15 Greatest Horror Directors Of All Time
3. George A. Romero
Notable films: Martin, Night Of The Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead, Day Of The Dead
Like it or not, if it wasn't for George A. Romero the zombie craze which has been infecting our screens for what feels like a lifetime would never have happened. Without Romero, there's a good chance there'd be no such thing as The Walking Dead.
I have Romero to thank personally for countless sleepless nights lying in bed imagining Captain Rhodes (Joseph Pilato) being torn apart by zombies as he tells them to choke on his flesh. Rewatching his original Dead trilogy as an adult and their richness and complexity becomes far more apparent, both in terms of character observations and the shortcomings of human nature, and the broader satirical swipes at consumerism and militarism.
Romero not only introduced the world to zombies, he also provided an outlet for the great make-up effects artist Tom Savini, who pretty much single-handedly defined the zombie look whilst delivering some of the most spectacularly gruesome death scenes ever filmed.