![]() ![]() In subsequent films, Romero appeared to be eager to live up to the high marker that Night of the Living Dead set, calcifying his formalism so as to be sure that his socialist observations landed. Romero’s themes are embedded in his adventurous aesthetic, which allows for free association that transcends meaning, achieving surrealism while anticipating the found-footage trend in the process. ![]() ![]() With 1968’s Night of the Living Dead, Romero bounded out of the gate with an unnerving masterpiece, one of those films that benefits from its creators’ inexperience. His films are often at their best when they don’t appear to be trying so hard, when the director’s sense of macabre humor is allowed to break through. To paraphrase a character from 1985’s Day of the Dead, what’s the point in civility if there’s no reward? Romero’s filmography is governed by a friction that’s similar to that of the work of a critic: a culturally hard-wired desire to define art by thematic “meaning” versus the urge to create and capture a private and original essence. Romero is among the most generous and empathetic of horror filmmakers, concerned with the traps of capitalism, which uses baubles to distract the fortunate from the cruelties of racism, classism, and sexism, though said fortunate must sublimate their own desires to benefit from the game. ![]()
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