At Anorak: The Five Most Underrated George A. Romero Movies

My newest article at Anorak -- "The Same Animals...Only Functioning Less Perfectly" -- studies the five most underrated films in director George A. Romero's film canon.

Here's a snippet of the piece (and here's the URL since some folks are having trouble seeing the links: http://www.anorak.co.uk/400587/keyposts/the-same-animalsonly-functioning-less-perfectly-the-five-most-underrated-george-a-romero-movies.html/ )

GEORGE Romero’s impressive movie-making career stretches back to the Pittsburgh area in the late 1960s and spans over forty years.

Like many horror filmmakers of his generation, Romero has seen his share of big successes, like Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Creepshow (1982), critical darlings like Martin (1976), cult classics such as The Crazies (1973) and the occasional out-right bomb, like Diary of the Dead (2007).

But several of Romero’s finer films didn’t meet with financial or critical success, and deserve to have further light shone on them.  Accordingly, my selections for the most underrated of his feature films are listed below.

At Anorak: "They're Dead. They're All Messed Up,"My Look Back at Night of the Living Dead (1968)

I'm pleased as punch to have a new film/TV/nostalgia writing gig (twice a week) over at Anorak, and my first work has just been posted this afternoon  

It's called "They're Dead. They're All Messed Up" - How George Romero's Night of the Living Dead Recreates the Unrest of 1968," and it is timed to celebrate the return of The Walking Dead, Season 4.   Basically, it's a review of Night, taking into account, primarily, the historical context in America.

Here's a brief snippet: 

"THE AMC original TV series Mad Men (2007 – ) set its latest season against a disquieting historical backdrop: the turbulent events of the year 1968.

Specifically, Matthew Weiner’s award-winning period drama book-ended the season with allusions to two classic genre films from that year: Franklin Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes and Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby.

Both are excellent selections that showcase, respectively, global and spiritual apocalypse.

Yet there is another film — one released on October 1^st, 1968 — that also represents perfectly the turmoil of America during that season: George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead...."

I hope you'll read the rest of the article, and leave a comment on Anorak.  I'll keep you up to date here as other JKM reviews pop up there as well...