Its hard to even imagine what the genre (let alone the film world) wouldn't have without him and his imagination. Romero gave us so many elements and building blocks that its hard to even pin down his influence. Not only in his zombie films, which he pioneered and refined, but also in his other genre-bending drama, horror and sci-fi work. I have no doubt that some of your favorite horror(etc) filmmakers only picked up a camera because of the man.
I'll probably catch heat for this but my favorite will always be Day Of The Dead, it was the most brutal fucking movie I had ever seen on first viewing and the advancement of the zombie species at that point in the series set off an atomic bomb in my little kid brain. Just as Asimov shaped a layered positronic brain evolution with his Robot Series, Romero gave zombies a pathos of sorts, as well as a system of growth as a species.
Martin holds a special place in my heart as horror's Harold and Maude (at least I think so) and Im glad to see so many mentions in other peoples tributes. The first opening newsroom scenes in Dawn are soul-crushing, awesome and they still reflect(if not more so) our society today. Without going through every film I have to say that Bruiser while flawed has become better and better with every re-watch.
The best of us can only hope to leave so much behind. You will be missed.
- George A. Romero on IMDb
- on Wikipedia
- Remembering George Romero on HNN
- Fans Launch Petition to Honor George A. Romero with Postage Stamp
- Remembered on BloodyDisgusting
