George A. Romero Quotes

I have a very quiet life. There's nothing weird.

- George A. Romero

I wanted 'Night of the Living Dead' to look naturalistic, but we weren't able to do it because we were shooting with a blimped 35mm camera, which is automatically static.

- George A. Romero

When I was old enough to go to movies alone, I got to see 'Frankenstein' and 'Dracula' on the big screen. I just fell in love with them.

- George A. Romero

I saw 'Dracula,' 'Frankenstein,' 'The Wolf Man,' 'The Invisible Man.' I saw all those guys on the big screen at RKO in the Bronx. I just always loved that stuff. I loved other stuff, too. That's the thing. That wasn't all I wanted to be.

- George A. Romero

'Night of the Living Dead,' then 'Dawn of the Dead' is a few weeks later, 'Day of the Dead' months later, and 'Land of the Dead' is three years later. Each one spoke about a different decade and was stylistically different.

- George A. Romero

I grew up on the old EC comic books before the Comics Code in North American and with all sort of good-natured fun. I never had nightmares I think because all of the old horror stuff that I was exposed to was well meaning in a certain sense.

- George A. Romero

When we made 'Night of the Living Dead,' we got riddled. There was this famous article Roger Ebert wrote just blasting the film because he had gone to see it at some screening where there were all these kids in the audience. I don't know why that happened. We didn't make the movie for kids.

- George A. Romero

The horror films that I've made have been satirical in one way or another or political, and I really think that's the purpose of horror. I don't see that happening very often.

- George A. Romero

My zombie films were all sort of satirical, with political messages. So I was doing them inexpensively and quietly off in left field somewhere.

- George A. Romero

I'm a Turner Classic Movies guy. That's it. I'd much rather sit here and watch an oldie than anything new.

- George A. Romero

As movie monsters go, zombies are the most human. They were human at one time. So we are confronted with ourselves in a way, which is much more frightening and disturbing.

- George A. Romero

Collaborate, don't dictate.

- George A. Romero

A zombie film is not fun without a bunch of stupid people running around and observing how they fail to handle the situation.

- George A. Romero

Nursery rhymes were political when they were first written! To me, that's what it's about: it's about using it to say something more than just what the story is.

- George A. Romero

There are so many factors when you think of your own films. You think of the people you worked on it with, and somehow forget the movie. You can't forgive the movie for a long time. It takes a few years to look at it with any objectivity and forgive its flaws.

- George A. Romero

The most realistic blood I've seen is when Marlon Brando gets beat up in On The Waterfront.

- George A. Romero

I have a soft spot in my heart for the zombies.

- George A. Romero

I'm more alarmed by people reacting violently to the violence in my films than I am by the violence in films.

- George A. Romero

You just wish you could lobotomize yourself and just do a thing that's really on instinct. There's always a certain self-consciousness. And you worry about that.

- George A. Romero

I didn't much care for the 'Dawn' remake. It was a well-made action movie but really wasn't anything like my 'Dawn Of The Dead.'

- George A. Romero

I'd love to make a film like 'Pan's Labyrinth.'

- George A. Romero

Pittsburgh, for a while, became a production centre. There was one $400 million year. Hollywood was bringing productions in there. Films like 'The Silence of the Lambs' and 'Innocent Blood.' So my guys, the guys I worked with, were able to have careers and live at home. But then it dried up, and a lot of my friends left.

- George A. Romero

When you are working with low budgets and you have a gunshot with a squib and it goes wrong - the gun flash does not synchronize with the squib or whatever - it takes half an hour or 40 minutes to clean it all up and reset it. It's much easier to use a computer to paint in the flash and splatter.

- George A. Romero

Comic books and radio were my escape. I even remember 3-D comic books where you put on the red-and-green glasses and Mighty Mouse would punch you in the face. It was the literature of the day for kids my age who were too bored with listening to 'Peter and the Wolf' on the record player.

- George A. Romero

If I fail, the film industry writes me off as another statistic. If I succeed, they pay me a million bucks to fly out to Hollywood and fart.

- George A. Romero

My stuff is my stuff. I do it for my own reasons, using my own peculiar set of guidelines.

- George A. Romero

I go to conventions and universities and talk to young filmmakers and everybody's making a zombie movie! It's because it's easy to get the neighbors to come out, put some ketchup on them.

- George A. Romero

I'm amazed. I go to these conventions, and the fans that come, sometimes my line goes all day.

- George A. Romero

I go to these horror conventions all the time, and these audiences get so deep into it. They've pulled apart every movie fifty ways from Sunday.

- George A. Romero

For a Catholic kid in parochial school, the only way to survive the beatings - by classmates, not the nuns - was to be the funny guy.

