The tour kicked of at Dallas’ “Texas Frightmare Weekend,” where the Dallas chapter of the American Film Institute honored the film.
One of the greatest thrills for the cast has been to meet the fans. Says Roe, “It’s also been a thrill to see all the different generations that come to meet them. You’ve got kids who are twelve and thirteen with their parents, who are in their thirties, and their parents, who are in their fifties. We’ve had fans fly from Australia to meet the cast, from England, Germany, Canada, and all across the United States at both the stops so far.” Not only fans, but also young filmmakers. “It’s interesting to see the young filmmakers come out in great numbers. This movie redefined the genre and inspired generations of great filmmakers. People like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Peter Jackson, John Landis, John Carpenter, who all have been inspired by that movie, not to mention all the up and coming filmmakers that we haven’t even heard of yet. But it’s clear at every event we go to; there are always those new young aspiring filmmakers who say, ‘When I saw this movie, I knew what I wanted to do.’”
“We tried to make it an incredibly in-depth look at the movie through the eyes and mouths of the filmmakers. I think what we put together, the fans will enjoy. I think it opens up a chapter for another documentary to be made, maybe for the fiftieth. I believe the fans will be extremely pleased with what the documentary says and does. No other DVD has been released with this kind of information before. Others have tried to do it, but they’ve never done it with the filmmakers themselves. This is the first one that does.”
Those expecting this version to be the last say in the NOTLD book, however, are sorely mistaken.
The tour, which began in Dallas, Texas, and continued through Baltimore, Maryland, continues this weekend in Los Angeles, California, at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors. After that, there will be stops in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Orlando. Following the Stateside tour, the six filmmakers will continue to England, France, Spain, and Germany.
As Roe said, this isn’t the last chapter either. As soon as the 40th anniversary tour wraps up, he’ll be preparing for the 50th.
“Ten years from now I think people will still be talking about it. People will be saying the name ‘Romero’ fifty years from now.”