Legendary director George A. Romero passes away!

Scified.com
News
Scified2017-07-17 00:20:10https://www.scified.com/articles/legendary-director-george-a-romero-passes-away-11.jpg
Scified
Written by Gavin6,678 Reads2 Comments2017-07-17 00:20:10

Following a short but aggressive battle against lung cancer the legendary director George A. Romero passed away yesterday at the age of 77. Reportedly Romero died in his sleep with his wife Suzanne Desrocher Romero and daughter Tina by his side as the score from one of his favorite movies The Quiet Man played. Romero is survived by his wife, daughter and two sons, Cameron and Andrew. Everyone here at Scified extends their deepest, most heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

Romero is best known for having co-written (with John Russo) and directed the cult classic horror 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead and is considered by many as the father of the zombie genre of horror movies. To modern audiences, the "zombie" is now seen as an overused trope in horror movies, but back in the 60's the term Zombie was synonymous with the misappropriated negative views towards Voodoo. Founded in Haitian folklore the Zombie was originally held to be a recently expired corpse that was re-animated through the use of Voodoo (or Vodou) magicks.

But in 1968 George A Romero's originally titled Night of the Flesh Eaters would change horror movies forever. Prior to the movies release many horror movies, usually produced by either Universal Pictures or Hammer Film Productions focused primarily on a lone, supernatural character such as Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster or the Wolfman. Romero's vision of a mindless undead horde overwhelming its victims en-masse was a revelation in a tired genre that was welcomed by audiences but initially scorned by critics.

An independent movie, Romero's directorial debut was produced with a minuscule $114,000 production budget and starred Duane Jones, the first African-American to be cast as the lead actor of a horror movie. In retrospect, it seems almost inevitable that the movie would become a legendary classic, whose depiction of the undead horde and the struggle of the small band of survivors has inspired decades of zombie apocalypse and survival movies, such as The Evil Dead, World War Z, 28 Days Later, The Divide, and the Purge. Video game franchises such as Resident Evil, Left for Dead, and Dead Island, and comic book and TV giant The Walking Dead would simply not exist without Romero's iconic movie.

Following the release of his breakaway movie Romero also directed its five sequels Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), Land of the Dead (2005), Diary of the Dead (2007), and Survival of the Dead (2009). Along with the 15 issue mini-series Empire of the dead, published by Marvel Comics in 2014, the prolific director was developing another installment titled Road of the Dead, which he described as Fast and the Furious with zombies, though with his passing it is unknown whether or not the movie will ever be made.

 

Farewell George A. Romero, one of, if not the most influential figure in the world of horror, you will be missed but never, ever forgotten.

More Scified Dark News & Articles

2 Comments

Im Durp

MemberInitiateJul-17-2017 6:36 AM

RIP Mr. Romero, you're one of the few directors who could come up with a trilogy and not totally drop the ball on the last installment. In fact Day of The Dead is my favorite of the Dead movies.

 

Here's to a man that inspired the whole Zombie sub genre. 

JurassicNight

MemberContributorJul-17-2017 9:49 AM

RIP to Mr. Romero, a game changer in horror and a great director. 

Add A Comment
Sign In Required
Sign in using your Scified Account to access this feature!
Email
Password
Visitor Comments
Latest Images
All Fandoms
Sci-Fi Movies All Fandoms
Alien & Predator Alien & Predator Fandom
Godzilla & Kaiju Godzilla & Kaiju Fandom
Jurassic Park / World Jurassic Park Fandom
Marvel & DC Marvel & DC Fandom
Star Wars Star Wars Fandom
Latest Features
Alien: Romulus Spoilers Updated 2024-08-18 08:33:57
Alien: Romulus Movie Trailers Updated 2024-07-18 11:51:15
Get Tickets for Alien: Romulus! Updated 2024-07-11 12:11:21
Recently Active Forums
Alien: Earth Series
Alien: Earth Series Discuss the Alien FX TV series here!
Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant Discuss the Prometheus Sequel, Alien: Covenant
Prometheus Fan Art
Prometheus Fan Art Artwork & Fiction From the Fans
Badlands (Predator 6)
Badlands (Predator 6) Discuss the Badlands Predator movie here!
Hot Forum Topics
New Forum Topics
Highest Forum Ranks Unlocked
Chris
Chris » Atman
53% To Next Rank
Xenotaris
Xenotaris » 2K
89% To Next Rank
Svanya
Svanya » 2K
87% To Next Rank
Dark Nebula
Dark Nebula » Respected
79% To Next Rank
ErlikoIsCoolALT
ErlikoIsCoolALT » Noob
61% To Next Rank
Latest Activity
Member
Godzilla Minus One Hits Netflix Tomorrow! just surpassed 10,000 views!
Scified Community Stats
Scified hosts a network of online communities containing 405,861 posts by 48,225 members (7 are online now). The Alien: Earth Series Forum is the most recently active forum. The latest Forum topic added was: New Alien: Earth plot details revealed by The Hollywood Reporter
VIPWhat are VIP?AdminModeratorSpecial TitleMember

Scified is an entertainment website and media network offering scoops and reporting on the most popular, upcoming science fiction movies, games and television. All content is property of Scified.com unless otherwise stated. Images and titles of content we promote, discuss, review or report are property of their respective owners. Scified is independantly owned and operated by a team of dedicated sci-fi movie fans, who strive to provide the best information and community experience for other like-minded sci-fi movie enthusiasts.

© 2024 Scified.com
Sign in
Use your Scified Account to sign in


Log in to view your personalized notifications across Scified!

Transport To Communities
Alien Hosted Community
Cloverfield Hosted Community
Godzilla Hosted Community
Jurassic World Hosted Community
Predator Hosted Community
Aliens vs. Predator Hosted Community
Latest Activity
Forums
Search Scified
Trending Articles
Information Resources
Blogs & Editorials
Featured Forum Discussions
Forums & Community
Sci-Fi Movies
Help & Info