classic films from George A. Romero
"Oh, be quiet," she said to me. "You'll like it."
She was right. I think it was my mom who really got me hooked on the horror genre. I did always have an interest in the old Universal monsters, like Frankenstein, Dracula, the wolf man, the mummy, but I had never really been introduced to "modern horror cinema."
Psycho II (and my mom) got me interested in the newer, gorier films and it also got me into the habit of renting a couple of horror movies every Friday night when I was in the seventh grade. As I recall, it was late in the year of 1983 or 1984 when my mom and I made a fatefull trip to a little video rental store downtown (I think it was called "Show Time").
I walked into the store and asked the clerk there (I can still sort of remember what he looked like -- blonde, nice shirt) if the movie "Phantasm" was there. Unfortunately it was out. He did ask me if he could recommend two other films: "Night of the Living Dead," and "Dawn of the Dead." The clerk seemed really enthusiastic about them, so my mom rented them for me.
Later in the car, while driving back home, she said she had seen a preview of "Night of the Living Dead" many years ago at a drive in theater and she said it looked like one of the scariest movies she'd ever seen a preview for. I was really anticipating getting home and popping these suckers in.
I was never prepared for what I would experience.
To say the least, I was hooked.
Let me fill you in a little bit on the George Romero world of zombies. The world is going about it's regular business when --all of a sudden -- one day the recently dead have started to get up and walk around. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Wrong! They also crave human flesh and if one of these zombies just happens to bite you, it's only a matter of days before you turn into a zombie yourself. To make matters worse, the only way you can kill a zombie is by totally blowing its head off! Pretty soon, civilization as we know it collapses and the dead rule the earth...
As you can probably tell, I'm pretty much a zombie whore. Actually, I'm more of a George Romero zombie whore if anything. I've tried to watch other zombie flicks by directors like Fulci, but none of them have come close to anything Romero has done.
In fact, watching all these movies has made me collect a lot of zombie paraphanalia, like shirts, comics, cards, movies, posters, models, books, anything I could get my hands on. I recently got my copy of the novelization of Dawn of the Dead and it totally kicks ass! I also have the soundtrack by Goblin (Italo-zombie pop-rock) on vinal and I am waiting to get the 20th anniversary album on CD! I'm such a big "dead" fan (and I don't mean Jerry Garcia), that me and a Buddha, my good friend, used to drive around in my old Oldsmobile in the wee hours of the morning, when NO ONE was outside, listening to the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack, and pretend that we were the only living humans in town. Now that's devotion!
When I first got my checking account the first thing I wrote a check out for was a Night of the Living Dead t-shirt. I wore it for a week straight, even to bed. I still have it and wear it on occasion. Now if I could only get my hands on a "Dawn" and "Day" t-shirt my life would be complete.
I would also like to say that I have been pleasantly surprised by all the fans around the world. The WWW has really opened up a giant forum for all of us to communicate with each other. I guess I thought I was the biggest living dead fan around. I'm not. There are thousands of others around the world who share my joy with Romero's trilogy. Just do a net search for some other wonderful pages dedicated to the cool movies. Two of my favorites are linked here: Zombie Farm: The Dawn of the Dead Preservation Page, and Homepage of the Dead. You must check these two sites out!
I recently (as I write this) just received the Zombi: 20th Anniversary Special Edition album and I must tell you that this album is a must for those of you into collecting. The seven bonus tracks are kick ass and it is an item that can't be missed for the true collector. I got my over the internet at www.supercollector.com (for only $20!). Living dead items are so hard to come by, so if you can get some snatch them up as soon as you can!
I would also like to say that Ebay.com, an online auction house, is an excellent source for picking up other "dead" related items. I myself have procurred a mint original reprint poster of Dawn of the Dead and an original Day of the Dead theater button. It's a goldmine of living dead stuff. I have also seen several SPI Dawn of the Dead board games there, too. This rarity is a must for the true collector, just make sure you've got a spare $200 laying around.
