“Creepshow” hasn’t been a perfect revival, but it’s garnered some great enthusiasm that’s made it a modern reboot that’s worth watching. Filled with some great performances, sick tales, and excellent gore, “Creepshow” has ensured a long stay, especially with the second season stepping up its game. The new release from Shudder and AMC packs all six episodes on to the Blu-Ray along with some great extras and I compiled five of the best segments of the second season you should look out for.
Tag Archives: George Romero
Beyond Fest’s Black Friday: George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” with Ken Foree In Person
In celebration of mass consumption and the grotesque gluttony, George A. Romero’s “Dawn of trhe Dead” gets a rare theatrical screening this Black Friday at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Joining for both a pre-screening introduction and post screening Q&A will be lead actor Ken Foree to share on-set stories and the importance of Romero’s enduring Magnum Opus.
The sequel to Romero’s landmark “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead” obliterated genre normas and shattered sensese jupon its release in 1978. A razor sharp social commentary on material society, Romero’s vision is fully realized in the collapsed civilization that he meticulously wrote, directed, and edited. With electric performances from Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, David Emge and Scott Reiniger, and revolutionary special effects from the master Tom Savini, “Dawn of the Dead” remains an untouched masterpiece at the very peak of genre cinema.
Attendance to all Beyond Fest screenings requires physical proof of vaccinations and guests must follow mandatory mask mandates. Go to americancinematheque.com for details.
Night of the Animated Dead (2021) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
The last time “Night of the Living Dead” was animated was in 2009’s “Re-Animated” where director Mike Schneider enlisted a slew of animators to offer their own interpretations of various scenes from George A. Romero’s masterpiece. That wasn’t so much a remake, as it felt more like an art installation, or a cinematic experiment that allowed us to view the classic film through various lenses and scopes, giving us unique peek in to the terrifying narrative. “Night of the Animated Dead” has a chance to feel like a unique re-imagining. Instead it picks off the corpse of George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead.” Continue reading
George A. Romero’s The Amusement Park (1972)
George A Romero was never one to apply subtly to his cinematic art. He was always interested in transplanting his feelings about deep and still very relevant social issues in to the horror genre. His ideas about the military industrial complex, gross consumerism and class warfare still ring loudly in modern society, and “The Amusement Park” fits right in to that stark tableau. Although not horror in the strictest sense, “The Amusement Park” is very much a Romero brand horror movie. It’s about the ravages of growing old, and how society treats the elderly.
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
1990’s “Tales from the Darkside: The Movie” has a lot in its corner with me. It’s a childhood favorite, has a ton of sentimental value, and it’s a damn good anthology horror film. It almost feels like the lost “Creepshow” movie that we never got in theaters, which is a shame as the movie is very well produced and directed. It’s creepy, darkly humorous, and has a great pair of wraparound segments that hearkens back to the vicious violence of the Brothers Grimm.
TV On DVD: Creepshow: Season 1 [Blu-Ray]
After many, many years in limbo, “Creepshow” is finally revived by Shudder/AMC Networks for a modern generation bringing the love child of George Romero, Tom Savini, and Stephen King back for more terror. Premiering exclusively on the Shudder streaming service (then later on AMC), “Creepshow” is led by legendary Gregory Nicotero, doing everything to pay tribute to the EC Comics and the 1982 horror masterpiece. With six episodes featuring stories by Joe Hill (NOS4A2), Joe Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep), Josh Malerman (Bird Box), and Paul Dini et al., “Creepshow” is a great companion to the original pair of classic anthology films.
Night of the Living Dead ’90: The Version You’ve Never Seen [Paperback]
Full Disclosure: Although I am long time friends with author Mike Watt, I paid for the “Night of the Living Dead ‘90” paperback; the following review is 100% honest.
The making of “Night of the Living Dead” 1990 has become one of the most fascinating movie making tales of all time. George Romero teamed up with friend Tom Savini to direct an official remake of his 1968 horror masterpiece. What Savini found was no end of interference, intrusion and creative stifling from the studio that funded the film. Despite excellent creativity and clever ideas to bring to the table, horror icon Savini was turned off from filmmaking for so many years, and he wasn’t able to deliver the film he actually wanted. Ironically, “Night…” 1990 is widely considered a top shelf remake of the original, and is argued to be superior to Romero’s by some horror buffs.
With “Survival of the Dead,” Romero Made a Final Statement for his Audience
In a year that nearly everyone across the board has admitted to being a weak one for films in general 2009’s “Survival of the Dead” continues to stand out among the mediocrity and abysmal for its sheer down to Earth storytelling in the saga of the Dead where Romero is completing a second chapter in his Dead franchise. We had “Night,” “Dawn,” “Day,” and “Land,” and now to fit in with modern society, Romero has restarted the whole premise and entire sensibility with “Diary,” and “Survival” showing the downfall of a world, now very dependent on technology and the world wide web. “Diary” is a movie that continues to be misunderstood.