George A. Romero left us already over one year ago. And his legacy is undisputably magnificent. Considered for many the father of zombie movies and even of the new concept of horror movies, the list of classics he directed is almost endless, and the list of titles produced and written by him also truly sets a milestone. Debuting as a feature film director with Night of the Living Dead (1968), then followed Season of the Witch (1972), The Crazies (1973), Martin (1978), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Knightriders (1981), Creepshow (1982), Day of the Dead (1985), Bruiser (2000), Land of the Dead (2005)…. Well, should I really go on?
But the legacy is not sealed yet, because recently it’s been discovered a movie called The Amusement Park. Back at the beginning of October, Romero‘s widow, Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, revealed that the legendary horror director had left behind nearly 50 scripts, an unfinished novel, and an unreleased film from 1973. Daniel Kraus was brought into the fold by Suzanne Desrocher-Romero to help finish the novel that George A. Romero left behind, entitled The Living Dead, which should be out by the fall of 2019. But his discovery of the unreleased gem by the filmmaker was even richer than he expected. The Amusement Park has only been seen by a select few over the years, and Kraus is one of them.
After watching the film and being as shocked as astonished by the images seen, Daniel Kraus mentioned that The Amusement Park “with the exception of Night of the Living Dead (1968) it is maybe Romero‘s most overtly horrifying film. Hugely upsetting in form & function“. He added “it was never shown publicly. The people who funded it wouldn’t allow it. And no wonder. It’s hellish. In Romero‘s long career of criticizing American institutions, never was he so merciless”. It’s believed that the project was funded by a religious group, so I can only imagine what kind of a shock it would have been if what is said about the film is true.
The Amusement Park is about an elderly gentleman goes for what he assumes will be an ordinary day at the amusement park, only to find himself in the middle of a hellish nightmare instead. The movie still remains unreleased for the audience, but that might change soon. On George A. Romero‘s official website (www.georgearomerofoundation.org), fans can donate money to get the project restored, but there’s no information on what could happen when it finally goes through the restoration process. What is sure is that since its existence has been already made public and the unprecedented interest this has generated is growing, the movie might see the light sooner or later, in one way or another.
Daniel Kraus is better known for being a novel author with a big focusing on horror themes. He has also directed a few documentaries and lately he’s been collaborating with Guillermo del Toro as associate producer of The Shape of Water (2017) and also being one of the main screenwriters of Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016–2018) animation TV series.
I’m about to watch George A. Romero’s virtually unseen 1973 movie THE AMUSEMENT PARK (shot between Season of the Witch & The Crazies). Been trying to find this for 20 years. pic.twitter.com/ng6WqOeR6y
— Daniel Kraus (@DanielDKraus) November 10, 2018
