George A. Romero, 'Night of the Living Dead' creator, dies at 77

Legendary filmmaker George A. Romero, father of the modern movie zombie and creator of the groundbreaking “Night of the Living Dead” franchise, has died at 77, his family said.

Romero died Sunday in his sleep following a “brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer,” according to a statement to The Times provided by his longtime producing partner, Peter Grunwald. Romero died while listening to the score of one his favorite films, 1952’s “The Quiet Man,” with his wife, Suzanne Desrocher Romero, and daughter, Tina Romero, at his side, the family said.

Romero jump-started the zombie genre as the co-writer (with John A. Russo) and director of the 1968 movie “Night of the Living Dead,” which went to show future generations of filmmakers such as Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter that generating big scares didn’t require big budgets. “Living Dead” spawned an entire school of zombie knockoffs, and Romero’s sequels included 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead,” 1985’s “Day of the Dead,” 2005’s “Land of the Dead,” 2007’s “Diary of the Dead” and 2009’s “George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead.”

Read more: George A. Romero, 'Night of the Living Dead' creator, dies at 77

George Romero getting star on Hollywood Walk of Fame!

The director of one of Night of the Living Dead, one the most iconic films ever made is finally getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Hollywood Chamber of commerce announced that George A. Romero will get a star for his wpork in motion pictures along with other such as Amy Adams, Jason Bateman, Goldie Hawn, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Pratt, Brett Ratner, Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo and Rita Wilson.







George A. Romero Films (director)

Survival of the Dead 

 2007Diary of the Dead 

 2005Land of the Dead 

 2000Bruiser 

 1993The Dark Half 

 1990Two Evil Eyes (segment "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar", as George Romero) 

 1988Monkey Shines 

 1985Day of the Dead 

 1982Creepshow 

 1981Knightriders 

 1978Dawn of the Dead 

 1977Martin 

 1976Magic at the Roxy (TV Special) 

 1974O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose (TV Movie documentary) (as George Romero) 

 1974The Winners (TV Series documentary) (1 episode)

- Willie Stargell: If I Didn't Play Baseball (1974)

 1973The Crazies 

 1972Hungry Wives 

 1971There's Always Vanilla 

 1968Night of the Living Dead 

 1962Expostulations (Short) 

Film Review: Birth of the Living Dead

Birth of the Living Dead is a documentary directed by Rob Kuhns. The movie is about the making of George A. Romero's iconic film Night of the Living Dead. To be honest if you are a die hard fan of the movie you may not learn that much but to hear George Romero explain things makes the short 76 minute running time a must watch.

George Romero tells some great stories about getting the film made and finally finished. It's fun to see how many different roles cast and crew played to get the film made.

Without beating you over the head with it the documentary touches on racism although race is never actually discussed in the film. During this part of the film Romero makes an admission that was surprising to me about that fact.

The interviews with film historians, horror writers, and fans are great especially when fans discuss what went on in the theaters while people watched the movie.

I highly recommend you check this movie out if you are not only a George Romero fan but a zombie fan. I found the film on Comcast via Streamflix for free. It's on Youtube for $3.99 here: Youtube: birth of the living dead. It is also available via video streaming ($3.99) and on DVD at Amazon. The links are below:

Streaming---------DVD

Animated ‘Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D’ Is Done.

Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D

Screening May 1

May 09, 2014 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Cannes Film Festival 2014

MOSCOW--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With a seemingly unquenchable appetite for zombie movies, movie-goers will get their fill with Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D, a 3D animated reboot of the original 1968 horror classic. The film features visual effects from The Graphic Film Company, Los Angeles, which relied on the iPi Soft markerless iPi Motion Capture software solution. [Editor’s Note: Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D will screen at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16. For passes and more information please contact Anthony Hoit, Graphic Film Company,ahoit@thegraphicfilmcompany.com.]

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“There are a scant few examples of animated horror films, let alone ones that honor a classic like Night of the Living Dead, but this project is very special,” Michael Nikonov, iPi Soft’s Chief Technology Architect says. “The fact that most of the film features motion capture, with a substantial amount created using iPi Motion Capture, stands as the best evidence our motion capture solution accelerates creativity easily and affordably.”

