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RIP George Romero
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Started by bronze johnny,

31 posts in this topic

Readcomix

Readcomix

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Posted

I will never forget the impact his work had on me as a child. Much as I loved horror films, his was the first that truly scared me. I read about it in glorious B&W in Famous Monsters long before I ever saw it, and those photos haunted me.

Then, one Friday night, (I think I was maybe 11, tops) it was on at 11:30 and I snuck it quietly on the tv in my room. At that level, it was a frightening horror film for me. Years later, it delivered me the same societal message that's at the core of Walking Dead, a couple decades earlier, I guess. Kirkland has fleshed out the theme, but Romero nailed the heart of it off the bat.

Thank you, and RIP.

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jcjames

jcjames

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Posted (edited)

I never walked through a mall the same way again....

It was 1979.

I was 14 years old.

My older sister was supposed to be taking me with her roller-skating. Instead she dumped me off at the movies at around 7:30pm to see some dumb slapstick comedy so that she could go out with her friends to the skating rink without little brother tagging along. She told me to stay in the theater until she comes back to pick me up.

So I sat through the movie and when it was over, the house lights came up, people got up and went out and I sat there and waited for my sister to come get me. And I sat there.

And I didn't know it was a double-feature. And so I sat there and the theater filled up again and the house lights went dark again and the second feature started. The second feature was "Dawn of The Dead". I was 14. I never saw ANYTHING like that before. At the first moment the zombie bit into that guy's neck tearing out a huge chunk of flesh - I was in shock. By the time they got into the basement and saw the zombies fighting over body parts and that guy's head getting blown clean off by a shotgun blast, my eyes must have been as big as softballs.

I looked round the theater and it was filled with nothing but adults, not one kid my age. I went "whoa" and settled back in to watch "Dawn of The Dead"... it. was. awesome! From that day on, I never ever walked through a mall the same way again. I was always imagining everyone being zombies and what I'd have to do to get out of there and how many heads I'd have to bash in to fight my way through the mall of zombies. It changed me. Tactical preparation for a zombie apocalypse became ever-present on my mind.

Thanks Mr. Romero. And thanks big sis for forgetting about me and leaving a 14 year old kid alone in a movie theater at 10pm at night to see the most classic R-rated zombie-fests of my generation.

Edited by jcjames
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F For Fake

F For Fake

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Kinda figured he'd live forever, and 77 isn't very old, all things considered. Only met him once, he was super nice. One of the greats. RIP George

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