George A. Romero is frequently referred to as the godfather of the zombie movie, and for good reason. Starting with Night of the Living Dead in 1968, the filmmaker’s work both established and defined many of the tropes associated with shuffling hordes of the undead that are still widely used across various forms of media in the modern day.
Although Romero would continue adding to his zombie collection over the next four decades, suffering from greatly diminished returns in the process as 2009’s Survival of the Dead arrived to little fanfare before quickly being forgotten about completely, he didn’t work exclusively within one of horror’s most popular sub-genre’s either.
The Crazies, Creepshow, Knightriders and Martin all received enthusiastic reviews as Romero proved on numerous occasions that his talents for working in the realm of horror extended far beyond just churning out zombie sequels, but there was one entry in his filmography that many thought would never see the light of day until now.
The Amusement Park was originally made in 1973, and since then has gained almost mythic status among both diehard Romero fans and the scholars and historians of the horror movie, with many believing it was lost to the sands of time. However, after his passing in 2017, his wife discovered and restored the print and the forgotten film is now being shopped around at the Cannes Film Festival’s virtual market.
This is huge news for George A. Romero fans because only a handful of people have been able to say that they’ve seen The Amusement Park in its entirety, and they’ve been hugely enthusiastic in their praise. Guillermo del Toro said that it was ‘Romero’s most overtly horrifying film,’ and if it finds a buyer, then a home video release will surely follow soon after.
