Every George Romero Film
Watching nothing but horror in October is standard stuff. My wife (Vanessa) and I got off to an early start by watching all the films of George Romero late August to mid September. He has 17 films (six of which are zombie films) and all of them are for this moment in time easily available (thank you Shudder for half these titles). I have never had a strong feeling about Romero (except for one title) so I was glad to go through these. His films seem interested in capturing community. I admire Romero for maintaining a shaggy independence throughout his career, and honestly, there is only one film I would label bad and only three I would not recommend. I am going to put my ranked list first with a few comments from V and I then I will put Vanessa's list.
15. The Amusement Park (1973): The film that was a product of his early advertising career, V and I both found it long at 54 mins, maybe it was the amateur acting. In some ways, the scariest of his films. Getting old without a nest egg is frightening.
14. Creepshow (1982): My wife liked his significantly more. I only loved the King short. We both found a lot more to like in part 2.
13. Two Evil Eyes (1990): We only focused on the Romero section. Adrienne Barbeau is a fun actress that we were lucky enough to meet. The premise here is dynamite. The production is fun if a little noticeably cheap.
11. Knightriders (1981): Fun premise and idiosyncratic. I think it would have worked as a 95 mins movie. But this is another 2.5 flick that meanders. My wife ranked it at 15. But it is probably the film of his we would most want to live in, so that is something.
08. Monkey Shines: We both loved the basic plot. We loved the love interest and most of all we loved the monkey. My wife has this in her top three, and we were nervous to watch it because we try to avoid films with animal violence.
07. Season of the Witch (1973): Nice to have Raymond Laine back in the cast and a great performance from Jan White. This is a favorite kind of horror film, one that is very much of its time, but also one that pushes a few boundaries. This is an interesting and even sort of sexy film. We both thought highly of it.
05. There's Always Vanilla (1971): If you like Raymond Laine's character you will love this time capsule of a film. It takes place during my favorite era, and it is a bit of a change of pace. My wife hated this romantic dramedy, placing it next to last. I loved it for its commentary on advertising and its quirk.
04. Bruiser (2000): We both loved the kills in this one. We loved the mask. The satire works. And I think the Halloween party sequence is one for Romero's highlight reel.
03. The Crazies (1973): The men in the gear are as scary as any zombie. This movie belongs to the still gorgeous Lynn Lowry.
02. Land of the Dead (2005): My wife has this film in second place and so I do I. We both went to a convention hoping to meet Eugene Clark. He is so wonderful as the evolving zombie. But he was a no show. I love what this film says about zombies and how they keep a part of who they were, also love the look of the zombies. This one has many thrilling sequences. In some days this could be number one.
01. Night of the Living Dead (1968): Easy number one for both of us. It has great heroics, tragedy and real scares.
17. Diary of the Dead (2007) : The first one with noticeable bad effects and lousy characters
16. The Dark Half (1993) This just does not have the cool ragtag cast of characters that a Romero film thrives with. It is mostly a one actor show. And Hutton is not convincing.
15. The Amusement Park (1973): The film that was a product of his early advertising career, V and I both found it long at 54 mins, maybe it was the amateur acting. In some ways, the scariest of his films. Getting old without a nest egg is frightening.
12. Dawn of the Dead (1978) We could only find a 2.5 hour version and it was a bit of a slog. I like Ken Foree in a number of films. And I have a weird story about meeting him at FearCon, but I found the satirical elements not that biting and the weird kabuki makeup took me out of the movie. We both have this in the bottom half.
10. Survival of the Dead (2009): A great fun cast, great kills and that horse sequence is one we should all still be talking about. V did not like this as much as I did, but like me she loved the ending.
09. Day of the Dead (1985): Lori Cardille should have become a movie star after this film. She is so dynamic and pretty. The themes here are interesting as well. V had this in her top four.
06. Martin (1979): Weird vampire tale that is full of great characters. It drags a bit but that break in sequence is the best Romero ever filmed.
04. Bruiser (2000): We both loved the kills in this one. We loved the mask. The satire works. And I think the Halloween party sequence is one for Romero's highlight reel.
And here is how Vanessa ranked the films.
17. The Amusement Park
16. There's Always Vanilla
15. Knightriders
14. The Dark Half
13. Diary of the Dead
12. Two Evil Eyes
11. Survival of the Dead
10. Dawn of the Dead
09. Martin
08. Creepshow
07. Season of the Witch
06. Bruiser
05. The Crazies
04. Day of the Dead
03. Monkey Shines
02. Land of the Dead
01. Night of the Living Dead
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