to see that the mall was actually filled with real-life "zombies," was the strongest possible endorsement of Romero's societal vision. That mad vision still returns sometimes when shopping.

[Kevin]

I can still remember seeing "Night" as a kid, years ago. It's kind of like remembering where you were when John Lennon or (choose your hero) was killed....the where and when are fixed in your mind forever.

Just thinking of it recalls the night, the weather, the look of the TV, my dad walking into the room, etc. One of life's major psychic "events."

[marioneta]

When I first saw "Night of the Living Dead" on the TV, I caught it at the part of the news broadcast and thought it was real. It is interesting to note that the word "zombie" was never mentioned in Romero's first movie . RIP.

[Revenant]

His Dawn of the Dead was excellent also, and one of the earliest scathing indictments of consumer culture I remember seeing in film.

Martin is a classic. I'm also partial to Creepshow.

[Robin Davies]

Martin is my favourite too. A haunting portrait of bleak urban alienation and loneliness.
Season of the Witch is another good one, and a new release is on the way:
George Romero Between Night and Dawn - Limited Edition [Blu-ray + DVD]

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I'm fond of Martin too. Want to see Knightriders someday.