Customer Reviews

THe Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh: The Films of George A. Romero

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Paul R. Gagne's book on George A. Romero, charts his career from it's beginnings as a kid with a camera, to being an ad man to doing his debut "Night of the Living Dead" and through the subsequent highs (Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow and Martin)and lows (There's Always Vanilla, Jack's Wife) and everything else in between (Day of the Dead, Knightriders, The Crazies, television series' et al.) up until about 1986 or so.

After a historical background, the book is divided up into a film by film basis and each chapter covers the origins of each project, the inspirations behind them, how they were done, anecdotes from various participants and then conclude with Romero's point-of-view on the particular venture. It's a nice comprehensive format and makes for good reading.

The book also contains a chapter at the end on Savini's work and how it was achieved, a comprehensive filmography, discography and possible future direction for Romero which at the time of purchase (1988) were probably a bit more accurate. Also of note are the large amounts of photos within the text (B&W), and the very nice colour spread in the centre. A very well written and well researched biog/filmography on one of films less understood and less represented auters.

This book is the definative story of the films of George A. Romero. In fact, it's the only book that's soley dedicated to his films. Gagne recounts Romero's humble beginings at Image Ten Inc. working with John Russo, Bill Hinzman, and Russ Streiner. He concludes with Romero's production and writing credits for 'Tales from the Darkside'(The book was published in 1987). The book is very well written, researched, and contains information not published elsewhere. Gagne's writing-style is straight-forward and insightful. Obviously, Gagne is a fan and writes with great care and affinity. This is a magnificent book and is a must for all George A. Romero fans.

For those who do not believe that horror icon Romero is an artist passionate about his work I submit this book as a testament that he in fact is. Although hopelessly out of date by now (it ends with a mention of Monkeyshines being his next movie) it still remains a vibrant look at the independant spirit that brings all of Romero's work life. Required reading for Romero fans (both fair weather and die hard). Highly recommended.

George Romero has always been one of my all time favorite directors, ever seen I randomly bought Night of the Living Dead at the mall in Kansas City, MO. I'm not sure what prompted me. I remember hearing rumors of how gory it was in junior high school. I now know that I confused Night with the much more graphic Dawn of the Dead. Still, Night is the better horror movie with Dawn being more of an action party movie.
Paul Gagne does good work covering Romero from growing up in the Bronx to making commericals and industrial films in Pittsburgh.
The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh cover Romero films from Night of the Living Dead to Day of the Dead with a special mention of Tales from the Darkside TV series.
This is a great look at an uncompromising independent director and how he scared Hollywood by sticking to his own guns and not following any studio system.
I have seen most of Romero's work and I am not a big fan of Martin or Knightriders. However I did enjoy, Night, Dawn, Day, and Creepshow. The Crazies was entertaining when I watched it growing up in the 80's and found it at Blockbusters on VHS.
Sadly, Romero has lost his touch with two recent direct-to-dvd movies, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead, which I haven't seen and I have no plans to. The last movie that I remember playing on the big screen and having Romero's name on it was Land of the Dead, which was average and not something I can watch repeatedly like Night or Dawn. Day can be such a depressfest that I watch it mainly for Tom Savini's gory effects.
That's the only way to make Day of the Dead fun.
Romero has done a few movies in the 90's that few people saw or even heard of except for hardcore fans.
The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh is for those of us who appreciate Romero from Night to Day and a few good ones in between, mainly Creepshow.
The biography material is solid and the problems making small indies movies is discussed. I love the appendix section on Paul Gagne playing a zombie extra in Day of the Dead.
Highly recommended and a fun read for Romero and Zombie fans everywhere.