10 Genre Directors Who Stepped Out Of Their Field (And Failed)

10. George A. Romero Explored Other Genres After Night Of The Living Dead

George A. Romero quickly launched his filmmaking career with Night of Living Dead, having directed only shorts and TV commercials previously, but his career trajectory post-1968 was largely unwritten. Long before the director returned to the franchise or even the horror genre, he would attempt a few other genres.

The first was as far removed from horror as imaginable. 1971's There's Always Vanilla was, for years, considered a lost film; with only segments of it showing up as a bonus feature on various DVD releases of Night (its public domain status make it fairly ubiquitous) until it was finally found and released by Anchor Bay.

The film is an awkward romantic comedy revolving around a former soldier turner drifter roaming aimlessly through the U.S., but the style and laid-back tone spread throughout production. Romero himself considers the film "a total mess" and prefers it never have surfaced.

Before completely turning back to the horror genre, Romero made the compelling but uneven Season of the Witch. The film suffers from some poor production value and some of the same lack of clarity Vanilla had, however, its an infinitely superior film for Romero to go out on before diving full-on back into horror with The Crazies.