I was really too young to see Night of the Living Dead when it came out. My introduction to Romero came unexpectedly and shockingly in 1978 with Dawn of the Dead.
I'm going into the theater not really knowing what to expect and this is what I got:
- a zombie biting into a woman's neck,
- a person's head being blown off with a shotgun at point blank range
- the top of a zombie's head being cut off by the blades of a helicopter
- zombies ripping out and eating someone's entrails
The list could go on and on.
And the bottom line is that I loved it. I was back the next week to see it again and then even went to the drive-in with a group of my rowdy high school friends to see it yet again.
Many people called Romero the “Father of the Zombie Movie,” and rightfully so. Maybe today, he’s the “Grandfather of the Zombie Movie,” though.
Of his dead series, Dawn of the Dead is still my favorite. Night of the Living Dead is probably a close second. Despite it’s primitive technique, it has a great story with some layers going on. Day of the Dead is a close third. It was a bit heady for the genre, but it still satisfied.
Some might say that with his later zombie films, that Romero was cashing in, but who could blame him. And what choice did he have. Can you imagine Romero walking into a studio and pitching a Rom-Com? He talks about this in this interview;
Even though his follow-ups are weaker than their predecessors, they still have his ambition behind them. He always seems to reach a little deeper than the blood and gore and try to add another layer.
Land of the Dead was a disappointment for me upon the first viewing, but when I watched it a second time, it seemed to have improved with age. Diary of the Dead has it’s moments, too. Survival of the Dead starts out somewhat gritty and even unappealing but opens up and gets better over time.
If you’re “into zombies” and want to see what inspired “The Walking Dead” folks, you owe it yourself to watch Romero’s Dead Series.
As an added bonus, you can read my review of Dawn of the Dead at my now dormant movie reviews site: http://generationxmovies.blogspot.com/2007/12/dawn-of-dead-1978.html?q=Dawn+of+the+dead
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