John Russo Reminisces on George Romero & “Night of the Living Dead”

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I know I speak for many of my fellow horror fans when I say how saddened we Daves were at the news regarding George Romero’s passing. I had the honor of meeting him twice; once in Indianapolis in 2010 and then the following year with the other Dave in Massachusetts. When the news broke, I wrote on our Facebook page how he was one of the most fan-friendly celebrities you could ever meet; spending as much time as he could with you despite the prodding of his handlers. Romero had been scheduled to attend the convention we’ve been in the midst of covering, Days of the Dead Indianapolis, but his declining health forced his cancellation. The “godfather of zombies” had been slated to do a Q&A panel that Saturday afternoon and many of us wondered how DOTD planned on filling the space. It wasn’t until that morning when we learned there would, indeed, be another panel and that it would feature Romero’s dear friend and Night of the Living Dead co-writer, John A. Russo. The following dialogue is based off the audio recordings taken during that hour…

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Night Of The Living Daves: The Evans City Cemetery!

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As my pre-birthday celebration continued I had no idea what to expect next. Dave has a real talent for scheduling vacations to emphasize the funnest places to visit ever. Once again Dave was totally secretive on the day’s destination and I truly had no idea where we were going. All I did know was that is was very cold out.

As we got to the location hints started to appear that apparently went right over my head. I honestly had no clue as to where we were going until Dave came right out and said “They’re coming to get you Barbara!” I knew exactly where we were going and was just so thrilled!

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Zombie Vs. Shark!? Top 5 Italian Zombie Movies by Brandon Engel

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The Daves would like to once again welcome Brandon Engel to this site with his continuing retrospectives, this time covering Italian zombie films!

Zombies have long captured the attention of horror movie fans worldwide. George A. Romero, director of Night of the Living Dead, may have started modern zombie madness, but Italian directors offered unique twists with their own contributions to the genre.

If you dig seventies exploitation movies, and you haven’t seen many international releases, you’d be wise to scope out vintage Italian zombie films, particularly those directed by guys like Lucio Fulci and Jorge Grau. Here are the top five Italian zombie movies.

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No Apocalypse on the Horizon for Legendary Filmmaker, George A. Romero

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The Daves would like to welcome Brandon Engel to our website with his wonderful entry on George Romero!

In the periphery of mainstream filmmaking, George Romero has been churning out controversial movies for nearly 50 years, starting with his pioneering film, Night of the Living Dead, in 1968.

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And even though it was shot in black and white and on a meager budget, Night knocked the socks off the viewing public. It received mixed reviews (with notable critics like Roger Ebert publicly expressing their distaste for the film, however effective it was) and it wound up essentially establishing the framework for the zombie film as we know it today. The film vividly depicted cannibalistic zombie feasts, and not only did Romero have the audacity to have his lead character played by a black actor (Duane Jones), but he also had the nerve to kill him off in the film’s screen. Not bad for a guy who launched his show-biz career on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

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Make an Appointment to see “Dayplanner of the Dead!”

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If you attend horror events on a regular basis, sooner or later you’ll run into a t-shirt that reads:  “I’d rather see a bad zombie movie than no zombie movie at all.”  Filmmakers seem more than aware of that mindset, and they flood the market with zombie films that seem designed to be exactly that.  But a group of filmmakers in Michigan are ready to break the mold this October when they begin shooting their new comedy, Dayplanner of the Dead.

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