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It has been announced that George A. Romero, the godfather of the zombie movie, has died after a brief battle with lung cancer. From his small, regional indie shocker Night of the Living Dead he saw his notion of flesh-eating zombies take off around the world, to the extent that any country with a film industry to its name had a go at producing a clone of his brilliant idea. Inspired by Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, Romero saw his monsters as both fearsome and a social commentary, that latter not something everyone who took his ideas would embrace.
After his debut was a hit, he continued to plough his own furrow with largely more horrors, including Season of the Witch, The Crazies (another influential movie), vampire tale Martin, Arthurian biker epic Knightriders, Stephen King collaboration Creepshow, Monkeyshines, half of Two Evil Eyes, another King adaptation The Dark Half and odd thriller Bruiser. But it is his zombie series that will be his legacy, following up Night with Dawn of the Dead (his biggest hit) and Day of the Dead, then his final trilogy of Land, Diary and Survival of the Dead. Without Romero, the world of entertainment would be a very different place. |
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