Love
zombies? Then you'll love this interview with zombie pioneer George A. Romero.
WITH GEORGE A. ROMERO'S sixth zombie apocalypse movie marching on to DVD and Blu-ray on Monday, the genre - rather like the undead themselves - still seems to have plenty of life left in it.
Romero began what I might call the zombiemageddon craze with his 1968 screamfest Night of the Living Dead.
As I reported earlier, his latest venture Survival of the Dead takes places on Plum Island where two rival Irish clans clash when the dead begin to rise up. As tensions rise, a band of mercenaries becomes embroiled in the mayhem.
In an insightful, candid and funny interview at the Venice Film Festival, Romero - who turned 70 last month - talks about studio battles in making the films, why he chose zombies over vampires and what his planned version of The Mummy would have been like.
Q: Survival of the Dead is your sixth zombie film. Do you ever get tired of the genre?A: No, I'm not getting tired of it. I love it. I love the genre. Always have. And I get a chance with these films to make my own observations, express myself a little bit, do a little social criticism...it's a pretty good gig. I'm not tired of doing it. I love it. I love doing it. Maybe you're getting tired of it!
Q: You made Land of the Dead with Universal. But this is an independent production. Which do you prefer?A: Oddly, Universal was very understanding and they really let me make the movie that I scripted. Except for very early script notices that they gave us, they were very supportive. And everybody warned me.
I'd had bad experiences - I'd made two studio films before. Creepshow was released by Warners but independently financed. So I made a movie called Monkey Shines and a movie called The Dark Half, both at Orion. And it was awful. Its supposed to be the filmmaker-friendly studio and it was just nothing but constant interference, changing their minds, wanting to do this, wanting to do that. They'd say, 'Oh, let's put in a scene that resembles that.' The typical Hollywood craziness that you hear. So I did not have a good time - and they forced me to change the endings on both of those films. So everybody warned me off. They said, 'If you think that was bad, wait until you get in the hands of Universal.'
It wasn't true at all. They were very respectful. The problem with more money is that there's way more responsibility. Everything gets bigger. The catering bill goes up thousands and thousands of dollars, and from a moment to moment basis, you're not free to improvise. You have to get approval on any script change you want to make. You can't be spontaneous. Those are the problems.
And more money is often not enough. If you're working with less money, and you're controlling how you're spending it, you can budget yourself and make it come out OK. But the studios are used to just throwing money at the wall. But it's never enough - to really buy back the kind of freedom you have when you're working on a smaller scale.
Q: Why did you always focus on zombies and not vampires?A: I got stuck with them! I almost stole the idea for the original film from Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, so I said, 'He used vampires so I better use something else.' I never called them zombies in that film. I was looking for something - 'What would really change the world in a radical way?' So I could have people not notice, have the humans make the mistake of not dealing with it, and I just came up with the idea of the dead coming back to life.
Q: The zombies in recent films like 28 Days Later seem different to yours...
A: Well, more aggressive, yeah. Of course, in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, they're not dead. They're just real angry! So that's OK with me. But when Zack Synder did the remake of Dawn of the Dead, they all looked like the first thing they did when they woke up was go to the health club. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Their ankles would snap. It just makes no sense. There's two different points of view on that. Some people think the fast-moving zombies are more terrifying. But what used to get me as a kid was stuff like The Mummy. Moving slow but he just keeps coming! It's just the way I lean. Now it's sparked this huge debate on the internet about how a zombie would move. I have to defend my guys! I've actually seen T-shirts - 'Fast zombies suck!'
Q: Do you think Survival of the Dead will be your last zombie film?A: No. Well, I don't think so. That depends. So much of it is economically driven. Land of the Dead wound up making a lot of dough. That's how Diary of the Dead happened. In the end, Diary made a lot of money - the worldwide video was extraordinary. And so they wanted another one. I had this idea brewing in my mind, and so I wrote this. Some of it is economics and some of it is contractual. They have the right to ask me to do another one.
Q: There seem to be a lot of zombie-type films around right now. Any idea why?A: For some reason, the publishing world and gaming world and the movie world, they're insisting this is the year of the zombie. I don't get it. I think people are just grabbing onto that, going 'Let's do a zombie thing.' It's become a popular character, mostly because of video games.
Q: Do you ever play video games?A: No. I was involved in developing the first Resident Evil film. I wrote several drafts. I loved it. Capcom loved it. The company that bought the rights, a German company Constantin, I don't think the guy had ever played a video game and didn't know what to expect. I've been in that situation so often. My partner and I had a deal at New Line for two years, when they gave us money and offices. But they never made a movie with us. There was a seven year period where we were making more money just developing things - Goosebumps, The Mummy - and nobody ever made a movie. But case in point - at New Line, they bought the rights to this book that I mentioned was really good, we worked on a screenplay with one of their executives and everybody was happy with it, and they took it into Bob Shaye and he said, 'Ah, is this what this is about? I wouldn't have bought this book if I knew it was about this.' Boom - it's all over. It could've saved them a lot of time and money if he'd even read the reader's report.
Q: What would your version of The Mummy been like? A: Mine was much smaller. It was going to be $12 million, and it was much more like the [Boris] Karloff. It was actually greenlit but we couldn't get out of a deal at MGM. It would've been a completely different deal. My script was completely different - much smaller, creepier, and way more romantic. The ancient romance rekindled.
Q: How do you see the future of zombies? A: If I have anything to do with it, they'll be slow. But who knows? They can walk on ceilings now. Whichever way it's going to go. Sometimes, if something goes out and makes money, then everybody wants to do more. I'm very cynical about that aspect. So I have my little gig going here.
Q: Any idea why zombies are so popular? A: It beats me. The Fangoria people, they're just in it for the gore. Some people are into my stuff because of the allegorical aspects of it. I don't know why it's become so popular that way. However, I say the same thing. It's mostly video games. Most of the films have not made lots of money, compared to other big hit films. People don't flock to see these things. There's a central core of fans but the zombie has become familiar. The creature has become familiar. There's a vampire on Sesame Street.
Q: Are audiences more receptive to horror films now?A: I don't know. Maybe some of the prejudice is wearing off - but I don't know. Quantity I would agree but it's definitely cyclical. In the days, when they were cranking out a Friday 13th every week, there were probably more horror films made then from all the different franchises.
Q: Do you see your films as similar to the Halloween franchise?A: I'm not in that league. I'm not gambling at the same window.
Q: Do you not think of your films as a franchise?A: Oh, yeah - but it ain't Halloween, is it? Thankfully, I have worldwide a lot of very enthusiastic fans that will always buy the DVD. At least I have that position - so that's my calling card. None of these movies will ever go through the roof.
