George A. Romero is one of the most popular and influential horror movie directors of all time. If it wasn’t for Romero, the concept of zombies as brain and flesh-eating monsters never would have become as popular. Romero changed zombies from people enslaved by voodoo to living dead, and audiences loved it.
Even though Romero directed almost twenty feature films before his death in 2017, his zombie movies remain the best-known ones. Those who wish to know Romero’s directorial work better should pay attention to his best horror movies, as rated by the viewers who have already watched them.
5 Creepshow (1982)
George A. Romero was the king of zombie horror, and Stephen King is the king of literary horror in general. So when these two creators joined forces, the result was worth it. Stephen King wrote the screenplay for this 1982 movie. It contains five different scary stories. Since it offers multiple tales, even the viewer who doesn’t like one of the stories has a chance to enjoy the next one more.
Unlike Romero’s other horror movies, Creepshow also works with humor, albeit dark humor. The movie stars known names, such as Ed Harris, Leslie Nielsen, and Ted Danson. What makes it even more memorable is that Stephen King himself played a leading part in one of the stories. Creepshow is an underappreciated movie that deserves even more attention than it had gets.
4 Martin (1976)
Every George A. Romero fan will know that he filmed multiple zombie movies. What is less known is the fact that Romero also made a movie about vampires. However, the vampire in the movie is different from the traditional portrayal of the supernatural monsters. In this film, the titular Martin is a young man who believes himself to be a vampire. It doesn’t matter to him that he has no fangs and can walk out in the sunlight.
After he moves to live with his cousin, Martin starts seeking out victims and attacking them in order to get the blood he thinks he needs to drink. The movie keeps the audience guessing whether Martin is indeed a vampire, or just a confused young man with a lack of morals who doesn’t know what he’s doing. Whatever the cause of his behavior, it doesn’t change the fact that the movie offers more than one scary scene, especially ones in which Martin pursues or attacks people.
3 Day Of The Dead (1985)
Even though George A. Romero’s zombie movie trilogy followed a similar storytelling pattern, each movie was an original story. This time, the movie focuses on a group of scientists and soldiers who are hiding in a bunker and are trying to figure out a way how to cure the zombie epidemic. But before they can do that, the zombies get inside the bunker and a fight for the people’s survival erupts.
All three movies offer an intense atmosphere of almost constant fear. It’s difficult to predict what’ll happen next which means the pace is fast, and the viewers remain captivated from the start to finish. For multiple years, this was Romero’s last zombie movie and the director focused on different horror topics instead.
2 Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
Romero’s zombie movies excelled in providing social commentary. They showed how badly humans can treat each other. At the same time, they function as horrors and are scary to this day. In Dawn of the Dead, a group of people hides in an abandoned store, but has to fight other people. The tension is high in the movie, and it’s unclear who willl live and who will die. All that tension keeps the audience invested in the characters’ fate.
In addition to being frightening, the movie also has the power to make the audience think. It turned out to be the most profitable part of Romero’s original zombie movie trilogy. The movie was so popular that it spawned a 2004 remakethat takes place in a big shopping center. It’s one of the rare situations where the remake also has a lot to offer, but the original version is still a must-watch for all fans of the genre.
1 Night Of The Living Dead (1968)
Not every director can say that their directorial debut changed the course of cinema and pop culture. George A. Romero is one of the few people who managed it. In 1968, Romero redefined what a zombie was in the low-budget horror movie that has since become iconic. The story centers on seven people who hide from zombies on an abandoned farm, but whose troubles are far from over. As the movie suggests, sometimes the greatest monsters aren’t zombies, but humans themselves.
The creators didn’t have a high enough budget to make the movie in color, but the fact that it’s black-and-white adds to its atmosphere. Interestingly enough, even though Night of the Living Dead is considered the first true zombie horror, no character ever uses the term "zombies" in the movie. As well as becoming iconic, the movie also confirmed low-budget horrors can often make a lot of money. It cost only $114,000 to make, and it earned a box office gross of $30 million.