George A. Romero Talks Road of the Dead
Jonathan Barkan
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Coming to Fantasia’s Frontières Market later this month will be the George A. Romero produced feature Road of the Dead, which he co-scripted with his frequent stunt coordinator and collaborator Matt Birman. The film will be seeking funding at Fantasia, so who knows when we’ll get to see it. However, another film in the universe of Romero’s Dead films is always welcome!
Romero recently spoke with Rue Morgue about the film, describing its inception and how it fits into the universe he helped create.
“It was Matt Birman’s idea and it’s actually based on a sequence in Survival of the Dead where there’s a zombie in a car, bumping bumpers. Matt’s done all my stuntwork ever since I’ve been in Canada, and he pitched me the concept right after we had finished that film; he said, ‘Why don’t we do a stunt movie where the zombies drive?’ He wrote the original draft, and then I stepped in and we wound up co-writing the rest,” he explains.
As for what people can expect, Romero describes the following: “It’s set in a sanctuary city where this fat cat runs a haven for rich folks, and one of the things that he does is stage drag races to entertain them. There’s a scientist there doing genetic experiments, trying to make the zombies stop eating us, and he has discovered that with a little tampering, they can recall certain memory skills that enable them to drive in these races. So it’s a demolition derby with zombies at the wheels, and of course the shit hits the fan in other ways. It’s really a romp; it’s great fun, with stunts galore.”
When it comes to what kind of tone the film will set, Romero warns that this is not going to be a horror film, at least not in the normal sense of the word. “It would be hard to; that’s almost too large to deal with, and we didn’t want to go there when we were writing it. This one is really almost a comedy, though it’s got scares and spooky moments and all that. It’s more about suspense than blood. While there is gore, it’s not overt; there are no big, operatic sequences where people get torn apart. There’s slapstick in it, but it’s mostly stunts; it’s quite different. One character dies, for example, in a tragic way, but was once in NASCAR and is able to come back and drive. It’s that kind of looney-tunes. It’s really The Fast and the Furious with zombies,” he explains.
The full interview can be read at the link above.
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