George A. Romero talks Land of the Dead !

George A. Romero, grand master of the undead, was not pleased with the quality of fear showing on a pair of extras, costumed as security guards, in the face of an invading zombie army here last week. "These guys aren't acting like there's a war going on," Mr. Romero moaned, after directing perhaps the 10th take of what should have been a two-take shot. "Can we rehearse them, please?"

A tall, shaggy bear of a man with a beard, ponytail and oversize, square black glasses, Mr. Romero believes the current revival says more about Hollywood than the culture at large. "If one horror film hits,'' he said in an interview, "everyone says, 'Let's go make a horror film.' It's the genre that never dies.'' In addition, he said, he thinks the "Resident Evil'' video games "woke everyone up."

"The idea of living with terrorism - I've tried to make it more applicable to the concerns Americans are going through now," Mr. Romero said. The reworked script immediately attracted attention from 20th Century Fox. But negotiations dragged on for a year, until the producer Mark Canton had lunch with Mr. Romero's agent and asked about the director.

"All the other zombie films are just a warmup for Romero's zombie film," Mr. Timpone said. "George is the godfather of the zombie movie."

You can read the whole article here.

Source: The New York Times / Lewis Beale