George A Romero Birth Anniversary: From Slither to The Evil Dead, 5 Horror Films That Were Heavily Inspired by the Works of the Legendary Director

George A Romero is a name that you might have heard pop up every now and then when discussing zombies in media. Practically the man who revolutionised horror for the new day and age with his Night of the Living Dead series, Romero is responsible for bringing zombies into the modern culture. Creating some iconic movies like Dawn of the Dead, Bruiser and more, the director has by far constantly created some of the most influential watches of our time. George A Romero Birth Anniversary Special: 5 Terrifying Horror Films Made by the Father of Zombie Movies.

Romero’s career is extremely influential – so-much-so actually that modern directors still borrow a ton of influence and style from him. With Romero constantly aiming for practicality and innovating a genre that wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for him, one could say he is something of an icon. So, to celebrate his birth anniversary lets take a look at five films that were heavily inspired by his works.

28 Days Later

Starting off a bit different with this list, Danny Boyle’s zombie flick features a lot of iconographies that Romero was famous for. While Boyle added his own flair here by making the zombies fast rather than having them trot slowly, the film still had many themes pertaining to how humanity can be just as dangerous as the undead, which was a common theme explored in many of Romero’s films.

Get Out

While Peele’s Get Out doesn’t focus on any supernatural or monstrous threat per se, the underlying use of satire to showcase real social problems was something that was borrowed straight from Romero. Peele has been open about the influences that Romero had on his directorial debut, and given how the original ending of Get Out was similar to that of Night of the Living Dead, it’s safe to assume that Jordan surely had a lot of respect for Romero.

The Evil Dead

Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead is by far one of the most fun you can have watching a horror film. Having a campy tone to it with the Deadites feeling like they were ripped straight from the designs of Romero, Raimi clearly wore his influences on his sleeves and made for one hell of a trip. It’s easy to see where he got his inspirations from, and the themes of Romero stick here extremely well.

From Dusk till Dawn

Robert Rodriguez’s vampire flick certainly packed a punch. While the film of course didn’t have zombies, the director has confirmed at many times that Romero was a huge influence when it came to From Dusk till Dawn. The classic formula of trapping a bunch of people while a bunch of blood thirsty monsters are gunning for them, it can’t get better than this.

Slither

While James Gunn wrote the 2004 reboot of Dawn of the Dead, the director pretty much amped up everything when it came to Slither. Using practical effects to make the monster seem all the more real, it is pretty much visible what Gunn is trying to do here and it works in tenfold given he has talked about how Romero was a pretty much a huge inspiration. Did You Know R Madhavan Had Starred in the Animated Remake of George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead?

While George Romero sadly passed away in 2017, his legacy still lives on through his work and those who continue to be inspired by him. With this, we finish off the list and remember this iconic

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 04, 2023 03:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).