George Romero - Father of the Zombie Genre
by urbanemovies | created - 19 Jul 2017 | updated - 09 Jun 2021 | PublicGeorge A. Romero (1940–2017) was a horror pioneer, iconic film-making legend and the father of the modern zombie horror sub-genre. He leaves his mark as a writer, director, producer and editor, in each of the past six decades, with his groundbreaking work in the horror genre. Some of Romero's movies have deeper themes, satirizing bigotry, excessive consumerism and other social-political issues. Today's hit TV series and movie franchises, like The Walking Dead (2010), Fear the Walking Dead (2015), Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Resident Evil (2002), all owe a debt to Romero's work that both influenced filmmakers and popularized the genre.
Which George A. Romero credited movie or TV horror project is your favorite?
Rank George A. Romero with the All-Time Greatest Horror Genre Directors here.
Discuss the topic.
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1. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,525 | Gross: $5.10M
2. Tales from the Darkside (1983–1988)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
"Tales from the Darkside" was a horror anthology series where the viewer is taken through ghost stories, science fiction adventures, and creepy, unexplained events.
Stars: Paul Sparer, Catherine Battistone, John Marzilli, Karen Shallo
Votes: 6,946
3. Day of the Dead (1985)
Not Rated | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
As the world is overrun by zombies, a group of scientists and military personnel sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida must decide on how they should deal with the undead horde.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy
Votes: 74,340 | Gross: $5.80M
4. Creepshow (1982)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
"Creepshow" is a 1982 movie that tells five grisly tales from a children's comic book: a murdered father rising from his grave, a bizarre meteor, a vengeful husband, a mysterious crate's occupant, and a plague of cockroaches.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielsen, Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall
Votes: 53,203 | Gross: $21.03M
5. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,052 | Gross: $0.09M
6. The Crazies (2010)
R | 101 min | Horror
After a strange and insecure plane crash, an unusual toxic virus enters a quaint farming town. A young couple are quarantined, but they fight for survival along with help from a couple of people.
Director: Breck Eisner | Stars: Radha Mitchell, Timothy Olyphant, Danielle Panabaker, Joe Anderson
Votes: 128,876 | Gross: $39.12M
7. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
R | 101 min | Action, Horror
A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber
Votes: 272,328 | Gross: $59.02M
8. The Dark Half (1993)
R | 122 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A writer's fictional alter ego wants to take over his life...at any price.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris
Votes: 19,325 | Gross: $9.58M
9. Land of the Dead (2005)
R | 93 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The living dead have taken over the world, and the last humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they come to grips with the situation.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: John Leguizamo, Asia Argento, Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper
Votes: 100,774 | Gross: $20.70M
10. Creepshow 2 (1987)
R | 92 min | Fantasy, Horror
Three macabre tales from the latest issue of a boy's favorite comic book, dealing with a vengeful wooden Native American, a monstrous blob in a lake, and an undying hitchhiker.
Director: Michael Gornick | Stars: George Kennedy, Lois Chiles, Domenick John, Tom Savini
Votes: 28,343 | Gross: $14.00M
11. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
R | 92 min | Horror
When the unburied dead return to life and seek human victims, seven refugees shelter in a house in the Pennsylvanian countryside.
Director: Tom Savini | Stars: Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman, Tom Towles, McKee Anderson
Votes: 45,484 | Gross: $5.84M
12. Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
To stall a witch plotting to eat him, a boy reads her horror tales dealing with a collegian's resurrection of a mummy, a murderous cat, and an artist's pact with a gargoyle.
Director: John Harrison | Stars: Debbie Harry, Matthew Lawrence, Christian Slater, David Forrester
Votes: 19,358 | Gross: $16.32M
13. Diary of the Dead (2007)
R | 95 min | Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Michelle Morgan, Joshua Close, Shawn Roberts, Todd Schroeder
Votes: 49,231 | Gross: $0.96M
14. The Crazies (1973)
R | 103 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
The military attempts to contain a manmade combat virus that causes death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar
Votes: 14,786 | Gross: $0.15M
15. Survival of the Dead (2009)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
On an island off the coast of North America, local residents simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to return their un-dead relatives back to their human state.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, Joshua Peace
Votes: 22,517 | Gross: $0.10M
16. Monkey Shines (1988)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil, Joyce Van Patten
Votes: 13,024 | Gross: $5.34M
17. Martin (1977)
R | 95 min | Drama, Horror
A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a Pennsylvania small town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: John Amplas, Lincoln Maazel, Christine Forrest, Elyane Nadeau
Votes: 12,590 | Gross: $0.10M
18. Day of the Dead (2008 Video)
R | 86 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
When a small Colorado town is overrun by the flesh hungry dead a small group of survivors try to escape in a last ditch effort to stay alive.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon, Michael Welch, AnnaLynne McCord
Votes: 21,793
19. Bruiser (2000)
R | 99 min | Horror, Mystery
After years of being tread upon and cheated on, a man awakens to find his face has a been replaced by a blank, white mask.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Jason Flemyng, Peter Stormare, Leslie Hope, Nina Garbiras
Votes: 6,429
20. Two Evil Eyes (1990)
R | 120 min | Horror
A duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a strange black cat.
Directors: Dario Argento, George A. Romero | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Harvey Keitel, Ramy Zada, Bingo O'Malley
Votes: 8,134 | Gross: $0.35M
21. Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)
R | 80 min | Horror
Both an homage to and a re-imagining of the original 1968 film, this update follows a group of survivors trapped in a farmhouse battling a siege of undead zombies....in 3D!
Director: Jeff Broadstreet | Stars: Brianna Brown, Joshua DesRoches, Sid Haig, Greg Travis
Votes: 3,879 | Gross: $0.22M
22. Season of the Witch (1972)
R | 130 min | Drama, Horror
A neglected, unhappy suburban housewife gets mixed up in witchcraft with unexpected consequences.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Jan White, Raymond Laine, Ann Muffly, Joedda McClain
Votes: 3,940
23. Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2017)
R | 90 min | Action, Drama, Horror
A small group of military personnel and survivalists dwell in an underground bunker as they seek to find a cure in a world overrun by zombies.
Director: Hèctor Hernández Vicens | Stars: Sophie Skelton, Johnathon Schaech, Jeff Gum, Marcus Vanco
Votes: 12,458
05 January 2018 (USA) release
24. The Amusement Park (1975)
54 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
An elderly gentleman goes for what he assumes will be an ordinary day at the amusement park, only to find himself in the middle of a hellish nightmare.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Lincoln Maazel, Harry Albacker, Phyllis Casterwiler, Pete Chovan
Votes: 3,161
08 June 2021 (USA) release, added 08 June 2021
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