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Horror Master George Romero has Died

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It is a sad day for horror fans.  George A. Romero whose work defined an entire sub-genre of horror died today after a brief battle with an aggressive form of lung cancer.  The director and writer was 77 years old.

Romero burst onto the scene with his 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead.  The film centered on a group of survivors taking refuge in a secluded home as flesh eating zombies closed in on them.  It was a standout film for multiple reasons, not the least of which was his casting of Duane Jones, a black man, as the lead.  The controversial move made movie goers sit up and pay attention.  On the surface, this was a horror movie, but down deep, they knew it was something more.

Romero would add Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead to his zombie family over a period of 41 years.  He used the films to voice his opinions of the changing world and the socio-political climate of the times they were released.  In 1978 when he saw the U.S. being consumed by materialism his survivors hid out in a shopping mall.  In 2005, he took on the modern caste system, as his survivors lived inside a gated city, but only the truly wealthy could find a place in the inner sanctum and count themselves safe from zombie attack.

In each scenario, Romero picked apart societal norms and pointed a bloody finger at the people who were the real monsters.  He was never heavy handed with the symbolism, however.  He never felt the need to be.

“I don’t try to answer any questions or preach,” he once said.  “My personality and my opinions come through in the satire of the films, but I think of them as a snapshot of the time. I have this device, or conceit, where something happens in the world and I can say, ‘Ooo, I’ll talk about that, and I can throw zombies in it! And get it made!’ You know, it’s kind of my ticket to ride.”

It wasn’t only zombies for Romero, however.  Many will remember his strange vampire story Martin from 1978.  It was, according to legend, Romero’s favorite of his own films because the final product was the closest to his own beginning vision.  A young man named Martin, who claims to be nearing 90, believes he is a vampire.  He arrives at his uncle’s home seeking salvation from his thirst but all does not go according to plan.  It’s a masterpiece that isn’t shown nearly enough during Halloween horror marathons.

Along the way, he also gave us The Dark Half (adapted from Stephen King’s novel), Monkey Shines, and the cult anthology Creepshow (for which I will personally be eternally grateful).

Romero, at 6’5″ towered over most of his stars, but he was the gentlest of giants, and fans and collaborators took to social media to remember the legend as word spread.

According to reports from the L.A. Times, Romero died at home while listening to his favorite film score, 1952’s The Quite Man  His wife, Suzanne, and daughter, Tina, were at his side.

The horror world will never be the same without this steady, Brooklyn-laced voice of the common man within it. We at iHorror extend our condolences to Mr. Romero’s family.  We mourn with you…

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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