Qué Horror! George A. Romero Goes 'Deep Red' & Fulfills A Fangirl's Dream

Team Blogamole recently sat down with horror legend George A. Romero. He gave us the deets on his upcoming projects, dream gig, Latino heritage, and more! We'll be rolling out clips for the next two weeks — stay tuned!

By Sandra Roldán

My love affair with zombie movies began at age fourteen, when my friend and I headed to Blockbuster Video one evening after school, dead-set on a good scare.  We'd done a little research — mostly after seeing some t-shirts at our favorite alternative music and clothing shop — so we were pretty pleased with ourselves when we walked away with our VHS rental for the night, a little film from 1968 called 'Night of the Living Dead.'

Meeting filmmaker George A. Romero, fifteen years later, was therefore a pretty big deal for me. Nicknamed the "Grandfather of the Zombie," Romero has carved out a 40+ year career directing films about the walking dead — but that doesn't mean he's just out to scare you.

His latest film, 'Survival of the Dead,' like many of his other films, has a clear social commentary attached to it.  The sixth and latest installment to his 'Dead' series, 'Survival of the Dead' more or less picks up where his previous film 'Diary of the Dead' left off, with a group of military renegades hoping to escape the zombie apocalypse by heading to the isolated Plum Island. 

The film touches on some heavy themes like xenophobia, fear of outsiders, and the idea of protecting your land's borders, all of which play a huge role in today's political climate, verdad? 

The colorful cast of characters include some small-town Irish immigrants, a tough-guy sergeant who doesn't give a damn, a hyper-sexed, hyper-religious Latin lover type, and an out-and-proud Latina.  Oh, and some flesh-eating zombies!

photo by Daniela Capistrano

Ever wondered what it's like to interview a film legend? We've got more details from Sandra, plus an exclusive clip, after the jump!

Walking into Romero's hotel room was kind of intimidating.  For one thing, the half-Cuban, long-haired director stands well over six feet tall.  Plus, he's responsible for so many of my zombie nightmares and has inspired an entire genre (there wouldn't be a 'Resident Evil' or '28 Days Later' without him!), so I was expecting to be in hardcore geek girl starstruck mode.  Ni lo pienses.  He's one of the most laid-back and friendly famosos I've ever met. 

One of the first things I wanted to find out from him was where his love affair with the undead came from.

"Oh boy… I'm not particularly in love with the undead. [laughs] They're not particularly friendly and they don't smell… nice."

Bueno, at least he doesn't take himself so much en serio!  We spoke about his latest film, his experience as a horror director, what other kinds of films he'd like to do, and even his little-known Latino heritage.  I also wanted to know what advice he has for young people trying to follow their dreams, like he has followed his.

"Make a film… I mean, you can't walk in and convince somebody you know how to make a movie; you have to be able to show it. You have to do it. It's easier to do it today. When we were starting, you know, you needed a film lab, you needed cameras, it was all on film.

Now that there's videotape and it's easier to do, my advice is to just go out and do it! Do a movie! You know, even if it's imperfect, you need to be able to show it, you can't just talk about it. You can't say 'I know how to make movies.' You have to, like, show a movie and say, 'Look, I made this movie.'"

And if you're lucky, you'll have a career as long and inspiring as George A. Romero's! This week it was also reported by various sources that Romero has been tapped to direct a remake of the super-terrifying 'Deep Red' by Italian horror god Dario Argento in 3-D!

With his latest film, 'Survival of the Dead' in select theaters now, we wondered what is coming up next in the world of the Dead?

Watch the clip below to find out more:

Cuentanos, will you watch Romero's latest zombie escapade? What's YOUR favorite horror film? Let us know in the comments or @MTV3!

Tags George A. Romero, Movie, Survival of the Dead, zombie