- George A. Romero

I grew up on EC comic books and 'Tales From the Crypt,' which were all loaded with humor, bad jokes, and puns. I can have that kind of fun and make these comic book movies but, at the same time, talk about things I want to talk about - whether it's consumerism or the Bush administration or war.

- George A. Romero

Basically, I'm an EC comic book guy, man. You can show me anything that's high-spirited horror, and I'll be there giggling.

- George A. Romero

Anybody who tunes into Rush Limabaugh already knows what he's going to say and is already inclined to agree. So it winds up creating tribes.

- George A. Romero

When you're shooting super-low-budget - we had 20 days to shoot 'Diary,' and a little over $2 - time is money.

- George A. Romero

As great as Ed is, the wisdom out here is that he can't carry a movie. They'll pay him $3 million to be the second banana in Julia Roberts things. But they won't put up $3 million for an Ed Harris movie.

- George A. Romero

After 'Land,' I wanted to do something about emerging media and citizen journalism, so I got this idea for 'Diary of the Dead.'

- George A. Romero

To me, the zombies have always just been zombies. They've always been a cigar. When I first made 'Night of the Living Dead,' it got analyzed and overanalyzed way out of proportion. The zombies were written about as if they represented Nixon's Silent Majority or whatever. But I never thought about it that way.

- George A. Romero

The grotesque has never really affected or frightened me. I guess it's real-life stuff that frightens me much more.

- George A. Romero

I used to be able to pitch them on the basis of the zombie action, and I could hide the message inside that. Now, you can't. The moment you mention the word 'zombie,' it's got to be, 'Hey, Brad Pitt paid $400 million to do that.'

- George A. Romero

Because of 'World War Z' and 'The Walking Dead,' I can't pitch a modest little zombie film which is meant to be sociopolitical.

- George A. Romero

As a filmmaker you get typecast just as much as an actor does, so I'm trapped in a genre that I love, but I'm trapped in it!

- George A. Romero

I don't think you need to spend $40 million to be creepy. The best horror films are the ones that are much less endowed.

- George A. Romero

I sit around listening to classical music. I don't play video games. I love to go to dinner, go on picnics, travel.

- George A. Romero

If I go to a movie and it's particularly violent, and people are leaving the theatre ready to vomit, we're sitting there with our popcorn just chuckling.

- George A. Romero

I sympathize with the zombies and am not even sure they are villains. To me they are this earth-changing thing. God or the devil changed the rules, and dead people are not staying dead.

- George A. Romero

'The Thing from Another World' was the first movie that really scared me.

- George A. Romero

'The Thing from Another World' was the first movie that really scared me. But the one that made me want to make movies was 'The Tales of Hoffman.' That's my favorite film of all time. It's a fantasy film. It's an opera. I never get tired of it.

- George A. Romero

With 'Dawn,' I wanted the slick look; I wanted to bring out the nature of the shopping center, the retail displays, the mannequins. There are times when maybe you reflect that the mannequins are more attractive but less real - less sympathetic, even - than the zombies. Put those kinds of images side by side, and you raise all sorts of questions.

- George A. Romero

The 'Dead' films allow me to talk about things that a drama, say, won't. 'Dawn Of The Dead,' which was set in a shopping mall, is on one level about consumerism; 'Land Of The Dead' is a response to Bush.

- George A. Romero

I grew up on DC Comics, moral tales where the bad guys got their comeuppance. To me the gory panels or grotesque stuff just made me chuckle.

- George A. Romero

One thing about a film production is that it must run efficiently; there is no room for dead wood. So somebody that hangs around by the coffee wagon won't get hired again, but somebody who is dedicated and works hard and really puts out will get noticed by the people that matter around there and will get asked to come back again.

- George A. Romero

A lot of my friends are people who do horror films: Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Stephen King.

- George A. Romero

There are very few horror films that I think are worth their salt.

- George A. Romero

Horror films are the anchovies of the cinema. Either you like them, or you don't.

- George A. Romero

My films, I've tried to put a message into them. It's not about the gore; it's not about the horror element that are in them. It's more about the message, for me. That's what it is, and I'm using this platform to be able to show my feelings of what I think.

- George A. Romero

People say you're trapped in this genre. You're a horror guy. I say wait a minute - I'm able to say exactly what I think. I'm able to talk about, comment about, take snapshots of what's going on at the time. I don't feel trapped. I feel like this is my way of being able to express myself.

- George A. Romero

I don't like the new trends in horror. All this torture stuff seems really mean-spirited. People have forgotten how to laugh, and I don't see anybody who's using it as allegory.

