You would be crazy to leave the house without the pocket essential guide to GEORGE A. ROMERO!
My favourite series of articles written exclusively for this site is Tom Fallows' monthly Cult Actors features, a movie geek's dream of delving into the full filmography of the likes of Lee Van Cleef, Ron Perlman and Rutger Hauer... who to us "obsessed" movie fans are just as lauded as the likes of Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis and Marlon Brando. I get so excited when one of these new articles lands in my inbox and I stop everything I'm doing to make sure I get them up straight away. They are the pinnacle of the kind of features I wish to promote here at OWF and I know they are a big favourite among you guys. Tom has a new book coming out that he has co-authored with his good friend Curtis Owen, a pocket essential guide to the creator of zombies, the horror director with the social and political conscious, George A. Romero,which hits bookstands this week for a bargain price of £3.74 at Amazon. It's perfect for Halloween! I read the 146 page, painSTAKINGLY! (pun intended and probably would go unnoticed, which is why I mentioned it) researched book over the weekend and it is a refreshingly clear look at Romero, not just his zombie movies but his lesser known works to, going through each of his films one at a time dissecting them by criteria. Tom and Curtis breakdown each of the his 15 movies by this analysis... Ripping Yarn (a brief overview of story and character), Making a Monster (the budget, location, cast, etc, Face of Death (visual style of the movie), The Splatter Factor (the special effects), Digging Up The Dead (Offers a full analytical review of the film), American Nightmare (The socio-political context of the movie), From the Vault (Trivia from the film) and Undead or Alive (A final summation and mark out of five). The first two chapters are the book's strongest points, the first being a quick overview of Romero, showing him to be a conscious artist with an independent and clear vision who outside of the studio is "where he belongs... making the films his own way". They make him out to be uncompromising, a visionary. An Orson Welles of the 70's and beyond. They call him an American Maverick, describing how he changed Hollywood through his socio-political mindset, attacking in broad daylight... racism, Reagan's U.S. regime, 9/11 and the consumerist culture of the U.S. They argue that without Romero there would be no LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, no TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, no ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and no JAWS. Can you imagine a world not only without zombies... but without Leatherface or the first real Summer blockbuster in history? What's so great about the book is that it not only look at the big Romero movies, i.e. his DEAD series... but also gives the same care and attention to the smaller films too. Movies like his drama THERE'S ALWAYS VANILLA, his strange and mostly forgotten follow-up to his famous first film and SEASON OF THE WITCH his 1972 horror I had previously been unaware of. The dissection begins with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, "a vicious bite to the throat of American cinema" and outside of Welles, possibly the greatest directing debut of all time. And from a kid with not much of a trained crew of actors, a severe lack of funds no less but a vision and a story to tell. From there you take a journey through the whole of Romero's works, each section making you wanna rush out and watch them again. That's what every geek filled and passionately written article of film should make you do... right? Like the Cult Actors series just make you wanna rush out and check out the lesser works of your favourite actors, Fallows' and Owen's love letters to movies like THE CRAZIES (currently being re-made) and CREEPSHOW... will make you wanna revisit horror films you probably haven't seen in years. And DAWN OF THE DEAD, which if your like me you watch once a year anyway! There's a clear admiration here for Romero and I doubt you will find as comprehensive a look at his whole career as you will here. The movie is full of great little facts too, one I particularly enjoyed reading as it's one of my favourite movies ever was the factoid that Romero worked as "gopher" on NORTH BY NORTHWEST. Time and time again the book will give you a little snippet and delightful bit of information. Such as I didn't know Romero was offered to direct SCREAM before Wes Craven. Could you imagine that? All in all, it's a great read if you are even remotely interested in Romero or Zombies. It's a MUST READ if you any planning to study Romero at college or university and if your writing an essay on him, I can't imagine finding a more comprehensive look at his career for such a small price! Make sure you order you copy today, show your continued appreciation for Tom Fallows and the excellent work he is doing around here...
