American Zombie
‘Night of the Living Dead’s’ George A. Romero comes to Charlotte
By Michael Knox
mknox@modernfilmzine.com | ModernFilmZine.com

George A. Romero may be considered one of the kings of the zombie horror genre, but fans may be surprised that Romero isn’t really a fan of horror films.

Romero made the confession when he was discussing his involvement with the American Zombie event, which will be held Feb. 20 through 22 in Charlotte.

The event, sponsored by the Light Factory and Reel Soul Cinema, will feature a collection of Romero’s films with Romero offering Q & A sessions for fans. The event also includes a horror film competition. [To find out about the Zombie Festival, check out ModernFilmZine.com ]
“I’m the wrong guy to be judging horror films,” Romero said during a phone interview from his home in Toronto, Canada, “Because my stuff, I do not see it as horror. My stuff is more social satire. So I’m looking for more of a sub-theme. A theme that relates to humanity or the state of mankind, politics or something.”
Romero may not really be a fan of the horror genre, but there is no denying he has created a cult following in that field. The writer/director of “Night of the Living Dead,” “The Crazies” and “Dawn of the Dead,” Romero has built a career on scaring audiences.
One of his latest films, “Diary of the Dead,” has already proved popular with his fans, and Romero plans to build on that movie’s success. He’s already working on a sequel to “Diary of the Dead,” which right now is simply being called, “Untitled Romero Project,” he said.
“I’m taking characters from [Diary of the Dead] and trying to do a picture of what the world is like within the first couple of months of the dead coming back to life,” Romero said. “There are incidental characters in ‘Diary’ that are main characters in this one. I want to do four of them. This one takes place on an island where it should be a haven. Two families feuding and can’t pull it together in a time of crisis.”
The untitled Romero project was filmed in and around Toronto, but not without difficulties.
“We’ve had the worst winter we have had in history,” Romero said. “We started shooting in October and just got completely clobbered. It was just amazing. Snow, rain, just impossible conditions. We were able to make the movie but we weren’t able to get everything we wanted to get.”
Romero knows that is a condition that comes with making any movie. Of all the films he’s directed there is only one film that really came together the way he expected, Romero said. That film is his vampire movie, “Martin.”
“I think it’s the most successful of the films I’ve made,” Romero said. “It may not be the best film judged by other people, but it was the most successful conversion of what was on the page to the screen. I was able to make all the shots I wanted to make. And that goes a long away.”
Romero said “Martin” was a low budget film that was shot for about $275,000. But it was his crew that made that film really work.
“We had a very dedicated crew and we were able to work any hours,” he said. “We were all a bunch of filmmakers dedicated to the project. We were able to sit there until, literally, I got what I needed. If I could ever get that kind of freedom again that’s what I would do.”
The film is one of more than a dozen that Romero has directed in his career.
“Oddly the film that made me want to make movies is a Michael Powell film called ‘The Tales of Hoffman,'” Romero said. “I think of it as the first music video. It’s just a beautiful film. directors to influence John Ford. Hitchcock. I’m more of a story teller in my film style. I’m much more of a story teller than a stylist.”
Born and raised in the Bronx, George Romero grew up feeling he had an artistic view that was not freely realized making 8mm films in his native New York, according to his biography.
By the time he had reached college age, he would pursue his filmmaking dreams not in his native New York, but at Carnegie Mellon Institute in Pennsylvania. After finishing his studies Romero and his friends would make an anthology Horror film entitled, “Expostulation.”
The film, an anthology of five horror stories, would never be wholly finished, but it would lead to Romero’s career in directing.
Over the years, Romero has developed a formula for moviemaking that works for him.
“If I don’t see the whole thing, I just don’t start writing” Romero said. “I need to see the whole thing. My first draft I usually write top to bottom. I just sit down and write act one and go through it and pull it apart later. I try to piece it together in my head before I ever sit down to write it.”
But it’s the filming stage that Romero sees his real challenges.
“When it’s coming together it’s not a joy,” Romero said. “It’s not a joyful time. But when it’s finished I guess, when I first see it the first time I see a cut on it that I think is working it feels terrific. The best time for me is when we have a finished enough product to show it to friends and fans.”
If you ask Romero what his most challenging film ever to make was, he is quick with an answer: “Land of the Dead.”
“It was too ambitious,” Romero said. “We really didn’t have enough money.”
Romero said the budget they had to work with was less than $20 million.
“It was a big film for that amount of bread and it was just impossible to pull it in,” Romero said. “Frayed nerves all the way around. It was probably the toughest film, just from the amount of work and everything, from set design and the number of zombies. Everything was much bigger than its budget allowed. Everyone was putting in 20 hour days just to pull it off.”
The movie adds to Romero’s growing collection of films. And though he may not be a horror fan, he is still considered an authority on the subject.
He is listed as an executive producer on the documentary, “Into the Dark: Exploring the Horror Film.”
“I just did five or six hours of interviews for them,” Romero said. “I just have a lot of faith in these guys. And I said they can use my name as one of the producers.”
Romero is aware of his status in the horror industry.
“Zombies. I love it. I’ve been able to build this sort of mythology around it and I’m very satisfied,” he said. “I can put my own little observations and social criticisms and nobody questions it because bottom line is it is a zombie movie.”
And Romero’s mythology has secured himself a career that he knows he’s lucky to have accomplished.
“I’ve done it forever and I’ve never had another job and I don’t know what the hell else I’d want to do” he said. “It’s a wonderful way to express yourself. At my age it’s nice to say I never took a job, I never took a film just because of the money or my agent wanted me to take it. I’ve stayed on the fringes and done my own thing. And that’s pretty satisfying.”