- George A. Romero

When you're working with a low budget, the most expensive time is the time spent on the set. The words of the day are, 'Get off the set as quickly as possible,' and so CG enables you to do that.

- George A. Romero

First of all, in the old days, if you wanted to show someone getting shot on film, all you could do was place an effect in the original take. And if you wanted to brighten somebody's face and leave the rest of the room dark, that was a very expensive process.

- George A. Romero

Zombies to me don't represent anything in particular. They are a global disaster that people don't know how to deal with.

- George A. Romero

I really liked the helicopter pilot in 'Dawn of the Dead', when he gets bitten and comes out of the elevator. That guy was amazing. He did this incredible walk that we didn't even know about until we started shooting.

- George A. Romero

With CG, I can do more and be sillier. In 'Diary,' there's a scene where they hit a guy with acid, and the camera is never off him, and you see it gradually eat through his skull and get all the way through his brain. That's fun, too.

- George A. Romero

When I was growing up, I actually went through, in New York City, blackouts when we had to close the windows and worry about air raids. I don't know whether or not those were realistic worries or not, but as a kid, when we all had to run around pulling down the drapes and turning the lights off; it was a very frightening experience.

- George A. Romero

Back then, in 1968, everything was suspect - family, government, and obviously the family unit in 'Night of the Living Dead' completely collapses. That's what we were focused on.

- George A. Romero

The zombie was just an intriguing character; it is a sympathetic character.

- George A. Romero

I'm telling you, man, after I did 'Land of the Dead,' which Mark Canton produced, Universal picked it up, and I had to use stars. I didn't think I needed stars - Dennis Hopper was in it. I loved him. We hung out. I loved him, but his cigar budget was more than we paid for the entire budget of 'Night of the Living Dead.'

- George A. Romero

I also have always liked the monster within idea. I like the zombies being us. Zombies are the blue-collar monsters.

- George A. Romero

I vote in the Academy, so I get all the screeners. I'm so often disappointed by all the material and especially by what wins. I find myself never voting for the winner.

- George A. Romero

Movies are about escape.

- George A. Romero

My stories are about humans and how they react, or fail to react, or react stupidly. I'm pointing the finger at us, not at the zombies. I try to respect and sympathize with the zombies as much as possible.

- George A. Romero

If one horror film hits, everyone says, 'Let's go make a horror film.' It's the genre that never dies.

- George A. Romero

I'm basically a fairly traditional filmmaker.

- George A. Romero

I remember when John Cameron Swayze over the television told me personally that the Russians now had the atomic bomb; then I knew that we were goners.

- George A. Romero

I've seen so many young filmmakers - even professional filmmakers who get a Hollywood deal - they don't quite know where to begin, where to end, and they'll waste a lot of time making this perfect shot, an establishing shot, and then there's no time left to shoot the dialogue.

- George A. Romero

I don't want to do 'Beyond the Planet of the Apes.' I don't want a zombie society. I don't want to go that far.

- George A. Romero

Most of my stuff was sort of of-the-time. 'The Crazies' was, basically, we were angry about Vietnam, and it had a reason for being.

- George A. Romero

The very fact that you thought of it means that, somewhere in your mind, it's believable to you. All you have to do is convince your audience that it's possible.

- George A. Romero

If you look to the few films that have been really successful, 'Insidious,' 'Paranormal Activity,' it's all basically the old monsters.

- George A. Romero

In the old days, there were three networks, and all of a sudden, Walter Cronkite is the most trusted man in America. Everybody believes what he says, not even thinking. In those days, we didn't even know it was being spun. We were very willing to just listen to it and go along with.

- George A. Romero

I'll never get sick of zombies. I just get sick of producers.

- George A. Romero

Neighbors are frightening enough when they're alive.

- George A. Romero

The main thing people took from 'Night of the Living Dead' was that it was a racial statement movie, and that was completely unintended.

- George A. Romero

Somehow I've been able to keep standing and stay in my little corner and do my little stuff and I'm not particularly affected by trends or I'm not dying to make a 3D movie or anything like that. I'm just sort of happy to still be around.

- George A. Romero

I won't say I'm uncompromising, but I won't compromise just for the hell of it.

- George A. Romero

Horror will always be there, it always comes back, it's a familiar genre that some people, not everyone - it's sort of the cinema anchovies. You either like it or you don't.

- George A. Romero

Film is a very expensive medium.

- George A. Romero

My film collection is all oldies.

- George A. Romero

On the other side of that coin, and far outweighing it, is the fact that I've been able to use genre of Fantasy/Horror and express my opinion, talk a little about society, do a little bit of satire and that's been great, man. A lot of people don't have that platform.

