Romero Turns 68, Unleashes Diary

Film legend George A. Romero turns 68 today. Showing no signs of letting up, Romero is continuing to reinvent the genre he revolutionized some 40 years ago. It's safe to say that his finest contribution to cinema came in the form of 1968's Night of the Living Dead, a zombie film that emphasizes tension over gore, and is steeped with social commentary. Romero has always utilized the zombie genre as a format to comment on social conditions, as Living Dead took on segregation and racism.

In Living Dead's bleak ending, the film's hero - a black man who has managed to survive a horrendous night of zombie attacks - is gunned down by white authorities who have confused him - by just a glance - for one of the living dead. As they exit proud of themselves, we are left with as chilling an ending as any horror conclusion you will find. Later, 1978's Dawn of the Dead took on consumerism and the military, while 2005's Land of the Dead addressed everything from immigration to capitalism.

His films have been remade (the best being 2004's Dawn) and lovingly spoofed (2004's Shaun of the Dead), while inspiring a whole slew of films that followed (Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, for instance).

This decade has seen a reemergence in the interest for zombie flicks, shining a new light on Romero's work. February will hold the release of Diary of the Dead, which is being marketed heavily through MySpace. Romero says of Diary, "It’s the first film since my original Night of the Living Dead that I can say is completely my own."

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If it were anyone but Romero, I would probably question the film-within-a-film approach. Having lived through the Blair Witch hoopla and its subsequent fallout, such cinematic attempts at postmodernism have been far less theoretical, and significantly more gimmicky. That being said, the obsessive documentation of our lives which comes with being the YouTube generation is worthy of commentary (and cinematic exploration). If there is any horror filmmaker who could intelligently engage with our current media state, I'd say Romero is that individual.