Produced by noted Hollywood filmmaker Simon West (The Expendables 2, Con Air) and Jib Polhemus, and directed by Krisztian Majdik and Zebediah De Soto, Night of the Living Dead: 3D Origins is a highly-stylized film, with a look that sits somewhere between 3D animation and a graphic novel. It centers on a group of desperate survivors fighting to stay alive barricaded in an abandoned apartment building. Confined and under attack, the characters struggle to survive while also confronting their own sense of humanity.

For Anthony Hoit, Graphic Film Company’s Chief Systems Administrator and Stereographer/Technical Director on the film, it was iPi Motion Capture’s ease of use and high-quality motion data captured that provided the technical advantage from both a creative and a budget prospective.

“What most impressed me was how easy it was to take an idea, capture it with iPi Motion Capture, clean it up using an animation tool like Maya and drop it into a scene,” Hoit says. “We’re talking a total time from concept to scene file of about 30 minutes. That’s pretty amazing.”

“Night of the Living Dead: Origin 3D” Image Links

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https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/10285720_254975294689221_9065084679154274422_o.jpg

https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31.0-8/1557277_254975214689229_7132388376066900760_o.jpg

About iPi Soft:

Launched in 2008 by CEO and Chief Technology Architect Michael Nikonov, iPi Soft, LLC is the Moscow-based developer of iPi Motion Capture™, a markerless motion capture software tool that uses sophisticated image processing and computer vision algorithms to recognize and track the human body. The company’s breakthrough technology digitizes the movement of a human skeleton, rendering it in expressive 3D characters for video games or computer generated films. For additional information, on iPi Soft, product pricing or a 30-day free trial please visit,http://www.ipisoft.com.

All trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

Vicky Gray-Clark
Ambient PR
vicky@ambientpr.com
408-318-1980

Zombie nation: A gory history, from A to 'World War Z'

There was a story on zombies today in my local paper, The Star Ledger. It focuses on the history of zombies in cinema. It was very interesting and I thought readers of this blog might like it. Check it our below. George Cook, Thedeadwarseries.com

There is a fiend for every fear.

The loss of emotional control? The werewolf is here, ready to turn you into a beast. The perils of physical intimacy? Bare your throat for the tainted kiss of the vampire.

But there's a deeper terror.

Those monsters only threaten to add something to who you are. The zombie takes what you've become — and wipes it away. He's an erasure of the self. He's perpetual anonymity. He's psychic annihilation.

Know your zombie stuff? Play zombie hangman and find out.

So you think you know you zombie stuff? Play the Dead War Series Hangman game and prove it.

The Dead War Series Zombie Contest. Win The Dead War Series: Short Stories Volume 1

UPDATE 08/04/2012 7:30 AM EST We have 4 winners so far. Only 1 more to go

Hi all this is George Cook author of The Dead War Series, Alone with the Dead, and The Dead War Series: Short stories Volume 1 ( Kindle only ). I am running a contest to give away 5 copies of The Dead War Series: The Short Stories Volume 1. The first five people to correctly answer the zombie trivia questions will win a copy. ANSWERS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY EMAIL! Do not use the comment box to answer. All answers should be sent to georgelcookiii@gmail.com This contest will close after the fifth person gives the correct answers. You may try again and again until you get it right.

Here are the questions?

1. What were the TWO working titles of Night of the Living Dead during it's filming.?

2. How many times has Night of the Living Dead been remade?

3. Which zombie film introduced the concept of the walking dead wanting to eat brains?

4.In Night of the Living Dead what is believed to be the cause of the dead reanimating? ( answer must be specific )

5. In Return of the Living Dead what caused the reanimation of the dead? ( answer must be specific! )

First Winner: Tim Malik.

Second Winner: Jonathon Reid

Third Winner: Branden Bohan

Fourth Winner: Sem892

What would most likely cause a zombie apocalypse?

What do you think would actually cause a zombie apocalypse? In my book The Dead War Series: Book 1 ( Yes that's a shameless plug ) the cause is believed to be a biological weapon. What else do you think could cause a zombie apocalypse?