Happy George Romero's birthday!: seanan

Happy George Romero's birthday!

I sometimes wonder if horror directors go to bed at night dreaming that someday, one of their movies will become a classic; someday, one of their movies will spawn an iconic monster that people will be screaming over for generations to come. Sadly, most of them won't make it. Even the ones who create a truly iconic villain won't necessarily get an iconic monster, because an iconic monster must be somehow generic enough to be used and abused by others, even as the person who first brought it to the screen is generally credited for its creation. The werewolf, the mummy, the vampire, even the mad scientist...they all had to start somewhere. Sure, most iconic horror movie monsters existed before the movies that gave them a terrifying life, but it's the cinematic realities that we remember. At least until the lights go out.

George Romero set out to make a creepy little movie with a social commentary and a shoestring budget. He succeeded in making history.

The concept of the ghoul or walking corpse has existed for centuries—maybe for as long as mankind has been aware that death exists—but it wasn't until Romero that it shambled into the modern age. Night of the Living Dead opened the doors to a new sub-genre of horror, a shambling, biting, hungry sub-genre that wouldn't rest until it had consumed the world. Zombies don't need sleep. They're already dead.

Without Romero, we wouldn't have Night of the Comet, Slither, Night of the Creeps, the Evil Dead trilogy, a large portion of Rob Zombie's musical catalog, or the Zombie Prom episode of Wizards of Waverly Place. We wouldn't have my own Feed, and that would make me a very sad girl indeed. George Romero changed the world. Maybe he did it on purpose, maybe he did it by accident. In the end, it doesn't really matter. He did it.

Here's to you, George Romero. And when you die, we're feeding your corpse into a wood chipper. Just to be sure.

la_marquise_de_

February 4 2010, 16:45:04 UTC 7 years ago

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We wouldn't have Shaun of the Dead and that would be desperate!

mariadkins

February 4 2010, 17:17:33 UTC 7 years ago

mari concurs!

seanan_mcguire

February 5 2010, 06:17:50 UTC 7 years ago

It really, really would. That movie is love.

7 years ago

amazon_syren

February 4 2010, 16:46:08 UTC 7 years ago

Can we then burn the wood-chipped remains to ashes and scatter them upon the million winds?

Just to be on the safe side? :-)

keristor

February 4 2010, 17:23:31 UTC 7 years ago

Nuke 'em 'til they glow, then fire the result into the sun, it's the only way to be sure...

February 5 2010, 06:18:01 UTC 7 years ago

Absolutely.

February 4 2010, 17:17:18 UTC 7 years ago

in his honor, i shambled zombie style across the living room and dining room. apparently my silly calico is terrified of zombies ... :sigh:

February 4 2010, 17:24:23 UTC 7 years ago

Sensible calico! We don't want zombie cats as well...

alethea_eastrid

February 5 2010, 00:41:38 UTC 7 years ago

That amused me into a laughing/coughing fit that frightened both of my cats...

February 5 2010, 16:27:21 UTC 7 years ago

Smart cat.

snowcoma

February 4 2010, 18:02:14 UTC 7 years ago Edited: February 4 2010, 18:03:56 UTC

"And when you die, we're feeding your corpse into a wood chipper. Just to be sure."

Thank you for my morning dose of giggles. And possibly for a disturbing new footnote to add to my will.

tsgeisel

February 4 2010, 20:43:32 UTC 7 years ago

I like your icon.

February 5 2010, 16:27:44 UTC 7 years ago

You're welcome!

illian

February 4 2010, 18:29:19 UTC 7 years ago

Thanks to your icon my brain is now trying to rewrite "Barbie Girl" as "Zombie Girl".

It will interesting to see which part of my gray matter explodes first.

February 5 2010, 16:27:58 UTC 7 years ago

AWESOME.

I win at universe.

coyotegoth

February 4 2010, 20:04:49 UTC 7 years ago

February 5 2010, 16:28:20 UTC 7 years ago

greektoomey

February 4 2010, 20:22:10 UTC 7 years ago

Thank you for mentioning Night of the Comet!

<3 <3 <3

February 5 2010, 16:28:44 UTC 7 years ago

One of the best movies ever made.

ext_195606

February 4 2010, 20:28:37 UTC 7 years ago

Happy Romero Day!
I'm especially thankful for Romero and NOTLD influencing some fantastic Italian zombie films and of course the wonderfully corny Return of The Living Dead franchise.

February 5 2010, 16:30:01 UTC 7 years ago

Rave to the grave, baby, RAVE TO THE GRAVE.

adb_foldem

February 4 2010, 21:00:52 UTC 7 years ago Edited: February 4 2010, 21:04:03 UTC

Since you're in the mood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H69HODLlDMo

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nI2bVtQ6Kk

February 5 2010, 16:30:13 UTC 7 years ago

Yay!

moshez

February 5 2010, 00:13:50 UTC 7 years ago

Funny note about the "newness" of zombies -- when the CCA rules were relaxed to allow vampires, werewolves and mummies (as long as it's "tasteful"), they still did not allow for zombies, citing lack of references in the classical literature.

That didn't stop Marvel from digging up the corpse of the Zombie Archetype and resurrecting it as the "Zuvembie", though...

February 5 2010, 16:30:30 UTC 7 years ago

Marvel Comics has never been stopped by the rules of anything, including nature.

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