George A Romero’s favourite George A Romero movie
When you’ve created a wealth of important cultural moments for a mass audience, there is one question that will undoubtedly follow you everywhere you go. Whether you are a famous musician like Led Zeppelin, a renowned painter like Pablo Picasso, or a gifted director like George A Romero, when you make art and enrich the lives of millions by doing so, then those same millions will likely want to know which of those pieces most enriched your life as a creator.
It’s a tale as old as journalism itself. Finding out your favourite work from your favourite artist’s impressive collection is thrilling. It might be because the insight provides you with a connection to their work that feels intimate; it might simply be because you want your favourite movie by Steven Spielberg to be his, too. Or, perhaps we, as an audience, just like to have information. Either way, the question has been asked to almost every important artist we have ever known.
Curiously, however, for Romero, in his interview with Sight & Sound, things played out a little differently in revealing his favourite picture of his own making. However, considering Romero’s filmography is, in itself, a little more than curious, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.
Romero is rightly considered the godfather of zombie cinema, having revolutionised horror movies with his groundbreaking 1968 picture Night of the Living Dead. It would continue with the completion of his “Dead” series with 1978’s Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead in 1985 and mark Romero as a true visionary in his field. While the gore and setting was all enough to make him a horror hero, it was his societal critiques beneath the blood and guts that confirmed him as a real artist.
His most considered contribution to cinema is not necessarily the movies he made but the sheer volume of pictures he inspired. A genre pioneer in the most honest sense, Romero remained fiercely independent and seemed to reject the allure of Hollywood whenever he could. Low-budget, DIY efforts they may have been, but the movies of Romero packed a punch that barely anyone could take straight to the eyeball. But this trilogy of landmark horror movies isn’t considered one of the director’s favourites.
During the conversation with the publication, the chat turns to Martin, Romero’s most underrated picture. Released in 1977, it sees the director take himself into the realm of the vampire flick with natural dexterity. Refusing to rely on tropes and unwanted stereotypes, the question of whether the titular character is actually a vampire or simply haunting the streets of Pittsburgh with his razor blade as a part of a demented fantasy remains prevalent throughout the movie.
For Romero, it is his most treasured creation: “It is my favourite film of mine”. As the interviewer presses towards its personal nature, Romero explains, “Yeah. I would say [1981’s] Knightriders is maybe a bit more personal in that it is a little more about me – my own defiance. I won’t say I’m uncompromising but I won’t compromise just for the hell of it.”
Martin is certainly one of the more indelible expressions of Romero’s own artistic journey. An 84-year-old vampire trapped in the body of a teenage boy who is not only isolated and victimised by his environment but also unable to truly be a vampire. Stuck between monster and man, Martin is completely alone. There is good reason one might see this, therefore, as a reflection of Romero’s life and his most beloved movie.
However, it might be easier to posit that it is his favourite film because Martin stands out in Romero’s oeuvre as a daring and introspective exploration of the director’s fascination with human monsters and the societal forces that shape them.
