Many things have been influenced by Romero’s original idea. But Romero has stated that he was inspired to make horror movies by a couple of things: the novel I Am Legend, which he used as a basis for his plots, and when he was making a short film called Mister Rogers’ Gets a Tonsillectomy. Romero has said it is “Possibly the scariest film I ever made” (Zinoman). He didn’t know the effect that his cheaply made independent movies would have on film or society. His movies are constantly being copied in one way or another, even in many films that are not horror. The horror film wouldn’t be where it is today if it was without Romero’s contributions, and the many others that try to reinvent the zombie every year.

I hope that this brief blog gives a better look into the effect George A. Romero had on society, and a brief look into his life. Not many people can change things like Romero did, and as horror fanatics we must pay homage. He gave us the modern zombie, the most unlikely(but entertaining) apocalypse that we most likely cannot survive, and the ability for anything to come back to life after death. Our nightmares can thank Romero, for helping scare us at night.

Works Cited
Zinoman, Jason. "Killer Instincts." Vanity Fair (Vol. 50, No. 3). March 2008: 304+. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 9 May 2011.

Zombies Are Everywhere!!

In spite of the early popularity of zombie movies, they seem to have played themselves out by the mid-1980s. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video in 1983, tried to be eerie and frightening, but when the dead started to dance, “zombies became nothing more than a joke” (Bishop). Historically, zombie cinema had always represented a stylized reaction to cultural consciousness, and the US in the 1990s had too much stability for zombie movies to fit the national mood. Virtually no new or original stories were produced in the decade at all.

Even though zombies were no longer on the silver screen, people found renewed interest in zombies through violent video games. The first true zombie video game was in 1996, Capcom's Biohazard (renamed Resident Evil). This game takes its central story line directly from Romero's movies. Video games helped zombie’s make a slow transition back to theater in the new millennium.

Since the beginning of the war on terror, American popular culture has been colored by the fear of possible terrorist attacks and the realization that people are not as safe as they might have once thought. “This shift in cultural consciousness can be most readily seen in narrative fiction, particularly through zombie cinema” (Bishop). Since 2002, the number of both studio and independent zombie movies has been on a steady rise.

Movies such as 28 Days Later, and the Resident Evil series have helped bring the zombie back to its original excellence. And now zombies all around us, “in films, books and video games, the undead are once again on the march, elbowing past werewolves, vampires, swamp things and mummies to become the postmillennial ghoul of the moment” (Bishop). All this evidence points to one fact: zombies are back… and better then EVER!

Works Cited

Bishop, Kyle. Journal of Popular Film & Television. Washington: Spring 2009. Vol. 37, Iss. 1; pg. 16, 10 pgs. Periodical.

Picture Sources
http://smalltownhero.deviantart.com/art/Michael-Jackson-s-Thriller-127778669

http://www.loftcinema.com/node/702