Dawn of the Dead (2004): 10 Things You Didn’t Know

Image from Universal

9. George A. Romero himself didn’t care for the remake.

I’ve already noticed how it seems as if George Romero doesn’t care for any zombie fiction other than his own. In some ways, I understand. He basically introduced zombies to film in a way nobody had ever done, kickstarting what would eventually become a horror movie sub-culture. The zombie sub-genre is “his baby”, you might say.

Still, I can’t help but feel like he comes across as jealous and bitter whenever he’s asked about other forms of zombie fiction. Infamously, he buried The Walking Dead, saying he refused multiple opportunities to be involved with the TV series. Apparently, he was upset that Robert Kirkman only used his zombies to tell horror stories, rather than trying to use them for “political satire”.

That silly reason is also why he dogged the Dawn of the Dead remake. Claiming to only enjoy the first 15 or 20 minutes, Romero said of the film, “I didn’t like it very much. Basically, because I was using the idea for satire.” Same deal as The Walking Dead.

So, the godfather of zombies doesn’t like some of the best works of fiction inspired by his original film trilogy, simply because the zombies are not MAD Magazine style political parodies. I guess if you wanna win Romero over with your zombie flick, put the biters in Donald Trump wigs.

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