GCD Exclusive Interview: George A. Romero
The master zombie storyteller tal
When Night of the Living Dead was released in 1968, George A. Romero became the master zombie storyteller. And now, 42 years later, the director is back again with his sixth entry into the walking dead genre, Survival of the Dead, which opens in select theaters today. The film follows several characters from 2007’s Diary of the Dead as they get in the middle of a feud between two families who disagree about the best way to deal with a zombie-filled world. Here, Romero takes a bite out an exclusive interview with GCD.…
GCD: Did you have any reservations about doing another zombie movie?
Romero: First of all, I love doing them and I’m happy when somebody says, “Hey, here’s a reason to do one.” But I had a few reservations this time. The first four that I did were 10 years or more apart from each other and I had this sort of conceit that, well, these are sort of snapshots of each decade.
So then how did this film come about?
Romero: After the experience of making Land of the Dead, in which Universal was involved—it was a huge budget, stars in it and all that—I felt that I had strayed a little bit from the roots. So I said let’s go back; we’ll do a parallel story, starting on the first night again, and that’s how Diary of the Dead originated. Because we did it so inexpensively it wound up making lots of money. And that’s where Survival of the Dead came from.
Is it hard to come up with new and creative ways to kill zombies?
Romero: [Laughs] Hard? No. It’s great fun but it’s ideas that come to you in the shower, you know? And you sort of save them up. And CG computer effects have enabled me to do a lot more with it. You could not ever pour acid on a guy and melt it down into his brain or do the fire extinguisher gag in this film or the flare gag. But I love practical effects, I think that they work better. I think that there’s more interaction with the actor, with everything, even the splatter.
You’ve said you didn’t like zombies running in Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead. But there’s a main character in your movie who rides a horse. Is this a gray area?
Romero: Well, maybe it is. I mean, she’s not running, she just remembers how to get up in the saddle. So I sort of forgave it because of that. When I made the first film I was thinking of it as a one-off. I never thought I’d still be making these movies, and so I wasn’t thinking of rules that were gonna sustain.
So if there is another movie, since Betty White is so hot right now, is there a way she could appear in it?
Romero: [Laughs] Ha! That’s pretty funny but I don’t know. She’s maybe too much of a star. After “Land” I’d rather just work with good actors and friends. You know? Just make little films. But maybe Betty would go along. We’ll see.
What kind of direction do you give extras who play the background zombies?
Romero: Don’t be too purposeful. That’s basically it. You’re dead, you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re just drawn to the smell of bacon cooking or something and you’re on your way over there.
And if you had a choice, would you rather have 10 attractive people or 10 fat people playing “background” zombies?
Romero: Ha!
You gotta make a choice.
Romero: I gotta make a choice quickly now?
Yeah. So which is it? Ten attractive people or 10 fat people?
Romero: OK, definitely the fatties.