- George A. Romero

Zombies are always moving fast in video games. It makes sense if you think about it. Those games are all about hand-eye coordination and how quickly can you get them before they get you.

- George A. Romero

I love a couple of Fulci things. I just had a gas watching them. It's not what I would do, but I loved watching them. They were fun.

- George A. Romero

What the Internet's value is that you have access to information but you also have access to every lunatic that's out there that wants to throw up a blog.

- George A. Romero

Zombies are my ticket to ride! It's how I get a deal! I don't care what they are. I don't care where they came from.

- George A. Romero

I like guys who are understandable and good guys who are flawed.

- George A. Romero

I really believe that you could do horror very inexpensively. I don't think it has anything to do with the effects, the effects are not the most important parts.

- George A. Romero

The guy that made me wanna make movies... and this is off the wall-is a guy named Michael Pal, the British director.

- George A. Romero

Is Michael Moore an honest documentarian? Honestly? I don't think he is... The real discussion gets left behind the entertainment value.

- George A. Romero

At the time we did 'Night,' I was a director of television commercials. Some of them cost a lot more than our whole movie. They were very slick, sophisticated... we wanted the opposite look for 'Night.' We wanted it to look like a newsreel.

- George A. Romero

In 2007, 'Diary of the Dead' all of a sudden made money. I was blindsided by that.

- George A. Romero

I thought Godzilla was a mess, the monster had no character and the humans didn't either. They forgot to make the movie that went along with all these wonderful effects.

- George A. Romero

My zombies will never take over the world because I need the humans. The humans are the ones I dislike the most, and they're where the trouble really lies.

- George A. Romero

The only advice you can give is, 'Don't let the bad stuff keep you down.'

- George A. Romero

You can get an audience no matter what your opinion is.

- George A. Romero

There is something about the sameness people like. And what I've tried to do with all the zombie films is purposely make them different. That may be part of why it takes so long for people to see what it's intended to be.

- George A. Romero

There aren't that many monsters. It's very hard to create a new monster.

- George A. Romero

I did 'Land of the Dead,' which was the biggest zombie film I had ever made. I don't think it needed to be that big. That money went largely to the cast. They were great, but I don't think that money needed to be spent.

- George A. Romero

For me, tribalism and religion are basically the big reasons we're in trouble. Patriotism, tribalism, and religion.

- George A. Romero

I want 'Dawn' to play like a cowboys and Indians movie.

- George A. Romero

I keep a little notebook of things that I can do to the zombies that might be silly and fun.

- George A. Romero

The two great things about computer CG stuff are I can now do gags I would never have dreamed of in the old day.

- George A. Romero

I can't really make fun of zombies. They're not liars. They're not cheats.

- George A. Romero

The hardest thing when you're making a zombie movie is, 'How am I going to kill these zombies? I need a clever way to knock these guys off.'

- George A. Romero

People called '28 Days' and '28 Weeks' zombie movies, and they're not! It's some sort of virus; they're not dead.

- George A. Romero

Ever since 'Lassie' and 'Old Yeller', I won't watch animal movies. Animals in movies always die.

- George A. Romero

'Day of the Dead' remains my favourite zombie film of mine.

- George A. Romero

I'm like my zombies. I won't stay dead!

- George A. Romero

I will never make a film where zombies are threatening to take over the planet.

- George A. Romero

I always thought of the zombies as being about revolution, one generation consuming the next.

- George A. Romero

'Martin' is my favorite film of mine and 'Knightriders' a close second.

- George A. Romero

I expect a zombie to show up on 'Sesame Street' soon, teaching kids to count.

- George A. Romero

I guess my stuff needs to grow on people. Too bad! That seems to happen with all of it.

- George A. Romero

I always have CNN on. That's where I get my ideas.

- George A. Romero

Some directors work from day to day. I work from moment to moment.

- George A. Romero

I grew up in New York City. And I lived in the Bronx in a place called Parkchester.

- George A. Romero

I do think of my films as morality plays, even though my reputation is, you know, splatter films and like that. But I think of them as very moral.

- George A. Romero

I've never had a zombie eat a brain! I don't know where that comes from. Who says zombies eat brains?

- George A. Romero

I like to use horror as allegory.

- George A. Romero

I liked the '28 Days Later' films, but they're not zombies; they're not dead. They're not using it in the same way.

- George A. Romero

I've only actually done one studio film. I want to be left alone.

- George A. Romero

I've made six zombie films; I've tried consciously to make each one different from the next.

- George A. Romero

I love 'Shaun of the Dead.'

- George A. Romero

Zombies cannot run.

- George A. Romero

I think you're only free if you're working on very low or huge money.

- George A. Romero