George Romero needs little introduction. He’s not just a legendary independent filmmaker who’s been writing, producing and directing films for more than four decades–in addition to editing and acting. He remains perhaps for his debut feature film, “Night of the Living Dead,” which in recent years has been acknowledged as not just an iconic horror film, but an important film with social and political significance that has been named to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.
He’s best known for his zombie films, but he’s made many other films ranging from “The Crazies” and “The Dark Half” to “Dawn of the Dead” and “Creepshow” to “Martin” and the recent “Survival of the Dead.” Last year he announced a new project. “Empire of the Dead” is a longform comic published by Marvel that represents a different look at zombies. Drawn by the acclaimed artist Alex Maleev, the book is a strange, chilling look at a New York City that’s been transformed by the rise of the undead, but Romero isn’t just covering old ground, he’s doing something new and described the book as a continuation of his thinking about the genre.
Mr. Romero was also kind enough to offer a preview of the third issue of “Empire of the Dead,” which is available today in comic stores or digitally:
https://comicstore.marvel.com/George-Romeros-Empire-of-the-Dead-Act-One/comics-series/12634
ALEX DUEBEN: Because of your film Creepshow, I’ve always assumed you were a fan of and influenced by old EC comics and others, but were you influenced by comics? Were you a fan of horror even when you were young?
GEORGE ROMERO: I was a fan of all kinds of movies when I was a kid, and a comic book fan, too. I loved Westerns like Red River and horror movies like The Thing, and I really loved the old EC comics. I had a great time directing Creepshow, and I was heavily influenced by my memories of reading those books when I was a kid.
AD: Where did the ideas in Empire of the Dead come from? Your thinking about zombies and how to address them have changed over the years and over the course of your movies.
GR: My basic premise about the living dead hasn’t really changed that much over the years. They’re our neighbors, our families, our friends. We recognize them and they frighten us at the same time. I think that’s what makes them interesting to people. But, yes, the stories have changed over the years as I have, and the ideas in Empire are a by-product of that.
AD: This idea of zombies evolving and their personalities coming out. What inspired that? Or was this always part of your conception of zombies going back to Night of the Living Dead?
GR: I’ve always tried to give the living dead their own personalities in my movies, through the wardrobe they wear, their make-ups, the props they carry, how they’re cast. It’s good to get a feeling for who they were when they were still alive, you know?
The idea of zombies evolving, I’ve been exploring that for a while. If you think about Bub in Day of the Dead or Big Daddy in Land of the Dead, those guys were both smarter than the average zombie. The question is why? Is it because they were they smarter when they were alive? Is there something special about them? Or is there something else going on beneath the surface?
AD: As a longtime independent filmmaker and a New Yorker, do you feel excited to be taking over Manhattan–on the page, even if you couldn’t afford to do it on film?
GR: It’s not really just about the amount of the production budget, although it’s true that part of the fun of working on a comic book is that I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to film what I write! For Empire, I wanted a location that would be recognizable to everyone, and I wanted to be able to show how things have changed there and how the living are dealing with the threat of the living dead. New York is where I was born and it just seemed like the perfect choice.
AD: Are you a fan of the zombie sub-genre that’s become huge in the past decade or so? I’m still a little amazed at just how many people are passionate zombie fans–fans of the creatures you conceived of.
GR: I read and see some of the things that are around and, yes, I’m surprised at how popular the living dead have become. I think video games are a big part of it. People seem to be having a really great time blowing away zombies on their iPads.
AD: I ask in part because this idea of zombies as mindless creatures–more like a virus than anything–have become the monsters of the moment. Do you have any thoughts on why that is?
GR: They’re not mindless, they’re just dead! Which makes it hard for them to remember who they used to be, how they used to behave. (It’s also why they can’t run fast. At least my guys can’t. Their ankles would snap off.) But what if those memories were still alive inside them and could churn back up to the surface?
Anyway, I really can’t explain why they’ve become the hot monster. Maybe because they’re familiar. We can relate to them. They’re hungry, and scary, and somehow, more often than not, they seem to get what they want.
AD: There’s still a lot of story and many issues to come. Is there anything coming up that you’d like to hint at or tease that’s coming up you’re really excited about?
GR: I’m excited about the whole story and the twists and turns it’s taking. Is that enough of a tease? No? Well, I can tell you this. In Empire, the zombies aren’t the only kind of living dead.
