George A. Romero

Filmmakers

George Andrew Romero (February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American filmmaker, writer, and editor. He is often noted as an influential pioneer of the horror film genre and has been called an “icon” and the “Father of the Zombie Film.” He is best known for his series of gruesome and satirical horror films about an imagined zombie apocalypse, beginning with Night of the Living Dead (1968), with Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley, and Keith Wayne; often considered a progenitor of the fictional zombie of modern culture. Other films in the series include Dawn of the Dead (1978), with David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross; Day of the Dead (1985), with Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joe Pilato, Jarlath Conroy, Richard Liberty, and Sherman Howard; Land of the Dead (2005), with Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, John Leguizamo, and Eugene Clark; Diary of the Dead (2008), and Survival of the Dead (2009).

Other films include The Crazies (1973), Martin (1978), Knightriders (1981), with Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman, and Christine Forrest; Creepshow (1982), with Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E.G. Marshall, and Viveca Lindfors; Monkey Shines (1988), with Jason Beghe, Kate McNeil, John Pankow, and Joyce Van Patten; The Dark Half (1993), with Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, and Royal Dano; and Bruiser (2000), Jason Flemyng, Peter Stormare and Leslie Hope, Tom Atkins.

He also wrote the screenplay to Creepshow 2 (1987), with Lois Chiles, George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour, and Savini; co-directed with Dario Argento Two Evil Eyes (1990), with Harvey Keitel, Barbeau, Ramy Zada, Sally Kirkland, Martin Balsam, Marshall, John Amos, Kim Hunter, and Madeleine Potter; created and executive-produced the television series Tales from the Darkside (1983-1988), which had a spinoff film Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), with Deborah Harry, Matthew Lawrence, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, Christian Slater, William Hickey, Alice Drummond, Mark Margolis, James Remar, Rae Dawn Chong, and Robert Klein.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Night of the Living Dead (1968)
  • There’s Always Vanilla (1971)
  • Season of the Witch (1973)
  • The Crazies (1973)
  • The Amusement Park (1973) – withheld from release until 2019
  • Martin (1978)
  • Dawn of the Dead (1978)
  • Knightriders (1981)
  • Creepshow (1982)
  • Day of the Dead (1985)
  • Creepshow 2 (1987) – directed by Michael Gornick – writer
  • Monkey Shines (1988)
  • Two Evil Eyes (1990) – co-directed with Dario Argento
  • The Dark Half (1993)
  • Bruiser (2000)
  • Land of the Dead (2005)
  • Diary of the Dead (2008)
  • Survival of the Dead (2009)

Other notable New Hollywood filmmakers: